Ever accidentally come across a collection of stories that hits the spot dead on? You don’t know the author and you’ve never glanced at any reviews. You have no expectations. Because sometimes the blues shivers our spines, we’d picked up J Malcolm Stewart’s The Last Words of Robert Johnson. Anything about that haunted bluesman seemed a good start. Very neat title story, yep, with a setting that interests us, the States in 1920s and 1930s. Eerie, historical and laced with potential and actual horror. High marks so far…

So, quick glance at the second story – totally different, but easily as well written. African fables, the wives of Death, clicking their knitting needles… We were sold. We read the whole collection, and thought, hmm, wonder if we can find this guy? Well, we did.

J Malcolm Stewart turned out to be a friendly, talented author from the US of A, with other fiction and writings on offer. He was more than happy to talk to greydogtales, so we went for it. We talk quite a bit about his background, his work, and key themes as we go, so you don’t need us to ramble on any more. We ‘re most pleased to present today’s exclusive…

An Interview with J Malcolm Stewart

 

greydog: Welcome to greydogtales. It’s well-known that we like to pry behind the scenes, and cross-question writers. We especially like doing this when a book strikes a note with us – and your collection The Last Words of Robert Johnson certainly did that.

We should ease our way in, though. Firstly, you’re an author and a journalist, with a wide range of work in very different settings. Tell us something about yourself and how you got into writing fiction, to set the scene for those who don’t know you.

jms: Well, I’m a middle aged, San Francisco Bay Area located author, journalist and general man about town. I’ve been a storyteller as long as I can remember. And being a fiction writer is the best way to have an excellent imaginary life and not worry about a mental health evaluation.

greydog: We’re hoping to get away with that one, too. Now, we had to track back on you after reading the Last Words collection. You published The Eyes of the Stars in 2012, which falls into our occult detective zone, with a Chicago homicide detective (who has his own ‘demons’) investigating a strange, dark cult. This was your debut novel, are we right?

jms: Yes, “Eyes” was my debut foray into a full length novel writing and my first time getting a publishing contract, through Double-Dragon Publishing out in Canada. A real “eye-opening” experience but a fun one as well.

greydog: Exodus from Mars your 2016 collection, includes a visit to a later Barsoom, long after John Carter, and other strange tales. Is this an intentionally different collection to Last Words or simply the material you’d built up since then?

jms: “Exodus” is another side of the writing life, away from the horror and supernatural stuff (which I love) and more on the action/adventure side (which I also love). The title story appeared in a collection of short fiction inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs that came out through Metahuman Press a few years ago. I re-purposed it for the collection, along with some other stories that fit the theme. Space Opera, Sailing and Pirate stories, “Once Upon a Never” stuff… That’s all up my alley, too.

greydog: We clearly share a lot of interests. So, to Last Words itself. We came across it because of an interest in the blues, as we mention in the intro – and because a lot of jlg’s own writing covers the early 20th Century. Set in 1938, the title story of this marvellous collection is packed with period detail, and with reflections on the attitudes of those times. There are, of course, many stories and myths around Robert Johnson himself. Are you a bluesman, or enthusiast? What inspired you to take this on?

jms: Bad Bob’s legend has been a long time interest of mine and I always wondered how much was truth and how much was fiction. So, I decided to lean on the fictional side and create a scenario dealing with the last night of his life that could have happened, especially if we had been in that particular room in 1938. I do come from a musical family (a gift which I am mostly not blessed with) but Johnson’s story is compelling for many reasons, I feel.

greydog: The idea of Johnson’s crossroads deal is, as you say, legend. We occasionally write about hoodoo lore, most recently the connection between the blues and Aunt Caroline Dye. Are you interested in the concepts of hoodoo and folklore magic outside of writing?

jms: Oh, I’ve been a reader and explorer of myth and folklore for most of my life. One of my academic fields of study was Comparative Religion and Folklore, so that stuff is like Storyteller Steroids to me.

greydog: Cool. We should get you to write jlg’s stories, given that you probably know a heck of a lot more about it all. You chose to see the story through the eyes of a boy, Salma Crispus Shaw, and although Johnson and his deal with the Dark Man are a crucial element, Salma himself is the very human centre. In fact, he’s the only male lead in these four stories. Was this simply how the dice fell, or was it important in the other stories that you gave a voice to the women involved?

jms: Salma was the right person to tell that tale, almost like Ishmael of Moby Dick. I wish I had a deep seated, Third Wave Feminist reason the other stories feature female leads, but I don’t. Each of them found their leads and voicing quite on their own. In fact, I did a re-read of the collection a while ago and thought “This book makes it seem like I know a lot more about women than I actually do!”

greydog: The second story, ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’ is a mythic African tale of a woman’s journey to face Death personified. It’s incredibly evocative, and has quite a different tone. Is this a re-imagining of existing African myths, or very much your own vision?

jms: ‘Beyond the Realms’ isn’t placed fully in any African myth or story, but hopefully evokes a reality where the magical and the ordinary aren’t strangers to each other. Some of the terms used come from some ancient sources, but most of it comes from wanting to place a story in pre-colonial South Africa and seeing what happens.

