An Interview with author Joel A. Sutherland

March 24, 2009 marked the official launch of Frozen Blood originally released in December 2008. I was able to meet up with Joel Sutherland the books author at the event in Ajax, Ontario and get a little interview.

This marks your first published novel. Where else might people have read your work?
I’ve had many short stories published in various anthologies and magazines, but unless you had a story in the same publication or are a hard core Joel Sutherland fan, it’s unlikely you’ve had the opportunity to read them. I do have a story or two available for free on my website (www.joelasutherland.com), and people interested in sampling Frozen Blood before they decide to buy it can read the first chapter there as well.

Frozen Blood was originally a short story correct? Tell me how it ended up becoming a full length novel.
You’re right, it was originally a 3,000 word story titled “A Storm of Ice”. I submitted it to a small Canadian publisher, Lachesis Publishing, for consideration in an anthology of horror stories they were working on. A few weeks later I received one of the best rejection letters I’ll likely ever receive. They turned the story down, feeling it didn’t mesh well with the other stories they had accepted, but they liked the idea enough to ask if I’d be interested in writing a full-length novel. I said “yes” as coolly as I could, and then set about trying to figure out exactly how the heck I would do it. I never imagined the story as a novel, so it ended up being more difficult than I guessed it would be.

How does the short story differ from the novel or does it?
Well, I had to add a lot of content, obviously, to get it to the right length. And I didn’t want to simply throw in “filler” for the sake of the word count -- I wanted to make sure everything that ended up in the finished product deserved to be there, and would be of interest to the reader. The main way I did this was to expand on the main characters, to make them more human, and to give them fuller back-stories that play heavily into the present day plot.

Is the short story available somewhere for comparison?
“A Storm of Ice” was published in Bloody Books’ Read By Dawn: Volume 2. It was available for sale in bookstores in the UK, and can be purchased around the world from such online retailers as Amazon.

The cover is simple and minimalistic. Tell me how that came about being used.
I love the cover of Frozen Blood. As I was working on the first draft of the novel, I asked the publisher if I could approach a friend to see if he’d be interested in doing the cover art and font. They said sure, so I asked Stephen Blundell, an Aussie who I’d worked with before with interior illustrations on a few small projects, and much to my relief he jumped at the opportunity. I sent him an early draft of the novel and described vaguely how I envisioned the cover, and he took it and ran with it. It’s funny that it took an Australian to create a cover with such a cold, Canadian feel to it!

Where did the inspiration for the ice storm that cuts our main characters off from the world come from?
Back in ’98 I was in my final year of high school, living at home in Ottawa (I now live near Toronto). I remember shoveling the driveway late one night when I heard a loud crack from above. A power line had snapped under the weight of the ice that had formed around it, and the cord was flailing in the cool blue night, spraying golden sparks behind it. This was the beginning of what came to be known as The Great Storm, a terrible ice storm that crippled Ottawa, Kingston and Montreal for a long period of time. My house, for example, was without power for a week. It was a memorable event that stuck with me long after the ice melted, and it served as the inspiration for Frozen Blood. Of course, in the novel, the ice storm that hits Ottawa is much worse, lasting for a longer time and actually afflicting the entire planet. It’s the end of the world, baby.

Other than the wintery aspects of the weather, are there any other Canadianisms found in the book?
It’s set in Ottawa, and the setting definitely plays a part in the book. There are a few famous Ottawa Valley landmarks and people mentioned, and there are definitely a few other Canadianisms present as well. Tim Horton’s, the metric system...even All Dressed chips. I had no idea that having a character eat All Dressed chips would be considered a Canadianism until an American reader wrote to me to tell me he couldn’t wait to try the flavour during his next visit north of the border. I thought anyone in the world could enjoy the deliciousness of All Dressed -- I mean, I consider it one of the staple flavours!

Were the Canadianisms intentional or did you just find that you happened to include them because of living here?
It was never intentional, they just made sense for the story. If it were set in Mumbai, there would have been a slew of Indiaisms. But since I’ve never lived anywhere other than Canada, I’ll probably set most of my stories here. It’ll save me a ton of time researching.

Frozen Blood is actually your second published stand alone work. You had had a children's book “The Teddy Bears of Tomorrow” published right before it was released. Tell me about that.
It was a short story I wrote several years ago for a writing class I used to attend. One day I found it languishing on my computer hard drive, so I dusted it off and sent it to a small press magazine. Similar to the story of Frozen Blood, the publisher (Sam’s Dot Publishing) rejected it for the magazine but asked if I’d like for it to be published as a standalone illustrated storybook. Once again I tried to say “yes” as coolly as I could, and it came out about six months later. It’s a cute little story and the illustrations are wonderful, so I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear of Joel Sutherland. Do you have anything on the horizon you can tell us about?
I’m currently working on a non-fiction book for middle grade and YA readers. The book is based on a proposal I sent to Scholastic, which they accepted back in March. It’s a collection of games, activities and interviews to inspire a love of writing. I’ve been running creative writing workshops for kids at the library where I work for the past five years, and that experience will form the basis of the book. It will be published in the summer of 2010.

Taking into account you've now dabbled in both worlds, genre fiction and kid lit. Would you consider yourself more a children's author or a genre author? If you had to choose, which one would you prefer?
To be honest, as long as I’m writing I don’t really care which genre or classification I’m writing in. I’ve always written all kinds of stuff, and as long as I’m able to publish some of it and people enjoy reading it, I’ll be a happy dude.

Frozen Blood is a finalist in the First Novel category for the Bram Stoker Awards. How does it make you feel and when did you first hear about the nomination?
I actually heard about the nomination the day before I found out about the acceptance from Scholastic, two days before my first book launch and signing, and four days before my wife and I moved into our first house. To say that was a good week would be the understatement of the century. I went out and bought a lottery ticket that week too, but, alas, didn’t win. I guess my luck has its limits.

It felt incredible. Seeing my name on an awards list with Stephen King and a host of other talented authors is quite the rush. If nothing else, it’s encouraged and inspired me to keep on writing.

Will you be attending the awards banquet in June?
My wife and I will be going to the banquet. It’s too good an opportunity, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity, to miss.

Where can people find and purchase Frozen Blood?
It’s available here and there, but the main place most people reading this would be likely to buy it from is Amazon.
www.amazon.ca

Are any of your other works available for purchase?
Most of my stories are available in anthologies sold at Amazon, and a few others can be bought directly from the publisher. More information can be found at my website.

You have a degree in film if I’m not mistaken. How has that affected your writing?
If nothing else, it’s taught me the value of brevity. Every second in film counts, and if you don’t keep the story moving the audience will likely grow bored. I’ve tried to match the same level of intensity of some of my favourite films in the fiction I’ve written.

Have you ever considered turning your stories into scripts?
I’ve actually gone the opposite route once or twice and turned a short script into a short story. If I felt there was an opportunity for one of my stories to be turned into a short film or play, I’d give it serious consideration.

18. How would you feel if someone approached you to option one of your books or Frozen Blood specifically?
I’d smile, look Steven Spielberg straight in the eye, and try to say “yes” as coolly as I could.

Well thank you for this opportunity and congratulations on the nomination. I'm looking forward to seeing your next genre outing.

I'll eventually be writing up a review of Frozen Blood once I finish it and HCN will be the first to know what I think of this first outing by Mr. Sutherland. Who knows, he may be the next Clive Barker or King or Rice (only male). Hmmmm I should really protect that autographed copy of the book I have ;)