Nick Korolev, Author and Part-Time Commodore

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Author, illustrator and naturalist Nick Korolev is a New Jersey native now living in West Virginia. He’s also a very interesting guy! Nick and I both have short stories in the upcoming SPRING INTO SCI-FI anthology.

1)  Welcome, Nick. You’ve been a writer for quite a long time. Am I correct, that your first short story was published when you were just 14 years old? How did that come about?

I started writing for my own pleasure when I was 12 and discovered the power of words and joy of story telling.  I was always an avid reader.  By that age was reading adult novels and short story collections in a variety of genres, mostly scifi by Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, plus the classics from Melville and Jack London to Conrad and Hemingway. 

I was put ahead in an honors creative writing class a month after that short story was published in the fiction section of the now defunct national publication Popular Dogs.  The creative writing teacher, Mrs. Engle, advised I should become a writer.

2)  Your bio says you were born in New Jersey, but you now reside in West Virginia. I live outside Philadelphia, so I’ve spent a lot of time living and working in New Jersey. What do you miss most about the Garden State? (Personally, I’d miss diners and Taylor Pork Roll -- much better than Pennsylvania's Scrapple!) And what do you have in West Virginia that you’d miss if you moved elsewhere?

That is kind of a long and crazy story.  I moved from NJ to Sedona, AZ to help care for my mother who had a developed nasty crippling disease called polymyositis that affects the muscles.  I spent nine years there.  It was great in that I am both an artist (mostly wildlife, portraits, cartoons and illustrations) as well as a writer and found Sedona to be a great arts colony.  I learned both play and screenwriting for which I have won awards.  I ended up in West Virginia because my mother wanted to spend her last years closer to my sister, who lives in Jefferson County.

The thing I miss most about the Garden State is the shore, canoeing the Pine Barrens and really fresh seafood. As to what I would miss in West Virginia, it would be the mountain wilderness, my friends and the people I work with at schools and the state park.

3)  Well, anyone who misses the Pine Barrens might enjoy this excellent collection of crime stories by Jen Conley.  I also interviewed her, here.

Nick, you’re also a student of the U.S. Civil War. Is West Virginia a good state for Civil War aficionados? And what is the Federal Generals Corps about?

West Virginia is a great place for Civil War history.  The state was born during the war, from counties that wanted no part of the Virginia lowlands, which sided with the Confederacy.  The mountain counties were also tired of their tax money supporting the rich planters and their road systems, with nothing for the western counties. So they seceded from VA, becoming an official state June 20, 1863. There were quite a few battles here, like the Union victory of Droop Mountain that ended major Confederate attempts of control of the new state.

The Federal Generals Corps is a group of living historians that portray famous military officers, politicians and civilians from the Union side of the Civil War.  It involves picking a historic person you resemble, studying their biography and their place in the war, gathering up the proper clothing, etc.  You essentially become that persona for the public, which involves a little acting.  It is a way of teaching history that is far better than what you read in school history books.  We camp out at and present programs at historic sites in PA, VA, and WV. 

I now only portray Commodore John Winslow who commanded the USS Kearsarge that sank the Confederate raider CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France.  What most people are not taught in school is that, for the US Navy, the Civil War was essentially a world war. The Union could never have won without the US Navy gaining control of the coasts and the Mississippi River, plus sinking the Confederate raiders that attacked Union merchant ships at sea.  Studying maritime history and the politics of the time will also prove that slavery was the cause of the war.  I can make my talks very real having grown up in a boating family and having been out on a tall ship.  I portray the only naval officer in our group.

4)  Let’s get to your books. What is your latest book about?

