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Like his earlier works (A Density of Souls, The Snow Garden), Christopher Rice’s fourth novel, Blind Fall, is a thriller involving gay and straight characters. But this time around the 29-year-old out author treads new ground by exploring the closeted world of a murdered former marine and the straight comrade who uncovers his secret. Rice (son of Anne) spoke to us on the phone from Miami.
Time Out Chicago: How were you able to write from the perspective of straight-marine John?
Christopher Rice: I devoured every piece of written material about marine core culture that I could. And I knew a lot of marines personally—gay and straight. Really, cracking John was about seeing him less as a function of marine mannerisms and behavior, and more as a man driven by guilt and conscience. Once I looked at him that way, I stopped treating him as some sort of alien life-form that I had to render.
TOC: You’re labeled as a gay author…
Christopher Rice: I think to call someone a gay writer is very limiting. It implies that they can never do anything that will appeal to straight readers. There are books by straight people about straight people that capture a sense of sexual alienation that many gay people gravitate towards. I think my mother [Anne Rice] is a perfect example of that. She’s a straight woman. The vampires in her novels were never explicitly [gay]. In fact, they don’t have intercourse, but something about their existence really resonated with gay people.
TOC: Do people ask you about your mom?
Christopher Rice: Absolutely. I’m not someone who tried to conceal it. The benefits of her last name far outweigh any of the disadvantages. We’re very close, and on the first book tour, there was a sea of people with mostly questions about my mother. But they came back on the second book tour. I’ve managed to find a readership.
TOC: You guest starred on The Real World: New Orleans. Which reality show would you appear on today?
Christopher Rice: I’m a recovering reality addict. I think it would always be cool to have a boyfriend who’s on one of those shows. The ones where they “win” an opportunity to have an emotionally fraught conversation by satellite phone. I’m going to be the one that’s like, “Hang in there, babe. Watch out for Emily. She’s kind of crazy.”
Christopher Rice reads from Blind Fall at Barnes & Noble in Skokie Saturday 29.
