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The
Bright Light Cafι Presents ...
An Interview with Ray Malus
Biography
Photos
Performance
Poems
Short Stories
When
were you born?
I was born in 1950 Aug 30th.
Where were you born and raised?
I was
born and raised in The Bronx, a Borough of New York City.
How has your up
bringing influence your writing?
I
suppose being one of a pair of twins had some influence. I
have always had a need to assert my individuality and to
differentiate myself from the pack. But, at the same time,
I've always had an awareness of my membership in a far
greater body.
My remembrances of my parents during my childhood are
uniformly warm and comforting. They accepted me, and didn't
object when I embraced my own eccentricities a thing I did
deliberately.
Are you married?
If so, when and how did you meet?
I
married late. My wife, Sharron, and I met when I was an
entertainer on a Cruise Ship and she was a passenger. It was
a short liaison, but 2 decades later she contacted me, and
we eventually married.
Have you any children?
No. As I say, I married late. Sharron had no children.
When did you first
start creatively writing and why? What prompted you to become a writer?
I
suppose I've written since primary school. But I began to
seriously write when I was an entertainer. There were things
I wanted to say to an audience that just weren't being
written or not in the way I wanted to say them.
What is your favourite
book?
WOW!
This is a tough one! I have many books I love. Some are just
gratifying to read. Some are admirable because of their
story-telling. I suppose I'd have to say Joseph Heller's
'Catch-22.' He plays such a marvelous trick on the reader's
perceptions. You laugh like a fool throughout the book, and
only at the end realize you've been reading a tragedy.
What is your favourite
poetry?
You
mean besides mine? (Just kidding.)
EVEN TOUGHER! Here's a short list:
Shelley's 'Ozymandias' I don't know if anyone has ever
said so much about humanity within the confines of a 14-line
sonnet.
Longfellow's 'Evangeline' as a child, I memorized the
first and last stanzas. To this day, I cannot recite the
last stanza aloud without breaking into tears.
Poe's 'The Bells' Yes, I know I'm a Philistine. But the
MUSIC!
Waller's 'Go Lovely Rose' Read it, and you'll know why.
Several poems by Walter Benton. I just love his sensuality
and love of 'woman.'
I know I'm doing many of my favorites grave injustice by
leaving them out."
What is your favourite
short story?
Somerset Maugham's 'The Verger' I don't know any better
story about the futility of regret. Everyone should read
this.
Who
is your favourite writer?
My favorite writer is a contemporary American writer named,
Jonathan Mayberry. He wrote a modern Gothic trilogy called,
the "Pine Deep Series." Yes, I know this a 'horror story.'
But his descriptions and settings are so rich and vivid!
When I read, I often stop and ask, "Could I have said that
better?" In this series, the answer is always "NO!"
Sadly, his more recent work is more commercial and rushed.
One can hear a publisher urging him to "churn out the next
one." But these first three are poetic and masterful.
What is your Favourite
song?
I
gravitate toward Classical Music all the biggies. I have a
particular fondness for Wagner, because his work is so
complex and yet so moving.
In 'popular' music, I'm enraptured by the great
singer-songwriters of the 'Folk-Rock' era, Paul Simon, Dan
Fogelberg, that ilk. They managed to say such human things
so musically.
I'm also fond of almost anything by Jerome Kern.
What are your Writing
goals?
I want
to 'reach' people. I'm so perplexed by the huge gulf between
people. It's uncrossable, and yet artists manage it. There's
this idea, concept, in one mind, and somehow it manages to
leap into another and provoke an emotional reaction. It's
kind of like that Star-Trek-Vulcan-Mind-Meld nonsense. I
don't understand it, but I chase it.
What are your dream
and goals?
I'd
love to say or write something that would permanently enter
the Language.
I'd love to keep meeting an endless stream of people who
tell me, "You really touched me."
I'd like to know, before I die, that I'll be missed when I
do.
I'd like to be able to set my digital clock.
Oh yeah, and get a date with the head cheerleader for the
Prom.
What are your Hobbies?
Besides writing and composing, I do 4 crossword puzzles a
day. I love to program computers, and maintain 3 different
websites. I still act in, and direct, theater.
What is the writing
process like for you? Do
you sweat blood or do the words come easily? How many edits do you
normally do before you feel your work is completed?
It
always begins with an idea a phrase, situation, or
concept. I seldom know, originally, what the form will be:
poem, play, story... I just have the idea. If I think it
will speak to people in general I let it grow and expand on
its own. All of this is 'in my head.'
Eventually, enough will have gestated so that I know what
general form I'm dealing with. If it's dialogue-heavy, it'll
be a play. If it's plot-rich, probably a story. If it's
mostly ideas, a poem. If it's all of those, maybe a novel. I
firmly believe the work will dictate its own form.
By the time I start to write, the words always come easily,
effortlessly but, they're often wrong. It doesn't matter.
When I'm finished, I read it aloud usually to my wife.
This is so my ear can evaluate it. I change weak
descriptions, monotonous phrases, unwanted ugly sounds,
awkward cadences.
Then I put it aside for a while. It kind of echoes in my
mind, and revisions occur to me. When I consistently find
that I go to revise the work, and find that I've already
written what I was going to revise it to, I consider it
'acceptable.' Notice I didn't say, 'Done.' It's never done,
and I blush to admit there are sometimes slightly different
versions of my work that have been published in different
places. (This is not that unusual. A 'pit musician' once
told me that Marvin Hamlisch made revisions to the score of
'A Chorus Line' nightly until it closed.)
Do you have an advice
for aspiring writers?
Oh yes. I always tell writers: Always
be truthful. And always write as though itll be read by
someone you want to seduce.
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