Interview With Patrick R. McDonough
Since his start, Patrick R. McDonough has pursued his passion for genre fiction with determination. From his first short fiction publications to his role as editor for "Hot Iron and Cold Blood" anthology, McDonough's presence in the genre world has grown. He co-founded the Dead Headspace podcast to promote horror and dark fiction voices. Through his writing and podcastery, McDonough invites audiences to explore eerie and macabre realms for escape, lessons, and entertainment.
One of the first things you note in your bio is your family, a wife and two boys. How does your family feel about daddy writing horror and westerns?
Ha, yeah! My wife is proud of me, although she’s not a horror or western fan, and that’s totally cool, because she’s the most supportive partner I could ever ask for. As for my boys, my oldest is 4 years old and my youngest is 7 months old, so, neither understand what any of my writing means, never mind the type of writing. As long as Daddy plays with them, makes them smile, and buys them toys, they’re happy boys.
Hot Iron and Cold Blood: An Anthology of the Weird West is noted for being diverse in its storytelling. Is this storytelling diversity difficult to achieve? Was that a goal in editing the anthology?
From the birth of this anthology, I wanted to create a spectrum of old west stories seldom, or never, told. I was not interested in collecting stories that we’ve all seen/read hundreds of times before. The storytelling diversity wasn’t difficult to achieve due to how many writers I know, and how those writers cover all walks of life (race, religious background, sexual preference, etc.). I invited a handful of writers I know and admire, had an open call, where I discovered more incredible stories (four from the open call were chosen) and when all the stories were turned in, I was floored. This was my first anthology as editor and every story knocked it out of the park. I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them.
Hot Iron and Cold Blood: An Anthology of the Weird West
Desperados and yellow-bellies be warned: These ain’t your typical westerns…
Do you find writing in the weird west genre to be restrictive?
I don’t, because there’s so many ways to approach it. For example, let’s add some LaValle or Tolkien fantastical elements, or maybe set a Raymond Chandler style noire in a small Wyoming town, or maybe a supernatural romance set in California. That’s the beauty of writing. It’s not about what you know, it’s about what you can learn and how well you can execute a story.
How do you approach world-building in your weird western narratives? What are some key considerations when creating an alternate or fantastical version of the American West?
The first thing I do in world-building is I ask myself what type of people am I dealing with? Will there be any anthropomorphic folk? What is that world’s religion(s) and social-economic challenges? It always starts with one character, one element, one focal event, at a time. As far as it being through the American Old West lens, I’m a history nerd, and two of my favorite areas to study is the American Industrial Revolution and the American Frontier (also known as the Old West). It’s from those interests that gift me the tools for building my unique stages, characters, and worlds.
Some key considerations I have when creating an alternate or fantastical version of the American West are how can I tell a compelling story about someone that typically did not get a voice from that timeframe, how can I write something fun and unique that stands out in a sea of incredible writers, and lastly, what fat needs to be cut to tighten my manuscript into something lean, mean, and smooth-flowing.
How do you balance historical accuracy with creative license when writing in the weird western genre?
I can’t say it more concisely than the following quote from Pablo Picasso: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Can you share any insights into your creative process? How do you develop your characters and plotlines?
Typically, one of two things happens. Either I watch/read something that makes me think “what would I do if I wrote that?” or, ideas pop in my head and won’t go away until I write them down. There are countless ideas in all of us, but for me, especially with my ADHD brain, I have enough ideas to last ten lifetimes. How I decide on which one I use to write a story is simple: what sounds like the most fun? Depending on the size of the story, I will either write the first draft without edits (that’s for flash fiction and short stories) and for longer stories, I’ll write, then the next session I’ll edit what I wrote then write more, then next session repeat until I’m done. Then I’ll send my story off to one, sometimes two, trusted beta readers. I’ll go over their notes, edit the manuscript, then go through it one or two more times before submitting to a publisher.
As far as developing characters, the ideas just come to me piece by piece. I wonder what they’d like to do in this or that situation, who would they find annoying, what would make them smile, what are their goals, etc. As far as plotlines go, sure, I outline, but they’re usually not heavily detailed. For the most part, I write without knowing what comes next. I like it that way, and if something ends up not working out, I know there’s always edits I can do to sculpt the plot in a way I’m satisfied.
Tell us a bit about Dead Headspace and how that came to be. Also, are there any embarrassing tidbits about your co-host, Brennan LaFaro, we need to know?
