Interview with Eric Garcia
by Jon Jordan
Eric's Web Site

Jon:  For people who may not be familiar with your books, could you describe them?

Eric:  They are exhaustively researched tomes on the history of squirrels in Renaissance art.  The first book focuses more on raccoons, actually, but squirrels are a motif throughout.

    Unless you're talking about the Rex series.  Hm.  Let's assume that's the case.

    Anonymous Rex and Casual Rex revolve around Vincent Rubio, a Los Angeles private investigator, who also happens to be a Velociraptor.  The dinosaurs never went extinct -- they've just been hiding.  Shrunken to more appropriate sizes after sixty-five million years of evolution, they now walk around undetected by us little humans, their tails and whatnot strapped against their bodies via clamps and belts, the whole thing covered by intricate human costumes.  Anywhere from five to ten percent of the earthly population are actually dinosaurs in disguise, much like the hero of the two current (and one forthcoming) Rex books.  The dinosaurs can smell each other using a highly evolved olfactory skill, and they get drunk and high off common household herbs.  Basil happens to be Vincent's personal drug of choice.

    Note:  These books are comedies.

    Or are they...?  (Spooky X-Files music here)
 
 Jon:  What on earth made you think of dinosaurs for a detective series?

Eric:  The Los Angeles water supply.  I was taking a shower, and poof, the idea came.  I can only thank the chlorine.

Jon:  Judging from your books, you must have a great imagination. Have you always been creative?

Eric:  I do think creativity is something that, past a certain age, can't be learned, and may not be teachable at all; there may just be an innate ability that's either there or isn't, and while you can hone your skills, you can't increase your actual ability to think up new stuff.  Heck, I can't even think about logarithms without giving myself a migraine -- my brain just isn't wired that way.  So, yep, I was a creative (read: annoyingly demonstrative) little kid, writing my stories and putting on plays for the neighborhood and whatnot, but it always just seemed like fun to me. Strangely enough, it still does. 

Jon:  Am I right in understanding that you wrote two songs for the audio book?

Eric:  A man who does his homework!  Excellent!

    After Anonymous Rex (the first book) came out, I quickly grew tired of the standard author I'll-stand-here-and-read-from-my-book and you-try-not-to-fall-asleep tours that most authors engage in.  So for Casual Rex, I wrote and performed The Casual Rex Travelling Roadshow, which was essentially a 30-minuite performance, including stories, a bit of acting, and, of course, songs.  My trusty guitar joined me on my journeys across America, and I belted out a few new hits to the crowds.

    At a signing in Los Angeles, my audiobook publisher happened to be in the crowd, and she asked if I wanted to record the songs on the Casual Rex audiobook (read by Jim Hanks, brother of Tom, and sounds EXACTLY like him... it's kinda freaky).  I jumped at the chance, and voila, I'm in the recording studio laying down the tracks.  I think the audiobook just came out, actually.  You can check out a picture of me in the recording studio at www.casualrex.com, where you'll also find a lot of other stuff about me and
the Rex series in general.

Jon:  So what’s going on with the TV show?

Eric:  Funny you should ask.  Just yesterday I got back the dailies from a special effects shoot we did up in Canada last week, and the footage looks *amazing* -- better than I could have hoped.  It will be a month or two before everything is finally done with the SFX, but once that happens, as long as everything comes out okey dokey, we should be able to launch into production right after New Year.  We're currently looking at an August premiere on SciFi, but all dates are extraordinarily subject to change, as I've found out over the course of this project.  It's all coming along wonderfully, though, and I couldn't be happier with the scripts (well, I wrote 'em, so...), the look, or the people I'm working with. 

Jon:  Would you describe yourself as an LA guy?

Eric:  Depends on how you'd define L.A. guy.  Do I love Los Angeles?  I do. It's been my home for almost nine years now, and I think it's a wonderful, vibrant place to live.  And I'm sort of Hollywood in the sense that I love the industry, and enjoy mass entertainment.  On the other hand, I feel I've kept myself away from the, "Hey, babe, how's it shakin', let's get together, smoochie smoochie" part of the business, though I must confess that I "do lunch" quite often.

    But I would classify myself as an "LA guy" for the following reason: From the moment I landed at LAX in December of 1992 and took a rental car up La Cienega boulevard -- it was one of those beautifully clear L.A. days, 50 degrees, palm trees in the foreground with downtown L.A. and snow-capped mountains right behind -- I felt at home.  I'd never been here before, but instantly knew my way around, and for that alone, I'm happy to be classified an an Angeleno.

Jon:  what authors do you like to read?

Eric:  Anything odd.  So of course I'm a big Vonnegut fan, and Philip K. Dick is up there, too.  It's not just sci-fi, though -- twisted works in every genre if you do it right.  Two friends of mine, Bill Fitzhugh and Christopher Moore, are also great writers who keep me laughing every time I read one of their new books.  Heck, if it's off-kilter, I'll check it out.

Jon:  Do you plan to continue with the Rex books? Any other projects we should look for?

