Jeremy C Shipp

Jeremy C Shipp is an author whose written creations inhabit various bookshelves, magazines, anthologies and drawers and cover all aspects of dark fantasy, horror and bizarro. Jeremy has been writing since an early age and lives in Southern California in a “moderately haunted Victorian farmhouse with his wife, Lisa, and their legion of yard gnomes.” He’s currently working on many stories and novels, the latest of which is ‘Cursed’ and says: “When writing this novel, I cut up my heart and fed a portion to each of the characters.”

In conversation about angry ballerinas, finger puppets and The Yard Gnome Liberation Army, this will quite probably be the most bizarre – ist Twitter conversation you’ll ever eavesdrop on!

@scattyjan Hello and welcome Jeremy – or can I call you Jerbear? And how or why did that start?

@JeremyCShipp I try to convince myself that the nickname Jerbear stems from my natural grace and power. @JeremyCShipp But in truth, I’m just very hairy, and there’s also the fact that bear rhymes with Jer.

@scattyjan does it? It's a good job I asked, cos I was pronouncing it wrong! Did you model the coconut monkeys on yourself then?

@JeremyCShipp I actually prefer to think of myself a giant yard gnome, with the coconut monkey being distant cousins

@scattyjan Are these characters/species from your latest creation, Bizarro Bytes? Can you sum it up in one tweet?

@JeremyCShipp For quite a while now, I've been rather obsessed with those creatures. There's a lot of yard gnome art on the Bizarro Bytes page.

@scattyjan In two tweets then ...

@JeremyCShipp Bizarro Bytes is a subscription service, where readers receive 12 new Shipp stories for $12, delivered to their email, one story a month.

@scattyjan It’s going to take a third tweet isn’t it?

@JeremyCShipp Readers can also purchase higher level subscriptions, where they get their name in one of my future stories, and other bonuses.

@scattyjan That'll keep you busy! Your next book 'Cursed' is scheduled for Halloween, a fair way off. Why the delay, it doesn't feature witches, does it?

@JeremyCShipp Halloween is when my book fits in my publisher's release schedule. Plus, it's a good release date for a dark fiction book. :)

@scattyjan So not because there are witches then?

@JeremyCShipp I don't want to give away too much about the plot at this point.

@scattyjan fair enough – just a little bitty smidgen?

@JeremyCShipp I will say the novel's about a group of characters who band together, trying to cope with very strange problems.

@scattyjan Dark Fiction and Bizarro are similar/same genres are they? Would you say they slot in between Fantasy and Horror? Or are a combination?

@JeremyCShipp Bizarro is the genre of the weird--literature's equivalent to the cult section at the video store.

@JeremyCShipp Most of my work is some combination of Bizarro/horror/dark fantasy/magic realism.

@scattyjan Moving on to my fave bits on your site - there's surreal and surreally surreal - from where does the inspiration come for 'Slices of Weirdo Pie'?

@JeremyCShipp The stranger aspects of our reality often inspires me, as well as the horde of anthropomorphic root vegetables living in my basement.

@scattyjanI've got one of those living in the second bedroom ... I'll scrap that in case he reads this!! Hang on ... nah, he won’t. Moving on ... @scattyjan The finger puppets - are they ready made or do you secretly long to fill the void left by our Tony Hart?

@JeremyCShipp I've always loved puppets. I made a hand puppet myself a few years ago. Maybe someday I'll fulfill my dream to create a puppet musical.

@scattyjan Now that I'd love to see! So, have gnomes got chips on their shoulders and is that the gardening world's fault?

@JeremyCShipp Yard Gnomes actually like being around humans, because they tend to learn from our mistakes. @JeremyCShipp Unlike humans, they don't let their own history repeat itself over and over.

@scattyjan are they gonna take over the world?

@JeremyCShipp The Yard Gnome Liberation Army is busy creating hunter-gatherer-based eco-villages, in preparation for the fall of civilization.

@scattyjan Green is good, we’ll vote for them! Now then - insane grocery bags, what's with that? You're unpacking the shopping and inspiration hits?

@JeremyCShipp Grocery bags have always been a big part of my life. So one day I thought, "I should write about them." @JeremyCShipp And after I decided that, all the grocery bags in my home performed a jig.

@scattyjan Like they do. How's the angry ballerina - did you get her/him/it down from the roof Ok? And have the azaleas recovered?

@JeremyCShipp The ballerina's actually living up there now. We all chipped in to help her build a yurt, and she's not so angry anymore. :) @JeremyCShippThe azaleas died, and reincarnated as a murder of crowbars.

@scattyjan I’ve heard that happens a lot. Ok, I’m lying – your imagination is limitless! This has been a lot of fun Jerbear, thank you.

@JeremyCShipp Awesome, thanks!

For all the lastest info on Cursed, Bizarro Bytes and Jeremy’s other work, visit his website at http://www.jeremycshipp.com/ ... let someone know where you’re going though and when to expect you back!