Pulp Fiction: Interviewing Haven writer, Stephen King publisher Charles Ardai

Safe Haven

How did Haven get started? Charles approached Adam Fratto whose production company, Piller/Segan, handled the USA network adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dead Zone. They altered The Colorado Kid for television in 2005 and sold a pilot script to ABC (written by the show’s developers and co-executive producers, Jim Dunn and Sam Ernst). When the ABC pilot talk died, the group re-purchased the script, approached Entertainment One (EOne), and Piller/Segan with Scott Shepherd and EOne approached SyFy. They changed the name to Haven from its original title Sanctuary (I think you know why) while incorporating H.P. Lovecraft’s literary influence. The reporter transmuted into an FBI agent, based on input from ABC, while her name shifted to Audrey Parker, after one of the producer’s daughters.

I admitted that I found the first three episodes incredibly rough (to put it kindly). Yet, Ardai appeared aware of that. The producers deliberately scripted episodes 1-6 as stand-alone shows while covertly intertwining the “troubled” mythology to avoid excluding new viewers. Although episode 12 initially had an episode 7 location, they delayed revealing the Lucy-Audrey connection to produce a stronger end-season punch. When I pointed out the meta-textuality in episode 12, “Resurfacing”, Ardai analogized former English majors with ex-alcoholics. They just can’t stop. Fun fact, he named the paranormal speedster James Garrick after the original Flash.

We ended our Haven discussion on my favorite topic, bromance, specifically Duke and Nathan. There’s an episode where Duke walks away from his date with Audrey to stare at Nathan staring back at him. Although we’ll never get a Haven fanfic worthy episode, I asked if we might get something close. Ardai admitted he created two never-published scenes one where the guys stay overnight in a motel with a magic finger bed and another where they slept overnight in a pick-up truck. He admitted it was purely his own invention and the show had other focuses. But, a girl can always dream.

Hard-boiled Candy

The other reason I like Hard Case Crime is because I previously focused on 18^th century domestic fiction and the gothic novel. My new favorite novellas include the 1930s-1950s recreation series (i.e. Kathryn Miller Haines’ Rosie Winter stories and Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series). Obviously, I enjoy the idea of Hard Case Crime which recreates the old school paperback feel from the colored inset (done for their fiftieth celebration) to the final page subscription form (provided by their initial publishers). Should they ever require ex-PhD volunteer first-pass readers, I have no doubt that several other bloggers/writers will stand on-line beside me.

Towards the interview’s end, I left objectivity behind and just started gushing about Fifty-to-One’s hyper-meta inter-textuality, poli-vocality, and alliterative allusions.You know, ex-English major stuff. Charles’ paperback writer persona references canonical literary figures such as “Robert Louis Stephenson” while using the imprint’s first 50 titles as chapter titles. Plus, he loves playing with gender. He admitted that female characters in his genre are few and far between. When they occur they’re either a projection of male fears/fantasies or “cross-dressing” males with breasts. I loved when the novel’s female character, already written by a male author, started writing in a stereotypical male mobster’s voice. The last bit of kitschy, confectionary fun included a covert reference to the “Colorado Kid” via the main character’s sister, Colleen King, who boxed under the name.  Charles seemed more alive talking about his writing and, I won’t lie, the English major in me loves talking to writers about the act. As one who focused on gender studies, I love it when a male writer shows awareness of social gender constructs.

It was a great conversation, and as I stated our real-life Castle was incredibly charming. By the by, did I mention he was in the middle of a DVD commentary when I called? His imprint’s a ton of fun and I just picked up Christa Faust’s Money Shot from the local library (another Hard Case Crime author). I look forward to the second season of Haven and hope we have another chance to catch up with Charles again.

Look for the transcript of the interview later this week.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Nov 02, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT