Paul Landri is a writer, voice actor, and chihuahua enthusiast. He's also somebody you should meet. So, because I love you so much, here he is.
Tell us a bit about your latest work.
Back in October of 2023, my Cowriter Jason Clark and I announced the publication of our debut novel, Return of the Crimson Howl. A cross-country murder mystery featuring original golden age superheroes. When the grandfather of the golden age of superheroes, Parker McCoy, is brutally murdered, it is up to two federal agents of a slowly becoming defunct Federal agency known as the Golden Age Task Force to find McCoy’s top three heroes, the Crimson Howl, The Automatic Man, and the Swami to figure out who killed him and why. It is a thrilling cross-country adventure that explores the backstories of these amazing heroes…but things aren’t always what they seem.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
I suppose the themes we are working with now are the darker sides of nostalgia. Return of the Crimson Howl is a real “never meet your heroes” type of book. The storytelling lays bear the attitudes and mores of the folks who grew up in that era where certain beliefs are commonplace and tend to leak out in even in the face of polite society. We asked ourselves, “What would a superhero be like in real life, if he lived long enough to see the present day? How would their cultural biases and upbringing affect how they see the modern world.” That isn’t to say every person who grew up in that era (in this case the Golden Age of comic books, 1930’s-1950’s) was extremely prejudicial, but these characters definitely are in their own way and we wanted to explore that.
I have a degree in history. I studied propaganda during World War 2. My thesis was based around this and how powerful propaganda can influence people. Aside from engaging in some historical realism which helps to ground the book in reality, I make mention how Superheroes themselves are great for propaganda purposes.
What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?
I’ve always had an inclination to write. I think because it came so easily to me. My father (rest in peace) read to me as a child and it helped establish, first, my love of reading. Stephen King said if you want to write, you must also read, and I was a pretty voracious reader from the get-go. My father was also a big reader so seeing him reading definitely influenced my love of books, horror books in particular because they both terrified and fascinated me.
What inspires you to write?
I usually have a story or two rattling around my head. It starts as a bit of dialogue and goes from there. Dialogue is my favorite thing to write because I’m also a voice actor so making conversations sound authentic is important to me. I feel like I can tell stories from the very depths of my being (as pretentious as that sounds) because writing allows you to become less inhibited. There’s nothing stopping you from writing that gory scene or that sex scene if it contributes something important to the story itself.
What would be your dream project?
So, I’m a 90’s kid. I grew up with the X-Men cartoon which got me into comic books, which also influenced my writing quite a bit. One of my favorite group of character are the youngsters of Generation X. I remember when the pilot for the live action TV show came out on Fox. I stood up late to watch it and was so excited afterward I barely slept. This cemented my love of those characters. I would love to write a mini-series for television around those characters but with a slight twist. I’m a huge punk and ska fan and the premise would be Jubilee (who aside from being a mall-rat, would also be heavily into the punk and ska scene, which was pretty huge in the 90s thanks to the Warped Tour and Skate and Surf Festival on the Jersey Shore, which is where I grew up,) being sort of “demoted” from the mansion in Westchester by Charles so she could focus on her schooling, to the satellite school on the Jersey Shore (I always pictured Wilson Hall at Monmouth University, my Alma Mater and the setting for the movie version of Annie, for this) which is run by Banshee and Emma Frost. She reluctantly goes and meets the Generation X crew -- Mondo, Skin, Husk -- all those merry marching mutants- and gets them to steal a car so they can go to the Warped Tour in Philadelphia. On the way, they learn more about themselves, their powers, and how to deal with prejudice from a world that hates and fears them. No villains, just Banshee and White Queen trying to find them and bring them home. It would end, of course, with them making it to the concert.
This would be my swan song to the 90’s with the punk rock and ska I grew up with supplying the soundtrack. Think Bad Religion, Rancid, Operation Ivy, Less than Jake, and Reel Big Fish and NoFX.
If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?
Actually the Crimson Howl books are a hard reboot of characters based on a project I did in college that, in retrospect, was complete trash. It’s amazing what time, maturity, constant reading, and collaboration with a writer who is on the same wavelength as you, can do to a story.
What writers have influenced your style and technique?
Stephen King is my favorite author and I believe his writing style has influenced mine the most. I read mostly his books because one, they scare the crap out of me in the best way, and two, you can’t beat King when it comes to characterization. I am constantly trying to make my characters as real as possible. Do I fall short? Sometimes, but I keep chasing that dragon and probably will until I can’t type anymore. Neil Gaiman and Simon R. Green definitely have an influences in helping with world-building, especially Green.
As I said earlier, dialogue is my favorite thing to write and I don’t think I could have written what I did without acknowledging Quentin Tarantino as an influence, at least when it comes to smart, convincing dialogue.
Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?
Writing is an art when you are in the process. It is a science when you are finished and making it commercially viable.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
I would say keeping continuity is the most difficult part. The Crimson Howl series is three books (so far) with Books 2 and 3 coming out hopefully soon. I was constantly going back to Book 1 to make sure I wasn’t breaking continuity or doing something that violated the laws of the universe Jason and I created. It was a hard go writing Book 2, but I think I did ok with it.
Sometimes, the hardest part is starting. I dreaded starting Book 2 until I actually bit the bullet and started it. After that it was like an avalanche and I had the first draft done in a few weeks. Jason is editing it. We work well like that. I take the story and, like Hawkeye Pierce, put it together in a rudimentary way and send it over to Jason, who, like Major Winchester, puts the fine touches and polishes it up into something extraordinary.
How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?
I don’t talk a lot about the process with my other writer friends but we do encourage each other and celebrate our successes big and small. I feel like we are all working toward different goals and have different stories to tell. Writing tends to not be one size fits all so what works for my fantasy writer friends and their network might not work for me, but we are definitely celebrating when they break a sales record and vice versa.
What does literary success look like to you?
I just had my first book signing on May 4th at a local comic book shop. Convincing total strangers that this book was worth buying and collecting their cash was a huge thrill because I managed to sell them on the idea of the book and they believed in that idea strongly enough to give it a chance. My hope is to one day see these characters come to life on the big or small screen.
Our first quarterly sales actually broke all of our publisher’s records and that was just due to me constantly promoting the book on Facebook. I think, once we venture out onto other social media platforms and do other signings at conventions, people will take notice and maybe that big dream of mine will come true one day.
Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?
I have the absolute honor of working with the Estate of Captain America co-creator, Joe Simon. Jason and I have been turning a few of his and Jack Kirby’s lesser known superheroes, The Vagabond Prince, The Black Owl, and Blue Bolt, into radio plays for The Atlanta Radio Theater Company. We’ve done this for three years now and will (hopefully) be back at Dragon*Con 2024 with another thrilling episode of The Golden Age Action hour.
I am also doing a production at the Academy Theater in Hapeville with ARTC on May 26th where I will be playing a mischievous little goblin in a fantastic play called Pilgrim Souls which was written by my dear friend and musical collaborator on the Simon and Kirby Scripts, Ellie Cook.
Lastly, Reign of the Crimson Howl is being edited by Jason as well and I am starting the third book in the series, Ruin of the Crimson Howl, a little later this month.
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