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Trevor Denyer Interviewed
1. So Trevor, you are the editor of Midnight Street. You used to edit Roadworks. What is the difference between the two? Is it just a change of name or is there more to it? What was the reason for the change?
The content of Midnight Street is as varied as the content of Roadworks, publishing a broad and diverse range of fiction, from slipstream to mainstream, yet retaining a connection – sometimes tenuous – with the horror / dark fantasy genre. There are a number of reasons for the change. Firstly, although Roadworks consistently received good reviews and was highly regarded within the small press, its subscriber base was shrinking. As a result, cost was outweighing income to the extent that I could not have sustained such a loss from my personal finances any longer. I think that this can be a problem for magazines that have been around for a number of years. A reader fatigue sets in which de-motivates the editor. Once the process ceases to be enjoyable, or becomes burdensome, there are limited options. The option I chose was to change the presentation, thus allowing me to reconsider the image I wanted to present. I felt that the title needed to become more evocative. For me, and hopefully others, Midnight Street conjures numerous images, from romantic through to horrific, and was inspired by This Year’s Love, a song by David Gray, from his album, White Ladder:
“And when you kiss me
I’ve always wanted a colour cover, and one way to afford this was to produce a magazine that is more a magazine than a paperback book. A stapled, A4 design was cheaper, and allowed scope for the colour cover. It also allowed me to reduce the price from £5.00 to £3.50 per copy. My other publication, Legend – now also closed because of a shrinking subscriber base, despite critical acclaim – featured a lot of illustrations, which I felt was one of its greatest strengths. This was an A4 sized magazine. Midnight Street is a magazine that combines the quality of writing that Roadworks displayed, with the space to feature illustrations, and at a cheaper price.
2. Was Roadworks the first magazine that you edited? When did you start with it, how did you get started and what type of magazine were you aiming for? How did the magazine develop over the years?
Roadworks was not the first magazine I edited, but I’ll come to that later. The idea behind the full title – ‘Roadworks – Tales From the Hard Road’ – was that the magazine would provide a showcase for works, forged on the hard road of writing. The first issue was published in October 1998 and consisted of stories gleaned mainly from people in the Writers Circle I belonged to at the time. This included Gary Couzens, who provided an interview as well as a story. I had previously met Allan Ashley and Paul Pinn at London pub gatherings in the past, so I contacted them and they provided stories. So did LH Maynard & MPN Sims, who were editing Enigmatic Tales at the time. So you could say that the first issue was a case of beg, steal or borrow – well, maybe not the steal part! The early issues of Roadworks were produced using Word on my home computer. Pictures were literally cut and pasted onto the hard copy which was then photocopied at ‘Prontaprint’. I’d always been interested in producing a magazine that covered a wide range of fiction broadly categorised as horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and slipstream. I knew what I liked and felt sure that others would enjoy the same things. This has always been my editing philosophy, and so far it seems to have paid off. Over the years I made a number of changes to Roadworks in an attempt to improve its professional appearance. From an A4 photocopied magazine it became a properly printed magazine (through TTA Press), and later an A5, perfect bound trade paperback with a consequential increase in page count. From Word I moved to using Serif PagePlus, which is a virtually idiot-proof desktop publisher (so it suits me!). I still use it to produce Midnight Street, and the website (www.midnightstreet.co.uk). The first magazine I edited was a school magazine. This was partly to escape games periods which I loathed! I ended up with an ‘editorial team’ of five shirkers. That magazine was a masterpiece of hand-written, hand-drawn invention. Still, we did manage to obtain a mention in the local Surrey Advertiser, who agreed to type up and print about ten copies of one of the issues for us. I was very proud of that achievement; my first taste of fame way back in 1966!
3. Can we go back a bit and talk about your early years. What sort of fiction did you read when you were a teenager? Was there a writer whose work you really loved? Have your tastes in fiction changed much since those days?
You’ve got me wallowing in nostalgia now! I suppose my reading tastes then were similar to now in that they’ve always been eclectic and not particularly highbrow. I used to read Issac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Ursula LeGuin. I was enthralled by the Foundation series and the idea of predicting the future. I loved novels of immense scale in time and space. 2001, A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama were stunning novels. I remember reading classic Pan and Fontana horror and ghost story collections, and of course, Edgar Allen Poe. I recall being scared out of my wits at hearing my father arriving home one dark and stormy night when I was in the outside toilet, having just read Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Then there were books I related to as a teenager such as Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush by Hunter Davies. That was the time of serious relationships (or so I thought at the time) and heavy wanking! Having said all that, I also enjoyed reading Dickens, especially Oliver Twist. So, from that seething cauldron of reading, growing and identifying came my present wide-ranging tastes. Writers I enjoy now include Stephen King (doesn’t everyone?) and Stephen Baxter, in my opinion, one of the absolute best SF writers around. I defy you to read Evolution and not be impressed.
