Category Archives: Author Interview

Author Interview—Kevin Binder

How can one anthology contain fiction by so many fascinating writers? Today I seized the chance to interview Kevin Binder, author of “Judicial Review” in The Science Fiction Tarot.

Kevin J. Binder’s fiction has been published in The Science Fiction Tarot, Liquid Imagination, Blue Lake Review, and beyond; his humor has been published in McSweeney’s, Slackjaw, and elsewhere. He received his MFA from George Mason University, where he was awarded the Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Award and the Alan Cheuse Nonfiction Award. He has previously served as fiction editor of phoebe literary journal.

Here’s the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: When and why did you begin writing fiction?

Kevin Binder: I’ll admit I got started with pure fiction a bit later than some authors. In college, I wrote for my university’s version of The Onion and loved it. But then, as I approached the end of my undergrad years, I knew I couldn’t just keep writing for a college paper forever. I mean, they’d need to kick me out eventually, right? So, I needed to find another creative outlet, and that’s how I started writing fiction—novels at first. And a dozen years later, here I am, still at it.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

K.B.: Based on my previous answer, it probably won’t surprise anyone to hear that my early influences were more satirical and/or humorous writers, though that ranged from the light satire of Douglas Adams and the witty introspection of Nick Hornby to the dark satire of Orwell, Bradbury, and Heller. From there, my tastes expanded as I found authors both in the realm of sci-fi and outside of it whom I truly loved, like Ted Chiang, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Lesley Nneka Arimah, so I tried to find ways of incorporating the great things they were doing into my own writing.

As I think about my favorite stories, they currently draw more from that latter list. Chiang’s “Story of Your Life”is probably my all-time favorite story, and others at the top of my list include Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go and, on the short story side, Arimah’s “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky” and Caitlin Horrocks’s “Zolaria.”

P.S.: You’ve won a trip to the fictional world of another author. Where will you go and what will you do there?

K.B.: Given my inclination toward dystopian works, I don’t think many of my favorite authors’ stories would be that wise of a choice. Instead, I’ll harken back to my teen years and pick the world Douglas Adams built in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Give me a spaceship with an improbability drive, and I’d probably just keep pressing the drive’s button over and over. What an absolutely wild ride that would be.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

K.B.: I’m a fairly eclectic author; I write everything from literary fiction to science fiction to humor shorts in the style of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. I think part of that is because I try not to be too prescriptive in forcing a particular genre or length on my writing. Instead, I’ve found that my ideas will usually tell me what they want to be after I let them marinate for a few days or weeks. Some concepts easily grow into novels, some need to take place in a universe that isn’t our own, while others quickly reveal themselves to be shorter in length, more literary in spirit, and so on.

The one throughline I can find in my writing is the themes I tend to work with. Guilt and culpability are recurring concepts in my work (for which you can probably thank my Catholic upbringing), and my writing tends to look askance at large, rigid systems, especially those that operate based on economic incentives. Thinking about it now, you can see both these themes peeking through in “Judicial Review,” the story I wrote for The Science Fiction Tarot.

P.S.: You’ve edited a literary journal—phoebe. What was that like? How did being an editor affect your writing?

K.B.: It was a lot of work. Each semester, we received about 400-500 pieces on the fiction side alone, and as one of the two fiction editors, I personally read about sixty percent of those. So, I honestly wondered at times if I’d made a mistake signing up for the role, on top of my MFA coursework and two other campus jobs.

But looking back, I’m glad I stuck with it because it ended up being an incredibly valuable learning experience. When you’re reading that many stories on a consistent basis, you’ll inevitably learn a lot about the craft of short story writing. For every story I read, I felt that I, as editor, owed each writer a certain level of justification, that I needed to tie my impression of their work to their craft mechanics and decisions rather than stopping at a gut impression, so I was constantly asking myself: “What’s working here?” “What’s not?” “For the stuff that I like, what makes me like it?” “And for the stuff I don’t like, what’s causing that reaction?”

Ultimately, that editing experience allowed me to become the type of short story writer I am now, because that in-depth reading and question-based process helped me better understand the shapes and forms of shorter fiction, as well as common pitfalls to avoid within it.

P.S.: What non-writing hobby or interest do you have? Does it complement your writing or is it a relief from writing?

