An interview with Edward M Erdelac
Edward M. Erdelac is the author of nine novels, including the acclaimed Lovecraftian/weird western series Merkabah Rider and Andersonville. His fiction has appeared in dozens of anthologies and periodicals including most recently, the Stoker award winning After Death, Edge of Sundown, Atomic Age Cthulhu, Flesh Like Smoke, and Star Wars Insider Magazine. Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids. News of his work and excerpts can be read at http://www.emerdelac.wordpress.com
Edward kindly revealed the books and authors that influenced him to Fantasy Book Review in August 2015.
Is there a book you own which can put a smile on your face and make you feel happy simply by holding it in your hand?
Which book or series makes you feel most nostalgic, remembering the period in your life you first read it?
Robert E. Howard's Conan series. Takes me back to eighth grade/Freshman year of high school, Dungeons and Dragons, video game arcades. I go back to Howard's works at least once a year. They're comforting and they've never lost their appeal.
Which book or series makes your blood pump and your palms sweaty?
William Peter Blatty's two Exorcist novels, The Exorcist and Legion. Read them deep into the night and I remember having to turn on The Three Stooges to scrub my brain before I could fall asleep. Terrifying books.
Are there any authors in particular that have been inspirational to you and influential upon your work?
Tons! Howard, of course. Tolkien, Cormac McCarthy, Joe Lansdale, Ambrose Bierce, Alan Moore, Larry McMurtry, Mickey Spillane, Patrick O'Brian, Richard Matheson, George Macdonald Fraser, John Irving, Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Matthew Stover, Rod Serling, Stephen King, Piers Anthony, Dennis Wheatley, Ray Bradbury, Douglas Adams…. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
And finally, Fantasy Book Review is all about recommending the best reads the genre has to offer. Could you please offer our readers a fantasy recommendation of your own?
This is probably not news to any die hard fantasy fans, but Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn is a brilliant, lyrical novel and really worth seeking out if you've only seen the Rankin and Bass cartoon.
Edward's latest novel, WITH SWORD AND PISTOL, was published on October 16, 2015.
In 1740 A British marine and a Dominican Blackfriar are hunted across a cannibal isle by a savage crew of shapeshifting pirates.
In 1742 A sadistic samurai sword tester leads a pair of criminals in a bid to escape a prison filled with the ravenous walking dead.
In 796 Sinbad the Sailor leads his crew to a monster-haunted island to retrieve a magic sword from its demon owner.
In 2001 a South Houston gangbanger learns the utterly horrific secret behind the incomprehensible powers of a Liberian clique of ex-child soldiers.
Hundreds of years removed. Thousands of miles apart. But they all fight to the bloody end WITH SWORD AND PISTOL.