4. Did you want to be a writer when you were young? Have you written any fiction?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I’m something of a lazy sod – unless I’m really inspired I’ve often let life get in the way of my writing ambition. It’s often easier to take the line of least resistance rather than to go against the grain in pursuit of a dream that might become real. Having said that, I have written quite a few short stories, some of which have been published. I suppose I discovered the Small Press quite late in my life (53 years and counting now!). Since that discovery I’ve appeared in magazines such as Scheherezade, Nasty Piece of Work, Enigmatic Tales, Night Dreams, Footesteps, Urges and so on. Most of my stories fall within the horror and supernatural remit, and I did receive an Honourable Mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror for a story called The Edge of the Country, which appeared on-line at Time Out Net Books in the late ‘90s. I’ve recently had an acceptance by a new magazine, The Horror Express, edited by Marc Shemmans, which shows great promise (if it can survive long enough). I’ve also written two novels – well, one semi-autobiographical one – the sort that a lot of people write – and also an erotic horror fantasy (yeah – eclectic again!), which is two thirds finished. The trouble with that one is that I’ve written myself into a corner. I think there are too many ideas in there. Maybe one day I’ll finish it, maybe not. I intend spending more time on my writing in the future, but probably working on short stories, which has always been my first love.
5. What do you think of small press fiction mags these days? Do you think they were better in the past?
I’ve already mentioned The Horror Express, which has a very professional appearance and deserves to succeed (www.horrorexpress.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk). Another recent goody is Gary Fry’s Fusing Horizons (www.fusinghorizons.com) which interestingly concerns itself with the quality of its fiction rather than a seriously professional look with illustrations. I think that it is a lot easier to do and consequently more expected now that a magazine looks the part, and some (obvious examples: The Third Alternative and Crimewave) are on a par, if not better than many so called mainstream productions. This is fine in its way, but it does increase the pressure on an editor to produce something that looks good, as well as containing quality content. It’s also more expensive, and cost definitely kills small press magazines! Let’s face it, the market for short genre fiction is limited, so although it may be easier and more technically possible to produce professionally looking magazines, it’s also a lot more expensive. As someone wrote to me recently, “There’s something amiss with the world of small press magazines. In Darwinian terms, they’re not cut out for survival“. I think it’s difficult to say whether small press mags were better in the past or not. I’m sure there were more of them, and a lot more crap was published then as a result. I think editors are more discerning now because there are fewer outlets and plenty of writers competing for those markets. Having said that, it is still true that amongst all the dross there are and always have been very good writers, some of whom have been in the field for a relatively long time – people like Allan Ashley, Joel Lane, Andrew Humphrey, Antony Mann, Paul Finch and others too numerous to mention.
6. Why is it that there are no widely distributed commercially successful short story magazines around these days? I mean magazines like Astounding Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Argosy, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. They all published good stories and were commercially successful. Why are there not any magazines like that these days?
My feeling is that available entertainment media has expanded to such an extent that it has created a kind of redundancy as far as certain, more archaic media is concerned. TV channels, computers, on-line material, films, trashy novels etc have all become far more available to ordinary people than ever before. Also, the expectations and pressures within people’s working environment mean that leisure time is at a higher premium. As a rule, people read less than they did, and often, when they do, they prefer material that is not too cerebral. This, I feel, has led to the decline of the short story as a popular form. There is an entertainment overload – generally of an inferior quality – that has swamped such magazines, reducing what was once a commercially viable form to one that has become archaic. The small press market is the legacy of that, sustained mainly by a minority of genuinely enthusiastic readers and writers.
7. I know that editing a small press magazine is very time consuming as you have to read and perhaps reread dozens of stories. Then you have to reply to the writers and get everything ready for the printer. Do you worry about whether you’ve got everything right? By ‘right’ I mean chosen the right stories?
I tend to use my own instinct to decide whether I’ve got it ‘right’ or not. This has proved generally reliable, though I have, on occasions, not got it right. But this is such a subjective area that what may be ‘right’ for one person will be ‘wrong’ for another, though there are certain basic tenets that reduce the chances of a ‘wrong’ decision. Fortunately for me, the ‘wrong’ bits have been outweighed by the ‘right’ bits! As an editor I’ve experienced the most incredible learning curve, during which my instinct has sharpened. When I consider a story now I’m putting it under an intensely critical microscope, but I’m also looking at it from an instinctive viewpoint. The acid test is: does this story excite me? Do I feel that I’ve got to publish it because I want others to experience that surge of excitement that elevates them to a higher plain? It’s not something that can be quantified; I just know. Generally, the feedback has been good, and I use this as a kind of barometer to judge what I do in the future. One thing I don’t do is try to anticipate what other readers will like if the story is one that I’m not particularly keen on. I know what I like and I hope that others will like the same things too.
