I want to welcome Stan Hampton Sr. First I’d love you to
introduce yourself.
I am a
full-blood Choctaw of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to
13 wonderful grandchildren, a published photographer and photojournalist. I
retired on 1 July 2013 from the Army National Guard with the rank of Sergeant
First Class; I previously served in the active duty Army, the Army Individual
Ready Reserve (mobilized for the Persian Gulf War), and enlisted in the Army
National Guard in October 2004, after which I was mobilized for Federal active
duty for almost three years. I am a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle
(2004-2006) and Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007). My writings have appeared as
stand-alone stories and in anthologies from Dark Opus Press, Edge Science
Fiction & Fantasy, Melange Books, Musa Publishing, MuseItUp Publishing,
Ravenous Romance, and as stand-alone stories in Horror Bound Magazine, The
Harrow, and River Walk Journal, among others. Second-career goals include
becoming a painter and studying for a degree in photography and
anthropology—hopefully to someday work in and photograph underwater
archaeology. After 13 years of brown desert in the Southwest and overseas, I
miss the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in the fall, running rivers, and a warm
fireplace during snowy winters. As of December 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, I
officially became a homeless Iraq War veteran.
Tell us about your latest release.
My latest release from
Melange Books is The Gates of Moses,
and takes place in Venice, Italy. Long story short, an engineer charged with
saving Venice from the encroaching, stormy Adriatic Sea, fails in his task. The
city is emptied of the population and artworks evacuated. He sends his staff to
safety while he remains behind, ostensibly to wait for evacuation, but in
reality to die when the sea submerges Venice. He remains because a Venetian
succubus claimed him many years before. The situation escalates when a young
woman from his staff returns to battle the succubus for him.
Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do
like to know fun things about us writers.
1.) Who is your favorite villain – it can be from a book
(even one of yours), movie or TV show.
And why? Ahhh, my favorite villain? Ah,
I do not know. But, if I had to name someone, then, Salma Hayek’s character
from the Quentin Tarantino movie, “From Dusk to Dawn.” Why? Ahhh, she really
put her talents to good use?
2.) Who is your favorite character out of your books? Why?
Well,
I really do not have a favorite character, but if pressed for an answer—in my
short story collection Intimate Journeys,
there is a short story, Dawn at Khabari
Crossing. The character is Sergeant Braddock Hollingwood, a mobilized Army
National Guard soldier serving in Iraq. The Iraq War is over and the last
American combat unit is rolling south for the Kuwait-Iraq border crossing
called Khabari Crossing. Hollingwood’s own unit will soon cross from Iraq into
Kuwait and, ultimately, return home where they will be demobilized. Though
Hollingwood hopes to remain in uniform and go on to Afghanistan, he does not
know what the future holds for him. Nonetheless, he hopes for the best. Of the
many characters I have written, I can relate to Hollingwood the most because,
in a way, the story is somewhat autobiographical. Of course, because the story
is a work of fiction, do not take it as a thinly veiled factual story.
3.) What do genre do you write? What made you pick that one?
I write science fiction, fantasy, erotica, military fiction, horror, and I even
dabble a little in the Old West and Classical Rome. As for Dawn at Khabari Crossing—military fiction—writing the story was
actually a college English writing class assignment. Afterwards I developed the
story further for my short story collection. As for the genre of military
fiction, the Global War On Terrorism and the Iraq War was a defining moment in
my life. After spending most of my adult life in the military, or being a
civilian associated with the military, it is a genre that I may know best.
Thus, that is why Dawn at Khabari
Crossing.
4.)What are you working on now?
I do not want to give away
too much, but imagine a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who drifts West
after the war and encounters a horror that takes a real interest in him. More
or less.
5.) What got you to start writing?
I have wanted to be a
writer since I was 15 years old. And that is because I have stories to tell. Of
course, I did not become published until I was in my late 30s, and then not
again until my late 40s. Beginning in 2002, my published writings became more
frequent.
6.) Where do you get your ideas from?
Everywhere. A
conversation, a newspaper story, something I see, even my dreams. Ideas can
appear at any hour of the day or night, and usually when least expected.
7.) What would people who read your work be surprised to
find out about you?
The tendency to include erotica in my writing. Ah, not
gratuitous erotica, but erotica that really does have a place within the story.
8.) Do you have any special talents?
Being a survivor? I was
not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, nor did I marry into money. Unlike
others, my life has always been difficult and probably always will be, until
the day of my death.
