Editing Poppy Z. Brite

{{Short description|American author (born 1967)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer]] -->
| image            = Recent photo of Billy Martin.jpg
| caption          = Martin in 2014
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1967|5|25}}
| birth_place      = [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]], U.S.
| occupation       = Author
| period           = 1985–2010, 2018–present
| genre            = {{ubl|[[Gothic horror]]|[[Southern gothic]]|[[Black comedy]]|[[Dark fantasy]]|[[Splatterpunk]]}}
| notableworks     = ''[[Lost Souls (Poppy Z. Brite novel)|Lost Souls]]'' (1992)<br />''[[Drawing Blood]]'' (1993)<br />''[[Exquisite Corpse (novel)|Exquisite Corpse]]'' (1996)<br />''[[The Value of X]]'' (2002)<br /> ''[[Liquor (novel)|Liquor]]'' (2004)<br />''[[Prime (novel)|Prime]]'' (2005)<br />''[[Soul Kitchen (novel)|Soul Kitchen]]'' (2006)
| spouse           = 
| signature        = 
| website          = {{Official URL}}
| name             = William J. Martin
}}
'''William Joseph Martin''' (born May 25, 1967), formerly '''Poppy Z. Brite''', is an American author. He initially achieved fame in the [[Gothic fiction|gothic horror]] genre of literature in the early 1990s by publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections. He is best known for his novels ''[[Lost Souls (Brite novel)|Lost Souls]]'' (1992), ''[[Drawing Blood]]'' (1993), and ''[[Exquisite Corpse (novel)|Exquisite Corpse]]'' (1996). His later work moved into the genre of [[dark comedy]], with many stories set in the [[New Orleans]] restaurant world. Martin's novels are typically standalone books but may feature recurring characters from previous novels and short stories. Much of his work features openly [[bisexual]] and [[gay]] characters.

== Career ==
Martin is best known for writing [[gothic novel|gothic]] and [[horror fiction|horror]] novels and short stories. His trademarks include featuring gay men as main characters, graphic sexual descriptions, and an often wry treatment of gruesome events. Some of Martin's better known novels include ''[[Lost Souls (Brite novel)|Lost Souls]]'' (1992), ''[[Drawing Blood]]'' (1993), and the controversial [[serial killer]] novel ''[[Exquisite Corpse (novel)|Exquisite Corpse]]'' (1996); he has also released the short fiction collections ''[[Wormwood (short story collection)|Wormwood]]'' (originally published as ''Swamp Foetus''; 1993), ''[[Are You Loathsome Tonight?]]'' (also published as ''Self-Made Man''; 1998), ''Wrong Things'' (with [[Caitlín R. Kiernan]]; 2001), and ''The Devil You Know'' (2003). His "Calcutta: Lord of Nerves" was selected to represent the year 1992 in the story anthology ''The Century's Best Horror Fiction''.<ref>John Pelan, ''The Century's Best Horror Fiction'', Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010, two volumes, {{ISBN|1-58767-080-1}}.</ref>

In a 1998 interview,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/archives/brite.html |title=Poppy Z. Brite: Just Not That Weird |last=Guran |first=Paula |date=January 1998 |access-date=2013-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509190345/http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/archives/brite.html |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in response to a comment that "Growing up in the American South [shaped him] as a writer", Martin mentioned that Southern writers [[Carson McCullers]], [[Truman Capote]], [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Flannery O'Connor]], [[Harper Lee]], [[Thomas Wolfe]] and [[William Faulkner]] also influenced his writing. Answering a follow-up question about his literary influences, he also included "[[Ray Bradbury|Bradbury]], [[Vladimir Nabokov|Nabokov]], [[William S. Burroughs|W.S. Burroughs]], [[Stephen King]], [[Ramsey Campbell]], [[Shirley Jackson]], [[Thomas Ligotti]], [[Kathe Koja]], [[Dennis Cooper]], [[Dorothy Parker]], [[Dylan Thomas]], [[Harlan Ellison]], [[Peter Straub]], [[Paul Theroux]], [[Charles Baudelaire|Baudelaire]], [[Edgar Allan Poe|Poe]], [[H. P. Lovecraft|Lovecraft]], [[John Lennon]]... I could rattle off ten or twenty more easily; they're all in there somewhere."

