Shane Decoteaux Bates
Bewildering Stories biography
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Shane Decoteaux Bates was born and raised in the Berkshire Hills, amidst the faded remnants of America’s Gilded Age. He received his education within schools named after Native Americans, and, as a younger man, joined his brother in scratching patterns on the cold rocks that lay beneath the railroad tracks.
In the evenings, he enjoys flailing on the assorted instruments in which he claims proficiency, while during the days he scribbles out convoluted stories he refers to as “texts.” He also draws and paints occasionally (papier-mâché gives him a rash), but refuses to do so without developing an arbitrary and esoteric mythos to explicate his doodles.
His few friends have learned to indulge his ramblings with good-humor, for these fits almost always pass within a week, at which time he returns to his gardening.
He claims the greatest influence on his work has been that of the fictional Baroque artist Monstro Settembrini, who, according to Mr. Bates, was the most accomplished maestro of two-dimensional frescoes in the West. When confronted with what are patent similarities between his work and the Aztec Codices, Mr. Bates is inclined to storm off into the forest with a chainsaw. He has yet to carve a tramp-art bear, being of the opinion that some tasks are better left to the professionals.
At various times, he has held employment as a banker, gardener, mason, lawn jockey, fruit-handler, cook, language tutor, child-care worker, and antiques peddler.
Mr. Bates also possesses a B.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Massachusetts, where he pursued an unhealthy concentration in the works of James Joyce.
Since then he has participated in writing seminars in both the United States and Europe, and continues to divide his time between the paths of Becket, Massachusetts and the industrial labyrinths of Mannheim, Germany. His most recent publication was featured in Phantasmacore.
Copyright © 2012 by Shane Decoteaux Bates
