A Moment with Samuel Marzioli

Why did you choose to write speculative fiction instead of another genre?

Perhaps it started in childhood. That always seems like the time period people dredge up to explain their current proclivities--some oddity post-infancy which maintained its edge throughout the years. And if so, who am I to go against the grain? Yes, let’s say it started in childhood, and we can blame my parents.

I was first introduced to spec fic when I was four and five. From books to movies, to comics, and books on tape, or even stories on vinyl. It was never a question for me if I would read or watch or listen. Only when. Because speculative fiction was a seamless part of my life, no different than school or bedtime, and I enjoyed it absolutely.

I remember when my family had just bought a brand new laserdisc, and we invited our family friends over for dinner and a movie. The dinner I’ve long since forgotten (maybe spaghetti?), but the movie stayed with me ever since. It was Star Wars, original and unbutchered, and--even for a kid whose idea of a great time was any 80’s video game turned cartoon--I was pretty damn impressed. Sometime later that year I remember sliding out of bed one dark night and making my way to the living room after a fit of sleeplessness. There I found my father reclining on the couch and on the TV another sci-fi film that I hadn’t seen before. I asked my dad if I could stay up and watch it too, and he said yes. That film was Ridley Scott’s Alien.

Many nights my brother and sister and I would snuggle up beside our parents in bed and they’d read us works by the masters of children’s speculative fiction: Roald Dahl, E. Nesbit, C. S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum and more. Sometimes they’d even pull out a few issues from one of their many long white, and dusty, comic boxes and we’d follow along the pictures as they read to us Judge Dredd or Groo the Wanderer. In fact, it was Judge Dredd and Groo more than anything else that made me want to read. Because I soon became impatient waiting for my family to absorb the next adventure from these characters of absurdist sci-fi and ridiculous sword and sorcery, respectively.

From this groundwork, and the accumulation of a few more years, I branched off into more mature works as well. There was some H. P. Lovecraft, Poe, and Shakespeare thrown into the mix, as well as Stephen King. Maybe a few books by Clive Barker, or Michael Crichton, and of course Douglas Adams and Robert Aspirin. Probably a ton of books of pseudo histories of supernatural beasties, and various bits of parapsychology, by the likes of Harry Price, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Cesare Lombroso, and Montague Summers.

If this seems a disparate mix, it’s because that’s how it began and that’s how it continued, and to this day that’s what I write. One day I may type a tale of terror involving spilled guts with gratuitous descriptions, the next a humorous space opera involving intergalactic toys and the enthusiasts that collect them. The fact is speculative fiction is a rich and rewarding set of genres, the pixie dust that infuses the mundanity of this world with true, honest-to-God magic. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Anything!

‘Cept maybe a literary book deal.

Samuel Marzioli still does all of his writing on a laptop outside, under an umbrella. His fiction has appeared several times in Penumbra eMag, once in Stupefying Stories, and is forthcoming in Stupefying Stories Presents, Space & Time Magazine and the "A Darke Phantastique" anthology by Cycatrix Press.

Learn more about Samuel and his current projects from his blog.

A Moment with Samuel Marzioli

Do you write a story before you find a market, or do you find a market before you write the story? Why do you work this way?

I’m more of an “and” rather than an “or” sort of writer. I do everything I can to maximize my creativity. For the most part, I believe it pays to find and research a market before bothering to write for them. Editors are readers first, and every reader has a preference for what they want to read. Obviously, you don’t want to send an erotic story to a children’s magazine, or a western to a mystery journal. And you don’t want to send stories that don’t incorporate the themes of markets that require them. It’s just common sense. It may seem daunting, and may take a lot of extra work, but that’s the business we’re in. Putting text into word documents is only the first step.