9.) What was the one piece of advice you received when you
were an aspiring author that has stuck with you? Why?
Many years ago I
communicated with the writer Poppy Z. Brite. She relayed to me something her
agent said—and I am paraphrasing here—short story writers usually do not become
successful, but novelists do. I am not fond of editing though I recognize its
importance. Until the past year I always wrote short stories and novellas
because they are easier to write and edit, even rewrite if needed. A novel—oh
boy. And when there are multiple characters—oh boy. There are days when I miss
short stories and novellas.
10.) If you could talk to any famous figure (present, past
or fictional) who would it be and what would you talk about?
Well, it would be
a choice between Publius Quinctilius Varus or George Armstrong Custer. In 9 AD
Varus was a Roman governor in Germany; he was leading three Roman legions on a
campaign and they were ambushed by the Germans in the Battle of the Teutoburg
Wald. There were few Roman survivors. Custer, of course, led the 7th Cavalry
Regiment to the Little Big Horn in June 1876, and he along with some 225 men of
his immediate command (Regiment HQ, Companies C, E, F, I, and L) were all
killed. Whoever I would ultimately choose, I would ask, from their perspective,
what really happened. It goes without saying that the historical record of a
battle 2,000 years ago is mostly conjecture. Even for a battle almost 140 years
old, though analyzed through eyewitness accounts and archaeological
examination, questions still remain. I would like to know the answers to those
questions.
Thanks so much for joining me Stan. I love learning about each of my guests - you have some interesting answers here.
Here's the blurb and excerpt from the Gates of Moses - enjoy!
BLURB: An engineer dedicated
to saving Venice Venice Venice
EXCERPT: The dull booms, like
the measured beats of a primeval heart, echoed through the gray drizzling
afternoon. Each boom was a countdown to a finely predicted cataclysm that man,
through his mistaken notion that he could control nature, had finally admitted
that he was powerless to hold back.
Dr.
Gregorio Romano, tall, with dark brown hair and watchful hazel eyes, stood
before the open tall narrow window of his corner office in the ornate, gilded
Ducal Palace of the once La Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, the Most Serene
Republic of Venice, and peered into the gray drizzle toward the unseen barrier
islands. The almost submerged islands of Lido and Pellestrina, with their
channels opening onto the Adriatic Sea , formed
the southeastern perimeter of the timeless Venetian lagoon. He listened to the
echoing booms of the rising, stormy Adriatic, and thought of a mythical,
prehistoric mother who gave birth to an imaginative species that dreamed of the
impossible and often made it happen. And now the mother was ready to take back
one of the greatest dreams of her children, ready to clasp it deep within her
bosom.
“Gregorio?”
“Yes,”
he replied as he gazed at the gray choppy waters of the lagoon.
“Have
you reconsidered? Are you ready to evacuate?”
“Not
yet.” Gregorio tilted his head slightly as a sleek dark gondola glided
effortlessly across frothy, white-capped waters and halted before the flooded
wharf, the Riva degli Schiavoni, in front of the Palace.
Patrizia
Celentano, the first and last female gondolier of Venice, looked up at him and
gave a friendly wave. He raised a hand in return. Her gondola was a
traditionally built and shaped boat, but rather than the traditional black as
required by law, she painted it a dark wine color. Though she offered to erect
a shelter to protect Gregorio from the elements, he always preferred to ride in
the open.
“We
can evacuate you by force if necessary.”
“You
won’t,” Gregorio smiled as he turned to face his computer on the polished
wooden desk. The broad, bearded face of his boss, Dr. Niccolo Ricci, nodded in
agreement. “There’s no need, and a helicopter is scheduled to pick me up from
the roof of my home tomorrow morning at 0600 hours.”
“The
calculations might be incorrect. The gates could break tonight...”
www.melange-books.com/authors/sshampton/GatesofMoses.html
Melange Books
Musa Publishing
MuseItUp Publishing
Amazon.com Author Page
Amazon.com. UK
Goodreads Author Page
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6888342.S_S_Hampton_Sr_.com/author/show/6888342.S_S_Hampton_Sr_
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say thank you for having me visit your blog. Have a great week!
Stan
Hi Stan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your interview and excerpt, and WOW, that is quite the array of genres you dabble in!
Val
Val,
DeleteThank you. Yes, it's fun writing in such a variety of genres. Because I don't specialize, writing in some genres requires quite a bit of research at times. But it's worth it. Thanks for visiting. Have a great week!
Stan