Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Viktor Kowalski
Filed under Interviews on September 5, 2011
Tagged: Pirates & Swashbucklers, Pulp Empire, pulp fiction, Relvan's Rescue, Robert E. Howard, Victor Kowalski
The release of Pirates & Swashbucklers, the anthology featuring my short story “Relvan’s Rescue,” quickly approaches. We’ve had some great interviews with the other authors I share the table of contents with, and I’ve got the last batch of them for you this week. Today’s interview is with Viktor Kowalski.
When did you first realize you were a writer?
When I wrote my first yarn. I was like: “Wow! I’m a writer! Awesome!”
What authors influence or inspire you?
Robert E. Howard.
What book(s) have you read more than once? What drew you back?
The “Complete Chronicles of Conan” by Robert E. Howard because it contains the best fantasy yarns ever written; “Prometheus Rising” by Robert A. Wilson because it is the absolutely best book about the workings of the human mind, and what you can do to make the most of yours.
In 25 words or less, how would you define “pulp” as a genre?
Robert E. Howard.
What made you decide to submit a story for the Pirates & Swashbucklers anthology?
It seemed like an excellent opportunity to showcase my exquisite writing ability. Seriously.
How did you come up with the idea for your story? What is your writing process like?
I looked up some famous pirates; the story of Red Legs Greaves caught my attention because of its real life pulp-like nature. So all it needed were some fantasy elements to make it better than real life.
My writing process look something like this: I come up with a good idea for a yarn. I write a good yarn. I get published.
Do you consider yourself a “pulp” writer? Why? Is there another genre you like to write?
But of course. I like to write pulps because that’s what I like to read.
I also write genre fiction like fantasy, historical fiction, adventure, horror and sci-fi, sometimes in pulp style, other times not. I’ve tried writing those contemporary dramas, steeped in emotional wallowing and whining, seasoned with quasi-intellectual and philosophical self-indulgence. It didn’t work.
Care to weigh in with your opinion of the e-book?
I prefer to chop down trees, grind them into blindingly white paper and proceed to print out my yarns on it because the trees are more useful that way, than just growing idly in the forests. But then, on the other hand, they do provide shade on a sunny day…
Where can someone find more of your work?
Currently on my hard drive, but come November you’ll find one of my many exquisitely good yarns in Pulp Empire Volume 7.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about your writing?
Well, you see, being a supreme arbiter of taste, a connoisseur of art in general, as well as an erudite savant in literature, I try, unlike most of modern writers, to uphold the lost tradition of entertaining the reader as well as delivering eloquently-crafted content of high quality instead of relying on cheap gimmicks like overabusing shock value as a substitute for a lack of writing skill.
September 5th, 2011 at 8:46 am
Thanks for publishing the interview, Kameron; I just wanted to remark that you misspelled my name. It’s Viktor with a k, not c.
Cheers.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:33 am
Oh, man, I am so sorry about that. I’ve corrected it in the title and the article. The URL will still have it misspelled as I don’t want to break any links to the article. I’m so embarrassed to have missed that, especially as I deal with a similar misspelling of my name all the time.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:37 am
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