It’s Friday the Thirteenth, and what better way to show this blog is uncowed by superstition than by having our favorite guest, another man uncowed by anything, although much of that has to do with how much younger and inexperienced he is than me. of course, I’m talking about the Godfather of Mob Fiction, Charlie Stella.
One Bite at a Time: Welcome back, Charlie. You’re one
of the most popular interviews we do here at OBAAT, both with readers and with
me. It’s always good to chat with you.
Raskin’s World is a bit of departure for you, as none of the primary POV
characters are ‘criminals’ in the way most people think of the word, though one
is a serious grifter. Why the change?
Charlie Stella: I’ve worked in law firms most of my
word processing life (about 41 years) and I always found it interesting how
lawyers, for the most part, are a lot more like the rest of us (good and bad), than
some of them like to think. Many assume they are above and beyond because of
that degree, and that they are protected by a shield, a legal degree, that is
respected for all the wrong reasons. Raskin’s World isn’t a condemnation
of lawyers. It’s more a reality check. I guess it’s my verismo opera. Some
of those MF’ers should be slapped once in a while to bring them back around.
I’ve met a few who are very decent people and not ideological morons.
OBAAT: Looking at it from the writing side, did you
have to change anything about your approach or process for Raskin’s World?
CS: I had to rely on a bit more narrative than I’m
used to using. I changed the ending several times at the suggestion of my wife
and publisher. It was much darker originally. I couldn’t escape the mob after
all, but that Chekhov bit about using something that is introduced early to be
used at the end worked for me. One gun is introduced late in the novel, but
early enough in a scene toward the end to think, “Chekov.” I probably liked
that particular Carol ending (I just had to make sure I had her name right)
more than I probably should, but I did enjoy writing it.
OBAAT: You mentioned how long you worked in law
firms. How much of that experience is depicted in Raskin’s World, either
directly or by influence?
CS: A lot of it. One place went through a Jerry
situation (had to check for his name too—what happens almost immediately after
I start a new project, I forget the old ones). It’s really no different than
what happens everywhere. Again, verismo opera.
OBAAT: Near as I can figure, Raskin’s World is
your fourteenth novel, plus a non-fiction ‘as told to’ book. (Dogfella.)
What keeps you going, and how many books are stacked up in your imagination
waiting for you to find time to write them?
CS: I’ve got at least that many that were total
failures, about 3 or 4 now that have been rejected, etc. Moving away from mob
exclusive novels seems to go with the times. The more irrelevant the mob
becomes, and we realize how much worse a government is regarding all matters of
corruption and violence, the less interesting the mob is to me (and the more I
want to write more Declan type novels). There are some truly horrible people
within the mob world, but they collectively can’t hold a jockstrap compared to
a government that would arm a genocide.
OBAAT: I don’t know if I’ve ever asked you what got
you to start writing for publication in the first place, so here goes: What got
you to start writing for publication in the first place?
CS: Dave Gresham. My English teacher in Minot, North
Dakota, where I went to play football. He was so smart, so charismatic, so
interesting, I thought: Maybe I shouldn’t be a dumbski the rest of my life. He
entered something I wrote into a college magazine or something. It got an
honorable mention, I think, which had to make it a charity project, probably by
Dave. Anyway, I probably started getting serious after that and I remember him
telling me, “Once you see your name in print, you’ll want it forever.” Something
like that. He was right. Getting published for me was a goal at first and I
didn’t think I had a prayer at it. Then it became an obsession … and the right
thing happened at the right time in my life. I was seeking an excuse to get out
of a bad marriage and a bad lifestyle … and I took a job at a Manhattan law
firm working midnights and crossed over with my wife (she was working a split
shift). Luckiest thing that ever happened to me. I wrote Eddie’s World
(my first published novel) to impress her. Ann Marie puts up with my insanity,
but she’s no fan of dumbskis.
OBAAT: Dave Gresham got the ball rolling and we’ve
spoken before of the influences of Elmore Leonard and George V. Higgins. Who
else has been influential in inspiring you and developing your style?
CS: Writers who were so impressive to me are the guys
and gals I could never be as good as (FACT), and that goes back in time to the
present. Steinbeck, Dostoevsky, that Chekov fella, Roth, Updike, etc. and today
I’d say guys like yourself (talk about great dialogue), Lynn Kostoff, Michael
Harris, Ben Whitmer, Merle Drown … more, I’m sure, but I’m brain farting right
now. Edibles are taking a toll on my memory, but they do keep me calm watching
football and they help me sleep.
OBAAT: Following up on the previous question, who do
you read and why?
CS: It’s been a big change in my life. The MFA
program was worth gold to me for who I was introduced to as a reader. I’d get a
suggestion to read a book or two by a specific author, and I’d read as many of
their works as possible (Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Patricia Highsmith,
Richard Bausch, that Chekov fella again, Hemingway, etc.) I read my ass off for
a few years after the program. Then, a few years ago, I switched over to my
political heroes and their writings. I did a TON of research on Zionism
(several years). These days I’m reading a lot of leftover New Yorker articles
on the throne because I’m too busy writing Declan (new novel) and researching,
plus Facebook posts that keep me engaged. Last week I read one about that
psychotic lunatic, Laura Loomer. Sweet Jesus, what a fucking nutjob.
OBAAT: The inevitable final question for any
interview: what’s next?
CS: It’s called Declan and I owe you and the great
Irish author Declan Burke for the title. I was fishing for a title, and you had
him up on your page. It is an anti-ICE novel/get off your asses America novel,
and I’m just beyond the halfway point. It’s about the American people finding
the stones to do what is necessary to end this fascist bullshit in the streets.
ICE thugs are nothing but bottom of the barrel losers with a passion to fulfill
their racist, macho, misogynistic fantasies out in real life, and they’ve been
granted that ability, with immunity, to beat on women, the elderly, and
everybody else. How many “proud boys” and “oath keepers” are working as ICE
thugs? Punks with badges. Declan features an actual resistance the likes of
which we’ve yet to see in America, except for the Black Panthers who have armed
themselves and are daring the punks with badges to give them a try. Declan
starts with some Native Americans taking it to ICE thugs, and their actions
begin to resonate with others. An Irish American family is the focal point (the
Doyles) and how they are affected by it all (one of their sisters is killed by
a reckless ICE agent trying to kill someone else, and her sister is wounded).
That’s the start-off point. It’s been a lot of fun to write, and the research
has been so enlightening, including what a Browning M2. .50 can do. (smiley
face). I thought I might finish it before the Super Bowl, but it’ll take
another month or so. As a change-up, I’m having my daughter give me feedback as
I write it. My wife and my personal editor, Merle Drown, will get it when I’m
comfortable with an ending.
Thanks for this. Always appreciated.
OBAAT: No more than I appreciate you taking the time.
I’m looking forward to Declan and hope you’ll come back to talk about it when
it’s out.
Raskin's World drops on April 3.
