I caught up with Tom in the middle of one of his typically busy weeks, and this is what he had to say...

MM: Let's go back a ways ... What was the first horror movie or TV show that scared you?

TP: Oh, there's plenty of stuff from the early '70s that terrified me. When my father was dying of cancer and knew he wasn't going to be around much longer, he went out of his way to spend as much time with my seven-year-old self as he possibly could. As we both shared a love of the macabre by then, or more rightly, since his love of horror movies and stories had already been passed down to me by then, we saw lots of horror on television and at the movies. I clearly remember seeing such wonders as THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, DRACULA AD 1972, HORROR HOTEL, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT (an ax-wielding Santa, oh yeah, Christmas never looked quite as warm and hospitable again after that).

MM: I'm a big Dr. Phibes fan, too! So, how old were you when you started writing, and what was the first story you sold? Who was the editor who accepted it?

TP: I was writing horror and science-fiction stories back in grade school, but I didn't get truly serious until high school, I suppose. First thing I sold was my first novel, DARK FATHER, over the transom to Simon & Schuster the summer I graduated college. I had sent in a partial, didn't even have the full manuscript ready to go. I churned the novel out for the next nine months and the editorial staff went through some changes in the interim. The book was orphaned, meaning my original editor left the company and a new one was brought in, and the book sank like a rock. But it was the beginning.

MM: Back in the day, you were an editor with SPACE & TIME, PIRATE WRITINGS, and then your own magazine, EPITAPH. Since then, you've edited several anthologies, most notably the Bram Stoker Award-winning THE DEVIL'S WINE and MIDNIGHT PREMIERE. Did being an editor make you a better writer?

TP: Being an editor of someone else's material isn't quite the same as learning to go through your own work with an editorial eye. Once you're capable of understanding your own mistakes, that's when you can really turn a corner in your fiction. Usually you have to be shown by a good line editor or a writing mentor or somebody who's already been down that track. I was lucky enough to have two such mentors early in my career: Jack Cady and Ed Gorman. They both read early works of mine and took the time to comment at length. I will always be indebted to them for that.

MM: While your work these days is more noir/crime-oriented, you were especially prolific while you were writing more in the horror genre. What would you say was your best horror novel? Horror story collection? And, horror poetry collection? (FYI, readers: I TOLD ya he was prolific!)

TP: It's not easy choosing a best from your own career. I think A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN and THE DEAD LETTERS are possibly my two strongest novels, probably because I manage to use my writing strengths and own personal themes to their very best capacity in those two. But readers are always divided. And writers are divided, too. I'm divided over my fiction - one day I love a certain piece, the next I might not. It's what happens when you've been at something for twenty years. If you only loved one thing from your past or could clearly say that your best days were behind you, you wouldn't get up in the morning anymore.

Best horror fiction collection is probably my recently released FUTILE EFFORTS. You've got to think that you're always getting better, that your current crop of fiction is better than the last crop.

I doubt that most of my poetry can be considered horror. It's all dark and mostly realistic. Rather than writing about monsters and serial killers in verse, I stick to discussing hot button topics of my own life: fears and traumatic experiences, and hopefully I do it with some wit and lyricism. But sure, the most recent collection, WAITING MY TURN TO GO UNDER THE KNIFE is probably the best.

MM: You've won so many awards, if you have award shelf at home, it must be trembling under the weight of all those hefty trophies. Has there ever been any sort of downside to winning so many awards?

TP: Nope. Except that most readers apparently don't know what they are or really care about them much, so far as I can see. But in the industry, fellow writers and publishers give them some credence, so it's always nice to get the nod from others who work in the trenches.

MM: You are married to the lovely horror writer Michelle Scalise - do you two read, comment on, and/or edit each other work? Or, do you each keep on your own track?

TP: We read and comment and help each other out along the way. Usually in the early stages of projects, when we're not sure if we're going in the right direction. So we discuss storytelling strategies and red-pen opening pages a lot.

MM: What triggered your transition from horror to noir/crime?

TP: Old age. To me, horror feels like a young man's game. It's rooted in fantasy, even if you're talking about "real" horrors like serial killers. There's a dramatic overlay to the darkness, an unreal feeling. The serial killers are brilliant, their horrors hyperbolic. If you're writing supernatural, you've got to outdo yourself where the monster and the ghosts and the psychic abilities are concerned. The earth has to be destroyed. The sun has to fall into the stars. It's about looking ahead at what horror lies around the next corner.

