Stories of extremists always catch my eye as potential material; I don’t like extremists. Also, new medical procedures, and the never-ending quest for immortality and what price people are willing to pay for it, and… possible bizarre outcomes. 

Paul Clayton – 24 June 2022

The Back Flap

What if you had access to a time machine and could go back to visit a deceased love… one more time. Would you?

In 1962, Bobby Newman’s Grandpa, a basement inventor, loses his wife to cancer, then begins to lose his mind to grief. While tuning up his not-yet-perfected time machine for one last visit with his wife, he ends up going the wrong way… into the dystopian future of 2025. Inexplicably, he sends the machine back.

Fourteen-year-old Bobby uses it to lead Mom and Dad on a mission to find Grandpa and bring him back.

But Grandpa has other ideas…

This volume brings together five of Paul Clayton’s most ambitious stories to date. Clayton’s concern is with ordinary people—their innate wisdom and persistent foolishness, their capacity to do good or harm, and their resiliency. A first-rate collection of stories by a serious writer.

About the book

What is the book about?

Escape From the Future and Other Stories is a speculative fiction collection. The first story is about a family from 1962 San Francisco Bay Area California, that ends up in San Francisco in the year 2025. It contrasts the two time periods and tells an engaging story of a family trying to re-unite after a death. Think, Ma and Pa Go to Town, ‘town’ being time-travelling 60 years into the future. The other stories in the collection: Human Exclusion Zone. A wealthy elite environmentalist, Baird, establishes protected habitats all over the globe. The biggest and first is in Northern California. Local people are moved out—despite their protests—and endangered species moved in. But there’s a cost. And Baird may have to pay it… Sometimes a Great Lotion. An author gets a chance to pitch his ‘great American novel’ to none other than Oprah Winfrey. But he screws it up. ‘Til Death or Whatever. An old woman opts for a new bizarre procedure to save the life of her husband who is dying of cancer. Things are going sort-of okay until a little boy, Clarence, throws a monkey wrench in the process… Adios, America. A quick-witted lovable (to a few, very few) oldster who is ‘illegally alive,’ manages to escape the dreaded SRS (State Rehabilitation Service) for a while but is finally caught. Now he must dial up all his wit and charm to escape. Can he do it?

When did you start writing the book?

I started on the collection about a year and a half ago.

How long did it take you to write it?

All told about 18 months. I’m in a little writers’ group and I ran all my stories by them. Plus, I had my good friend and editor look at the collection.

Where did you get the idea from?

Some just came to me. I lived in the setting of the first story, South San Francisco,’ but in the 80s, not the 60s. But I grew up in the 50s and 60s, so I was able to channel ‘Bobby’ pretty easily. Others I got from the daily headlines, from news stories. (Tigers carrying away people from their homes near the tiger preserve and eating them. And nobody cares; not really) Stories of extremists always catch my eye as potential material; I don’t like extremists. Also, new medical procedures, and the never-ending quest for immortality and what price people are willing to pay for it, and… possible bizarre outcomes. The slowly-evolving culture of lawlessness and the normalization of the bizarre and evil—if the word still has meaning.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I struggled a little with timelines in the first story, which is about time-travel. There were a few places where things needed more explanation and clarity. But, my editor, sharp as a tack, pointed them out.

What came easily?

All of it. The conception part was easy. The stories are out there in the ether and I guess I’m a good channeler. What was not easy was the actual plotting, writing, and re-writing, and re-writing.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

My characters are often taken from real life, people I’ve known or worked with, neighbors, acquaintances. And I am careful to make them un-recognizable. And I combine these characters with my own multiple selves. Also, I do try to make my characters as human as possible. That way people will relate to them.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

The writers that have influenced me the most tend to be ordinary people with extra-ordinary talent for, not only telling a story, but putting the reader in the moment, masters of constructing the ‘fictive dream,’ as John Gardner explained it (On Writers and Writing). Also, James N. Frey (How to Write a Damn Good Novel), is excellent on the craft of plotting and writing. I recommend reading master writers like James Jones, John Updike, Tobias Wolff, Charles Bukowski, Leo Tolstoy, James Clavell, Saul Bellow, and Michel Houellebecq.

Do you have a target reader?

Yes, my target reader is a thinking person. He or she loves people in the aggregate, but also knows that not everyone is good or safe to be around. An adult who strives to see the world for what it is, not for what they want it to be. My reader LOVES story and is open minded. My reader wants to be entertained, but also wants a book to tell him or her more about the world than they know. My reader is always reading something. He or she can sit down in a quiet place and read for an hour at a minimum. And he or she is a firm believer in the First amendment of the Constitution, that is, a believer that anything and everything can be written about by anyone, anywhere and anytime. Period.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

My process begins with dreaming up a scene or scenario. It has to be compelling. And the more it sits with me, the more vivid and detailed it becomes.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes, I outline. But my outlines tend to be minimal.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I do minimal editing as I go along, then before I give it to a reader, I do more editing. But I don’t let editing slow me down. I believe that the story must be allowed to gush forth.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Absolutely! Indispensable. And he is great.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No. I know people who do. There are even recommended tunes for that. But I don’t believe in it. Anything that takes one away from the ‘fictive dream’ is bad.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

After I finish a book, yes. I’ll spend a week, maybe two, at that. No more. I’ve had two agents over the course of my writing career. But things have changed a lot now.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I’ve been commercially published—Putnam/Berkley and also Thomas Dunne. But as I said above, publishing has changed big time. It has been taken over by people who seem to have a political agenda. As a straight while male, and an old one, they are not interested in anything I have to say or write. They state so openly. So I don’t waste more than a few weeks reaching out. Thank goodness there is Amazon and other on-line publishers who will accept un-agented books.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Absolutely! I went to my usual guy, Glendon Haddix. He and his wife, Tabitha, run a great business, Streetlight Graphics, doing covers, editing and formatting. Excellent work.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I’m doing some promos with Written Word Media. They’re good to work with. I’m doing a lot on my own, mostly reaching out to outfits like yours, and sending books out for review. There are a lot of BS marketeers who take your money and send out press releases to people who don’t give a damn, lots of worthless promo schemes out there. I guess I’m also hoping and praying that word-of-mouth will get the book some traction.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Yeah, make sure you have at least two readers you trust, people who will tell you what’s wrong with your work, what you need to flesh out more, what is not working, that sort of thing. Then, you must absolutely find a good ‘story editor’ and have him/her road-test your book. Then an editor once you get the story right. And finally, a proof-reader. Also, I would recommend, after the proof-reader, putting the manuscript away for three days or so, then reading through it one more time under strong light, with red pen in hand. Don’t do your own cover. Vend it out. Don’t do your own formatting. Vend it out. Just write.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on the East Coast.

Where do you live now?

I live in the desert in Nevada. I’m thinking of getting a donkey and going prospecting.

What would you like readers to know about you?

That I’ve been writing since college (1972). That I’ve had four books published commercially. That one of them was a finalist at the 2001 Frankfurt eBook Awards (so I’m an ‘Indie’ publishing veteran). And that I love a good story and I think they’ll enjoy my latest book.

What are you working on now?

Nothing. I am ‘at rest.’ I spend my time trying to promote my latest. Thanks for this opportunity.

End of Interview:

For more from Paul Clayton, visit his Substack page.

Get your copy of Escape from the Future and Other Stories from Amazon US or Amazon UK.