My latest book, Ghost of a Chance, is a bit of a departure from my usual maritime historical fiction, fantasy and scifi. It is a political satire and ghost story all rolled into one. It’s about a young West Virginia progressive freshman senator, Frank Barnes, who is running on a third party ticket for President against a corrupt Republican incumbent and a not-much-better Democrat contender.  He is running last in the polls when his friend gives him an antique book for his birthday. The book was once was the library of Theodore Roosevelt, his favorite president (and mine).  The book comes with Teddy’s ghost, who is bound and determined to help Frank in his run for POTUS. This, of course, results in a wild ride.  The book is either hilariously funny or scary depending on the politics of the reader.  Every chapter starts with a famous quote from TR.  I do not belong to any political party but always vote.  If there is a message in this novel it is to get out and vote. 

This novel was originally a screenplay that I wrote back in 2011 for competition in the 2012 Appalachian Film Festival competition (I won with entries in 2005 and 2010).  With the results of the last election, I decided to turn the screenplay into a novel and remarket it.  Mockingbird Lane Press, a small independent traditional publisher, contracted for it last spring and it was just released in Dec. 2017.  So far it has gotten 5 star reviews on Amazon for both paperback and e-books.  I am doing everything I can to get it marketed but can not afford a publicist to get it out there. I am hoping it gets 20 reviews so Amazon helps in marketing.

5)  Well, perhaps this interview will result in some more reviews for Ghost of a Chance – just click on the link!

Nick, your work spans a number to historical periods: the Civil War, the life and presidency of Teddy Roosevelt, the sinking of the U.S.S. Lusitania in 1915, and modern day. How do you keep the historical aspects straight? I’m currently working on a detective novel during the Great Depression, and I’m always having to check as to the price of goods and services, what people wore, and even how they spoke.

I learned a long time ago that when you write anything historical you must research everything on the era to make it believable and bring the era alive from politics to living expenses to clothing and more.  This should be done first along with developing your basic plot.  It is the same attention to detail you need to do in world and technology building in scifi.  If you work on a historical fiction that takes place in the not too distant past, talking to people who lived through the time also helps.

6)  West Virginia is not known for having a lot of writers. One of my nieces attended the University of West Virginia, and I decided to send her a gift of books by West Virginia authors. At the time, all I could find was the sole collection by the late, great Breece D’J Pancake. Do you have a community of writers out there to bounce ideas off and critique your work?

I am sort of the resident alien in that I was not born here.  There is a West Virginia Writers Association, but that is way down near Charleston, WV, too far for me to go for meetings so I have not joined yet.  I sometimes use beta readers but I am my own critic most of the time and am very fussy what I think will work. I always ask myself, has this been done before? Is it best as a novel, short story or stage or screenplay? Would enough people be interested in the story? Sometimes I bounce ideas off friends.  I have a file of aborted projects in different genres.

There are a few local writers, but they work alone with relatives as critics and most self-publish. To me (and agents) self-publishing is not much above using a vanity press and cannot be used as a credit when looking for an agent or publisher if one is serious about a writing career. 

New writers are lured in by keeping more of the price, but that is quickly eaten up by costs of more printing and marketing.  Besides, they have not “paid their dues,” proving the quality of their work through competition, being printed in literary journals and anthologies, etc.  Most “newbies” want to get around rejections and the (often) years of honing their skills to start breaking into print. 

Everyone today is in too much of a rush.  I have always believed you don’t serve a good wine before its time and you must be prepared for a batch to go bad now and then and realize sometimes work is not worth publishing -- especially a first try.  People will not like this opinion, but I have observed enough to know it is true and have a sister who is a professional editor who used to work for an independent traditional book publisher (now defunct) and told me many stories on what crossed her desk.  The fiction she dealt with included knock-offs of existing books with different characters, and poor writing that was not edited for grammar and consistency.  One was down right plagiarism of the Harry Potter characters!

7)  Looking at your books on Amazon, I don’t see any science fiction. Is your story in SPRING INTO SCI-FI a departure for you?

I have two existing full scifi novels.  The Cat Who Fell To Earth, rewritten a couple of times over the years, is presently being marketed on Inkitt and has been there for a year.  It has gleaned 5 star reviews but their data analog has not collected enough data on it yet from their readers for them to come to a decision to publish it.  I sent it off to Angry Robot’s open call for submissions in Dec. and am waiting to hear if it has done anything.  The novel deals with the same race of leonine aliens that appear in the story in the 2018 SPRING INTO SCI-FI.  It is set in the contemporary United States in Sedona, AZ, and is a quirky first contact story involving a covert alien plot to make it happen while anti-contact and pro-contact factions argue it out in their Confederation of Planets council.

