NAYAD sez: I reviewed Conrad Williams' blistering novella GAME back in DEAD ANGEL #63. I caught up with Mr. Williams via e-mail this past summer. His short story collection USE ONCE, THEN DESTROY is available now from Night Shade Books.

READ ONCE, THEN EXPLODE: BLABBING WITH CONRAD WILLIAMS

DA: How did you come to writing?

CW: At an early age, from around six or seven, I remember being excited when we were told to write a story in classes at school. Pretty much everyone else saw it as a chore. I couldn't understand that. Early on, I used to enjoy shocking my friends and teachers with gory stories about monsters. There was one teacher, when I was about eight or nine, who used to type up my stories and pin them to the wall. I was sending stories off from the age of 11. I've got a nice letter from an editor at Pan who sent me some very encouraging words regarding a "novel" of around 25 pages, handwritten, entitled "A Package Called Death." Very embarrassing....

DA: Are there any authors or books that stand out as early influences?

CW: THE PAN BOOKS OF HORROR. My mum, who likes a good horror story herself, would get me two or three volumes for Christmas each year. I was sending stories to its editors -- Herbert van Thal and then Clarence Paget -- when I reached my early teens. No joy, alas, until Stephen Jones and David Sutton kick-started their own series at Gollancz. I read 'SALEM'S LOT on holiday with my family when I was 13 and it knocked me out. I pretty much devoured everything Stephen King produced over the next ten years, but I can't help thinking his best work was done over those first three or four novels. [TMU: There's a lot of truth to that idea, outside of the DARK TOWER books and a few others later on.] Ramsey Campbell was a big discovery for me, and through him, M. R. James, who can get the hairs on the back of my neck rising like nobody else.

Joel Lane was also a big influence. Reading his work taught me that you didn't have to shout at people in order to get an effective story across. M. John Harrison, Christopher Priest, Patrick McGrath: three brilliant writers -- I would read their shopping lists. Graham Greene, John McGahern, William Trevor, Jim Crace, J.G. Ballard....

DA: What about authors or books that you don't necessarily read much, but who may have inspired you in some way?

CW: Joe Simpson's TOUCHING THE VOID, Gustav Hasford's THE SHORT TIMERS, Donna Tartt's THE SECRET HISTORY, Trevor Hoyle's VAIL.

DA: What brought about the detour into noir with GAME?

CW: I've been writing more noirish fiction over the last couple of years. I wrote an SF/crime story for Maxim Jakubowski's anthology FURURE COPS called "Footstep on Nowhere Beach" involving Rad Hallah, a detective who I'd like to do more with. There was a story of mine in Crimewave recently called '"rappy Rubsniff" about a revenge killing set in north London. I've also written a pseudonymous thriller called BLONDE ON A STICK that's currently with my agent. It's a very dingy, dirty novel set in London and Liverpool which revolves around a damaged, unlicensed people-chaser with a quick lip and, as a result, a lot of bruises and few friends. I'm not sure that GAME was as much of a detour as the projects I've just described. There's a very obvious supernatural strand at its heart, for example. That said, it was initially commissioned as a novella by Gala Blau, the nom de plume I used for a couple of stories that were published a few years ago. Paul Miller, Earthling publisher, changed his mind about that halfway through. It's a lot harder than the stuff I usually write.

NA: Do you have plans to revisit those characters?

CW: No plans as yet. I enjoyed writing about Bas Eachus. There's something incredibly seductive about characters who are borderline insane. If you've ever seen the film SEXY BEAST, you'll know what I mean. Bas Eachus is a bit like the characters played by Ian McShane (cool, calm, exuding menace through every pore) and Ben Kingsley (a rabid nutcase) in that movie. I'm not sure which of them is more frightening.

DA: For North American readers who may have come to your work through GAME, where would you suggest they go next?

CW: Well, the novels would be a good start. Both are urban horror stories that inhabit the same kind of unstitched, uncertain terrain that is found in GAME. They're subtler, but, I hope, just as powerful. And the book of short stories will give you a good idea of how my work has developed over the past ten years. It's funny, but I was referred to in a recent review as a newcomer. I've been selling stories half my lifetime, and received the BFS's Best Newcomer award in 1993....

DA: I saw on your message board that your short story collection USE ONCE, THEN DESTROY has been known to cause nightmares. There is a dream-like feel to your work, especially your short work. Do you lift from your dreams?

CW: Some stories have arisen from dreams I've had, and I sometimes use sequences from dreams in my work -- just like any writer, I suppose. I like the soft, shadowy border between dreams and wakefulness and try to replicate that in the atmospheres I create for a story.

DA: Do other forms of media influence your writing?

CW: Yes. Film, art, music: all of it helps. "City in Aspic" was heavily influenced by the film DON'T LOOK NOW (which also figures prominently in my novel LONDON REVENANT). "The Windmill" is my THE WICKER MAN. Wieslaw Walkuski's artwork was a strong influence when I created the Mowers in NEARLY PEOPLE and I was thrilled to get his permission to use some of his art on the cover. I listen to music when I write. Something without lyrics, usually. Soundtracks (Vangelis -- especially BLADE RUNNER, Bernard Herrmann, Hans Zimmer), or classical music (Lutoslawski, for example). Sometimes I can work with songs in the background. Edgy stuff: Radiohead, P.J. Harvey, Curve.

DA: Your bio states that you split you time between the U.K and France. Obviously, since several of you works are set in and around London, the U.K. has impacted your writing, but what about France?

CW: "The Owl" is a new story and features in the collection USE ONCE THEN DESTROY. It's probably one of the most harrowing things I've ever written. There was a point, once I'd finished it, when I thought -- no, that's too much, you've gone too far. I seriously considered not including it in the final manuscript. So thanks, France, for landing that black beauty in my lap... It doesn't matter where you are. There'll be a story hanging around for you, like fruit on a tree, waiting for you to pick it.

DA: Has anyone approached you about filming any of your novels or stories?

CW: Yes, there has been film interest in my work. HEAD INJURIES was optioned by Revolution Films (the UK production company headed by Michael Winterbottom). I wrote three drafts of a screenplay but nothing came of it. Interesting, if frustrating, experience. The BBC were keen to commission an original short film from me on the strength of a story that appeared in a collection of football (soccer) fiction. I'd love to write an original screenplay and I do have a few ideas, but the chances of anything happening are so slim that I think I'll stick with writing novels for the time being.

DA: What's next?

CW: Next up is a novel that I've promised Earthling. Its provisional title is THE UNBLEMISHED and it's about plague, fire and a reworking of the vampire mythos. In part it's to be based on my pseudonymous story OUTFANGTHIEF (written as Gala Blau). It will be big, blowsy and brutal. Promise. It's set up for publication at Halloween 2006. Expect a novel from Night Shade Books called PENETRALIA, which deals with what happens on the threshold of death, during the same year... NSB are also releasing an edition of LONDON REVENANT in January 2005. I hope the US doesn't get sick of me....