"Who Mourns for the Hangman?" by S. A. Bolich

I was lucky enough to get a chance to email Sue Bolich (pen name: S.A. Bolich), the author of “Who Mourns for the Hangman?” a novella I reviewed last month for Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine.  The novella is available through Damnation Books.

First of all, I’d like to say thanks for doing the interview with me.  Would you like me to call you Sue?  Why did you choose S. A. Bolich instead of Sue A. Bolich or even Sue Bolich as your pen name?  The initials intrigue me.

A lot of female science fiction and fantasy writers early on adopted pen names or went by their initials to disguise the fact that they weren’t men writing in a traditionally male-dominated genre. Me, I just don’t like my first name all that much, but I do have a few regrets now in the internet age. The initials make searches on my pen name difficult, since Google wants to run the letters together. Bah humbug.

So, let’s start with the basics: “Who Mourns for the Hangman?” I really enjoyed the novella and your writing style.  Where did you come up with the idea behind the novella?

The story arose from a twice-yearly bit of fun we have on Other Worlds Writers’ Workshop (where I am one of the moderators): the Short Story in a Week challenges. Members provide their favorite words; we choose 5 at random, and the challengers must compose a coherent story using all 5 words within a week. The list the week Hangman was written included “gallows.” In my mind hanging is much more strongly associated with England, than America, where it was less of a public sport, hence the setting. The central premise of trying to be kind while dealing justice comes from the historically accurate habit in England of entertaining the crowd by stretching out the condemned’s death as long as possible. So, a hangman trying to change the system might build his own more humane gallows and try to hedge his bets against killing an innocent. A traveling hangman was interesting to me, and after that the story fell together when I started to think about what he might have left behind in order to pursue this calling.

In the author’s notes at the end of the novella, it states that you have been studying the 19th century for a alternative history novel.  How long have you been working on it and what’s it about?

I wrote the first book, “The Devil’s Lieutenant,” in 2003 but it has grown to a series. Of course. I can’t write anything short. It is basically an alternate history/dark fantasy where the timeline splits in Salem, 1692, which completely erases most of the history of North America and gives me an endless playground. In my world, the accused witches in Salem were innocent, the “afflicted” were truly afflicted with something evil, and things slide interestingly awry from there. I set the actual book in 1864, after a century and a half of rule by “witches” in the Dominion of Salem had established the social order. These were enormously fun to write, since I have a degree in history and love the whole idea of poking around in the past. “The Devil’s Lieutenant” is currently in final review at Baen Books.

What do you usually look for when reading a book review?  As an author, what do you want to see most when it comes to book reviews about your own works (besides the fact that the reviewer liked it )

I have been critiquing others’ work for over 10 years so I am immensely bugged by the airy ”I loved it!” or “Show, don’t Tell!” type critique that never elaborates or teaches. On OWWW we demand a pretty high standard so the author of the crit is required to cough up reasons for why he or she found the piece so good or so bad. I like reviewers that have clearly read the whole piece and can quote specific examples of stuff they liked or didn’t like to support their opinions. I always appreciate an honest opinion, whether or not the person likes my work. But yeah, it’s always great when people like it, and I’m always fascinated by the different things people can take away from my work.

Do you have any advice for your fellow writers besides the obvious advice such as “keep writing” and “never give up”?  Is there anything that you have learned that you think beginning writers should know?

Develop rhino hide. It’s the only way to survive rejections. Brooding on each one and assuming you suck, your writing sucks, or your ideas suck is the surest way to failure. Read a lot, because that’s how you avoid tripping over really old ideas, and it’s also inspiring to see what is being published. If you’re being rejected, you’re trying, and that’s the only road to being a professional writer.

I would absolutely recommend that you find a workshop or some group of people whose opinion you respect (not your mom!) to look at your work. Find people you have no vested interest in making you feel good and listen to their honest feedback. Don’t let them stampede you into changing everything to please them, but do look for consensus and then strengthen what seems to not be working, if it doesn’t completely divert the story from what you’re trying to say. At some point you need to learn to trust yourself as a writer, which is the other reason you need to grow a thick enough skin to take criticism. The natural first tendency is to either assume you’re wrong, or to push back in stubborn insistance that you’re right. Both are defense mechanisms that can block you from developing to your full potential.

Is there anything that you were surprised about when you finally became published?

After I quite screaming and jumping up and down? My first published story was short-listed for the final edition of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s magazine but was turned down for thematic reasons, so I was hopeful for it, but it was still a pleasant surprise to have it accepted by On Spec. I have been more surprised by some other acceptances, thinking they were stories that stood no chance. So what do I know? Stories I love were sometimes rejected repeatedly, and stories I thought were so-so were snapped right up. The only place I sent “Hangman” was Damnation Books and Kim bought it immediately, so I was pretty surprised by that. It had been in the drawer for several years before I got around to revising it, and I wasn’t sure whether the revisions worked. Clearly they did.

And, my last standard question: what five things would you want with you during the coming zombie apocalypse? 

Eh, lessee… A first-rate de-animation spell. Failing that, an inexhaustible supply of matches, several hundred gallons of Eau d’Dead Meat to make me smell less like yummy living flesh, and a really big axe, with grindstone. And a big, mean dog.

Related posts:

1. Review of “Who Mourns for the Hangman?” by S. A. Bolich
2. Interview with Peter Straub of GHOST STORY, KOKO, FLOATING DRAGON, LOST BOY LOST GIRL, co-author of THE TALISMAN and BLACK HOUSE and more!
3. Interview with Larry Brooks of StoryFix.com and author of “Whisper of the Seventh Thunder”
4. Interview with Andy of BREATHERS: A ZOMBIE’S LAMENT
5. Interview: Rhonda Parrish, author of “Shades of Green” and “Sister Margaret”

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