SHAUNA: Wayne, why don't you start off by telling us about PALACE CORBIE. How would you describe it if you were speaking to someone who'd never seen it?

WAYNE: Technically. PALACE CORBIE is an annual anthology of horror fiction and poetry published in a trade paperback format. Recent issues have been about 200 pages long; the next one will be about 300 pages. The fiction and poetry tend more toward the psychological than the supernatural.

SHAUNA: Where did you get the name PALACE CORBIE?

WAYNE: It is from a line in a poem I wrote a long time ago whichreads, "...feeding the corbie of the palace." It does not really mean anything, I just like the way the words sound together.

SHAUNA: Tell us about Merrimack Books.

WAYNE: The principal publication of Merrimack Books is PALACE CORBIE, but I have also published other titles, too. For instance, over the years I have published a couple dozen poetry chapbooks by various authors. A NEW AGE was a series of essays on current religious beliefs and practices that Merrimack Books released a few years back. We also did a three-volume set called VLAD THE IMPALER, which was a collection of historical fiction based on Prince Vlad III of Wallachia (i.e., no vampires), the man who was probably the token figure around which Stoker built his fictional character Dracula. Merrimack Books also publishes a quarterly newsletter of reviews called LIP DINK. Next year, the first book length collection of fiction other than PALACE CORBIE will be released. It is a collection of stories by Gemma Files.

SHAUNA: What are some of the things you look for in a submission aside from "good writing"? What is it about a story that grabs you personally, that would give a writer a better chance of being published by you?

WAYNE: A story works best when the reader is so wrapped up in it that he forgets he is reading. That is what separates good fiction from the merely adequate. I don't know how much help that is going to be to people trying to get me to publish their work, though.

SHAUNA: What is your biggest turn-off with a submission, and what can a writer do to prevent this "turn-off" from happening?

WAYNE: What I dislike most is submissions which are not in standard manuscript format. That really creates problems for me. Second on the list is the category of submissions which clearly violate the guidelines--vignettes and so on. Both "turn-offs" can be easily avoided.

SHAUNA: In your chapbook, REVELATIONS OF THE HOT CONQUERED DARLING, you succeed in evoking images with your words, and do it well. And yet, these images are of the type that would shock or offend many people -- or at the very least gross them out. My question: When you wrote this poetry, were you thinking: Yep, I'm going to sit down and write about anal sex, or urine, or blood, or a sexual act with the God of Christianity to see how many people I can shock? Or was the poetry something that came from the depths of your soul and you felt you just had to get it down on paper to express yourself? (Or perhaps I'm wrong with both guesses!)

WAYNE: Neither. Most of the poetry I write does have a purpose. There is some idea I am trying to get across. When I write the actual words, I choose the ones I think will have the greatest emotional impact. I do want readers to have a reaction, a strong reaction. But it does not matter to me if I offend or enrage some folks; it is not my intention, but I am not bothered by it.

SHAUNA: You've recently completed a novel in collaboration with John Marshall. What is the novel about, and have you had any luck getting it published?

WAYNE: The novel is called SKIN DEEP, and it is the sequel to a previous one we wrote together called EATERS. The former concerns a aftermath of a catastrophic event and how people deal with it. SKIN DEEP is very action-oriented (cinematically speaking), while EATERS is more of an aberrant love story. And no, neither has been published. I am collecting rejection letters slowly and steadily on them.

SHAUNA: Is it difficult being an editor and trying to pursue a PhD in Economics? How do you manage to find the time to do it all?

WAYNE: It is difficult. On the other hand, if I didn't go to school, write, edit, and publish, I'm not sure how I would fill my days. I'd drink a lot more, probably. Honestly, I do not know what people do with their time. Those folks who work 40 hours a week and do nothing else, or my classmates who are graduate students and nothing else. There seems to be an amazing lack of motivation at work here. Writers, editors, and publishers, at least the ones I know, either have more than one job or write more than a few hours each day. We must be a motivated lot. That or simply obsessive.

SHAUNA: You do reviews as well as poetry and fiction. Out of these, which do you enjoy the most or find the most rewarding?

WAYNE: Writing fiction, without a doubt. I think I am a better poet than a fiction writer, but you can't make any money writing poetry, and besides, poetry is a lot harder to write than fiction. The saddest part of it all is I make more money writing reviews than I do writing fiction and poetry put together. Sigh...

SHAUNA: As a writer/editor, what goals do you have for yourself? Where would you like to be five years from now.

WAYNE: I have no writing or editing goals, as such. I will always write, and I will always be publishing something or other. Five years from now? I'll be working on another novel. I might be working on a new volume of PALACE CORBIE. I would like to have my novels published, and I expect to, one of these days. But I believe it is counterproductive to set a deadline for such a thing, since a large part of getting a novel published has nothing to do with the writer.

SHAUNA: What advice would you give new writers just starting out?

WAYNE: Read a lot. Read a lot of different things. Read the classics, both of your chosen genre and of literature in general. Writing takes practice and work; it is more technique than talent. Read, read, read, and see how it is done.

SHAUNA: If there's anything else you'd like to say that I haven't touched on in this interview, here's your chance. The floor is yours. Thanks much for this interview, Wayne.

WAYNE: Just like to mention my contact information:

Wayne Edwards
Merrimack Books
PO Box 83514
Lincoln, NE 68501-3514
(402) 486-4619 wedwards@unlgrad1.unl.edu

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Thanks, Shauna.

Copyright © 1996 by Shauna Skye. All Rights Reserved.