I also have a YA book I have not finished illustrating titled Bob’s Planet: A Journal. It is a heavily illustrated journal by protagonist Robert Carusoe, 17, on the first expedition to colonize the habitable planet Echo 48 discovered by the Kepler telescope long before he was born.  With him are his engineer father and teacher mother.  He is to be an exobiology intern while he finishes his schooling. 

His journal begins after the massive sleep ship Pilgrim 1 he is on meets disaster only two weeks after all were brought out of hibersleep as they enter the planetary system.  Caught in a dangerous meteor storm all are forced to evacuate the ship in escape pods.  Alone in a pod designed for four people, Robert survives his journey knowing not all made it.  He quickly finds himself forced to meet the challenges of life on a new world much like Earth’s Carboniferous age. The life forms are more hostile than expected, but he searches for his parents and other survivors while awaiting the arrival of Pilgrim 2, which is still a month away. 

A student of biology with a gift of drawing, Bob records his experiences and observations in his written journal in the tradition of Audubon and Darwin long before him. The journal itself covers twenty-one days with each section illustrated with plants, animals, maps and sketches of spacecraft in ink and pencil drawings as if done by Bob.  This is presently with an agent who handles books only by writer-illustrators and asked to see it.  Waiting to hear on this project, too, at this writing.

8)  Let’s finish up with a process question. Most successful writers get into a regular pattern. Some write in the morning before they go to work, others at night. What’s your writing schedule?

My writing schedule is crazy and I write any chance I get. Being single with no present commitments helps as my time is my own interrupted only by work around the house.  I write on weekends when not going out with friends or working in the yard etc.  I write when I do not get a substitute teaching assignment for the day.  It must share time with any illustration work I am doing be it for my work or on assignment from another author. In the summer I get more writing done. 

I am the naturalist for Lost River State Park and part of my job besides nature programs is to keep the historic Lee House open on certain days during the week.  While waiting for visitors I get a lot of writing done sitting on the front porch and back at my cabin at night where I stay on site for part of the week since I do not have a TV at the cabin. As much as I like my “Day Jobs,” I would like to do the writing and illustration full time.

Nick, thank you for your time. Best of luck with your new novels!

Nick Korolev can be contacted via his website.  He can also be found on Facebook or Linkedin.

His books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble  or Books-a-Million. 

Both Nick Korolev and Tony Conaway have stories in the soon-to-be-released SPRING INTO SCI-FI anthology.

Jen Conley, Noir, and Cannibals

Jen Conley reading at a Noir at the Bar event at Shade in NYC

The delightful Jen Conley is a writer and teacher from New Jersey. I first encountered her at a Noir at the Bar event, where she was reading one of her crime stories (which she did very well). She also edited an anthology in which one of my own stories appeared: “Shotgun Honey Presents Locked and Loaded (Both Barrels, Volume III)”

Jen, congratulations on your first collection of short stories! Tell us about "Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens"

Thank you! Cannibals is a collection of loosely linked gritty/crime stories that take place in central/south Jersey, Ocean County, which encompasses some of the Pine Barrens. Not every story has a typical crime, or a crime at all, but each one is a bit gritty.

Your stories all take place in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Most of what I know about that area comes from John McPhee’s 1968 book, The Pine Barrens, which was originally serialized in The New Yorker. There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to ask a native of the area: McPhee wrote that Pineys tend to say something three times. For example, a Piney might say, “It looks like rain, looks like rain, like rain.” I’ve never heard anyone speak like that! Is it true?