K.B.: I’m an avid traveler when life allows, having spent a year teaching English in Turkey and some significant time in Morocco. Clearly, I haven’t gotten outside the United States much in the past few years, but I’ve been trying to find opportunities to scratch the travel itch. And I certainly think my love of travel has complemented my writing in that it’s helped me see outside the common narratives I find around me in the United States. Hearing other people’s stories is probably the most effective way I’ve found to check my current modes of thinking and generate new ones. And while I’m certainly conscious of which stories are mine to tell and which aren’t, I wholeheartedly believe that exposing yourself to a diversity of thought, especially in terms of cultures, is beneficial in the craft of writing. You never know what sorts of outputs you’ll produce if you let enough belief and value systems from across the world intermingle in the strange nexus that is the human mind.

P.S.: Congratulations on winning the Shelley A. Marshall Fiction Award. Please tell us about that experience.

K.B.: Many thanks! The prize was for a writing contest organized by George Mason University (they run a few such contests each year, open to the entire GMU student body), so I suppose it was fitting that my winning piece was one that I’d conceived during my years in GMU’s creative writing MFA program. And it wasn’t a sci-fi piece, more of a literary one: a darkly satirical story about how our capitalist systems respond to the threats of climate change. I’d banged out a first draft of the piece in response to a prompt one of my professors had assigned and then revised it a few times based on my peers’ feedback. Honestly, when I submitted it for the contest, I was just hoping for an honorable mention, so to win first prize was quite the pleasant surprise.

P.S.: Your short story, “Judicial Review,” appears in The Science Fiction Tarot. What will readers enjoy about that tale?

K.B.: “Judicial Review” is a near-future story, and since its world is very similar to our own, I’m hoping readers will enjoy it as an exploration of a single sci-fi concept. To give the TL;DR intro, it’s a story about a brain transplant. As a writer, I was trying to find a way to give one of my characters a brain transplant and still make the resulting person arguably “them”—in the philosophical and psychological sense. And from there, my writerly mind spun off into ten thousand different questions about what would happen next, even if we (humanity) did our best to make this brain transplant work. For example, who would get to decide whether the resulting person was the same as the one who went into the brain transplant? What would the arguments on both sides be? And so on.

So, all that is to say, I hope that readers enjoy the story as an exploration of human identity and how close we could someday get to “surviving” with a brain that’s not our original one. And beyond that, I think they’ll appreciate the layered nature of the story because, beyond that surface-level, philosophical layer, it contains several other layers that unspool and intersect as you journey deeper into the story.

P.S.: In what way is your fiction different from that of other science fiction authors? 

K.B.: My guess is that, if you read my work, you’ll see that my writing and interests are, as I mentioned, fairly eclectic. Though “Judicial Review” isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, I think readers will spot my satirical influences because I try to find opportunities for humor and lightness in the story, despite the heavy subject and themes. Beyond that, I think they’ll also notice some of my more literary tendencies. As I mentioned before, the story is a near-future one, so instead of the heavier world-building you see in some sci-fi, I wanted to spend that real estate getting into the head of the protagonist. In that way, I’m hoping readers will enjoy the mixture my work offers, in that it certainly explores the technology behind the story but is also very much a character- and voice-driven story.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

K.B.: I’m currently working on a futuristic dystopian novel in which we humans have the technology to connect our minds directly to an immersive and integrative virtual reality (a la The Matrix), but where this technology is only available to those who can afford it. What I’ve really enjoyed about the novel so far is that its world has allowed me to both build a compelling character- and mystery-driven story and comment on the massive technological and wealth disparities present in our current society. It’s taken a lot of work so far, but I’m excited about how it’s shaping up and where I feel it going.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Kevin Binder: Oh man, a lot of ideas come to mind here, but most of the things I would say have been mentioned before by people much smarter than me, like “It just takes time,” “Be persistent,” and “Read a lot.” So, I’ll instead focus my advice on the importance of knowing yourself as an artist. As important as it is to learn from other artists and take your peers’ feedback into account, it’s equally important to filter all that through your understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, what you’ll become successful for is your unique mixture of talents that no other writer can copy, so it’s important for each writer to approach projects (and revisions) in a way that aligns with their interests and talents instead of trying to shoehorn their work into someone else’s conception of what’s “good writing” or “marketable.” Because if you go down that second road, you’ll end up trying to be too many things to too many people, which can quickly destroy the originality of any work.

Thanks, Kevin.

To keep up with Kevin’s literary adventures, follow him on Twitter and Mastodon.

May 27, 2023Permalink

Author Interview—Ben Coppin

The new anthology, The Science Fiction Tarot, contains many fascinating stories by marvelous authors. Today I present another interview with one of these writers—Ben Coppin.