Eric:  The Rex books will continue at least through the third installment, Hot And Sweaty Rex, to be published some time next year, probably in conjunction with the TV series.  After that, we'll just have to see.  Working on Vincent Rubio in books and TV can be a bit overwhelming, so something might have to
give in on arena or the other.

    In terms of other projects, there's another non-Rex book of mine that Warner Brothers is trying to make into a movie; this book, Matchstick Men, is about a con man with obsessive-compulsive disorder who finds a daughter he never knew he had -- it's pretty straightforward in terms of tone, and quite unlike my Rex series.  They've got Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven) adapting it, and some amazing producers on board, and it's looking pretty good.  But in Hollywood, you don't count a single thing until they open up
the line in front of the theater door and the audience gets a glimpse of those first few frames.  The book will either be published a year or so after Hot and Sweaty Rex, or in conjunction with the movie version, whichever comes first.

Jon:  What kind of movies do you enjoy?

Eric:  No big surprise here -- much like my taste in books, I like the odd ones the best.  Terry Gilliam's Brazil is my favorite flick of all time, and Willy Wonka isn't far behind.  Recently, I was a big Memento proponent, and I'm anxious to check out Donnie Darko.  I also tend to dig big-screen documentaries about pop culture or life -- Roger & Me, Hands on a Hardbody (no, it's not a porn flick, people), Trekkies, etc. 

Jon:  Is there Basil growing in your garden?

Eric:  Marjoram, my friend.  A much cleaner high. 

Jon:  was it hard to get the first book published?

Eric:  Shockingly, no, but I soon found out that I was the 1 lucky guy out of a million who gets thrown a big publishing contract out of (seemingly) nowhere.  To be fair, I have a fantastic agent, and she got it to the right guy (my editor at Random House, Jon Karp) at the right time.  Within six weeks of deciding I wanted to find an agent for this book I'd written two years ago (which just sat around my house because I didn't know what to do with it), I had an agent and a publishing deal with Random House, and
vavoom, we were off and running.

Jon:  Do you enjoy doing signings and those type of author events?

Eric:  Love 'em.  I grew up as a performer, actually, so unlike a lot of other authors, I'm extremely comfortable talking to large groups -- in fact, sometimes I prefer it.  And it gives me an outlet for the performance aspect of my personality, something I gave up after college.  It's also great to meet people who love the books, who are excited to talk to me about the characters, and who want to write, as well.  I do as much encouraging as possible, while trying to remain realistic.  I know I got lucky, but there's
no reason someone else can't get lucky, too.

Jon:  I’ve been told writing can be very solitary work. Does being married and having a family make it easier?

Eric:  Easier and harder.  Easier because, as you implied, I've always got my wife and daughter nearby, so I can have human contact whenever needed.  On the other hand, there's that temptation to just say "Screw work, I'm going out," and head off to Disneyland with my family.  So I have to strike a balance between the two, but on the whole, I love the freedom writing gives me to both be with my family when I want, and work intensely during those hours I want to stare at my screen and pound out sentences. 

Jon:  What other type of jobs have you had? 

Eric:  Oh, man, I've done it all, though nothing too seriously.  Let's see... In sixth grade, my friend and I performed as Alvin and Theodore (yes, the Chipmunks) at younger kids' birthday parties -- it all ended when our voices changed, natch.  I've taught juggling in Coconut Grove, set up VCRs and stereo equipment for the elderly of Miami (my hometown), nearly gone blind as a data-input operator at my father's law firm, performed improvisational comedy for $35 bucks a show, taught SAT, LSAT, and GRE through Kaplan, and, for a very short period of time in college, fed and groomed pigs at the Cornell Agriculture school. 

Jon:  In high school were you a class clown or kind of quiet?

Eric:  Neither one, technically, but if I had to pick, I was closer to the clown.  Remember back to high school -- remember the Drama kids?  Okay, that was me, only not *quite* so annoying.  I never found High School particularly difficult, so it gave me a lot of time to do other things.

    By the way, for those of you reading this who are still in High School, there's good news:  It's not the best four years of your life.  It gets better!  Wahoo!  Also, you know those people who are really rude and obnoxious to you?  When I grew up they were all named Stacey or Keith - I have no idea what they're called now.  Anyway, I just attended my ten-year reunion, and one of two things invariably happened:  Either they crashed and burned in the real world (yaaah!) or they realized the error of their ways and became sorta cool people (double yaaah!). 

Jon:  Do you think the internet helps authors beyond research?

Eric:  I've found that the Internet does three things for me:
    1) It enables a fair amount of reasearch, though a percentage of it is incorrect, and it's nigh impossible to tell which percentage that is,

    2) It allows me a forum to talk about my work, and allows my fans to get in touch with me,

    3) It gives me a great outlet for procrastination.

    #2 is clearly a good thing -- I still haven't decided on how I feel about #1 and #3. 

Jon:  What would be a perfect weekend for you?