But noir is about looking back at where you've been. It's more authentic. It's inherently more realistic. After you've lived enough and lost enough, you realize that drama comes from your own past. It's about the mistakes you've made, the disappointments and regrets you have. It's wondering why you've done the things you've done, and guessing at how things might have gone different if you'd turned left instead of right. It's an older man's game, even though it's every bit as full of terror and thrills as the horror genre.

MM: Tell us about your latest novel, SHADOW SEASON. Your main character is blind and threatened by the freezing cold! Powerful stuff. You seem to have strong insights into the world of the blind. Did you need to do a lot of research?

TP: It sounds a little after-school-special-ish, but I wrote most of the book with my eyes shut. Going blind is one of my real terrors. I already wear coke-bottle-thick glasses. Without them, I can't see a thing, and that scares the shit out of me. So I wanted to write a novel where that fear was present, as opposed to having a protagonist who is so comfortable with his handicap. Who has used it to become a better and stronger person. I wanted the fright to be prevalent and authentic. So I literally tried to use my fear and see where it led me. I'd keep my eyes shut for so long that I'd eventually start suffering from a panic attack, and I'd try to write through it. That's the kind of blind man, I'd be. Not Daredevil, not a clear-headed McGuyver who can turn the darkness to his advantage and battle bad guys in the night. I'd be a wreck, and so I gave my protagonist a real mountain of adversity to try to overcome.

MM: I notice you also have great skill in writing about the cold! Makes me wonder if you were once caught in a blizzard yourself...

TP: Bad weather always makes for good atmosphere. I often follow Shakespeare's technique of "so above it is below." If someone is in a personal rage, then the weather corresponds. There's a storm, there's wind, a hurricane, a deadly blizzard. The more conflict, the worse the storm.

MM: Your novella EVERY SHALLOW CUT concerns a victim of the recession who hits the road with a gun and his dog. Obviously that work was inspired by a real-life horror - the economy! Tell us about that project, and what drove you to take on a current issue like that.

TP: It's a scary time out there, and publishing has certainly been hit by the recession, and I've been hit by it, so why not discuss it at length and use it as a backdrop to crime fiction? I write from my own fears, as mentioned, as not having health care and security in this day and age is certainly some spooky shit. I like the novella format and writing what I call "noirellas." They allow me to go pedal to the metal for 20k words and really strike hard with a particular theme. And they seem to be popular with my readers as well. ESC is one of the most personal pieces I've ever written, full of autobiographical and semi-autobiographic elements, and a lot of true feelings wrapped in fictional conventions. I wrote it in something of a white heat and call it the Manifesto of My Mid-Life Crisis.

MM: Can you give us the titles to some of your other noirellas?

TP: I've published a number of them in recent years including FUCKIN' LIE DOWN ALREADY, ALL YOU DESPISE, THE NOBODY, and THE LAST DEEP BREATH. Mostly they've been as signed limited-edition hardcovers or trades. Currently my most recent piece, SHORT RIDE TO NOWHERE, is available via Kindle. I suspect the others will soon be made available as e-books as well.

MM: Tell us about that dog next to you in your Facebook profile picture at www.facebook.com/tompiccirilli. What's his name?

TP: That's my Boston Terrier, Edgar Allan Poe. My boy, my best buddy. He's always with me as I'm writing (at the moment he's asleep at my feet) so he deserves some of the accolades, or blame, for the work.

MM: As busy as you are, how many hours a day, or week, do you write?

TP: I have no idea. I write, I take a break, I walk the dogs, I write some more. I'm always in and out of the office, sometimes working, sometimes doing bullshit. Folks often say they don't have enough time to write, or that "real life gets in the way of writing," but for me this is real life. It's as much a part of my day as anything else, and as such, I can't tell you how many hours I write a week any more than I can tell you how many hours I watch DVDs or read or do the dishes. It's just there, man.

MM: Any interesting works-in-progress you'd like to tell us about?

TP: My next novel THE LAST KIND WORDS is due to hit in spring '11. Probably in hardcover. Lee Child, internationally bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series, called it: "Perfect crime fiction ... a convincing world, a cast of compelling characters, and above all a great story." That's Lee f'n Child, baby.

MM: Are we going to start seeing some movies based on your work in the foreseeable future?

TP: From your mouth to God's ear. So far Hollywood has gone utterly out of its way to avoid me.

MM: Have I left out anything you'd like to give us the heads-up about?

TP: You haven't brought up my past as a career bank robber, so I won't either.

MM: Career bank robber? Now you're an Octuple Champion! I KNEW you were packin' yet another skill-set. Thanks for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk with me today.