Nick Mamatas: So Brian, how did you like collaborating with me?
Brian Keene: It was as wonderful and challenging and frustrating and fun as I'd suspected it would be. When I got the idea for this novel—Hunter S. Thompson versus Cthulhu—I knew I couldn't write it by myself, and I knew there was no one else who could do the job except you. So I'm glad you said yes. In hindsight, are you glad you did, as well?
Nick: Of course! We sold the book, didn't we? (And I could have sworn it was my idea . . .) And to a publisher that wasn’t three days away from going bankrupt, or deciding that selling to bookstores is a waste of time—as happened to both of our last books. So there's that. It was also great because when the big middle section of the book came I was able to say, "Okay Brian, here ya go!"—second acts are the hardest for me, but seem like your bread and butter. What particular writing challenges do you think we both faced?
Brian: I love the second act. That's when the fun begins—Hoover and Innsmouth and the bald man and Dagon and the tentacle sex. For me, the biggest challenge was accurately depicting the political underpinnings of the time period—the late Sixties and early Seventies. I was just a kid then, and more interested in G.I. Joe and Marvel super heroes than the socio-political climate of the time. I don't remember paying attention to politics until my Dad and I had to wait in line for gas, and he explained to me how it was Carter's fault. But you nailed it with authenticity, as if you had been hunkered down with Abbie Hoffman and Leary and Huey P. Newton in some back room in Berkeley at the time. As for the challenge facing you, I'd echo what you told me previously—struggling to get Thompson's “voice” just right (although I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You did far better than you think). Of course, we're both intimately familiar with Thompson's work and Lovecraft's canon, so that helped. It occurs to me that I discovered both authors in high school. How about you? When did you first read Thompson and Lovecraft?
Nick: Thompson when I was a kid in junior high, having access to some issues of Rolling Stone and a copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas thanks to my mother's youngest brother, who was living with us on and off for a few years. Lovecraft I'd heard about thanks to the "Cathulu" episode of the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters. Of course, I'd read "The Rats in the Walls" and "The Outsider," as those stories are frequently reprinted in textbooks, but I was one of those people who played the role-playing games before reading Lovecraft seriously. I was in my early twenties, actually! One last question for you: how do you think Thompson fans will react to the book, if they come across it?
Brian: I hope they'll see it for what it is—a love note to two of America's greatest and most influential writers. I think they'll find that it transcends genres, just as Thompson and Lovecraft's work did. I think it will appeal to a broad cross-spectrum of readers, regardless of their political or social stance. I mean, look at us. You're a socialist and I'm a libertarian. If we can get together and dig it, then I'm sure Red-and-Blue-State Middle America can, too. Because in the end, we're all Americans . . . at least until 2012, when Cthulhu shows up and eats our faces. How about you? Any final thoughts on what readers can expect?
Nick: I'm sure everyone will like the orgy with Henry Kissinger!
Look for The Damned Highway, by Brian Keene and Nick Mamatas, this July from Dark Horse Books!
