KA: Dale, thanks for taking time out of your "Black Diamond" book promotion schedule to do this interview.

As always, Chris, it's a pleasure to do so for The KISS Asylum. The site's been nothing but good to me and the first book and I really appreciate it.

KA: A lot has happened over the past few months since the release of "Black Diamond." What have you been up to?

Well, one of the first things that happened after the release of BD was my wife and I moved from Columbus, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky. That took several months, but we are pretty much settled in down here now (I say "down here" in a geographical kind of way). Now working for another insurance company and my wife is working for a major library in town. However, the move took up so much time that I haven't been able to do much else.

As to writing, most of my time has been spent cleaning up and updating the manuscript for BD2, although I do have a couple of other projects in the works now.

KA: After writing a book like "Black Diamond" you must get a lot of notoriety from KISS fans. How does that feel?

It's pretty odd. Especially the first few months after BD was out and the interest was just starting with fans who heard about the book. Even then, outside of the conventions and the internet I usually don't hear from people about the book. So my "notoriety" runs hot and cold. If I tell people I've written a book about KISS, most people are surprised but not that interested. So when I get on a chat-site or go to a convention and have many people asking me questions or talking about the book I do tend to feel overwhelmed.

It is great to have people come up to me or write to me and talk about the book. I really do appreciate it. But I'm also concerned that I don't come across as "the great and powerful wizard" of fandom because I wrote a book. I'm just a fan like everyone else. So I try not to play it up too much. It's one of the reasons why, if I go on a chat-site, I tend to just clock in as "Dale" and nothing more. (I hate using a phony name or nickname, mainly because I've never cared for nicknames.) So far, people have always figured out it was me, and that's fine -- but I hopefully don't come off as "here I am, Dale Sherman, let's talk about me for awhile. . . ."

On the other hand, a guy just e-mailed me about BD2 and was looking forward to it as much as the next set of remasters, Vinnie's box-set and CARNIVAL OF SOULS. That was a thrill to be lumped in with stuff actually coming out from KISS and ex-members. I thought that was cool.

KA: Were you pleased with the reaction KISS fans had towards "Black Diamond"?

Everyone, with the exception of two individuals, has said nothing but great things about the book. And the reviews so far have been great as well. Even the "nasty" review in the British magazine, RECORD COLLECTOR, was trashing the band more than my book!

The best review I saw was from a guy named Big Daddy Pugh on the SHOCKME website who said that "where KISSTORY is supposed to be the kid that can do no wrong, BLACK DIAMOND is the kid who tries to get the other one in trouble." That was great! Gave the book a whole renegade, tough punk kind of attitude with just one sentence. I wanted my publisher to put that quote on the back of BD2, but they didn't due to the mention of the official book -- which I can certainly agree with in retrospect.

Still, like I said, with the exception of a couple of people (one who didn't have anything bad to say about the book, only about the CD), I haven't heard from anyone that did not like the book.

Now watch the hate mail come flying in. :-)

KA: Was there anything about the "Black Diamond" book that in hindsight you would have done differently? Anything in the promotion of it you would have done differently?

Definitely in the promotion of it. If nothing else, the months after the release of BD have shown me an insider's view of the book publishing business that I never would have guessed before. When the book was released in April 1997, I was thinking, "okay, it'll be in the bookstores within the next 4-6 weeks." Boy was I wrong. Stores were already stocking up with KISS AND SELL by C.K. Lendt (which I have nothing against, whatsoever) and just weren't really that interested in having another KISS book on their shelves. It wasn't until mid-summer that the stores realized that they were getting so many backorders for the book that they had to get it on their shelves. I think I have the internet community to thank for that pressure, BTW, and I thank them for that.

I was also surprised at just the inaccurate way many stores were talking about the book. I know one chain was telling people that it wasn't out and/or had not been published yet when I knew they had about 200 books sitting in their warehouse, waiting to go out. Unfortunately, the ones that looked bad because of this were me and the publisher. And it's ultimately my fault because I jumped the gun in promoting the book too early when most stores wouldn't bother with it until July and August.

Hopefully, that will be different this time around.