8. How do you go about editing and rejecting stories? Do you solicit work or just choose what takes your fancy out of what is sent to you? If you think a story would benefit from editing do you suggest to the writer that you do some editing on it or he/she does it? If you do it do you ever feel that you are rewriting it according to the way you would have written it?
Part of the answer to this is in the previous answer. One thing that an editor must be aware of is that, rightly or wrongly, names sell magazines. So it is a fact that a certain amount of soliciting does go on! Having said that, my ‘reputation’ now is such that I receive a lot of excellent work from writers who are well known, certainly within the small press. For some reason, well known, commercially successful writers don’t generally patronise the small press, though my experience is that those who do have risen through the ranks with the considerable help of small press magazines. I guess that if you’re a best-selling author, your sites are very different and you will almost certainly have an agent. I’ve managed to solicit stories from writers such as Stephen Baxter, Steve Harris and Nicholas Royle. This has usually been because I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I’m sure I could improve the odds by attending conventions and networking more. Unfortunately, its something that a busy schedule doesn’t allow for as much as I’d like. As a rule, I choose stories from the ones I receive, which is a lot! As I said before, my main guide is my instinct and that unquantifiable feeling of excitement! I think that an editor who ignores that and favours well known writers over unknowns is missing out on a great deal of hidden treasure, some of which is far superior than the output of writers who have ‘made it’. As far as editing work is concerned, I will make minor adjustments, mainly to punctuation and grammar, though I do that less now than I did. Because I have so much to choose from I rarely suggest changes to manuscripts. At the moment, if it doesn’t fit it gets rejected, usually with a comment as to why. I know this sounds harsh, but a part time editor like me has very little time available to work with writers at that level. I think that the craft is better learned through writers groups and others within a writer’s peer group who are prepared to give honest feedback. Only then submit work to busy editors!
9. What sort of stories are you really looking for? Is it easy to find the type of stories that you really want?
With Midnight Street, and previously as time went on, with Roadworks, the kind of stories I’m really looking for are those with depth. I want work that elicits an emotional, maybe melancholy or reflective response, work that resonates and leaves an impression that lingers. Good, interesting, unusual characterisation is very important to me, as it’s by that means that a writer can move into these areas. Many of the stories I receive fail on one of two counts (or both):
Don’t get me wrong, plot is also very important to me. That’s the driver for a story. If that’s missing, unless a piece is expertly handled, the whole thing can become stodgy and boring.
This is what distinguishes a story from the amateur and elevates it to professional status. My view is that if you can’t construct a decent sentence then you need to consider further education!
I accept that some stories will fall into the experimental field, and that’s fine if it’s the author’s intention from the outset. I do feel, though, that the old adage is true: You need to know the rules before you can break them.
It’s not easy to find the type of stories I really want, though I’m convinced that certain writers have managed to crack the code! Whenever I receive a manuscript from them, my interest is piqued. That doesn’t mean I’ll accept their work on the strength of previous acceptances, but I know from the outset that their chances of acceptance will generally be higher than someone who’s effectively ‘shooting in the dark’. It carries a lot of weight with me if someone has bothered to read the magazine before submitting.
10. Which writers that you’ve published would you say are really good and are ones to watch in the future?
This is a difficult one. Many of the writers I’ve published are now relatively well known. I include Allen Ashley, Paul Finch, Paul Pinn, Joel Lane, Andrew Humphrey, Andrew Hook, Antony Mann, Gary Couzens, Marion Arnott and Lauren Halkon amongst these. Others, like James Ward and David Gullen are very talented and could do very well if their output was higher. I’ve currently got stories awaiting publication by other excellent writers including David Penn, Ralph Robert Moore, Scott Tranter, Paul Edwards and more. Watch this space, as they say!
11. How do you feel about labelling and categorising stories? Do you feel there is just good fiction and bad fiction and that it’s pointless trying to sort stories into categories and genres?
I think it’s important to have a ‘routemap’ that provides you with a general idea of what you’re going to get, but most people, except maybe the really obsessive, enjoy reading stories that cover a variety of genres or categories. The magazines I’ve published have always covered a wide range of stories, some of which can be categorised more easily than others, but all of which fall into the general genre headings that it advertises. Once again, my primary focus is upon my considered opinion as to the worth of a story, not upon which genre category it might fall into. That is why I’ve sometimes included fiction that is on the extreme edge of genre, and almost crosses over to mainstream. I’m sure I will continue to do this in the future. Therefore, from my point of view, there is, at the end of the day, just good fiction and bad fiction, and I guess, some that straddles that fence; average fiction, I suppose you’d call it!