However, the process may not be as difficult as some newer writers imagine. Recently I corresponded with a man who was struggling to publish his first story. We discussed NY Times best-selling author Joe Hill, and whether or not he had an easier time breaking into the business because he was Stephen King’s son. The man reasoned that anyone with a family member so closely connected to the industry had access to every editor’s preferences. All Mr. Hill had to do was pick his father’s brain and, viola, instant sales, instant success. While I disagreed with the main thrust of his argument, he certainly had a point. Knowledge is power! However, I countered that every writer is on equal grounds, because every single issue and anthology an editor works on is stamped with their particular tastes--everything from POV, to prose style, to subject matter. In other words, you don’t need to be blessed with the genetic lottery. All you have to do is follow the suggestion that is present on most every writer’s guidelines: “Read an issue.”

On the other hand, trying to conform to a single market’s preferences can be limiting. It can kill the mood, staunch the flow of creative waters like a tampon in the pipeline. As such, sometimes I write a story first and then find the best match. Research always plays a part, of course, but not necessarily in the beginning. It all depends on where the muse leads.

Samuel Marzioli lives in Oregon, and often writes outside in the rain under an umbrella. His fiction has appeared in Stupefying Stories 1.8 and the January 2013 issue of Penumbra. Several other stories are forthcoming in Stupefying Stories, Space & Time Magazine and the "A Darke Phantastique" anthology by Cycatrix Press.

Learn more about Samuel Marzioli his blog.

Philosophy and Fiction

by Samuel Marzioli

Philosophy is given a bad rap. It’s often considered an outdated approach to finding truth that was made obsolete by the scientific method. But, in fact, philosophy is still an integral part of the human experience. Whenever someone probes the questions of life, the universe and--oh, why not--everything, they’ve entered the domain of the philosopher. It underlies every important field of inquiry and creative endeavor, from science, to art, to education, and even fiction.

As far as fiction goes, a healthy dose of philosophy can often separate the forgettable fluff from a true masterpiece. While we may be fascinated by scenes of blazing guns and magnificent explosions, set in far-flung worlds or distant times, in the end it may just be mindless entertainment. But who can forget, say, Phillip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” and its treatment of what it means to be human, or “Minority Report” and the nature of free will? Or, more popularly, the Matrix and the nature of reality itself. We remember stories like these--often despite their flaws--because they alter or heighten the way we perceive ourselves and our place in the natural order. In effect, they don’t simply regurgitate the human experience; they clarify it.

The good news is one need not be formally trained in order to write a philosophically sound piece of fiction, any more than one needs to have a degree in science to write science fiction. It’s all a matter of approach and subject matter. In my own experience, my story in the January 2013 issue of Penumbra started off as a fanciful yarn about a man and an unusual house. [Vague spoilers to follow] In the first draft, I went through the motions and banged out a working plot, but in the end I found it was ultimately missing something. It had no depth or relevance. In other words, it lacked philosophical weight.

It wasn’t until I started thinking more about the protagonist that I realized he had no significant problems. He was just an average man who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But what if he were an older gent that, at the end of his life, was forced to reevaluate the world view he had taken for granted for so many years? That, I believed, was something that spoke to our own experience: the comfort we find in the harmonization of our beliefs, and the tenuousness of things we hold as “knowledge.” And that, for better or for worse, became the foundation of my final draft for, “A House in the Woods.”

We all know, or at least should learn, the fundamentals of good fiction writing. Things like: write a compelling first sentence or paragraph, create a goal or desire for your protagonist, introduce conflict that keeps the character from his/her goal/desire, and deliver a satisfying resolution. But might I add, at least some of the time, incorporate a philosophical theme? It may not always fit, but sometimes, sometimes, it could make all the difference.

Samuel Marzioli lives in Oregon, and often writes outside in the rain under an umbrella. His fiction has appeared in Stupefying Stories 1.8 and the January 2013 issue of Penumbra. Several other stories are forthcoming in Stupefying Stories, Space & Time Magazine and the "A Darke Phantastique" anthology by Cycatrix Press.

Learn more about Samuel Marzioli his blog.