Apex Book Company

As a new, untried minion of the Apex Empire, it was with great trepidation and quite a lot of fan-girl squeaking that I received my first assignment in the human realms. I was to acquire an interview with the infamous Brandy Schwan, the fiendishly brilliant poetess behind Apex’s upcoming release CATACOMBS AND PHOTOGRAPHS.

As any alien knows, research is the foundation for a successful campaign (the aliens from Signs taught us this much). I knew Ms. Schwan had composed GRIM TRIXTER, her superb and well-received first book of poetry, also published through Apex Publications. I knew she was somewhat reclusive, which would therefore mean that I would have to be diligent if I was to locate her in order to conduct this interview. And I also knew she had a penchant for Ghost Hunters, like myself. When I finished reading CATACOMBS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, I was sufficiently convinced that this would be a dangerous—perhaps even fatal—task.

But little did I know that of all Ms. Schwan’s clever ruses, the one she uses to lure innocent bystanders into her webs of metaphor and allusion is her disarming charm. Beware! If you have a weak or naïve mind, what follows may be too much for you. Even from the distance provided by the internet, she is hypnotizing.

This is the record of the interview as it took place in an undisclosed cyber-location.

Maggie Jamison: How did you first get started writing horror/dark fantasy poetry?

Brandy Schwan: The truth is, I am the reincarnated soul of some great poet from the past. This is pure natural talent. I was born to do it. Intended. I am ‘the’ poet, here to make history and once again become a legendary hero of literature. I actually came out of my Mother, pen in hand ready to take on the World of poetry without a second of study aside from my former life. In-fact, Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19th (some debate on that actually), and I was born January 18th. I was early for my return, not even fashionably late. It must have been the spirits threw me off tipsy. So, you see? It was all destiny, and I rather enjoy being a woman this time around, although, I could do without the monthly curse.

How did you enjoy that crock of bull**** (laughing). It would be fun if it could be that interesting, wouldn’t it? But, it is quite the usual story I am afraid - no dreamed up romantic twist to it. As a child, poetry in all forms was read to me, I took to it with great interest. My mother’s attic, where I loved to hide was full of literature and that is where it all started. When I learned to write, I had a go at it and decided it turned out pretty good. Poetry was useful is several ways - A place to hide secrets between the lines, while serving as a wonderful ego boost to my intelligence; even if I was the only admirer at that time. Poetry was a naughty confessional, guarded by a dark and devious priest just waiting to consume wicked little secrets. And, there you have it. I loved it, studied it, admired it, embraced it as something I would want to master. One day, I may even accomplish that goal - not as a blast from the past but, by way of dedication and study. It will be all my doing, my name, my accomplishment worked for and well deserved; inspired by the true masters, of course-credit where credit is due. On a side note: had I been the reincarnated genius from the past, I do believe I might be entirely ticked off to start all over again from scratch as I have done. I have so much learning ahead of me to meet the finish line successfully, without falling on my face to many times - God forbid, in public.

MJ: If it were only so easy as to be reincarnated as Edgar Allan Poe! Would certainly save a lot of time in the editing process! But this does lead me rather well into my next question: in a lot of ways, I am a complete Luddite when it comes to poetry. I know how a lot of different authors go about starting a short story, but what is your process when you start to write a poem?

BS: I write slowly, sometimes taking weeks to get to a final line of poetry. When I get to that point, I put it away for quite sometime, so I can go back and read/rework it with new eyes. There are many poems I have been working on for years. It is very rare that I have been satisfied with something I wrote in a day. While I can write several in one day - they are not complete, structured. This is the point where madness sets in because I can’t say I have ever been fully satisfied with anything. Everything I have ever written I could rework to no end.

The key is to know when to set the pen down and be content. Trying to reach absolute perfection is an obsessive, vicious circle that has more to do with the writer’s self-inflicted torment than to impress the reader. One of the reasons it turns into a vicious cycle is due to learning, experience - as my skill grows stronger, gaining more tools, I want to go back and apply those new tools to past work. I find myself scowling and disgusted, embarrassed by yesterday’s weaknesses. But I also know that if I keep going back, I cannot move forward into new creations. So, you see - it is a repeating nightmare, although one I love to live in. Literature’s masochists - We are many (laughing).

MJ: That is so true. I’ve often found myself suffering from that exact plight: always wanting to go back and rework old projects, never moving forward. I suppose it helps when the project goes to print, if only because it’s finalized in some form. Now that CATACOMBS AND PHOTOGRAPHS is finished, do you have any other projects on the table?

BS: When the project goes to print - I find this the most difficult part of the process. I know when I let it go there is nothing I can do to pull it back. I have gone over past printed projects and absolutely felt mad in wanting to change them. I have learned to relax and know that future work will prove my learning and growing. It is much like looking at a photo album of a child, flipping the pages and lovingly watching maturity bloom into what hopefully will one day become a dignified, successful, healthy, proud adult. We do our best and hope we have done it correctly through lessons, nurturing and strength.

Future projects - There had damn well better be or I will have a mass of work with no home! Yes, I have something on the table - always, always. I keep things fairly quiet and take my time.

