Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview Chris Coppel, whose novel Latency has its debut on 25th June from Cranthorpe Millner.
Latency is your latest book, which blends horror and crime fiction. What inspired you to write a cross-genre story?
Easy question. My two favourite genres are non-slasher horror and crime. Having just read a Dean Koontz book and a Harry Bosch novel, I wondered if the two genres could be combined and yet retain a sense of realism. I hope I succeeded.
You have published many novels, and many have titles that begin with the letter L. Is this significant and can you explain?
It’s not as deep as you might hope. My first book was Luck. My second book was The Lodge. My wife commented on the Ls and dared me to see if I could come up with a third. Legacy was thus used for number three. After that it just became a challenge.
You mention two different kinds of novels: those that are “gentle fable-like adventures” and those you describe as “dark and terrifying stories”. How important are these strands to you?
Very.
My dark stories are themselves more fable-like than raw horror. I also believe
that there should be some sort of message in each. The gentler stories, Logistics
and Lucy, have more magic and whimsy on the pages, and for me as the
writer, are in a strange way more satisfying. Especially Logistics which
conveys an entirely new explanation for Santa Claus weaved into a modern tale
of unscrupulous business ethics. My darker stories, though within the horror
genre, are tales that make one think. Liner for example is part love
story, part mystery, part ghost story. I believe that each of my stories are unique,
and I hope, non-thematic. There are many writers that stick within a tried and
tested framework which works for them. I can’t do that. I feel that the real
pleasure comes from being able to create an entirely new structure using a
different set of verbal building blocks each time.
Latency introduces two burnt out detectives from the LAPD who set out to solve a series of cold-case murders and unearth something even darker. What can you tell us about the two detectives and how they found themselves in this predicament?
The term “burnt out” came from a pre release review. I don’t think they are burn outs at all. One is new to the LAPD, and though the untimely death of her loved ones as a teen led her to law enforcement, she is as dynamic as it gets and is definitely not a burn-out. The second detective became entangled in LAPD politics after a take-down went disastrously wrong. The story starts on his first day back at work after a year’s suspension. He was and still is one of the best detectives in the unit. A veteran of the department, he is at the top of his game and as a pair, the two are a veritable powerhouse. We should change the term “burn-out” for them having some serious baggage.
What intrigues you about the fantastic element of the story and why did you wish to return to it?
I know this sounds corny, but when I sit down to write my next book, I really don’t know where the adventure is going to take me. It’s almost as if I have no control. Why do I return to the same genre? I don’t know. Maybe one day I’ll sit down and churn out a romance or swashbuckler, but I doubt it.
Before becoming a full-time writer, you worked in senior positions at Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, and you held the position of Director of Operations for UCLA’s Film School, where you also taught advanced screenwriting. What can you tell us about your career in the film industry and at UCLA’s Film School?
In all my positions, I was about as far from the creative process as one could be. At the studios and postproduction companies I worked for, I was responsible for technical operations. In other words, the creating of the physical film prints, video masters, DVD masters etc. At UCLA, I was director of Operation for the film school. Despite the cool title, I was responsible for the nuts and bolts (literally) of the production building. There were sound stages, TV studios, lecture rooms, editing suites… you name it. My job was to keep the whole thing running. Again, no creativity whatsoever. Then, one day, I was offered the chance to teach a graduate course in screenwriting, focussing specifically on the re-write process. The Vice Chair had become a friend and had read a number of my film scripts from a different life and felt I was the perfect choice for the gig.
As well as novels and collections of short stories, you have also written numerous screenplays. How much can you tell us about this side of your work, and how has it influenced your novel-writing - or not?
My script writing was more of a cathartic escape than an income generator. In fact, I rarely even shopped them around. It was something I just felt I had to do in my early twenties. I believe that by starting with film scripts then, many years later migrating to novels, I had a very fortunate foundation to work from. The fact that a good shooting script includes sharp and clean edits between shots and scenes gave me a head start when it came to being able to edit my books. I believe that stories should be visualised and that by editing them in such a way as to give them a cinematic feel, enhances the experience. I can’t tell you how often people tell me that one of my books would make a great movie. That remains to be seen, but I like that line of thinking!
Your father was Alex Coppel, who wrote Vertigo and many other successful movies. What was it like for you growing up, and did that early influence drive you to become a writer?
Interesting. Because my father (and thus my mother) travelled extensively for work, I was sent to boarding school at 11 and my father died when I was sixteen, so I don’t have a huge memory cache from my early years that involve him. I know that our houses (we moved a lot) were always filled with Hollywood celebs of the time, but I had very little interaction with them. My only youthful Hollywood claim to fame was when I was, as a favour to my father, cast in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock presents. Apparently Hitch got sick of my dad asking and finally gave in. It was a disaster but left me with some great memories whenever the episode ‘the Schwartz Metterklume Method’ is on TV.
I’m not sure that I was ever driven to write until much later in life. As I never really discussed writing with my father and was never able to observe the process, I don’t know whether his being a writer was an influence or whether one day I just felt like jotting down a short story because an idea landed in my head.
You have lived in many different places in the world between the USA and Europe, from California to Spain, France, Switzerland and currently England. Have your travels inspired or altered what you write?
Locations definitely inspire me. Legacy, Lakebed and Lifetimes were all the result of having lived in Utah. Lingering and Lusas Naturae (coming out next year) come from my time in the UK. I think I put a little of just about everywhere I’ve been in my stories.
You and your wife Clare have done significant work in animal rescue with the Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Tell us something about this and whether you have been able to continue with it on your travels.
Still involved though only peripherally. Up until a few years ago, we used to spend every Saturday at a small animal rescue facility in Berkshire cleaning the cat sanctuary from top to bottom. It was hard and cold and messy work, but to be able to see all the cats snuggle up in their enclosures with a clean floor, fresh litter, water and food was reward enough.
Before joining Best Friends, you were President and Managing Director of the Home Entertainment Division of Testronics in Los Angeles. Who are Testronics and what do they do?
In 2005 before streaming and instant downloads there used to be this thing called DVD. Testronics was contracted by most of the studios to QC the original DVD masters of just about every movie that came out. There was a staff of sixty (in the LA facility) who had to sit in front of a monitor and watch every version to find any inherent audio, video of disc glitch. On top of that we had over one hundred DVD players from different manufacturers and every disc had to be tested in every machine as, back then, certain functionalities didn’t work on some of the cheaper players so we had to find those errors so that the code could be modified to work universally. The fun part was that by that time, new super-cheap players were coming to market almost every day and we had to keep up. It does sound like a small-time operation, but with facilities in LA, Poland and the UK it just kept growing. Then came Blu-ray!
You are also an accomplished drummer and guitarist. What sort of music do you play, and while in England have you attended any music festivals?
Mainly classic rock. I don’t tend to go to the big festivals in the UK as the weather sucks. I do however hit the occasional concert. I saw the Killers in London a few years ago and most recently, Squeeze in Deal, Kent.
Now that Latency is due to be published, are you working on your next book, and can you tell us anything about it?
My latest one is called Lusas Naturae and is about a living weapon that was created in WWII that though buried at sea at the end of the war, is inadvertently brought to shore in Deal, Kent where it does exactly what it was created to do. Kill, Kill, Kill. It only went to the publisher last week so it should be out in 2025.
What do you like to read, and do you have any favourite authors in crime or horror - or other genres?
I am very fickle when it comes to my reading. Last week I read a great Dean Koontz book while this week I am reading Trotsky’s narration on the Russian Revolution. I read whatever grabs me at that moment.
I
love Koontz, King and Straub for horror and Connelly, Crais and Ellroy for
crime.
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