| Interview #3: the BIG 'Puff Doggy Daddy' Speak Easy |
[Sep. 22nd, 2006|06:18 pm] |
Hello All,
Curt here and back again with another interview for your reading pleasure. This outing, get to know the man, the mystery, the Puff Doggy Daddy hisself - Mark Anderson!
Mark was just a name on the JLU List to me when I first joined up (and Puff at that). He was there before me, and around Fanfic for awhile I came to learn. I first read his Birds & Bees at another site (which he will elaborate on below), and put two and two together and knew that I needed this guy to write at JLU. I asked, and the rest is history.
Read on...
***
Curt: To start, tell us a bit about yourself; family, job,
things like that. Whatever you would like to
comfortably share…
Mark: I am a divorced, 40-year old, balding neo-redneck from Texas. I am in a long term relationship with a beautiful woman, Cadi, with 3 girls, Emily, Abby, and Sarah...
...Somewhere along the line, my being someone's step dad has started to appeal to me, not sure when, not sure where I lost my mind…think it might have gone with my hair. HA!
But really, they are great and my life is richer for knowing them.
I work for a major brand power tool warranty service center handling counter sales and warranty claims.
What Sites are you currently writing for?
Currently, I am only actively working for JLU, but I do have an approved series for Ultimate Impact in the bank. It's a loose confederation based on a mutual love of those Archie/Red Circle/MLJ/Impact characters. There are a lot of, fanfic, names involved and, hopefully, it will go live and see the light of day at some point…course that’ll mean that I actually have to write my issues for it. HA!
What Titles are you working on? Tell us about Birds
and Bees and Twice Told Tales...
Twice Told Tales is coming to live at JLU. We'll be representing "The Late Great Planet Krypton" that previously appeared at DC Heroes in Action Comics. And I wil be adding a second issue to the origin of Superman told there at some point. It's a ripe situation, since the close of the story has Jonathan and Martha picking up the baby Kal from his rocketship.
Twice Told Tales is a concept that is near and dear to my heart, giving writers the chance to, in an Elseworlds/alternate worlds way, retell their favorite stories from DC history.
For the time being, Birds and the Bees and The Replacements are dead in the water. Whether I'll, someday, return to them or not...the thought engenders a shrug.
At the aforementioned Ultimate Impact, I'm on the slate for Blackjack. I'm thinking of going old school gangster for the title. Sort of the Godfather meets spandex with a little Good Fellas thrown in.
Until Barry moves on, I consider myself to still have a shot at assisting him on Antman at Avengers 2000. He and I first discussed this just as I was falling into my writer’s block and I’ve been struggling to get my head back above the waters ever since.
Since the Dark Genesis crossover issue of JLU's Aquaman back in February or March, I've been stuck in the aforementioned heavy writer's block that just seems to have let me go within the last few months.
I am actively writing Aquaman issues right now. The first is in the can and should be appearing soon and I have two...or three mostly complete, just needing to be edited.
I am, also, putting together a Force of July issue or two of JLU Presents that I'm hoping will pass muster. This features the new Force of July that I introduced in Aquaman. Some new characters join. This could morph into S.W.O.R.D., at some point.
S.W.O.R.D, alternatively S.W.O.R.R.D., is an idea that I have been tossing in the air for about six or eight months now. But...it's not really ready to share.
Aquaman, S.W.O.R.D. of Atlantis...anyone? anyone?
I, also, stretch my fan fic muscles by game-mastering over at the All Star Role Players Group (ASRPG) (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/allstarroleplayers) on Yahoo. It’s an interactive fiction game, PBEM-based game set in World War Two and featuring the characters of the All Star Squadron, JSA, Earth-S as player-characters. And a few months ago, I awakened to find myself as the owner of that group, so…I guess I’m more involved than just Gm-ing.
I wish I had something for Derrick at Avengers 2000. But with feeling like I’m just getting the train rolling again, I need to concentrate on the things I’ve already got on the burners.
Would you like to write professionally, or is this
just for fun- a hobby?
I would love to go pro, but I'm realistic about it.
How did you get into writing Fanfic? Through comic
books, or some other media?
Comic books…I’ve been reading and making up my own since about 1974.
How did you find our Fanfic community? What led you
here?
Right around the time that I finished “The Late Great Planet Krypton” I got an email from a guy named Curt telling me that he liked the story and telling me about a site that he ran and asking if I’d be interested in writing for him.
He baited me…played to my ego…I never stood a chance.
So…I cast about for a bit. Looked at Martian Manhunter and Aquaman and considered Adam Strange/Mystery in Space…after reading X3’s issues of Aquaman, I realized that I could finish that story and that I had ideas of my own for the King of the Seven Seas. And here we are about a year…year and a half later…something like that.
And here we are with Aquaman #17, my 11th issue on the title, about to see the light of day.
Don’t even try to pull the hook out, Curt. I swallowed it whole, hook, line, and sinker.
What other things do you do in your spare time? Any
special hobbies or interests you care to share?
I play in the aforementioned ASRPG.
I read…everything.