MJ: Of all the serial killers you write your poems about in CATACOMBS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, who do you find the most creepy or the most fascinating?

BS: When I approach a true story, I approach it as if I am preparing to write a biography. I want the gritty truth - as close as I can get. I do not want to write the tale typically heard through history. I want to cozy up as close as I can to my monster and let him/her whisper truths in my ear - the villain and the victims. I do not want to write a cliché version. I want to capture something that is generally overlooked. Small, dark, telling details that awaken questions not considered before by readers, and myself. I also do not like to make the killer into a hero or, glorify their characters. I rather put them in their place, downgrade them as they deserve, give victims some kind of retribution. I want to show the killers as the pathetic things they were - open up their chest cavities and let in good clean, honesty. I want them with the worms where they belong. They were not interesting heroes of any kind. I want that felt and consumed. Understood. No sympathy, no mercy. Jack the Ripper, Ed Gein, Thomas Cream, and others were easy; truly foul creations within the cycle of human creation. Questions arose, yes, and still they were not quite the mystery as Lizzie proved to be.

So to answer your direct question - Lizzie Borden. Her case is twisted and incredibly interesting. There are so many theories to be considered. I found myself with more questions than answers after I completed my research. To write ‘Lizzie’s Pears’ took months of research and consideration, contemplation. I was looking for a key to the mystery and I found it. Obvious, sweet, and deep. ‘Obvious’ being one of those details that is right in front of our faces and yet easily overlooked by being too simple. After months of looking for something hidden, I found it grinning at me right on the surface. It hit me like a swift ax to the head…forgive the nasty pun. I saw her as I had never seen her before. From her grave she looked at me and said, “Do you see it, dear…? Do you get it now?”

In that moment I dove in and reworked her for weeks on end until it felt like a shared secret bled out from layers of tainted, sticky, bloody soil. So potent and real. I read 34 pages of the interrogation Lizzie crept through. She was incredibly intentional while only tripping slightly, rarely. It shook my spine when I found what I was looking for and reread that questioning after the crime. She scares the hell out of me. When I was finished, I could almost see her rocking in that chair, smiling in satisfaction and eating her sweet pears. Intelligent chill with a touch of innocence is the most frightening tool a human being can posses. She possessed it as if she created it herself. Do your research…you might get hit with something sharp and precise. But, did she do it? One way or another…she knew and took her place on the macabre Hall of Fame where she belongs without question.

MJ: “Lizzie’s Pears” is absolutely one of my favorite poems from this collection. The hard work shows and shines! Was there any poem in this collection that gave you particular trouble while composing?

BS: I think Ed Gein gave me the hardest time. I do not give serial killers any room to breathe when it comes to understanding and sympathy. But when reading the history of Gein, it is difficult to discount his childhood influences. I do not like pulling back from the fact that a monster is a monster. I do not enjoy making excuses for cruelty - even when we say “A killer is raised, influenced to be, not born Evil.” I am not of the popular belief that someone cannot be born bad - maybe it is the chemical science screaming through me that recognizes mental, emotional deformities. How many parents of killers have said “I did the best I could. I do not know what went wrong?” Many, actually, and can be traced through the childhood years to be quite true. Not to mention that when combined with medical science, it is difficult to argue someone being spiritually bad or not. This is all a piece of the big puzzle in my mind - Some are explainable and, some are not.

I have never, in all of my years, met a provable fact of mental examination, study, claim that could not be debated. What goes on in the human mind or the mind of any living thing is a mystery as far as I am concerned. This is the place of true enigma - everything based on it - opinion - scientific data by numbers and statistics - very convincing, but still the untouchable ghost by way of shiny steel tools and petri dishes. What we hold in our mind is not fleshy material outside of the encasing itself. What we hold in our mind is as translucent and physically untouchable as religion. Of course, this is my opinion, and you know what they say about that.

Gein fits into the fine print. One can read his history and say “Well, no wonder!” Quite a few fall into this category by their claims. However, I do acknowledge the fact that there are many of this world who have been raised in horrific circumstances and did not end up vicious killers. What makes up the difference? We are a species embracing reason… There must be a reason, someone, or something to blame. It frightens us to not have answers, reasons, numbers, data…proof…ability to change monsters into angels. We like to know we can control, but we cannot control all and it silently bothers us as we scramble to find chains to hold back the unseen, unknown. I found that Gein challenged my logic and sympathies by way of cause and effect, infecting the idea of two plus two - human limit of acceptance in what might have been born…bad. I could make excuses for him, but what if I decided not to hold those excuses entirely responsible? What becomes of the gray area? A breathing nightmare…no fiction. Leave a light glowing through a lampshade and it might just cast a glow upon Gein’s secret. To sympathize or not to sympathize…What is human need to believe and what is truth?

MJ: When dealing with serial killers, the question of nature verses nurture does seem to take on a far more complicated twist, doesn’t it?

Thank you so much for this interview Brandy! (And for letting me escape back to the Apex Mothership with all my fingers and toes!)

Brandy’s new chapbook, Catacombs & Photographs, is available for order from the Apex store. For more information about Brandy Schwan visit her website at www.grimtrixter.com.