\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> writes horror under his own name and Westerns as Marcus Galloway and as Ralph Compton.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the release earlier this week of Vampire Uprising<\/em>, the fourth installment in the Skinners series, Pelegrimas returns to a world gone horribly wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Skinners <\/span>books are about monster hunters [the Skinners] who came together to fight werewolves and other shapeshifters,\u201d said Pelegrimas. \u201cThey also deal with things ranging from vampires and Chupacabras to nymphs and (more recently) gargoyles. I\u2019ve always loved monster stories, so that\u2019s my key element. My books are the sort of fun and exciting mix of horror and action that I\u2019ve always enjoyed ever since I was a kid.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Skinners novels include Blood Blade<\/em>, Howling Legion<\/em>, and Teeth of Beasts<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/span>As Marcus Galloway he writes The Accomplice series, the Man from Boot Hill series.\u00a0 <\/span>He also writes under the Ralph Compton brand.\u00a0 <\/span>Whatever the name or genre, Pelegrimas\u2019 writing is always fast, sharp, and full of action \u2013 action that works all that much better because of Pelegrimas\u2019 attention to character development.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Below, Pelegrimas and I get ready for Halloween by talking about writing horror, werewolves, and Westerns.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What comes first – character, setting, plot, image, sight, sound, or something else?\u00a0 And how does it grow from there?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>When I\u2019m thinking of a new series or book, I start with my character. I want to know who they are, where they\u2019re headed, what they\u2019ll face along the way and how they\u2019ll deal with it. When I get stuck, I fall back on what the character would do, regardless of whether or not it\u2019s technically the thing they should<\/em> do. For specific chapters or scenes, I\u2019ll start with images that I would open with if it was a movie. I\u2019m very visual in my style, so I have to picture it all in my head before writing. For Skinners, I\u2019m taking a \u201cpanning out\u201d approach to the series. I started in with the main character and every book moves outward to show more of the world and the larger events converging on the character. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the appeal of werewolves?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>I\u2019ve just always found werewolves to be cool. They\u2019re powerful, angry, and can rip most every other creature in half. What\u2019s not to love about that? They have different types of storylines than what you see with vampires for example. Werewolves have to deal with the change and they can\u2019t blend seamlessly into a society that adores them. As a writer, I love playing with the legends and mythology that come along with werewolves. I use some of it and tweak other stuff. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In my books, many of the legends that are out there are just plain wrong or misinterpreted. That\u2019s where I get to create some room for me to play. I just don\u2019t see the point in making werewolves that are exactly like all the others out there. And I can\u2019t stand werewolves that just turn into normal-looking wolves. That\u2019s always been a pet peeve of mine. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What do werewolves allow you to do in fiction? And what unique spin do you put on the werewolf in the Skinners series?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Werewolves give me a chance to have fun with a being that is overwhelmingly powerful. They\u2019re strong, fast and find your typical human to be nothing more than food. As a writer, I created Full Bloods as my kind of \u201cultimate werewolf\u201d. The next question I had was, \u201cHow would someone kill this thing?\u201d The answer led to Skinners. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In my series, I\u2019ve made several different kinds of werewolves. Full Bloods are the top of the heap. They can change at will, are extremely powerful and are virtually immortal. Half Breeds are the victims in the story, but not in the typical \u201ccursed\u201d sense. When they\u2019re changed, they are reshaped into the creature in a process that breaks every bone in their body. Knots of muscle are formed to hold them together and help maintain their new form. They don\u2019t change back. The human is just a goner when they turn into a Half Breed. They are fast, vicious and in constant pain which makes them dangerous all the time. Then there are Mongrels, who encompass shapeshifters from other legends such as were-leopards, were-cats, were-whatever else that\u2019s not a wolf. All of these factions are doing their own thing, have their own agendas and pose their own threat. The Skinners have to fight them all. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What can writers who don’t ordinarily read horror learn from reading within the genre?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>They can learn that horror is more than blood and guts. It\u2019s a roller coaster ride that needs a mix of things like humor, drama and the mundane in order to make the horror stuff seem more horrific. It takes a special touch to put words on a page that inspire fear or even get a reader\u2019s heart pumping faster. A character needs to seem real for it to have any impact on a reader when they\u2019re put through whatever grinder the horror writer has in mind for them. Plus, there are lots of kinds of horror. Mine is being overwhelmed by a creature that can outrun you and tear you to pieces. Think of being chased by a bear, watching your friends drop one by one and knowing you\u2019re next. Lots of action and thrills. There are subtler types of horror that hit on a psychological level or on a base-instinct level. All of these are more than just things jumping out at you. People who knock the horror genre don\u2019t give us credit for all the setup that\u2019s involved in a good scare. A lot goes into it. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2028\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the nature of the work you do for Nevermore Paranormal ghost hunting group?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>I help out with a lot of the work in the field or in reviewing evidence. Much like Ghost Hunters<\/em> or any number of those kinds of shows, we go out to locations with equipment and recorders to try and catch evidence of the paranormal. I go on investigations, do EVP sessions, set up and break down the cameras and afterward I watch hours and hours and hours of video in the hopes of catching a shadow or swinging door. It can be extremely boring, but is very<\/em> rewarding when we catch something. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What has gaming taught you about writing?\u00a0 How does gaming feed your fiction writing?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Gaming has taught me a lot! I used to be heavy into pen and paper role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> or the White Wolf World of Darkness<\/em> games. Running games like that taught me how to make a story fluid and work around characters that did things I wasn\u2019t expecting. I had an ending in mind or major points to hit, but the players weren\u2019t always cooperative so I learned how to adjust the plot (often enhancing it for the better) to still hit the points I wanted to hit. When the characters in my books run astray, I know how to deal with it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I\u2019m a very visual person, video games get my creative juices flowing. I\u2019ll play something, watch the story unfold, watch the action and think about stuff I could do that would be as cool (or cooler) than what I\u2019m seeing. Watching that kind of crazy action also gives me a way of visualizing the pacing of an action scene in a book. <\/span>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2028\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

You also write Westerns as Marcus Galloway.<\/span><\/strong>\u2028<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>I love the western genre because I love those characters. Doc Holliday is a personal favorite of mine and I was honored to have written The Accomplice series based in his earlier years. Writing westerns allows me to dabble in real history and create stories set in an iconic setting. There\u2019s something unique and exhilarating in writing about gunfighters and gamblers, knowing those guys really existed. That\u2019s also the biggest challenge. I like writing my stories and I\u2019ll be true to the historical figures, but I should be able to embellish the rest. One time, an editor for one of my westerns pointed out that a town I wrote about never existed and that there wasn\u2019t a trail like the one I had my character use. I know those things didn\u2019t exist. I made them up! It\u2019s fiction. When history is involved, there can be too much harping on 100% accuracy. It\u2019s a fine balance, but still one I enjoy. <\/span>\u2028\u2028<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What’s next for you?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

*\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Pelegrimas:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m working on the next two books in the Skinners series. Also, I\u2019m shopping around some other things like more westerns, a few new urban fantasy and horror ideas, and a mystery project. I\u2019d really like to get something going in the steampunk genre. Putting my background in historicals to use, combining it with the more fantastic stuff I\u2019ve done and putting it all into a tweaked historical setting sounds like a lot of fun!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n