CRESCENT, the creepy and fantastic podiobook by Phil Rossi makes its print debut today, published by Dragon Moon Press. Meanwhile, Phil’s latest podiobook thriller brings the chills back down to Earth. HARVEY is a twisted tale about a down-on-his-luck musician and a small town that’s more than it seems.
In between preparing for today’s live uStream concert and the rest of the Amazon.com Chart Rush festivities, Phil took a few moments to talk about the writing, editing, and podcasting process behind CRESCENT.
GH: Where did the seed of the idea for Crescent come from?
Phil Rossi: It was an odd genesis. At the time, I had just discovered Joss Whedon’s Firefly—I was in bed, with a fever, and a marathon was on the Sci Fi Channel. I alternated watching Firefly and reading one of the later installments of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Needless to say, my state of mind was well-twisted. The first glimmer of the story that came to me was the station itself—this ugly, nearly organic looking talon, hanging in silhouette over the backdrop of a blazing star. Obviously, I had to know what this place was—so, in I went. Initially, it was going to be a podcast series—from the hip, with little forethought. After about three “episodes” I knew I had a book on my hands. I proceeded to write the first draft in about 60 days. There was little planning, the experience was spontaneous, hypnotic, and just a beautiful thing.
GH: What’s been the biggest challenge in regard to bringing Crescent to
the printed page?
PR: The biggest challenge was taking the existing manuscript and having the patience to polish and reword things as to meet where I’m at these days as a writer. I wrote Crescent two years ago, so clearly, there has been some growth in the writing department. It was a fine process, though, and I think, thanks to you Wonder Editor, I was able to achieve to the true vision of the story. The book really sings now. It’s a big, dark, and terrible machine. And I’m a better writer for the process, too.
GH: Crescent is an unapologetically gritty book, set in an unapologetically gritty world. Mature content can be such a sensitive issue that it’s hard to know where that line is sometimes, or to decide how far you want to push it. I think you’ve balanced it very well. Like in an R-rated movie, the more disturbing mature content is left more to the audience’s imagination, while the less disturbing mature content was more explicit. Were there times when you second-guessed yourself on it? Were you concerned at any point that it might hurt your chances of publication, or narrow your audience?
PR: To be perfectly honest, when I was writing Crescent, I wasn’t concerned with offending or alienating. I felt strongly about all elements of the story—none of it had been contrived or penned for effect—I rolled with where my mind wanted to go, regardless of a few scenes that actually made me feel a little less than comfortable. At that point, I didn’t have an audience, so I figured, the people that would be attracted to my work would be all in. When DMP took on the book for publishing is when some small amount of concern came in. To my knowledge, this is probably one of the more macabre tales they’ve published. I had some trepidation that, when the edits came back, there’d be a lot of red in some of the heavier scenes. I was pleasantly surprised to find the exact opposite.
GH: Did you have the character and place names from the start? How did you come up with them? Do you use placeholder names as you’re writing, or come up with the names up front… and does it mess with your perception of a character if their names change somewhere along the process?
PR: Some names I knew from the go get—for example, the protagonist, Gerald Evans—that name came to me right away. Marisa Griffin—her name was a bit more elusive and there was a stand in name for her. I don’t know that it changed my perception of the character when I settled on the right name. It was more a matter of having this strong, vivid personality and being content when I, at long last, found her name. As far as the places in the book, those were pretty concrete after my fingers bashed them out. From star systems, to planets, to pubs—there wasn’t any rehashing, at least not that I can remember.
GH: What’s your writing process like? What’s your ideal writing environment? (Computer? Notebook and pen? Outdoors? Music or silence?)
PR: Being a father, a husband, and having a full-time job, I take what I can get. It’s very guerrilla in nature. I hide in the trees and strike when I can. Typically, that’s in the middle of the night, when the rest of the house is asleep. But, sometimes—most times—that’s just not enough. Part of my commute involves taking a ferry across the Potomac River, and there’s about 15 to 30 minutes of time where I’m not driving—I try to use that time to write, as well. Lunch breaks, before work—if that time is available—I’ll sit down and get as many words out as I can. As for environment, I have a man cave I can retreat to. This is the primary spot where I write my stories and create music. As far as ambience, at times I write to music, other times, dead silence. It’s variable. Sometimes, the inspiration is so hot that I sit down and start pounding on the keys before I even have a chance to select some background music.
GH: Did you start with an outline for Crescent or a general plot structure, or did it come to you as you wrote? Has your writing process changed since?