Sure! Dead Headspace is a weekly audio/video podcast that focuses on conversations with writers. Typically, the writers focus on horror/crime/dark fiction. We talk to anyone and everyone from debut authors to legends in the field such as Peter Straub, Chuck Palahniuk, Owen King, Don Winslow, Joe R. Lansdale, Ellen Datlow, Tananarive Due, and Dennis Lehane. The origin story of the show is in my sixth year (so this is back in 2019) of trying to be a published writer, up to that point I had collected only rejections for my story submissions. I read a lot of books about “making it” and standing out from other writers. One thing was made clear, you need to be able to promote yourself, and you need to be able to offer something only you could offer. I have been editing videos since around 2008 and loved that, and ever since I was a little boy I’ve wanted to be an entertainer. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to talk to anyone with genuine interest, enthusiasm, and excitement. My friend Mason Craddock introduced me to what podcasts were (yeah, I wasn’t really aware of them until 2019), and he and I had talked about what if we made one. That led to me focusing on a horror book podcast, eventually that expanded into more than horror. My wife came up with the title of the show, my little brother and Mason were two people I bounced ideas off of early on, and I recorded my first episode in February of 2020, from then through May 2020, Brennan and I recorded a few more to launch the show with six episodes out the gate.
Let’s pause there, so we can talk about how Brennan got involved. Jump back to the summer of 2019. A friend of mine, Garrett Witt, had recently created a review platform, Dead Head Reviews. He asked me if I’d like to join, I said yes and really enjoyed it. We became good friends, eventually he asked if I wanted to take over, and I happily accepted. At some point I pulled in some reviewers to add to the team Garrett created, and Brennan LaFaro happened to be one of those folks. I asked if he’d want to record an episode with me, and he accepted. That very first episode became episode 4 – Horror Classics: The Girl Next Door, where Brennan and I had an in-depth conversation on Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door (read at your own risk, it’s one of my favorite books, but boy is it dark). Flash forward to today, which as I write this it is March 13th 2024, and the show is in its fifth season, tonight we’ll be recording our 239th episode with Red Lagoe (check out her work, she’s remarkably talented), and since the start of season 4, Candace Nola has joined the roster as our third full-time host. Also, consider checking out her work, she is by far one of the most intelligent people and writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading/knowing.
Sidenote: One other member of my team that I need to mention is someone very dear to not only my heart, but Brennan and Candace’s too—Erica Robyn. She was our third a full-time host for the beginning of season 4. Currently, she dedicates much of her time to her family, where her and her husband are happily raising their firstborn, we could not be happier for her! I will forever deem Erica Robyn as our first fan (she reviewed our show 3 days after it launched). We’re very grateful for her.
I didn’t forget your last question! Truly, I don’t know of any embarrassing tidbits about Brennan. What I will say about him, though, is I view him like a big brother. Since I have known him (going on five years now) he has been nothing but an anchor in my life. Through a lot of hard times, on and offline, through the good times, I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with him in person twice. I could go on and on about how much I love that man, or about how underrated he is as a writer by the general readership, and I could talk about how, without him, I’m not sure the podcast would have made it past season 2. I owe him a lifetime of love and support.
Are there any particular authors or works within the weird western genre that have inspired or influenced your writing?
For films it’s S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk, Gore Verbinski’s Rango, and Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s Back to the Future Part III. For books I’m a super big fan of Wile E. Young’s The Magpie Coffin, Kenzie Jenning’s Red Station, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower VI: Wizard and Glass, Alma Katsu’s The Hunger, Joe R. Lansdale, he is one of my biggest role models and influences, on the specific titles that influenced my writing with weird westerns: The Hungry Snow which, coincidentally, Hot Iron has a re-published Reverend Jedidiah Mercer story, the main character in The Hungry Snow. The other two that influence my weird western writing from Joe is none other than his infamous Bubba Ho-Tep (the short story and Don Coscarelli’s film adaptation starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis) and his Hap and Leonard series (The Two-Bear Mambo, book three in the series, being one of my favorites). One of my other biggest role models and influences is the Southern Fried and Horrified Big Hoss himself, Ronald Kelly. I’ll forever shout about his magnum opus, FEAR (one of the finest novels you will ever read), but weird western wise, Ron’s The Saga of Dead-Eye: Book One: Vampires, Zombies, and Mojo Men, as well as The Saga of Dead-Eye: Book Two: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, & Hellacious Haints!, and last year I got to read two other incredible weird westerns, Joshua Rountree’s The Legend of Charlie Fish, and Del Howison’s The Survival of Margaret Thomas.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers interested in exploring the weird western genre?
Sure! If you’re interested in doing it, then write it! Watch/read everything you can in that genre, but more importantly, read widely in as many genres, through the eyes of as many different walks of life, as you possibly can. Be a student of literature and life, and if you look at life as if it were told through narration, you’ll start to pick up on some neat tricks for your writing.
What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on New Demons, a boundary-breaking horror anthology, with co-editors Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Lansdale, the table of contents is absolutely stellar; a non-fiction book on one of my favorite movie’s ever (title TBA) with co-writer Keith Lansdale; a High-Tech Noir with co-writer Drew Huff, think Raymond Chandler meets Blade Runner, set in The Matrix; a YA SFF with co-creator Luke Truan; also working on some short stories and a few other books that are too early in development to talk about right now.
Would you like to know more?