As to the book itself, there were a number of spelling errors in the first edition that got corrected in later editions. I also made the mistake of talking about Bobby Womack instead of Bobby Rydell when discussing "Kissing Time" (a mistake a LOT of people surprisingly caught immediately). Also, that Peter sang "Beth" at the MTV UNPLUGGED show with a full orchestra; which, of course, did not happen. Both were corrected in the proofs of the book, but then got reverted back somehow when the book when to print. Minor errors like that still nag at me. The main thing however had to do with the chapter dealing with the REVENGE album. In fact, it was something that I heard from so many people that I went ahead and added a brief chapter to the end of BD2 to discuss it a bit more.

For those that didn't read the first book, I plainly dug into REVENGE and the tour that followed as being a major disaster for the band. Unfortunately, some people felt that I dug in a little too deep and really tore at the album, which they liked a lot. Looking back on it, they may have been right. I still stand by the facts in that chapter, however; but I think that if another edition of the book ever comes out I may try to change the text a bit so as to not let my opinions about the album get in the way of the objectivity of the chapter.

KA: Please tell us about your sequel, "Black Diamond2." How is this book different from the first one? Why make two books?

When I originally began BLACK DIAMOND I wanted to write a reference guide for the albums, videos and books about KISS. As time went by and I began collecting information for the book, I realized that in order to treat the subject matter fully, I had to write a biography about the band as well. So the book was expanded to cover the history of KISS as well. Then I thought I could not just talk about KISS and not talk about the careers of the individuals in the band, so the book expanded again.

It kept expanding until the finished manuscript was something like 1,200 pages long.

When my publisher first signed a deal with me for the book, I warned them about the length. They said, "no problem." When I sent in the manuscript and again warned them -- again, "no problem." Then they finally got around to doing a quick layout of the book. Suddenly I got a phone call saying, "um. . . .Dale, we've got a problem." Basically, the book would have been about 650 pages long and coste about $50 retail.

Fortunately, I had always written the book as two sections: one being the biography, the other being the reference guide. So my publisher decided to publish the biography first, with the intention of releasing the reference guide sometime thereafter. Which is exactly what is occuring now.

BD2 is not a biography, but a research guide for fans on the American, Australian, British and Japanese discographies for KISS and its many members. It also covers the singles, the videos, the books and comics books that have come out about KISS as well. I also cover albums and singles that have "loose" connections with the band. Of interest to many fans will also be the section reviewing over 160 bootleg albums and a cross-reference to all of the shows that are known to have been either audio or video-taped over the years.

Basically, I wanted BD2 to be a book that fans can take with them to a convention or on a road trip with other KISS fans and use as a fun guide to things they may not have seen or will get a chance to see normally as fans. Mainly, I wanted it to be like having another fan around sharing the fun and joy of collecting KISS stuff. I hope that comes across.

KA: Exactly how long did it take you to research "Black Diamond2" I have seen the rough draft and the information in this book is incredible!

Thanks, Chris. As with BD1, the book took about eight years to complete. I then did followup work on the book over the past few months so that it is completely up to date as of August 1, 1997. With that in mind, I was able to cover the first four CDs in the "remasters" as well, plus the newer KISS books that have come out since spring of this year.

KA: Dale, there is a book out in the market recently that is suspected of copying stuff from the KISS FAQ web page. Your new Black Diamond 2 book has similar info. I guess the question that some fans would like to know is, did you take stuff from that web page?

I know this is going to sound phony to some people, but I'm actually glad you've asked me this question because it was one that concerned me as well.

When I began BLACK DIAMOND and the reference section back in 1988 (and then went whole-hog of it in 1989/1990), I felt that there was not a good reference tool for fans to look at. Oh, sure, there were the occasional discographies in magazines, but those were normally only a listing of album titles and possibly singles. Even then, most of the time there were mistakes in the discographies that any fan would have spoted.

I felt there was a need for a discography that went into more detail about the albums: when they were done, what songs were written for the albums that were dropped for one reason or another, who played or didn't play on such-and-such an album. So I started putting together such a thing at that time. As a reference for how I wanted to list entries, I actually looked at some of the HOT WACKS books (which, ironically enough, are from a publisher that is also distributing my two books) as a structure to go by. When I finished the manuscript I thought I was the first to really put together a comprehensive discography for KISS.

Around late-April/early-May 1996 (about a month AFTER sending the manuscript off to my publisher) I got on the internet for the very first time through the college I was graduating at the time. It was there that I started checking out some of the KISS sites that were available. After a few weeks (because I was doing it at school, I really couldn't spend a lot of time on the computers) I ran across Alex's KISS FAQ page; and the first thing that went through my mind is, "oh, great, someone's going to think I ripped this stuff off for my book!"

It's kind of funny in a way, because if I protest too much then I am going to look suspicious; and if I don't say anything at all, I'm going to look suspicious anyway. I'm sure some people will wonder, but I think anyone that compares the two will see that they are not alike in any way other than being discographies for KISS. There is no way to avoid some similarities (i.e. KISS was the first album released, HOTTER THAN HELL was the second, etc.) However, I could not have taken any information for BD2 from his FAQ page because I never even saw the page before the manuscript was already in the mail, and I avoided looking at the page in order to make sure that I would not be influenced by it in any ways when I updated some of the entries over the past few months.

As to the allegations that some other writers plagerized their material for their respective KISS books, I am extremely upset if they prove to be true. It really makes any writer look like a rip-off artist just trying to make a buck off the band's name and that is not a group that I want to be associated with. I have had two friends ripped-off in this manner in the past (one from a well-known magazine that printed KISS specials back in the late 1980s, the other from one of the above books), and I really am ticked off that someone would stoop to that level in order to make a couple of bucks.

As to BD1 and BD2, they really are a labor of love and nothing more. Believe me, if you saw my royalty checks, you would know I'm not making this up. :-)

KA: Where are some of the places that you will visit to promote this new book?

There's a very good chance that the first stop will be at the Chicago KISS convention in November, along with a possible stop at the Toronto con the following weekend (although that's not as definite). Wish I could make it to the Philly one, but I just don't think so.

With two KISS books now and my move to Louisville finally over, I am assuming that I will probably be making a few more promotional stops than I have during the past few months. Of course, I'll keep The KISS Asylum informed of anything that may come up!

KA: Will this book be available in most bookstores? I know some fans had trouble finding the first "Black Diamond" book.

As I mentioned before, I apologize to fans that had trouble finding it. Believe me when I say this, if you were frustrated, I was a hundred-times more so. However, many chains now know that BD1 sold well for them, and with the Christmas season coming up, I think a lot of them will be picking up the second book to stock the shelves a bit more readily than BD1 (and probably get a few more BD1s to put on the shelves as well).

The book will be out during the second week of October and will almost immediately be available in Canada through many of the chains. Expect at least a month before it shows up in Barnes & Noble, Borders, Towers and some of the other stores in the U.S. Meanwhile, as always, the book can be purchased directly through the publisher at their website which is listed on this page. And, of course, the conventions should have the new one as well.

KA: Will you write another KISS book in the future? If so what type of KISS book or subject would you like to concentrate on and if not, what other subjects are you looking to write on.

I have been offered a chance to write one about a former member of the band, and I'm still thinking about it. Right now, however, I'm just feeling burnt-out. After all, nearly nine years of my life has been spent working on these two books. It's great to see them come to fruition, and I certainly don't knock the success I'm having with them; but it would be good for me as a writer to get the creative juices going on something else.

My publisher has given me the green light to work on a book about another rock band (I don't want to mention the name of the band as I might jinx the deal) and I have heard from someone that wants to work on a book with me that is connected with the rock world, so things are looking up. Besides that, I would be interested in writing some fiction, and a friend wants me to work with her on putting together a movie/television/book webzine. Not a lot of money involved in any of these projects, but it is great to be writing on a regular basis.

KA: This is your soapbox, is there anything else you would like to say to the online readers?

Again, thanks to everyone for their interest in the first book! I have really appreciated the e-mail and talks that I have had over the past few months. I hope everyone will enjoy BD2 as much as BD1. And keep in touch. I DO want to know what people think about the books!

KA: Thanks again for agreeing to do this interview. I am positive that all the fans out there will love "Black Diamond 2"!