Watch television and try to find intelligent, well-written episodes…things that I can sit there and go “wow, that’s good.” Grey’s Anatomy is probably the best-written show on broadcast television right now. CSI, original flavor, can still rise to that level occasionally. And the occasional episode of Smallville can do this for me, as well.
Oh…and pay way, way, way too much attention to my fantasy football teams. I cut back this year…I’m only running two. HA!
Bleeding orange and green…and dying with my Longhorns losing to the Buckeyes last week…and my Packers losing to the Bears. I had a bad football weekend, last week.
Is there any certain Title that you would like to
write down the line, or any specific Site that you
might want to write for?
Superman, Green Lantern…Iron Man, Captain America…Justice League, Avengers…Shazam!…
There are a lot that I would like to write at some point.
Outside of Fanfic, what are your reading habits?
Who’s your favorite author or series, or book?
I like a good murder mystery and good science fiction.
Stephen King’s Dark Tower/Gunslinger series
David Brin’s Uplift War series
Norman Spinrad’s Iron Dream
David Weber and Steve White’s Insurrection, Crusade, In Death Ground Fight series based on the Starfire space fleet combat game
I’d probably give Uplift War the edge as a fav. Something about Dolphins and Chimps piloting spaceships alongside humanity fires my circuits.
What’s your favorite comic book story, or storyline?
How about in Fanfic?
That’s a hard one.
In Fanfic, I’d have to go with Gary D’s Incredible Hulk at Av2k, Barry’s first story arc in Av2k’s Antman issues, and your own JLA-Avengers at JLU.
In comics…New Teen Titans Judas Contract, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Stormwatch which I pretty much loved cover to cover every month, the Alan Moore Supreme issues, the DC Comics Presents Annual, I think, where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are attacked by Mongul in the Fortress of Solitude on Superman’s birthday, the X-Men/Alpha Flight team-up when they went after the Wendigo, Top Ten’s first arc, Noble Causes first arc, the Legion of Super Heroes The Great Darkness Saga,
and the JLA/JSA crossovers…I ate those up like candy in the summer times of my distant youth.
What’s your favorite movie?
As you can tell from the last couple of answers, I’m not good at picking just one. HA!
Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Longest Yard(the original), Boogie Nights, Blow(I knew way too many of the character types in that movie from my misspent youth), I…Robot, Alien Nation, Superman, The Sword and the Sorcerer(Lee Horsley as a Conan-type…who would have guessed that that accent would work in that kind of movie) …
There are more. I could keep adding to this list as I went…probably for hours.
I know you are a BIG fan of Nascar. Tell us a bit
about that...
Geez, dude…not an easy question to answer.
I think I became hooked as a kid when I saw Cale
Yarborough and one of the Allisons get in a fist fight after they wrecked each other coming out of a turn. Richard Petty won the race. Never really found out who won the fight.
Cars going fast. Wrecks. Strategy. And the “is that guy cheating?” factor. It’s neo-redneck. It’s a cold beer. It’s a good stogie. It’s a good time.
For a couple of years when I was a kid, I was at the dirt track every Saturday night with my uncles.
It’s in my blood.
For a bit, I got to race go-carts…before my sainted grandmother decided that that wasn’t going to happen. I was 5 or 6 and I flipped a two-man cart with my uncle riding with me. I landed on him and bounced out…then the go-cart landed on him. Skinned him up, broke his leg…I bounced up and was ready to
go again. And my grandma said, “Nope. We’re done.”
The easiest way to get hooked on racing is to see a race in person or be watching one on television that comes down to the last lap with first and second place leaning on each other coming out of Turn 4 and drag racing for the stripe and the checkered flag.
I think part of the appeal of the sport (yes, I know, many people don’t consider NASCAR a sport) is that everyone drives almost every day. Most of us don’t play football or baseball every day.
I’ve been a Ken Schrader fan for many, many years.
He is coming to the end of a long journeyman-like career. He’s got a great personality and sense of humor that comes through in his interviews. He loves
his job. In addition to racing in Nextel Cup events, he is racing dirt tracks and such throughout the week. He averages racing between 150 and 200 nights
a year. It’s easy to be a fan of someone who loves their work that much.
But with him being on the verge of retirement, year to year, I started looking for a new driver and that’s when I saw Carl Edwards. He wins a race. He stands up on the windowsill of the welded shut car door and does a backflip from the windowsill to the track surface.
The boy has got stones. I can fly his flag.
HA! Don’t know if that really answers your question or not…shrug.
Where do you get your writing inspiration?
Everywhere.
My first Aquaman issues came from floating in the pool in the backyard, my ears below the waterline, staring up at the sky, piecing the story together.
I also wrote an issue or two while sitting in hospital rooms with Cadi and my Mom at different points over the last few years.
Magazine articles. Comics. Movies. Television. The wind in the trees.
One of my favorite inspirations is digging through old Who’s Who issues or flipping pages in the unofficial Who’s Who online (http://www.dcuguide.com/Who_Home.php) and finding a character that I want to use somehow, someway, someday. I’ve got one of those coming up in Aquaman a few issues down the pike. He’s a real Legion of the Lame guy…I’ve just got to beat Gibbs to using him. HA!
