The Repairman Jack Interview: Part 6
Stop 6 in the Cold City Blog Tour!
Open Book Society is ecstatic to be involved in this exciting blog tour featuring the works of F. Paul Wilson and his average-Joe-made vigilante character that you can’t help, but love, Repairman Jack!
Here’s the list of previous stops in case you missed them!
And with out further delay…..here is Part 6 of the Repairman Jack Interview conducted by the author that created him, F. Paul Wilson….
Still talking with Repairman Jack in post-Nightworld New York, all pretty much trashed by the Otherness. I’m tossing him some questions asked by readers. Bear with me if he’s not all that cooperative.
He’s adamant about no more stories after Nightworld, so I’ve gone back and written a trilogy based on his first years in NYC, before he became ‘That Guy’. Cold City is the first.
Still at his table in the rear of Julio’s which is still functioning, though barely.
FPW: Speaking of geeky, many readers consider you an old movie geek.
RJ: Who’s old?
FPW: Sorry. I meant a geek for old movies. Here’s one: “What was his first Dwight Frye film?”
RJ: Tod Browning’s Dracula, of course. His amazing Renfield.
FPW: Here’s another: “What are his top 5 Universal horror films?”
RJ: In order: Bride of Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Werewolf of London, The Invisible Man, and of course, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
FPW: No Dracula?
RJ: Too stagebound. Dwight Frye saves the movie, but his performance can’t elevate it into the top five. Wait… am I sounding Maltiny?
FPW: A little.
RJ: Push on, then.
FPW: Okay, here’s one I’m going to lay on you but I don’t want you to get into any details: “Where did he learn how to fight… take-down techniques with hand-to-hand combat.”
RJ: That would be Ishii-san.
FPW: And I get into him in book two of the trilogy, so let’s leave him as just a name for now. Here’s one from Feo Amante.
RJ: Eddie!
FPW: Right. “When you think of yourself, what is the engine that keeps you going? I’m not asking about your experiences. I know your history, and I know some of your history impelled your actions. But 30 people with a shared experience will make 30 different choices based on that experience. What engine drives your choices?”
RJ: Wow. All sorts of philosophical.
FPW: Can I say “existential” now?
RJ: Yeah, that too. I guess the drive for autonomy keeps me moving. Which is ironic, seeing as how my life has been manipulated since day one – but I didn’t know that way back when. Plus, I derive tremendous satisfaction from solving a problem. Rather than take a sword to the Gordian knot–
FPW: Ooh, Greek mythology reference.
RJ: –I’d rather figure out how to untie it. Or better yet, convince other folks that it’s in their own best interest to untie it.
FPW: But sometimes only a sharp blade will do.
RJ: Yeah, sometimes you’ve got to draw that sword and get ’er done.
FPW: Stephen Bissette asks, “Isn’t clean-up a bitch?”
RJ: Hey, Steve. Clean up is a bitch. But when you get down to it, if I’ve done my job, it’s not my worry. If my fix goes as planned, someone else makes the mess, and it’s up to them to clean up.
FPW: Here’s an interesting one: “Is knowing what you know, and having done what you’ve had to do, worth it? Or would you rather be ignorant of the Secret History?”
RJ: Worth it? Yeah. I can pretty safely say the Secret History would have had a different end without me.
FPW: Did it end? Is it over?
RJ: Well, after Nightworld, the Secret History is no longer secret.
FPW: Oh, right.
RJ: I just wish I’d know about it sooner. Weezy had it sussed out in her teens – not all the details, of course, but she’d known something was moving behind the curtain. I wish I’d taken her seriously back then.
FPW: People should definitely check out Secret Histories, Secret Circles, Secret Vengeance to see what you’re talking about.
RJ: Must you keep pimping your books?
FPW: Hey, if I don’t, who will?
RJ: Move on.
Are you on the edge of your seat waiting to read more of this interesting interview?? Check out Curling Up by the Fire on December 2nd for the conclusion that you won’t want to miss!
And check out Cold City, the first in a trio of Repairman Jack prequels.
You can read OBS Staff Member Sammy’s Cold City review here!
Tor Hardcover; $25.99; On-sale November 27, 2012
