Dwayne Bearup: Interview in the Dark


Honestly, I am lucky enough to have found the most wonderful meetup group for writers 2 years ago and they have become my second family, quirky and talented as hell. 

I was thrilled when one of the writers, whose work I adore, started publishing on Smashwords. These can go right to your PC.

Dwayne Bearup is a writer I've known for 2 years and can honestly say, I still don't really know him. I call this an interview in the dark because he does a good job of keeping up the mystique that suits his unpredictable writing. He truly is the most gifted editor in our group and his no-nonsense way of tackling writing makes it raw, sometimes unsettling as hell. 

The one below "Mary Had Too Many Limbs" was so freaky and awesome when he read it in group, I felt a shiver of fear and was uncomfortable going into the parking lot until I was certain he wasn't following-and he's a friend. Yes, that is a talented writer who makes you realize there is more about him you don't know, a dark wellspring of inspiration. 

He's also a freaking talented poet, as well. Talk about a renaissance man!

I did a little interview with this enigma man who is going to be your favorite up and coming author. Here's how it played out:

Autumnforest: Do you have a novel in the works?
Dwayne: Yes, I am currently working on a science fiction novel set roughly 150 years in the future in which extraterrestrials arrive, believing Earth to be the birthplace of their creators. I wrote the first draft long-hand in prison over ten years ago, but have made major changes in the last 18 months or so. I hope to have a version suitable for presentation at the workshop by the end of summer.

Autumnforest: Ultimately, who are you writing for?
Dwayne: I'm tempted to say "For my own edification and amusement" and leave it at that. But my friend Natalie, who was killed two years ago this May and was also a writer, believed in my talent and wanted very much to see me succeed as an author. So the more truthful answer is that I am writing as much for Natalie as for myself. She believed I had it in me to make a living as a writer, and I want to prove her right as much as I want to see myself become commercially successful.

Autumnforest: Who are your favorite authors?
Dwayne: In no particular order: Stephen King - I own and have read a copy of everything he's ever written - Clive Barker, Robert R. McCammon, Anne Rice, Paulo Coelho, Joe Hill, Anne McCaffrey, Julian May, Orson Scott Card, William Tenn, Douglas Adams, Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov, Michael Ayrton, John Brunner, C.J. Cherryh, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, C.S. Friedman, Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Michio Kaku, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Edgar Allan Poe, Gene Wolfe,.... That is not by any means a comprehensive list, but should give a decent approximation of the scope of my reading interests.

Autumnforest: Are your characters, locations or situations based on things in your own life or a rich imagination?
Dwayne:  Generally, my characters and their locations stem from the situation I'm writing about. A thought occurs to me - usually a "what-if" scenario - and I pursue it. If I find it sufficiently interesting, I write it up. The character develops as my mind pursues the logical course of the thought-stream... I've never come up with a character and then formed a story around that individual. For instance, the story "Evolution" was my attempt to answer the question of how the first religion got started. The premise suggested both the location and the character.

Autumnforest:  What should people feel when they walk away from reading your work?
Dwayne:  I want them to feel thoughtful. I am trying to entertain people, but at the same time I hope nobody will ever read one of my stories and say, "Yeah, I saw that coming. I knew that was going to happen just that way." Hopefully along the way they will feel either happy, chilled, angry, sad, or enlightened, but in the end I mostly want my readers to think about the ideas I've presented. That's why so many of my stories explore the topics of religion and evolution and morality. I think more people need to think more about those subjects rather than wallowing in the same morass of knee-jerk spoon-fed mentality they've lived in all their lives.

Autumnforest: I highly recommend all of these and his many more writings. You can find his author's page here. 
 

Cavanaugh's Cure

A madman has destroyed the human race, leaving only a remnant alive to glorify him for until the end of time. Cavanaugh's Cure is the story of a boy becoming a man in the society which grew out of that destruction.

 Signs

How shiny would your life look if your lawn bore a sign listing all your past sins?

Making Room 

Conflict can lead to violence. For Allen Rose, an internal conflict led to multiple homicides and a sentence to a psychiatric hospital. That should have ended it...

Disfigured  

This collection of short stories features Cavanaugh's Cure - about a young man coming of age in a dystopian future - and Making Room - in which Allen Rose learns the danger of harboring two incompatible world-views. Nineteen stories in all, the longest is 5,455 words and the shortest 106 - including the title and my name - you're sure to find something to pass the time.

Mary Had Too Many Limbs 

Unsuitable for those under 17.  Some horror stories are cathartic, others are entertaining. This story is merely horrifying. Enjoy! 

Haiku 2008-2010

A compilation of fifty-two haiku comprising twenty-seven poems which describe the ebb and flow of my relationship with a young woman.

 

Comments

  1. That's so awesome that you found an amazing writing group to call home. :)

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  2. They are my family; quirky, helpful, chattering all at once, and full of opinions and talent up the wazoo. Love them all.

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  3. This is the first writing group I've ever been part of, and I feel very fortunate. After reading so many horror stories about bad writing groups, I would never leave this one.

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    1. We will never allow you to leave, Leo. You belong to us now....

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  4. Leo, you do realize I will haunt you until that last dinner is published....

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