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The Department of Tangents Podcast

DoT EP103: Horror Author and Editor Scott Goudsward on Zombies, Vampires, and Indie Publishing, plus New Music from Reverse

Years ago, playing a sort of improv game with friends in which we all picked super powers based on our personalities, I dubbed myself “Tangent Lad.” I was not a very strong superhero, and I could not defeat a super villain on my own, but I could distract them with Monty Python quotes and football trivia. I have many times since apologized to an interview subject in my capacity as a journalist by saying, “I am either very good or very bad at tangents, depending on how you feel about tangents.”

I had a rough time coming up with the concept and naming this blog/podcast. I knew I wanted to create a place where I could address things I’m passionate about – comedy, music, and horror. Finding a name that communicated all three of those things proved a bit impossible. I bugged my friends, and they all tried to help. To no avail. Then I thought, maybe I’m approaching this from the wrong angle. Maybe my lack of focus should be the focus.

As a journalist, I have written for The Boston Globe since 2000, starting out writing CD reviews and then writing a regular column on comedy for seven and a half years. I still contribute there, and to Kirkus Reviews, and other publications. I’m also a musician, and released my debut full-length album, Blue Skies and Broken Arrows, in March of 2015. And I’ve been publishing short horror fiction for a couple of years.

I like to climb into things I love and see how they operate. That’s what the Department of Tangents is for. The main thing here is love. To talk about the things that make I’ve loved forever, and some new things that might stand the test and be around, at least for me, for decades to come. I’ve had to be critical in my writing at times, and it might not all be nonstop roses here, but in the end, what I really want to talk about is the good stuff. That’s why I will regularly write about things I think are “Perfect,” even if someone can demonstrate empirically that they are flawed. Still perfect to me.

Also, fish.

I hope you, dear anonymous surfer person, will come to expect only the highest-quality, free-range, grass-fed tangents. And I hope some of you love the same things I do and find it useful. Or at least a welcome distraction until the others get here.

DoT EP103: Horror Author and Editor Scott Goudsward on Zombies, Vampires, and Indie Publishing, plus New Music from Reverse

Aug 22, 2019

This is the second interview I recorded at this year’s NECON conference, which is part horror author’s conference and part summer camp. It is with Scott Goudsward, a very busy fellow. I’ve been trying to catch up with him for months, but as you are about to find out, Scott has a lot of jobs. He has written two novels -- Fountain of the Dead and Trailer Trash -- and many short stories, co-edited a series of guidebooks based on horror landmarks with his brother, David Goudsward, and is editor or co-editor of many horror anthologies. The latest anthology is hot off the presses as of August, and it is called Wicked Weird, weird, Lovecraftian fiction from the New England Horror Writers Press. That is available as an ebook and in print as of August 23, and includes a short from J. Edwin Buja, whom I also interviewed at NECON for EP100 of the podcast.

It isn’t easy being an indie writer, or an indie publisher. Scott talks a bit about the perils of the independent publishing world, having to jump from one house to another with a project, and publishers folding before a book can get published. But we also talk about a lot more positive things, like how welcoming the New England writing community can be, especially at NECON. And we also talk about how to approach zombies and vampires without retreading all the old tropes, The Walking Dead, Midsommer, musical inspiration, and more.

Find out more about Scott and buy his works at <a href="http://www.goudsward.com/scott/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Goudsward.com</a>. The new anthology is called Wicked Weird and is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Weird-Anthology-England-Writers-ebook/dp/B07W4L4JY7/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wicked+weird&qid=1566490907&s=digital-text&sr=1-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-weird-david-price/1132874407?ean=9780998185439&st=PLA&sid=BNB_ADL+Core+Good+Books+-+Desktop+Low&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpY6zvPGW5AIVhSaGCh2XCgr6EAQYAiABEgLXBPD_BwE" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble online</a>, and other retailers, and you can find this and other compilations at <a href="http://nehw.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">NewEnglandHorror.org</a>.

This week’s featured track is “Red Drum” by Boston rockers Reverse from their new album What’s Your Problem. If you like dark, muscular guitar riffs and a creeping sense that the world is about to fall apart, this album is for you. The chorus to this one is, “Way up high/Windows in the sky/And the sun’s gonna fall out/Wave goodbye/And I don’t know why/There’s a name I call out.” There’s a terseness to the riffs that reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age. These songs just move. Sadly, this will be the last album by the band, as we lost singer/guitarist Ian Kennedy last year. If you buy the vinyl of What’s You Problem, all of the proceeds go to Kennedy’s wife and daughter. You can find the music on BandCamp under <a href="http://reverse6.bandcamp.com" rel="noopener" target="_blank">reverse6.bandcamp.com</a> or search for the band name and the album title on <a href="https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/Reverse5" rel="noopener" target="_blank">CDBaby</a> and other sources.