Interview with an Author - Mark Zirbel
#7 in our Interview With an Author series is bizarro veteran, Mark Zirbel! Mark's story, SHITHOLE USA released last November and has been causing (brown) waves ever since!
What’s your background, what compelled you to start writing?
I’ve always been writing! I wrote chapter books in grade school that my mom would type up and staple together for me likes zines. In high school, I wrote articles and drew cartoons for the school paper. In college, I got interested in screenplays. Post-college, I started writing short stories, which eventually led to my Wonderland Award-nominated collection, CYBERPUNK ZOMBIE JIHAD, and my debut novel, SHITHOLE USA.
What’s are your top three books? Bizarro, or otherwise.
Here are three that have had a big influence on my writing: TALES OF PAIN AND WONDER by Caitlin R. Kiernan, ANIMAL INSTINCTS by Hertzan Chimera, and CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT by William S. Burroughs.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
I’d tell myself not to bother with the screenplays. Those never went anywhere for me. I started and stopped three or four of them. It was hard to commit to something that had such a miniscule chance of ever becoming a movie. Plus, they weren’t very good, lol!
What sparked the idea for your latest book?
In 2018, I wrote a story called “One Door, No Windows” for the bizarro anthology STRANGE BEHAVIORS. It was a weird piece that dealt with nanite mind control, corporate bullying, a half human/half dragon business executive, and conspiracy theories about uterine tumors. I was happy with the story, but it felt like I had only scratched the surface of the craziness. I needed to dig deeper into these ideas, so I started working on a book that – late last year – finally became SHITHOLE USA.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
I did that in CYBERPUNK ZOMBIE JIHAD. The stories involve members of an industrial/cyberpunk bank called crashdump. Just for fun, I scattered a bunch of references to industrial bands throughout the book – band names, album titles, song lyrics, etc. If you don’t recognize them, it doesn’t detract from your reading in any way. It’s just a little something extra for readers who are also fans of industrial music.
What’s brewing? What projects are you working on?
I’d really like to start working on a new novel this year. I’ve been kicking around some ideas – one, in particular. But I’m not convinced yet that it’s THE idea, the one I want to spend the next couple of years writing. I’ll have to see if some more pieces fall into place in my mind.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot?
In honor of SHITHOLE USA, I’ll go with a poop emoji.
And, lastly;
What advice would you give for any aspiring bizarro authors?
Read a lot and write a lot (all genres but especially bizarro fiction). Get peer feedback on your work whenever possible. Don’t sit on your work – submit it. Attend a BizarroCon if you can. Embrace your inner weirdness. Be persistent. Have fun.