12. What makes a really good horror story? Can you name your top 5 horror stories?
Well, from my own subjective viewpoint I’d say that a really good horror story is one that relies not so much upon abstract monsters, blood and gore, but upon horrors that are maybe far closer to home. Real life horror is all around us. Nine-eleven was a good example, as are many of the terrorist atrocities that have become so prevalent. These are obscenities that revolt most decent people. So a good horror story must be more than the sum of its parts. It must be shocking at a fundamental level. It must knock away some of the comforts that we have built around ourselves. As for naming my top 5 horror stories, I think that’s a very difficult task for me. What comes to mind are novels (often filmed also, and thus inextricably linked in my mind). I can’t put them into a top 5 list, but would include the following:
13. Does being an editor give you a feeling of satisfaction? Does presenting stories in a magazine give you a feeling of satisfaction? Does being an editor make you feel important? Does it give you a feeling of power and control? Or does it make you feel like burying your head under a blanket?
Being an editor does give me a feeling of satisfaction when I see the end result. Some issues of the magazines I’ve published have pleased me more than others. I’m very proud of Midnight Street #1, which I think has achieved the right balance of what I want to do. I enjoy the process of selecting stories because I feel I do have a limited power to help good writers become better known. I enjoy putting the magazines together, and considering how best to present work. In many ways, I prefer editing to writing because it calls upon a multitude of creative skills. It is a means of achieving something that I have direct control over. As far as burying my head under a blanket goes, I’ve not felt that way yet. I think if I did, I’d probably not want to continue as an editor.
14. It often seems to me that the world of small press publishing is a bit like a roundabout. A writer sends work out to magazines and hopefully gets things published here and there. The magazines are read by other writers and editors mostly and it’s like a little world of its own. A writer goes around and around getting stuff published but never achieves any real recognition outside the world of small press mags. When the writer gets off the small press roundabout he is quickly forgotten and another takes his place. So my question is: Is this all that can ever be hoped for? What is the reason for this situation? Is it because the writing published in small press magazines is uncommercial? Or is the reason a lack of interest by the general reading public? What are your thoughts?
My thoughts around this are, firstly that it isn’t only writers and editors that read small press magazines. As a magazine becomes better known, so it will attract readers that are interested in the genre, and therefore less commercial markets. Often, those that write and edit in this field are the people who are also interested in reading the same kind of material. I do think there is a lack of interest by the general reading public for the reasons given in an earlier answer, but there is still a substantial minority that want to read, and be challenged by the sort of work published within the small press. Though it may be true that many writers do remain on the small press roundabout for a while, and are forgotten when they get off (sounds like The Magic Roundabout!), it is equally true that a few will break through. Stephen Baxter, Nicholas Royle and Michael Marshall (Smith) come to mind. To some extent, who gives a fuck anyway? As long as there are people who enjoy what the small press does, and want to be involved, then the small press will remain as a kind of proving ground for aspiring writers.
15. How do you recognise an original writing talent? Are there any objective standards or is it just a matter of taste?
My experience is that an original writing talent will leap out at you (metaphorically speaking, of course!). It’s a bit like something glowing amongst a sea of grey. I suppose there are certain objective standards that must be in place, but these are what gives a piece that professional feel. There has to be something more than that, though; a kind of spirit that brings the story alive. I don’t think that you can quantify it, but I know it when I see it.
16. If a well-known writer sent you a story that you didn’t really like and you thought it wasn’t one of his/her best what would you do? Would you reject it, or would you accept it simply because it had been written by a well-known writer?
I’ve probably answered this somewhere along the way, but I think, if I’m honest, the standards for a well-known writer might be slightly less stringent. Having said that, a well-known writer should be more expert at his craft, so may produce a more professional story anyway. Not always the case, I know, but in general terms, this is probably true! I think it’s important for an editor to sell his magazine. Without sales, the magazine dies, no matter how laudable the editor’s principles. Well-known writers sell magazines! I would just add, though, that a bad story, even from a well-known writer (except maybe Stephen King!) would be rejected.
17. So are you happy to continue editing a fiction magazine for years and years, or do you really want to do something different in the future?
I don’t know how long I’d want to edit a fiction magazine for. The answer is really more about how long readers, writers and reviewers are prepared to support it. Ideally, I’d love to just go on for years and years doing this, but realistically, there may come a point where it becomes financially not viable, or where sales trail off and disillusionment sets in. I do believe that you have to move with the times, and be prepared, sometimes, to kill your babies (as with Roadworks and Legend). But there are always new ideas that occur to me. The latest is to produce some of my favourite Roadworks stories on CD (not as an audio format – too complicated at the moment, but as files that can be either read on the screen or printed off and read). I’m also very keen to develop the website (www.midnightstreet.co.uk), and to include additional material that relates to the print magazine. This will be headed up, Midnight Street Extra. So, in an ever-changing world I think it’s important to remain flexible. One thing you can rely on is that everything I do under the Immediate Direction publications banner will be interesting and to the highest standards I can manage. Many thanks, Cory.
Trevor Denyer – April 2004
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