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 Name: Rick R. Reed
Occupation: writer
Orientation: gay
Website: www.rickrreed.com
Available story on this site: On Line,
Man from Milwaukee
Do you identify as part of the l/g/b/t community?
Identify what? I am gay and out of the closet, if that’s what you mean.
A lot of my writing does have gay characters, but I am not setting out to necessarily
write gay-themed literature. It just comes out that way because I am.
How do you identify?
How do I identify what? Bodies in the morgue? Carefully, very carefully.
What have you written?
Let’s stick to what I’ve had published rather than what I’ve written (what
I’ve written would take, well, a book). Three novels: Obsessed (1991), Penance
(1993) and A Face Without
a Heart (2000). My short fiction has appeared in the following anthologies
(roughly chronological order)
- Confessions: Admissions of Sexual Guilt (To be released 2005, Thunder’s
Mouth Press)
- I Do/I Don’t: Queers on Marriage (2004; Suspect Thoughts
Press);
- Law of Desire (2004; Alyson Publications);
- Best S/M Erotica (2003;
Black Books);
- Whispered from the Grave (1999; Design Image Group);
- The Crow: Shattered
Lives and Broken Dreams (1998; Del Rey; also special edition
in 1998/Donald M. Grant);
- Contra/Diction: New Queer Male Fiction
(1998; Arsenal Pulp Press);
- The Darkest
Thirst (1998; Design
Image Group);
- The Kiss of Death (1998; Design Image Group);
- Dark Destiny III: Children
of Dracula (1996; White Wolf);
- Dante’s Disciples (1995; White
Wolf);
- Dark Destiny
(1994; White Wolf)
Penance and A
Face Without a Heart are both heavily populated with gay characters.
Both Dark Destiny stories have lesbians as main characters.
Contra/Diction has a
story about
a young gay man who’s mother is dying of AIDS and is in serious denial that
he’s gay, so serious,
in fact, that he feels a bizarre empathy for serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer,
who
has just been arrested at the time the story takes place.
Empathy with Jeffrey Dahmer? That must have caused quite a stir.
I wish it had. The empathy in the story was due to an identification
the man made because he was so filled with self-loathing
and so unable to accept his homosexuality. It wasn't really a thumbs
up for Dahmer or anything, but an expression of a twisted view toward
being gay.
I
think that's apparent if you read the story.
 What
inspired you to write these types of stories?
I think most writers write about themselves, regardless of how fantastic
or horrific the genre. Inspiration may not be directly apparent (even to the
author). In my own work, I detect a fascination with obsession (almost all
of my characters are obsessed in one way or another). But I’d be hard
pressed to tell you where that inspiration comes from.
Any movies (or books) that specifically inspired your love of horror?
Oh, I suppose there must be dozens. Some of my favorite horror movies would
be: The Exorcist, The Bad Seed, Candyman, Nightbreed, Nightmare on Elm Street,
Halloween, The Hitcher and Carnival of Souls. Books? I've been reading Stephen
King since I was a child, so no matter what anyone says, I still love him. I
also really like a lot of Clive Barker's work (unless it gets too much into
fantasy) and I get inspired a lot by true crime writing as well, which, to me,
is the real horror.
Who is your favorite horror character?
I don't know who my "favorites" are, but I have the biggest fascination with
criminals, killers especially. I like Hannibal Lechter, from Silence
of the Lambs, because he's so smart and absolutely evil. But I also like
the tortured killers, who aren't quite right with themselves, like Norman Bates
or, in real life, Jeffrey Dahmer.
How has the gay community reacted to your books? Have they reacted differently
than has the world at large?
I really can't say there's been any distinction between gay and the world
at large.
Any future projects in the works?
I have just completed a new novel called Sacrifice, which I describe as a vampire
tale that focuses on three very urbane vampires whose love for visual art
matches their lust for blood. Moving back and forth between 1950s New York
and modern-day Chicago, the book explores parallels between abstract expressionist
art, realism, and the choices an artist must make for very different kinds
of immortality (and along the way, spinning a very sexy, scary, and suspenseful
tale). I just had a story accepted for publication in an anthology from Thunder
Mouth’s Press called Confessions: Admission of Sexual Guilt. My story
is called “Reckless Endangerment” and imagines the modern horrors
of HIV, date rape, and lies. That book should be out later this year.
Where can people get your books?
I mostly encourage people to buy my stuff at amazon.com.
It's easy to find, they always have everything and I can keep track of my sales
ranking. There's a website called half.com
that I know has copies of my first two novels, which are out of print, for half
price...which is way cheaper than most places you can find them.
Last updated 2/24/05
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