Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background as a writer.
I’m Wade German, I write poetry and prose in the Weird Tradition, and for the last fifteen years or so my poems have been appearing in magazines, journals and anthologies of the science fiction, fantasy and horror kind. My first poetry collection was Dreams from a Black Nebula (Hippocampus Press, 2014), which was followed by The Ladies of the Everlasting Lichen and Other Relics (Mount Abraxas Press, 2019) and the verse drama Children of Hypnos (Raphus Press, 2020). Most recently, the contents of those last two titles were brought together with some newer poems and collected as Psalms and Sorceries (Hippocampus Press, 2022). Raphus Press has also released several volumes of my selected poetry with Portuguese translation. My tale “Beyond the Necropolis is Another World of Night” in DMR’s Die by the Sword Volume II marks a first departure from this desultory and morally suspect poetry habit of mine.

What are the most prominent influences on your writing? How do you incorporate those influences without being derivative?
There are so many. Gothic, Romantic, Decadent, Surrealist and Weird Fiction writers make for my regular reading. But when it comes to sword and sorcery, I really like Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Mildred P. Winifred, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Michael Shea, Karl Edward Wagner and Tanith Lee. Some of my favourite prose stylists include Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Thomas De Quincey and Sir Thomas Browne. “Speak thine own voice, clarion-like before the welkin dark; and blaze old signs of ancestry upon thy shield, thy sleeve.”

With self-publishing easier than ever, there are tons of books being released every day. What makes your work stand out from the crowd? What can readers get out of your work that they can’t from anyone else?
So far I’ve never self-published anything, but never say never. I write mostly formal poetry, which makes one stand out from the free-versifying hordes, I suppose. As for the second question, so much depends on the reader. But some of my readers and reviewers have said my work conjures an atmosphere that is a little more alien and peculiar than others. And I’ve been happy to hear that, since I observe what Lovecraft said about the aesthetics of weird literature, viz., “atmosphere is all-important.”

Many authors say marketing is one of their biggest challenges. What tactics have you found to be most effective for getting your name out there?
Thankfully, I’ve never much had to deal with that aspect of things. Most of the publishers I have worked with do an excellent job of flaunting and plying their wares. I’m also grateful to have worked with some great book designers and artists, whose talents have drawn attention to my work, making all that flaunting and plying easier and helping to get my name out there.

How much do your audience’s expectations factor in to what you write? Does this ever cause you to hold back from experimenting?
I write for myself and for others whose tastes are similar to my own. When you proceed that way, there’s nothing to hold you back.

Have you had any new stories published recently? Are you currently working on any?
There are some lyric and prose poems in the most recent and forthcoming issues of Spectral Realms and a short story called “The Enmity of Xubalba and Zardaak” is due to appear in the next issue of Penumbra. There’s always something simmering in the cauldron.

Name one newer and one older book you have read and enjoyed recently. (“Newer” meaning from the past year or so, and “older” meaning written before 1980.)
Recently, I reread Witch-Cult Abbey by Mark Samuels, and right now I’m reading Rose Macaulay’s Pleasure of Ruins.

Any final words?
Crom…!