Do you have a Blog or LJ? Any other Internet activity
you would like to share?
Both…my LJ is called puff house (http://puffdoggydaddy.livejournal.com).
And my blog is Through the Cigar Smoke… (http://www.throughthecigarsmoke.blogspot.com/)
I have a tendency to let my curmudgeonly instincts show sometimes.
And I’m a Southern Democrat with liberal beliefs and conservative leanings (explaining that to Cadi’s brothers who are staunch Repulbicans was fun…but they’ve come around…well…at least they haven’t tarred and feathered me…yet.) and sometimes my politics will get through my keyboard.
But I love to find funny stuff to share as well.
One of my favorite things right now is running across potentially dirty or just plain weird comic book images and posting them with whatever snippy little comment comes to my head at the time. Comic Book Deviants…a Reason is up to #14 so far. Some of the images leave you scratching your head wondering if the editor even noticed what the artist was doing or if they were all giggling like Beavis and Butthead and high five-ing as the issues go to print.
Do you like to listen to music as you write? If so,
what and which, or some other background noise, like
the television or DVD’s? Or maybe you prefer silence
when writing?
All kinds of music or television…and sometimes, silence. Shrug.
I can write most anywhere…when the floodgates are open and the block is down. Crossing my fingers, hoping it stays down this time. Seems to come back about once a year…usually in the Spring.
I wrote part of the upcoming Aquaman while watching football on television.
What book are you reading now? Fanfic, Mainstream,
pocketbooks, etc?
52, Teen Titans, Justice League of America, Annihillation, the Marvel A-Z Handbook, Secret Six, Atom
I’m planning on starting the Smoking Lamp reviews up again, so I will be reading more fanfic in the next month or two than I have been.
I got the Starman: Sons and Fathers TPB from the library the other day. I’m reading it now. I also picked up The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archive, the Encyclopedia of American Crime (research material for Blackjack), and The Golden Age of DC Comics – 365 Days (mainly for the pics for the ASRPG).
And two books on Soccer. Abby is playing competitive level soccer this year. And Cadi and I need to learn the rules…pretty embarrassing to be cheering when someone scores a goal…only to find that we were offsides.
You know…the other parents, all, look at you funny. HA!
How long have you been writing stories- Fanfic or
otherwise?
Five years now…maybe six. I’m an older hand than I appear. I’m just not a big name…though having the nickname “puff” does make me recognizable…I guess. HA!
What Title/ Site was your first in Fanfic?
Fanzing.
My first story to appear online was part of one of their challenges, the Vile Vial/Vile Virus, or somesuch. (http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing34/vvwinds.shtml) A virus had gotten loose that turned good guys bad and bad guys good. An infected Michael Holt, Mr. Terrific, cut open the android Red Tornado to see what made him tick…releasing the Tornado Tyrant, inspired by an issue of Justice League wherein Firestorm learned the Red Tornado’s origin. Matter Master and a villain team reintegrate the Tyrant into Red Tornado’s body.
My favorite image, from that story, was cut by the editor at Fanzing. I had, what I thought, was a great text/story image of the Tornado Tyrant tearing up a trailer park outside Happy Harbor.
A few months later, I did Perceptions (http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing46/fiction3.shtml), my Uncle Sam story, for Fanzing’s Star Spangled issue.
And a few months after that I did the story (http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing49/fiction3.shtml) that would eventually morph into the Replacements (http://www.ironrodstudio.com/dch/issue.asp?titleid=REP), based on the idea of what if the adventures of the replacement JLA from the Obsidian Age had stayed together, which ran for 6 issues at DC Heroes.
Where about do you live? Be as specific as you like
or as vague: town, state, time zone, continent, etc.
Outside of Dallas, in the soon-to-be former home of the Dallas Cowboys, Irving, TX
Any dream assignments in Fanfic that you would love to
tackle like a massive crossover or reinventing a
character?
If I get to thinking along those lines, this interview will run even longer than it already is.
Yes. Many. And let’s leave it at that.
What’s your favorite color?
Green, but it was blue when I was a kid. Don’t know why it changed…it just did.
Give us a closing and any words of wisdom you care to
share. Any 'Shout Outs', now's the time...
Thanks to Curt, Des, and Gary D for getting me further into this stuff than I thought I was going to go. And thanks to everybody who reads, writes, and comments on fanfic.
Shout outs…I’ve just got 2 to 5 people.
Barry and Cari and Baby makes three. Congrats to the parents and welcome to the world, Julian Alexander.
And to my ASRPG boys, Randy and Kris.
Curt, we might have something cooking in an ensemble way to pitch to you in a few weeks. Still at the proto-stages, but the idea seems pretty fly. Course, Randy and I have to see if Kris wants onboard, but the idea is cool.
Thanks Mark...
***
Keep the interviews coming in folks. Next up...
Brent Lambert speaks out!
Be here!
Curt |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
carnaj2's journal
