No Happy Endings is a short story collection written by a single author. It has seven short stories all of which were written and illustrated throughout a single year. The stories cover a wide array of genres such as horror, fantasy, suspense, introspective thrillers, and even a personal myth.
Are you ready for stories of horror and thrills? To get you ready for ‘No Happy Endings’, author Gábor Eichammer has joined me to chat about what is awaiting readers. Gábor, let’s dig into the stories by finding out where it all began. What can you share about the beginning of these tales?
It started from my artwork and the years of publishing one shot short stories in various free publications.
Your work incorporates both writing and illustrations. Are you first a writer or an illustrator?
Writing was first, but then for a long time I left the field and worked on illustrations more. Nowadays I use illustrations and drawing to boost my mood during an arduous writing experience.
Arduous makes writing sound taxing. Do you find writing exhausting?
Writing energizes in the short term, exhaust in the long.
Well, I hope that you can keep strong ideas in your mind to push that exhaustion back as far as possible. Generally, what’s on your mind as you write?
I always write in my mind for a single person, spoilers, it’s a girl!
And one that I’m sure appreciates your work! So, what central ideas did you want your girl and the readers at large to take away from this book?
I wanted to explore what kind of short stories can we make in this new day and age, can I make something that’s just a slightly bit new?
Slightly new is hard to quantify, but a great way to get closer to new is to create awesome characters. How did your characters come to life?
Some of them are based on my life or even myself. Others on my family members (my late grandfather, my puppy, my girlfriend, my colleagues).
Did you find yourself drawing from events in your own life to shape, or support the characters that had been inspired by people you know?
Yes, my divorce, my university years, my struggle with writing and creating art, and just the general mundanity of an office job (and also, cooking!).
Not many cite cooking as a writing inspiration, perhaps that where your slightly new comes into play. Other than cooking up new stories, what did you learn from putting No Happy Endings to paper?
Always read it twice, no thrice, make it four times. Use more spell checkers!
Armed with your knowledge to read, read and re-read your work, do you feel that you’ve seen a progression in your work as you’ve kept at it?
I like to think it did, I pick up my old work sometimes and it fills me with horror.
Early work can be scary! Despite the scariness, have you thought about creating an author brand to pull all of your work together?
I just try to keep all the ideas contained and focused long enough for me to be able to get them out!
What project are you trying to keep your ideas contained at the moment?
Currently working a new, untitled short story compilation book.
Another short story book! There are endless possibilities for ideas to include in there. Let’s see if we can inspire a few new ideas today having some quirky question fun. Let’s start with have you ever been on a literary pilgrimage?
Well, once I went to Australia for a month to write a book that never got published!
Maybe that story can find its way into your next compilation book too! If money doesn’t grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
So that the squirrels know where to take their acorns!
Well, they do have to put them somewhere. If space is a vacuum, who changes the bags?
No need, it’s one of those bagless vacuums that are so trendy nowadays.
I’m glad to hear that space is so modern. Can you cry underwater?
Yes, so can sharks!
I never thought about sharks crying before, but why not! Why is a square meal served on round plates?
So you can stick your triangle knife and round spoon in them.
Sounds good to me! What is your favourite word?
Beguiled
Interesting choice, and one that I hope you’ve managed to slip into one of those short stories. If you invented a monster what would it look like and what would you call it?
Chris the horrendous – a flying skull with seven black writhing tentacles!
He sounds awesome! Keeping in the monster vein, what happens if Batman gets bitten by a vampire?
Bat-feratu!
I’d like to see him in action. Let’s keep this creating fun going with new animals. What would you create if you had the power?
Horse-wolf!
Finally, after all of our idea-filled fun, can you share a taste of the ideas waiting for the readers in No Happy Endings?
Creaking mast, torn sail, a ship wrapped in deep shadows emerged from a great fight against the waves. They were hunters of whales.
Gábor, thanks for introducing the readers and I the hunters of whales and more that are lurking in the pages of No Happy Endings, and I hope to hear more about it, and your next collection soon!
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘No Happy Endings ( ASIN: B07MGDN8WV )‘.
Want to find out more about Gábor Eichammer? Connect here!