Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a big fan of Roast Books. I’ve very much been looking forward to their latest publication, a collaborated collection of short stories written by Alan McCormick and illustrated by Jonny Voss.
This collection offers two layers, ‘Scumsters’ which are short shorts, inspired by the illustrations and ‘Dogsbodies’ which are longer stories.
And so, through the stories in ‘Dogsbodies and Scumsters’ the reader meets a surreal ensemble of misfits with a wonky simplicity that appeals to my tastes. It’s got to be said that my tastes in short story writing are simple. I like that some of this collection made me uncomfortable, I like that some of it was disturbing. But more than that, I especially like that this collection didn’t conform, that it offered something different. I like different.
Talking to Alan:
Great title! Can you tell me where the seeds of inspiration came from for this collection of short stories? I started writing stories in 2001 on a creative Writing Course run by the short story writer, Linda Leatherbarrow at the City Lit in London and continued with the short story form on the Writing MA at Middlesex University. Then I was living in Vauxhall. A surprisingly large minority of my neighbours were ill and troubled. I had also worked in a psychiatric hospital in the early eighties. I found my voice, my style as a short story writer, when I started being drawn to write about unusual, unsettled people. I didn’t write about particular people I knew but a feeling for writing about those on the outside, ‘Dogsbodies’, emerged in most of my stories, and over the years of writing the collection has slowly come together.
You collaborate with Jonny Voss. Which came first, the stories or the illustrations? I respond to Jonny’s pictures. Jonny has a wonderfully unique style and a wild imagination. I love being reactive, and his pictures liberate me to write the first thing that comes into my head after looking at them.
Any tips for people considering collaborating with a writer or illustrator? I can only speak for myself and working with Jonny. I’ve been lucky. I guess you should be open to each other’s input and find someone whose work and imagination you like and are inspired by.
I love to hear about publication journeys, so how did ‘Dogsbodies and Scumsters’ come to be published? Much of the work in the book has been performed and published individually in print and online but, whilst I always thought the illustrated work with Jonny might find it place together in book form, I wasn’t so sure in the present publishing climate about my story collection. It was Faye Dayan’s idea at Roast Books to put the Dogsbodies short stories together into the same collection with Scumsters, the illustrated work with Jonny. That was a very exciting and original proposal and it’s been great being published by such an experimental publisher who is willing to take chances and try something different.
Some of the proceeds from sales will be donated to charity. Can you tell me a little more about that? One of the stories in the book, The Sacred Elephant, won a competition in 2008 judged by Ruth Rendell to become InterAct Reading Service’s first Writer in Residence. I wrote five more stories for InterAct, all of which are in the book. They are an amazing organisation run by the wonderful writer, Nirjay Mahindru, dedicated to giving live readings of fiction and poetry (sometimes jokes) by professional actors in hospitals and Stroke clubs. The effect of their readings has a remarkable therapeutic effect on language, mood and recovery for people who have suffered strokes. It was Faye’s idea to donate half the proceeds of the book, and two actresses from InterAct will be reading at the launch of the book on June 7.
Have you any tips for writers who are looking to get their short story collections published? Not much useful to say. I love writing but it’s been a struggle to get a book published. The only thing I would suggest is to send your work out when it’s ready, and when you’re ready for people to have sometimes unhelpful reactions. I kept writing and putting my work out there and was lucky enough to find a publisher. Good fortune was needed as much as perseverance.
Which short story writers have inspired you? Linda Leatherbarrow, my first tutor, is a wonderful short story writer. I love so many, most of the usual suspects - Checkhov, Carver, Trevor, Joyce (James not Yootha), Ellen Gilchrist, Flannery O’Connor, Flann O’Brien, Donald Barthelme, Kafka, A.M. Homes,… sometimes other writers in writing groups I attend or run. Recently, I really enjoyed Nik Perring’s ‘Not So Perfect’.
And, finally, (with the skillful smoothness of the finest of interviewers) do you, in any way, know Simon Cowell? Oddly enough, we went to the same Prep school. Simon used to carry my satchel home for me. He was obsessed by German military history and sang in a strange high-pitched voice about taking over the world. Not many people liked him but I always thought he had something; it’s nice to see him doing so well.
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About the author:Alan McCormick was recently Writer in Residence for the Stroke charity, InterAct Reading Service. His short stories have won numerous prizes and have been widely published and performed.
About the illustrator:Jonny Voss has been working in London as an illustrator since 2000. His personal drawings and commissioned work can be seen at Jonny Voss Illustration.
About the collaboration: Alan and Jonny collaborate on illustrated shorts – see their work on 3:AM, Dead Drunk Dublin and on their own sites Scumsters and Dogsbodies and Scumsters . Their book, ‘Dogsbodies and Scumsters’ is available HERE.