Martin wrote ''[[Courtney Love: The Real Story]]'' (1997), a biography of singer [[Courtney Love]]. It was officially "unauthorized", but he acknowledged that the work was done at Love's suggestion and with her cooperation, including access to her personal journal and letters.<ref>[http://www.poppyzbrite.com/bio.html PzB (auto)Biography] discusses the writing of the Love book.</ref>

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Martin moved away from horror fiction and gothic themes while still writing about gay characters. The critically acclaimed [[Liquor (novel series)|''Liquor'' novels]]—''Liquor'' (2004), ''Prime'' (2005), and ''Soul Kitchen'' (2006)—are [[Black comedy|dark comedies]] set in the New Orleans restaurant world. ''The Value of X'' (2002) depicts the beginning of the careers of the protagonists of the ''Liquor'' series—Gary "G-Man" Stubbs and John "Rickey" Rickey; other stories, including several in his most recent collection ''[[The Devil You Know (short story collection)|The Devil You Know]]'' (2003) and the novella ''D*U*C*K'', chronicle events in the lives of the extended Stubbs family, a Catholic clan whose roots are sunk deep in the traditional culture of New Orleans. Martin hopes to eventually write three more novels in the ''Liquor'' series, tentatively titled ''Dead Shrimp Blues'', ''Hurricane Stew'', and ''Double Shot''. However, in late 2006, he ceased publishing with [[Three Rivers Press]], the trade paperback division of [[Random House]] that published the first three ''Liquor'' novels, and is currently taking a hiatus from fiction writing. He has described ''Antediluvian Tales'', a short story collection published by [[Subterranean Press]] in November 2007, as "if not my last book ever, then my last one for some time." He still writes short non-fiction pieces, including guest editorials for the New Orleans ''[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|Times-Picayune]]'' and a food article for ''[[Chile Pepper Magazine]]''.

Martin has often stated that, while he will allow some of his work to be optioned for film under the right circumstances, he has little interest in movies and is not overly eager to see his work filmed. In 1999, his short story ''The Sixth Sentinel'' (filmed as ''The Dream Sentinel'') made up one segment of episode 209 of ''[[The Hunger (serial)|The Hunger]]'', a short-lived horror anthology series on [[Showtime Network|Showtime]].

Critical essays on Martin's fiction appear in ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror'' (2003) by [[Brian Stableford]]<ref>Brian Stableford, "Poppy Z. Brite" in [[Richard Bleiler]], ed. ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror''. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003. (p. 147-152). {{ISBN|9780684312507}}</ref> and ''The Evolution of the Weird Tale'' (2004) by [[S. T. Joshi]].

On June 9, 2010, Martin officially stated that he was retired from writing, in a post entitled "I'm Basically Retired (For Now)" on his [[LiveJournal|Livejournal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docbrite.livejournal.com/2010/06/09/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130909041431/http://docbrite.livejournal.com/2010/06/09/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 9, 2013 |title=I'm Basically Retired (For Now) |date=June 9, 2010 |last=Martin |first=Billy |website=Dispatches from Tanganyika |access-date=2013-09-09 }}</ref> He stated that he had "completely lost the ability to interact with [his] body of work" and then went on to state that business issues were a partial cause. He also specifically mentioned being unable to disconnect from aspects of his life relating to [[Hurricane Katrina]]. He ended his statement by saying that he missed having relationships with his characters and that he did not feel the need to write for publication. Martin has since created a series of artworks themed on New Orleans and voodoo.