 

Good question. But not that I know of. I’m not a real Piney, either, so I’m not really sure. I think the Piney culture has been infiltrated by modern times so I don’t know how many old school authentic Pineys are left. And I also think the term “Piney” has changed. Now it can mean people who live near the Pine Barrens, or even in them, but not living that old rural type of existence, or even something close to that. For many people “Piney” is a person who enjoys spending time in the Pines, whether it’s hiking, fishing, hunting, four wheeling, etc.

 

Sadly, writing short stories doesn’t pay much. Like most writers, you alsochave a day job. I understand you teach middle school English. Many years ago, I tried doing that myself, with little success. Have any of your students ever read your crime stories?

I don’t think so. I try to keep it on the downlow. They know I write and I’ve read them a little bit of my work, things that are benign, but not the hard core stuff. However last year I was working on a YA novel geared towards middle schoolers and I read them the first six pages. They seemed to really love it --- they gave me a round of applause—but they also appeared to be a bit surprised I could actually write. 

Again, like most writers, you’ve probably had your share of rejections. Has that changed how you edit the work of others for Shotgun Honey?

We don’t edit the flash too much. We read the stories and have a discussion, and decide whether they are a go or not. Some stories are easy—yes or no. But some stories are in that middle area, that spot where a little help, suggestions, might make the story stronger. I’m more prone to give someone another chance if I see a story has potential. I hate getting rejected (as does everyone) so I do feel bad when we reject a story that seems to be on the line but ultimately just isn’t working. But Ron Earl Phillips, the head honcho, does give feedback from the editors, so I like to think if writers take our advice, then they can improve the story and try to send it somewhere else. “Home Invasion,” the first story in my collection, was rejected several times until another writer gave me a few tips so it would work better. I took her advice and it was immediately accepted at Thuglit and nominated for a Spinetingler Award.

Before they submit their work, many writers run it by either a trusted critique group or a cadre of beta readers. Do you, and how did you get them?  (It took me many years to find a critique group that I found truly helpful.)

I used to have two writing groups, one up in NYC and one in the Red Bank area. Both are disbanded, or on indefinite hold. I found my NYC group because I took a Gotham Writing Class in the Village and after it ended, I emailed my teacher and asked if she knew of a writing group. She invited me into hers. That was writer Karen Heuler and I was with her for many years. I found the other group

through an ad in a magazine. Again, I emailed them and they asked for a submission and then let me in. Now I have no one but that’s okay. I’m busy and I have to do a lot of writing this summer—working on a novel—so when I’m done with the novel, I’ll probably look for readers but not a group. I also know it’s hard to find a writing group, especially one that meets consistently, so I’m glad you have one. I think every writer at one point needs to hook up with a writing group. It really does help.

Let’s finish up with a process question: how do you write? Do you do it in the same time and place every day?

When it comes to short stories, I don’t write them until I have an idea and an arc in my head. So I spend a lot of time just thinking. For a longer project which I’m working on now, it was a loose outline and I blew through the first draft as fast as I could. I write on my laptop, either in my bedroom or downstairs in my dining room. I have a fourteen-year-old so most of my work is done when he is asleep, preoccupied or if he’s at his dad’s house. He’s pretty good about not bothering me but he’s still a teenager, so it’s never fool-proof. And I’d like to write every day but there are days after teaching that I’m just too damn exhausted, so sometimes it’s best if I sleep and save my energy for the next night.

On the flip side, because I teach, I’m off in the summer so I consider myself a lucky writer. I would work a side job in July and August but I’d rather skimp on extras and focus on my writing. It’s very important to me. It’s my Mount Everest so I need as much time as I can to climb this huge, giant, almost impossible mountain called “breaking into writing.” Actually, I think it might be easier to climb Mount Everest. 

We’ll look forward to your collection, which will be released in May. The official book launch will be at Manhattan’s Mysterious Bookshop on Friday 3 June at 6:30 pm. Thank you for your time, Jen!

Thank you. It’s been a pleasure!

You can follow Jen on her website or on twitter at @jenconley45

 

You can purchase her book at Amazon or Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore.  It is published by Down & Out Books.