Ron Mckenzie treats us to another guest Sinister Seven, this time with author Richard Kadrey:

Richard Kadrey claims, in his bio,“I have no qualifications for anything I do.” He’s fooled a lot of people, then. His first novel, Metrophage (1988) is considered one of the seminal works of the cyberpunk era, gaining accolades from such sci-fi luminaries as William Gibson and Norman Spinrad. Since then, he’s written numerous short stories and collections, as well as a graphic novel for Vertigo (Accelerate) and The Butcher Bird (2007), his first foray into contemporary urban fantasy (available as a free download through Nightshade Books). This first swing at the genre led Kadrey into his next (and arguably most popular) work to date, the high-octane supernatural-noir, Sandman Slim.

Both Slim, and its follow-up Kill the Dead, follow the exploits of James Stark, a punk magician who’s betrayed by his inner circle and sent to Hell. Eleven years later, after serving time as an assassin in the courts of Hell, he returns to L.A. – harder, stronger and mad as hell – for a little brimstone-fueled revenge. A hard and dirty mix of pulp fiction, fantasy and horror, with punk attitude to spare, the series has been a great success for Kadrey. Sandman Slim is one of the thirteen books on Barnes & Noble’s “Best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Last Decade” and Kill the Dead has made it on many critics’ Best Of lists for 2010. Not too bad for someone so unqualified.

Currently, Kadrey is prepping for the launch of the third Sandman Slim book, Aloha From Hell, but he was able to put aside some Sinister Seven time for us.

1. Let’s start at the beginning: what was the prime motivator in becoming a writer? Any particular inspirations or idols?

I’ll give you a very boring answer. I’m one of those people who’s been writing his whole life. I started my first novel when I was around nine. I got around eight pages into it. All I remember is that there were cool crabs aliens and they had cool crab laser rifles.

2. What was the genesis of Sandman Slim?

A lot of my work is a kind of a collage. Like every writer, I’m always scribbling notes and ideas. Every now and then, two or three pieces of these random notes stick together. Once that happens, the idea turns into kind of a black hole, creating an accretion disk and sucking in all kinds of debris. Sandman Slim started when in one notebook I found the name “Sandman Slim” and in another I found “hit man from hell.” Everything else came from there.

3. You’re now in the middle of writing the third book, Aloha From Hell. Since writing a series requires a different mind-set than a one-off like The Butcher Bird, have you found the way you write is changing?

Actually, Butcher Bird was supposed to be a series, but Sandman Slim took over. In a way, I consider Sandman Slim to be the Butcher Bird sequel since it deals with some of the same themes and ideas. Writing a series is definitely different from writing a one-off book. It’s not just a matter of making the story longer, but of figuring out the pace of the larger arc that covers multiple books. My editor, Diana Gill, has been a real help in learning how to do that.

4. Is Sandman Slim going to be an infinite series, or do you have an definitive ending waiting at the end of the line?

The answer to that has as much to do with business as it does with writing. Publishers like buying genre books in groups of three. That way if the series tanks, they can at least try to sell it a trilogy. I’ve written three Sandman Slim books because that was my contract. If we do more that will probably also be a three book contract. I don’t have a definite end to the series in my head. Yet. But I have a feeling after another set of three, I will.

5. Aside from the writing, you’re also a professional photographer with your own studio, Kaos Beauty Klinik. Give us a little overview.

Kaos Beauty Klinik (link) is an ongoing photography project. These days I’m shooting a lot of film with very cheap cameras so that the prints and negatives are instantly damaged, which gives the images a unique look. I shoot everything from architecture to author photos. But what Kaos Beauty Klinik is mostly known for is fetish photography. Bondage. Latex. Tentacle fetishes. Medical imagery. It’s not for everyone and it’s definitely NOT work safe. But if you like a little deviance, you might enjoy the shots.

6. Your books have a very cinematic feel to them, particularly the action sequences in the Sandman books. The first book has been optioned by the De Laurentiis Group for feature film treatment; what’s the progress so far, and are there plans to adapt your other works for other media?

The first draft of the screenplay will be done next month. I helped with the some development, but I’m not the screenwriter. I’m working on some other film projects that, like 99 percent of everything in Hollywood, will probably go nowhere. I’m also developing some graphic novels. I have a bit more hope for those.

7. What’s your perspective on the state of the genre? The good, the bad and what needs fixing?

The state of the genre is the same as it’s always been. It’s ruled by Sturgeon’s Law which reminds us that 90 percent of everything is crap.

Both Sandman Slim and Kill the Dead are on shelves or available online. For updates, info and random thoughts from the mind of Richard Kadrey, be sure to check out his website at http://www.richardkadrey.com/ and his blog.

*NOTE: Harper Collins has just confirmed that the Sandman Slim series will continue with a second trilogy, slated for release in 2012.

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