In 2018, Martin announced he had returned to writing with a non-fiction project entitled ''Water If God Wills It: Religion and Spirituality in the Work of Stephen King''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.patreon.com/docbrite|title = Poppy Z. Brite (Billy Martin) is creating a book in progress and a few other things}}</ref>

In August 2023, Martin announced on his own Facebook page that he was writing fiction again, but that it would be a long time until it would be published.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Billy Martin - I'm not really going to write a sequel to... |url=https://www.facebook.com/billy.martin.127648/posts/pfbid0cJTU9uFgu2VBtY32gXEQNAfo76d3t92RzjTnouuDDdVy9M8aao5E7TaRu2xyQx2sl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817003557/https://www.facebook.com/billy.martin.127648/posts/pfbid0cJTU9uFgu2VBtY32gXEQNAfo76d3t92RzjTnouuDDdVy9M8aao5E7TaRu2xyQx2sl |archive-date=August 17, 2023 |access-date=2025-01-18 |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Martin was born in Bowling Green, [[Warren County, Kentucky]], at Western University Hospital.<ref>Constance Brite</ref> He is a [[trans man]] and has written and talked extensively about [[transgender]] issues and his own [[gender dysphoria]].<ref name=rope>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.poppyzbrite.com/rope.html |first=Poppy Z. |last=Brite |chapter=Enough Rope |title=Crossing the Border: Tales of Erotic Ambiguity |editor-first=Lisa|editor-last=Tuttle |editor-link=Lisa Tuttle |publisher=[[Independent Publishers Group|Trafalgar Square]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-575-40117-4}}</ref> He is gay, and has said, "Ever since I was old enough to know what gay men were, I've considered myself a gay man that happens to have been born in a female body, and that's the perspective I'm coming from."<ref name=rope /> In 2003, Martin wrote that, while gender theorists like [[Kate Bornstein]] would call him a "nonoperative transsexual", Martin would not insist on a label, writing "I'm just me".<ref name="gender">See Martin's LiveJournal, especially the [http://www.livejournal.com/users/docbrite/2003/08/22/ August 22, 2003 entry]</ref> In 2010, he began hormone therapy, and in 2011 expressed that he would prefer to be referred to by male pronouns.<ref name=pronouns>{{cite tweet |user=docbrite |number=67452753802309634 |title=Remember I said I'd let people know when I became uncomfortable with female pronouns? I'm there. I'd prefer the standard male ones, please. |last=Martin |first=Billy |date=May 8, 2011 |access-date=2013-09-08}}</ref>

On January 6, 2009, Martin was arrested at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in New Orleans as part of a peaceful demonstration in which churches in the Uptown area of the city were occupied to protest their closings.<ref>{{cite news |
author= Bruce Nolan and Susan Finch |
title= New Orleans police remove parishioners occupying closed Uptown churches |
url=http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/new_orleans_police_swarm_uptow.html |
work=[[The Times-Picayune]] |
date=January 6, 2009 |
access-date=January 7, 2009 }}</ref> In August 2009, New Orleans's ''[[Gambit (newspaper)|Gambit]]'' publication published reader-poll results naming Martin in second place as an ever-popular "Best Local Author".<ref>Best of New Orleans, ''[[Gambit Weekly]]'', August 24, 2009.</ref>

Martin married his husband, photographer and artist Grey Anatoli Cross, in 2019. The couple first met in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Billy Martin |url=https://www.facebook.com/billy.martin.127648/posts/pfbid02XTsaCZYAzLaEij2buf4oFU9UhhU6TDLtRvgur8QMbVWothrqqvessNrknzsx3Jo1l |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708025210/https://www.facebook.com/billy.martin.127648/posts/pfbid02XTsaCZYAzLaEij2buf4oFU9UhhU6TDLtRvgur8QMbVWothrqqvessNrknzsx3Jo1l |archive-date=July 8, 2023 |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=www.facebook.com |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

