2000 - 08/2000 Meeting
Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Update: 10/25/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 01/07/08.
CHARLES L GRANT
The author's official website: http://charlesgrant.atspace.com/.
The prolific Mr Grant also wrote as Felicia Andrews, Lionel Fenn, Simon Lake, Deborah Lewis, and Geoffrey Marsh. The list of books lists only novels written as Charles L Grant.
Novels:
Ascension
Black Oak: Genesis
Black Oak: The Hush of Dark Wings
Black Oak: Winter Night
The Bloodwind
The Curse
The Dark City of the Moon
Fire Mask
For Fear of the Night
The Grave
The Hour of the Oxrun Dead
In a Dark Dream
Jackals
Legion
The Long Night of the Grave
Millennium Quartet: Chariot
Millennium Quartet: In the Mood
Millennium Quartet: Riders in the Sky
Millennium Quartet: Symphony
The Nestling
Night Songs
The Pet
A Quiet Night of Fear
Raven
The Shadow of Alpha
The Soft Whisperer of the Dead
Something Stirs
The Sound of Midnight
Stunts
The Tea Party
World of Darkness: Watcher
X-Files: Goblins
X-Files: Whirlwind
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: August 12, 2000.
Meeting Site: Bennett Books, Wyckoff, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 26.
Meeting Program: Talk by Horror Writer / Editor.
Notes:
Mr Grant's wife, editor/writer Kathryn Ptacek, also attended.
Meeting Memories:
Heavy rains depressed the turnout for the meeting. There was flooding in much of central New Jersey, and had Mr Grant been leaving from his house instead of from the northern part of the state, he never would have made it to the meeting.
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2000 Philip J De Parto:
Our guest was Charles L Grant, best known as a horror writer, but an author who has worked in a number of other genres. He began his talk stating that books and movies are facets of the entertainment industry, and when he writes, he does his best to be entertaining.
In order to give the group an idea of his prejudices, he ran off a list of movies that the likes and dislikes. Among his raves are the original STAR WARS and KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE. Among those he finds boring are 2001 and THE PHANTOM MENACE.
The talk meandered from movies to television, specifically THE X-FILES and BABYLON 5. Mr Grant wrote the first couple of X-FILES novels, but it was not a happy experience. He and Chris Carter were not on the same wave length on the project, and both agreed that it would be better to turn the series over to someone else.
He mentioned some of the absurdities of dealing with Hollywood. One of the books was set in the desert. A battle ensued about the proper form of footwear, boots or high heels, was appropriate. Another source of tension was the portrayal of an Indian tibe in a correct manner so that none of them would object and picket, despite Mr Grant's assurances that he had invented the tribe.
The experience did inspire him to create the Black Oak Detective Agency series, or (as he calls it) THE X-FILES done right. There will be roughly a dozen books in this series. Each one will stand alone, but there will be a number of small story arcs linking small groups of books together, as well as an overarching storyline that connects the whole series. He stated that he learned how to plot story arcs from watching BABYLON 5.
Mr Grant has recently completed another series, the Millennium Quartet. The series consists of SYMPHONY, IN THE MOOD, CHARIOT, and RIDERS IN THE SKY. Each of the books focuses on an incarnation of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The series chooses some decidedly different incarnations for the foursome, and events build to a confrontation in the final book that has been compared to that of THE STAND.
Mr Grant considers himself fortunate to be able to write what he wants to write and to sell it. If he has never broken into the Rice/Koontz/King big time, he at least has a loyal following for his quiet brand of horror. He believes that no one really understands why one writer hits the big time and another doesn't and that anyone who feels that they do is simply fooling themselves.
Among the other points he covered was that he feels that authors who go back and rewrite their work to update it are cheats. He writes the best book he is capable of writing when he submits his manuscript. He may learn more about the craft of writing at a later date, but to rewrite the book cheats the buyer who bought the book once and is now faced with having to decide to buy it again. He also feels that an author is not necessarily the best judge about making changes. He felt, for example, that the shorter version of Stephen King's THE STAND is the better one.