Eric:  Ooh, good question.  Why doesn't Bryant Gumbel ever ask questions like that?  I was on the Early Show, and Bryant was great and all, but that's a good one...

    Well, there are different *types* of perfect weekends, but I'll assume that this would be a perfect weekend localized to the Los Angeles metroplex. Because I've got some favorite vacation spots, but that could get silly. So:

    Wake up around 9:00 AM, and lo and behold, my daughter is just waking up, too.  My wife and I play with her for an hour or so, and then we all hop in the car and head out to a breakfast of Dim Sum down in Chinatown (well, there's this place in Century City I like, too, but for now we'll say Chinatown).  From there, we head back west and meet some friends of ours at Universal Studios, where we jump on a few rides (I'd choose Disney in a heartbeat, but it's 45 minutes away, so...) and check out a few shows before getting some lunch at Killer Shrimp.  Anyone who comes to L.A. *must* try Killer Shrimp.  If you don't, I will find you and beat you with a noodle. After a late lunch, we drive back home and play around the homestead for a bit, either doing little projects or just hanging out and having fun.  If it's a Sunday, the Miami Dolphins will be on the late ESPN game that evening, and we can have a bunch of friends over (mostly ex-pat Miami folks, but also some of our L.A. friends who have kids our daughter's age) to watch
the game as the Dolphins pummel whoever we're playing (hey, this is my perfect weekend, don't bring reality into it, please).  Maybe we'd bring in dinner from an Indian restaurant (my favorite), and, around eight, put Bailey to bed.  If it's a truly perfect weekend, my parents are visiting from Miami, and they can stay in once Bailey's gone to sleep and watch her as my wife, our friends, and I go out to either a movie or a club with some live blues music. If I'm *really* lucky, Tenacious D will be playing nearby, and we'll all check out the show.

    Then I'd pretty much come home and collapse.  But that's a fun weekend for me -- I like to do a lot of different little things all through the day, so by the time Monday rolls around, I feel like I've really gotten my weekend's worth of fun! 

Jon:  What kind of music do you like?

Eric:  Whoops, answered that one early, didn't I?  Actually, I've got really eclectic tastes -- I'll listen to pretty much any genre, but I'm picky within those genres.  For example, I love ska, but more modern ska -- Reel Big Fish, for example, than an older group like The Specials.  On the other hand, I'm a huge Queen fan, and have been since Junior High; Freddie's death started a bad week for me.  I dig blues when I can get it live, but I don't love it when it's recorded, for some reason.  And I'm a big proponent of both New Orleans Jazz and a fair amount of vocal stylings -- Sinatra, Ella, Dean, etc.  My 18-month-old daughter, in fact, is a huge Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald fan; I've trained her well.

    For the TV show, I've been listening to a lot of funk, because I'd like to find a jazz/funk blend for the overall tone of the series -- I think it works thematically, and can keep scenes rocking without resorting to the blaring orchestral scores that so many composers are attached to these days. Music is such an integral portion of films and TV that is often though of as second-fiddle, even though it can really set a mood, and I want to keep a close watch over it throughout the Rex series.

Jon:  Is there anything about you that people would be surprised to learn? 

Eric:  Gosh, I can't imagine what...  I'm a staggeringly open book -- too open, probably.  I don't even keep secrets from my parents, dear God.  Let's see, let's see...

    Oh, I got one:  I once stole a traffic light.  Yes, that's right, an honest-to-goodness traffic light.  Okay, so it was already on the ground and not plugged into the electrical grid yet, but it was a fraternity thing, and yes, I took it, and it made quite the excellent display on the dance floor. 

Jon:  Do you get a lot of weird fan mail or gifts? Like plastic dinosaurs?

Eric:  I get a fair amount of weird fan mail, but it's all of the electronic variety.  I'll maybe get one or two actual physical letters a month forwarded to me through Random House, but otherwise everything comes in through my email at emgarcia@earthlink.net .   Most of my fan mail is quite tame, actually, but every once in a while I get something from a reader who is convinced they are actually dinosaurs, and that I've finally uncovered the truth, and you know what -- who am I to tell them otherwise?  I try to
answer as much fan mail as I can, and eventually I do get to all the letters, but since I try to be exhaustive with my answers, I can get *very very very* backed up, sometimes on the order of months.  But it's a great way to keep in touch with readers, and I relish the communication. 

Jon:  What kind of Dinosaur would you be? How about Pres. Bush? Any other celebrity speculations?

Eric:  This is actually one of those questions I try not to answer anymore.  I get asked it constantly, and about a year ago I grew weary of thinking up new answers.  It's more fun to get people to think of the stuff themselves; in fact, I give out prizes at my signings when people come up with names for new Rex books (Rex And The City, Rexual Healing, All You Ever Wanted To Know About Rex But Were Afraid To Ask), so maybe I'll give out some new ones if people can justify their dino-predictions in respect to celebrities... 

Jon:  And what everyone is dying to know, what is the one thing that’s always in your fridge? 

Eric:  Chutney!

    What, it's not in yours?