=== Novels and novellas ===
*''[[Lost Souls (Brite novel)|Lost Souls]]'' (1992)
*''[[Drawing Blood]]'' (1993)
*''[[Exquisite Corpse (novel)|Exquisite Corpse]]'' (1996)
*''[[The Crow#Novels|The Crow: The Lazarus Heart]]'' (1998)
*[[Plastic Jesus (novella)|''Plastic Jesus'']] (novella; 2000)
* The [[Liquor (novel series)|''Liquor'' series]]:
**''The Value of X'' (2002)
**''Liquor'' (2004)
**''Prime'' (2005)
**''Soul Kitchen'' (2006)
**''D*U*C*K'' (novella; 2007)
*''Triads'' (with [[Christa Faust]]; 2004)
*''Second Line'' (2009)<ref>{{cite book|title=Second Line|last=Brite|first=Poppy Z. |publisher=Small Beer Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1931520607}}</ref>

=== Short story collections ===
*''[[Wormwood (short story collection)|Wormwood]]'' (limited publishing in the UK under the original title ''Swamp Foetus,'' 1993)
*''[[Wormwood (short story collection)|His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood and Other Stories]]'' (reprinting four ''Wormwood'' stories'','' 1995)<ref>{{cite book|title=His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood and Other Stories |last=Brite |first=Poppy Z. |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-146-00050-8}}</ref>
**Collecting: ''Calcutta, Lord of Nerves; His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood'' (adapted from ''[[The Hound]]''); ''How To Get Ahead in New York;'' and ''The Sixth Sentinel''
*''[[Are You Loathsome Tonight?]]'' (published in the UK as ''Self-Made Man,'' 1998)
**Collecting: ''America, Are You Loathsome Tonight?; Arise, Entertaining Mr. Orton, In Vermis Veritas, King of the Cats'' (with David Ferguson), ''Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz, Pin Money, Saved'' (with [[Christa Faust]]), ''Self-Made Man,'' and ''Vine of the Soul''
*''[[Wrong Things]]'' (with [[Caitlín R. Kiernan]], 2001)
**Collecting: ''The Crystal Empire'' (Poppy Z. Brite), ''Onion'' (Caitlin R. Kiernan) and ''The Rest of the Wrong Thing'' (Poppy Z. Brite and Caitlin R. Kiernan)
*''[[The Devil You Know (short story collection)|The Devil You Know]]'' (2003)
**Collecting: ''Bayou de la Mère; Burn, Baby, Burn'' (a [[Hellboy Universe|''Hellboy'']] narrative)''; The Devil You Know'' (continuing [[The Master and Margarita|''The Master and Margarita'']])''; The Heart of New Orleans; Lantern Marsh; Marisol; Nothing of Him That Doth Fade; The Ocean; Oh Death, Where Is Thy Spatula?; Pansu; Poivre; A Season in Heck;'' and ''System Freeze'' (a [[The Matrix (franchise)|''Matrix'']] webcomic)
*''Used Stories'' (2004)
**Collecting: ''Essence of Rose, The Goose Girl, Homewrecker, Nailed,'' and ''Toxic Wastrels''
*''Antediluvian Tales'' (2007)
**Collecting: ''Crown of Thorns, The Devil of Delery Street, The Feast of St. Rosalie, Four Flies and a Swatter, Henry Goes Shopping, The Last Good Day of My Life, The Working Slob’s Prayer (Being A Night in the History of the Peychaud Grill),'' and ''Wound Man and Horned Melon Go to Hell''
*''A Little Purple Book of New Orleans Stories'' (2021)
**Collecting: ''The Devil You Know, Four Flies and a Swatter, The Gulf, The Heart of New Orleans, Missing, Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz,'' and ''Wound Man and Horned Melon go to Hell''

=== Anthologies (as editor) ===
*''Love in Vein'' (with [[Martin H. Greenberg]]; 1994)
*''Twice Bitten (Love in Vein II)'' (1997)

