interview by Joe Vaz

From Issue 15 (Nov 2011)

Where is home?
I was born in Sweden, but I’ve been living in Atlanta since 2004.

Do you write full time?
Actually, I make it a point to write extremely part-time. I don’t crank out much of worth on demand, so I only do it for fun and when I absolutely can’t help myself. But my stories are outlined in my head before I start to write, so the actual writing is a mere formality most of the time: a few hours of writing time is all I need.

What inspired this story?
I like to write about cliché things, only do something opposite to the nature of the concept. I had wanted to write an exorcist story for a while, and what better way to do it backwards than to have the Devil be sexy and smell like roses instead of spitting and twisting their head 360 degrees?

Do you have a particularly religious background and did you draw on that at all?
I’m atheist, but I do like the mysticism of Catholicism and I’m fascinated by the power of rites and symbols.

What is your opinion on possessions?
I can’t say I’ve had personal experience, but I would imagine that they’d be a whole lot more low-key than the way they’re portrayed in popular culture.

This story is to do with points-of-view and perception of facts, would you relate that to popular religion?
Well, of course. Otherwise the world will be holding hands and singing Kumbaya, and we’d not have the religious climate we have today. One person’s truth is another person’s lie.

Are you working on anything right now?
Presently I am polishing a short story about a psychic seamstress who tries to stop a murder. It’s been sitting in my head for over two years, and decided it was ready to be written down on paper, finally.

Where might we find more of your work?
I have no web presence beyond what Google will sniff out.

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Joe Vaz

Joe Vaz is the founder and editor of Something Wicked, which occasionally affords him the honour and good fortune to hang out with really cool people.
In his other life he is a film and television actor who gets small parts in big movies, most recently in Dredd 3D, due to be released in September 2012.

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