greydog: The tale is complete and satisfying, but it does lay open further possibilities. Will you be visiting Nomsa and her world again?

jms: Nomsa may play a role in a story I’m thinking of writing soon. And maybe the Three Wives of Death as well… They have a score to settle!

greydog: ‘The Red Lord’s Gift’ is a very fitting third inclusion, in that it considers both black experiences in the States again (this time post Civil War), and the African roots of belief systems. As with ‘Last Words’, you place the humanity of the characters and the situation above the more strange elements. The story is wonderfully done, and must have required considerable research – is this sort of research a necessary chore, or a pleasure for you?

jms: ‘Red Lord’ comes from a very personal source, based on my own family history. The oldest ancestor we can trace on my mother’s side was a mysterious woman who brought her two daughters to Arkansas from Tennessee right after the end of the Civil War. We don’t know her name or background, where she was enslaved, what happened to her children’s father, etc… So in similar fashion to ‘Last Words’, I set a character who kind of fit the description of my ancestor in a story with a West African deity and just checked out what would happen.

greydog: That history is kind of chilling in its own right, and the tale is certainly a powerful one. The final story in Last Words might be called ‘cultural science fiction’. It also feels like it might be part of a larger piece of world-building. Do you have other drafts or works which stand in the same universe?

jms: The genesis of “The Seventh Wave” literally was a thought experiment. I was sitting at home one night reading Tennyson’s “The Death of Arthur” and I believe it mentions there somewhere a line about the “rising of the seventh wave.” And I thought “Hmm, that would be a cool story title.” So, I sat down, wrote the title down and started writing stream of consciousness style. And hours later, I had the rough version of the story that was published. Not sure I would ever do that again because that’s not my process at all, but it was kind of fun to not know exactly what I was going to do next.

greydog: As we say, it’s a great collection, and each story brings something different to the table.  We’re going to end with some a couple of questions which aren’t about Last Words as such. The first one is an awkward one. These are times of considerable examination for writers, especially in terms of ethnic identity and the use of cultural imagery.

We fall between camps, in that we believe white writers can produce diverse characters if it’s done with respect, research and sensitivity. Yet we also think many stories based on black experiences and history (for example) may be better told by black writers, and we try to promote black creators where we can. What do you feel about the arguments?

jms: I think every artist of any background has to exercise care and respect when writing in a cultural continuum. It’s always a balance. There’s quite a bit of argument to be had about ‘Last Words’ and the cultural expressions I use in the tale. And I have had those arguments with folks even as an African American who has spent time in the American South.

As for the larger issue of cultural appropriation, I think it’s always a question of final motive. Is it done in a way that doesn’t respect the source material? Or seeks to just dismiss themes of race, class, gender, culture, etc… If done poorly or carelessly, then it always fails on its face and needs to be called out. But if done with craft, it can show great artistry and care for the writer who takes time to get it right.

In terms of White authors dealing outside of their cultural life experiences, most of what I see is a problem with the voicing and mannerisms of non-White characters. Now, I can name White writers who deal expertly with that issue. Elmore Leonard comes to mind specifically as an White American author who could convincingly evoke the sound and pattern of Black American speech. But it takes care and work, just like any aspect of World Building. Just because part of your story isn’t fictional doesn’t mean it doesn’t take craft and imagination to execute. In fact, it may take more because you are dealing with issues that come from real world experience.

greydog: Thanks for that. And on a totally different tack, we noticed that you have one further book out – Look Back in Horror. This is subtitled ‘A Personal History of Horror Film’. So what key films did you grow up with? Are you more an enthusiast of classic horror than contemporary films, or vice versa?

jms: I am a fully warped fan of horror films of all types and eras! The book came out of a desire to pay homage to the films I grew up watching. The impact they had was profound I’m afraid… I love the old Universal movies, the Hammer stuff, the films of Mario Bava. If it’s scary and cheesy, I probably love it.

greydog: To finish, what next? Whilst we think more people should read what you’ve already achieved, do you have specific plans for further fiction, long or short?

jms: I have a sequel of sorts to ‘Last Words’ in the hopper, which features a classic guitar duel between Robert Johnson and the religious blues player, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It’s currently looking for a venue, so stay tuned. I have various other projects in the floating stage, including a possible romance novel, all awaiting some free time and space to get done.

greydog: Many thanks for joining us, J Malcolm Stewart. You’ve been a great guest, and we’ll be watching out for your work from now on.

jms: Many Thanks! I appreciate the interest and the opportunity to talk to your audience…. Best regards!

---

There’s a link to J Malcolm Stewart’s The Last Words of Robert Johnson on the right-hand sidebar. And you can find out more on his Amazon author page here j malcolm stewart author page .

There’s more about blues and hoodoo here : ain’t no witch . And we’re going to finish with a bit of blues, in fact – one of the last recordings of Blind Willie Johnson, the US gospel blues singer and guitarist. It’s the classic John the Revelator.