=== Uncollected short stories ===
*''[https://www.poppyzbrite.com/jamaica.html Fuck It, We're Going To Jamaica!]'' (written for ''Necromance'')
*[https://www.poppyzbrite.com/bonus.html ''O Urizel!''] (web publishing, 1984)
*''[https://www.poppyzbrite.com/bonus.html The Ring]'' (web publishing, 1986)
*''R.I.P.'' (chapbook, 1998)
*"The Seed of Lost Souls" (1999)
*''Stay Awake'' (chapbook, 2000)
*''Would You?'' (chapbook, 2000)
*"Con Party at Hotel California" (2002)
*[https://www.poppyzbrite.com/bonus.html ''The Freaks''] (found in ''The Spook #12'', 2002)
*"Night Story 1973" (with [[Caitlín R. Kiernan]], found in [[From Weird and Distant Shores|''From Weird and Distant Shores'']], 2002)
*''The Curious Case of Miss Violet Stone'' (with David Ferguson for ''[[Shadows Over Baker Street]]'', 2003)
*''[https://www.poppyzbrite.com/porno.html De-Flower of the Orient]'' (as Lucas Ransom for ''Cherry Boys'' magazine, 2004)
*"Liquor for Christmas" (2007)
*"The H.O.G. Syndrome" (Martin's first and 9000 word "novel", written at age 12; 2007)

=== Non-fiction ===
*''[[Courtney Love: The Real Story]]'' (biography, 1997)
*''Guilty But Insane'' (essays, 2001)

=== Uncollected short fiction ===
*"Wandering the Borderlands" (''Masques V'', 2006; Gauntlet Press)

==Awards==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Work  !! Year & Award!!  Category !! Result !! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="1" |''The Ash of Memory, the Dust of Desire''
|1991 [[Bram Stoker Award]]
|Short Fiction
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |''[[Lost Souls (Brite novel)|Lost Souls]]''
|1993 [[Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction]]
|Gay Men's Science Fiction/Fantasy
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1993 [[Locus Award]]
|First Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref> https://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards </ref>
|-
|1993 [[Locus Award]]
|Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1992 Bram Stoker Award
|First Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |''[[Drawing Blood]]''
|1993 Bram Stoker Award
|Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 [[Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction]]
|Science Fiction/Fantasy
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 Locus Award
|Horror
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 World Fantasy Award
|Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1996 [[International Horror Guild Award]]
|Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref> https://horroraward.org/prevrec.html </ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[[Exquisite Corpse (novel)]]''
|1996 Bram Stoker Award
|Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1996 International Horror Guild Award
|Novel
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''Swamp Foetus''
|1994 Locus Award
|Collection
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |''Love in Vein''
(with [[Martin H. Greenberg]])
|1995 Locus Award
|Anthology
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1995 World Fantasy Award
|Anthology
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1994 International Horror Guild Award
|Anthology
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''Love in Vein II''
|1998 Locus Award
|Anthology
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''Are You Loathsome Tonight?''
|1999 Locus Award
|Collection
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Calcutta, Lord of Nerves''
|1993 World Fantasy Award
|Short Fiction
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
|1998 [[Grand prix de l'Imaginaire]]
|Foreign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
|{{Won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |''Wormwood''
|1996 International Horror Guild Award
|Short Story
|{{Nominated}}
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |
|1994 British Fantasy Award
|Sydney J. Bounds Award
|{{Won}}
|
|-
|}

==See also==
*[[List of horror fiction writers]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

{{Poppy Z. Brite}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brite, Poppy Z.}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Novelists from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Writers from Bowling Green, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Writers from Kentucky]]
[[Category:American male bloggers]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American horror novelists]]
[[Category:American weird fiction writers]]
[[Category:American food writers]]
[[Category:American gay writers]]
[[Category:American transgender men]]
[[Category:American transgender writers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:Dark fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Cthulhu Mythos writers]]
[[Category:Writers of Gothic fiction]]
[[Category:Transgender male writers]]
[[Category:Transgender novelists]]
[[Category:Transgender gay men]]
[[Category:Gay novelists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ bloggers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Kentucky]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Louisiana]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers]]