PR: With Crescent, I flew blind. I had more time on my hands in those days, so I didn’t need to be all that efficient. Now, with my life as busy as it is, I need to capitalize on every flash of inspiration. I make rough outlines and take rudimentary notes before starting a project. I find it accelerates the writing and also preserves the ideas—at least long enough for me to crack, break, and turn them into something new. Also, creating notes and outlines is a way for me to justify working on another project while up to my eyeballs in the “current” project. I seldom go anywhere without a little notebook riding in my back pocket. It’s my security blanket.
GH: At what point along Crescent’s process did the podcasting angle arise? Did you know you were going to podcast it from the beginning?
PR: I knew from word one of Crescent, that I was going to podcast it. As I mentioned earlier, the original intention for Crescent was to create a podcast series—a couple of seasons, limited heavy lifting. I’m glad things went the way they did, though. Why a podcast? I had discovered the whole podcast phenomena earlier in the year and had become really enamored by it. I wanted to try my hand at doing a fiction podcast, and Crescent was it for me. Even though I knew from the go get that Crescent was going to be a podcast, I can’t say that affected the actual writing of the novel, but it was a goal. Having that goal lit a fire under my ass to complete the thing.
GH: What was the revision and editing process like? Does revising ever stop, or were you changing little things as you came across them while you were recording?
I’m going to start with the second part of the question first. Revising has to stop at some point, because we all know you can rewrite a given passage an endless number of ways an endless number of times. Knowing when to be realistic and say “done” is hugely important. For me, that’s not such a huge issue, as I always have the next project waiting in the wings for some good loving. That’s not to say I cut corners on the editing, I don’t, I just know when I’ve reached the point where I’ve done all I can. As far as the workflow with Crescent, I did the majority of my edits prior to recording the podcast. After a couple of rewrites, I handed the draft over to my first readers—a best friend and my wife– and started incorporating their comments before I started recording. However, the pace at which I wanted to record was moving faster than the rate these comments were coming in, so it wasn’t long before I was making edits and recording pretty much in parallel.
GH: What was your introduction to podcast fiction, and what inspired you to get into the medium?
PR: The first podcast novel I listened to was Jack Mangan’s Spherical Tomi—a great book. I was instantly impressed with the caliber of writing and equally floored that people were putting stuff out like this for free. After that, I dove into Sigler’s Earthcore—haven’t looked back since. I’ve long been a fan of the aural tradition of story telling and I think audiobooks are an extension of that—it was a very natural move for me.
GH: Were you surprised by the strength of the positive response that the Crescent podcast got? Was there one defining or memorable moment that stood out to you?
PR: I was blown away by the response, both by the exponential growth in listenership during Crescent’s initial release period and the incredible feedback that was filling my email box. During that time, I can’t say there was any one definable moment that stood out—it’s really been the journey as a whole that has really rocked my world. I’ve definitely received some interesting feedback that stands out—but there are things I don’t think I should repeat on this blog.
GH: One obvious difference between the audio and print formats is the lack of sound and vocal cues in print. Did you find that affecting the editorial process? Did much need to change to give the book the same punch on the page that it had in the podcast?
PR: I was pleasantly surprised that not all that much needed to be changed in the manuscript from an impact perspective. Several dramatic moments were capitalized on from a rewording perspective, but I don’t think it was a matter of making up for lack of audio cues. I created the soundtrack and scored the ambient effects as I was recording the podcast, so really, it can be said that the actual written word impacted the use of sound.
GH: I’ve said many times on this blog that the rapport between editor and writer is very important, and I think you and I really found our groove, working together on the print release for Crescent. As a writer, what’s your take on the importance of that rapport? Is it intimidating to turn your work over to an editor, as compared to asking someone you know to read through it for you?
PR: It’s hugely important to have a good relationship with an editor and I am definitely grateful for the relationship that you and I have developed during the course of working on Crescent. Trust is a big issue here—if you can’t trust the person who is tasked with making your work stronger, who is there to help see your vision fulfilled, you’re in big trouble. I wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of having a professional look at my work—rather, I was excited. Working with a professional editor has been one of the things I’ve fantasized most about taking my writing career to the next level—getting those professional eyes on my material.
GH:Now that you’ve survived it, do you have any advice for other writers, regarding the editing process, or the publishing process in general?
PR: As far as the editing process goes, my advice—be patient and enjoy it. Editing— even when you’re at the stage of solo editing—is a privilege. It’s the opportunity to take that initial draft and make it shine. Working with a professional editor is a chance, not only to make your work shine, but to howl, moan, sing, and ultimately, captivate your audience.
GH: Are you planning any promotional appearances or signings? Where can fans catch up with you?
PR: The best way to figure out where I’ll be at any given moment would be to hit me on CrescentStation.net and Facebook—I’ll be making a number of appearances, both scheduled and impromptu, and the wonder that is the Internet is the best way to keep track of that.
