"[T]he city's darker rhythms began their nightly tune up. Gunning engines and wolf whistels as a harried dancer in a beetle-green hood and parrot-feather hat threaded her way through the curvaceous custom rides cruising South Lutteroth Boulevard. That flat pop-pop-pop echoing thorugh the alleys, an all too familiar sound that could have been firecrackers but wasn't..."
Welcome to the third installment of my interview with Christa Faust, part of my deceptively simple feature: Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a serialized set of weekly interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.Jason Boog:
Hoodtown is a wild and crazy genre-bending book. How did you find a publisher for this book that appeals to such varied tastes? I'm sure you got some strange looks when you told people about it. How do you advise the fledgling writer with an idea that seems a bit outside the mainstream, a book with no precedent?
Christa Faust:
Before Nacho Libre no one in New York seemed to be able to comprehend Lucha Libre (masked Mexican wrestling) on any level...
Not as a cult phenomenon, not as a legit and historic sport, not at all. Here in Los Angeles, the Mexican cultural influence is very strong. In L.A., you can see live Lucha Libre matches virtually every weekend, buy Santo DVDs at wholesale prices and sip cocktails at trendy Lucha themed bars.
Fashion designers and advertisers, skaters and artists and local bands all utilize the striking imagery of masked wrestlers. Back in New York, you might find someone who saw “those masked guys” once on cable while channel surfing for something else, but that would be pretty much it.
On top of the whole weird mask thing, the other problem with Hoodtown was the fact that the main character is a thick, heavyset woman in her 40's who is both sexy and hardboiled.
See, you’re allowed to have an older woman with a big ass solving cozy crimes with her cat. Or you can have a gorgeous young hit-Barbie who shoots first and asks questions later. But to have a older woman who is tough and sexy and real and still has a big ass, well, that’s a much harder sell.
When I was shopping around, I got a lot of head scratching and “This is really great, but…” Everyone wanted to see the next thing, but no one wanted to give Hoodtown a shot.
I was very close to giving up on it and trying something else when From Parts Unknown (FPU) editor Keith Rainville made the offer to publish Hoodtown through FPU. There was absolutely no question that he knew where I was coming from.
As the driving force behind the best, most comprehensive English language magazine dedicated to masked wrestling, Rainville didn’t need me to spell it out for him. Plus he also loves the vintage pulp paperbacks that had a strong influence on me. We were on the same page about everything from day one.
I was a little nervous because Hoodtown would be the first novel published by FPU, but I gotta tell you, Rainville knocked it out of the park. Hoodtown is hands down the best looking book I’ve ever published.
I have no idea what to tell someone with a quirky idea other than just go ahead and write it. Then, if no one goes for it, write another. And another one after that.
I’m a big believer in the sperm theory rather than the egg theory of selling your fiction. Don’t invest years and years polishing and nurturing one special baby and whining because no one understands your genius. If nobody bites, move on to something else.
Want to know more about the novelization business?
Tune in tomorrow for another exciting installment of Five Easy Questions for Christa Faust...
Faust found out a key to success: going to meet peoples’ needs for imagination. Maybe James Bond’s time with beautiful young ladies is outdated. Literature needs new streams. She has found them.
Posted by: Melinda | August 10, 2006 12:23 PM | Permalink to Comment