Ben Coppin lives in Ely in the UK with his wife and two teenage children. He works for one of the big tech companies. He’s had a textbook on artificial intelligence published, as well as a number of short stories, mostly science fiction, but also horror, fairy tales and other things. All his published stories can be found listed here.

On to the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Ben Coppin: Maybe the real question I should answer is what stopped me. As a kid, I loved writing — I still have some stories I wrote from when I was 7 years old — science fiction before I’d ever ready any real science fiction. But then when I did A-Levels, which is the final set of exams you do in the school system in the UK I had to choose between sciences and language-related subjects, and I chose the sciences. And from that moment on, writing became pretty irrelevant. I didn’t even write an essay until many years later when I did a Master’s degree in Linguistics. And then in 2002, 2003 I was figuring out what I wanted to do, and what I wanted to be, and I had this instinctive idea that writing was the right direction. So I wrote a textbook on AI which got published in the US and was used as a college text book. 

It was an amazing experience, but also very grueling. I was working full-time and writing this book at the same time, and I’d foolishly agreed with the publishers to write it in half the time I estimated it would take — I told them 18 months, they said it needs to be 9, and I agreed. And so when I finished it, I was pretty sick of writing, and certainly didn’t want to write any more text books.

Then fast forward to 2018. I had an idea for a novel but no idea how to go about writing one. So I took a load of online writing courses, and although I did start on the novel, I also realised that I needed to practise on something shorter. So I got into writing short stories. I completed a second draft of that novel, but have never got it to a state where I think of it as being finished.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

B.C.: As a kid I read almost exclusively science fiction. Mostly Asimov, Heinlein, Harry Harrison, Arthur C. Clarke. I also loved (and still love) The Hobbit, which I think is my favourite book. I branched out a bit when I went to University, and now I read all kinds of things, but I do tend to gravitate back to science fiction. Iain M. Banks, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson are particular favourites. In the past few years I’ve also particularly loved some books that are perhaps on the border between science fiction and fantasy — the Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemison and the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer. Both feature incredible world building and mind-blowingly good writing that keeps you hooked. Oh, and I’m really liking the trend towards what to me seems like more positive, more human, perhaps a bit lighter science fiction from writers like Becky Chambers.

P.S.: You’ve had more fiction published in just the last four years than many writers do in over a decade. What’s your secret?

B.C.: Heh. I find competitions are a good forcing function. They provide a prompt and a deadline. Deadlines are so important for motivation, at least for me. If I start a story that is not for a competition, there’s a much higher chance that I’ll just never finish it. With a deadline I just have to get it done, even if it doesn’t feel perfect. I’m also lucky in that I am never short of ideas—it’s not always easy to turn them into stories, but at least I rarely find myself stuck for ideas.

P.S.: Has your expertise in AI helped you in your fiction writing? If so, how?

B.C.: Maybe. Or maybe it’s a hindrance. I know a lot of people like science fiction to be very grounded in science, full of scientifically accurate scientific detail. Personally, I prefer Star Wars, Iain M. Banks and Ada Palmer precisely because they’re not constrained by things we consider to be scientifically plausible today. Perhaps that’s part of the reason that I’ve tended to try to avoid AI in my science fiction writing. Having said that, it often creeps in because it feels like such an essential part of the future of our world.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

B.C.: I guess I’ve tried lots of things. I wrote a romantic comedy a couple of years ago which is one of the stories I’m most proud of. Admittedly, it’s set on a dying earth, so it is also science fiction… So yeah, I guess I tend to write science fiction even when I try to write other genres. And I tend to like writing about protagonists who are a bit lost, not really sure what’s going on or what they need to do. Heroic heroes don’t really appeal to me so much, at least when I’m writing.

P.S.: In what way is your fiction different from that of other science fiction authors? 

B.C.: Hmmm… This is a good question, and a hard one to answer. I guess I like to think that I allow myself to draw on a broad range of genres and styles — I have written science fiction westerns, detective stories, comedies and adventures, all of which I’d consider science fiction, but all of which make use of the tropes of other genres. But that’s not unique, of course.

P.S.: Tell us about “The Time Lottery,” your story in The Science Fiction Tarot. Winners of this lottery don’t get money, do they?

B.C.: Hah! No, indeed. The idea came from two places: A friend of mine, Paul, messaged me out of the blue one day, saying, “I had an idea for a story: time lottery.” I asked him if I could use it, and he agreed. Around the same time, I’d also been reading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones in which she mentioned the idea of a couple who lived in such a way that when one of them was awake, the other was asleep. And those two sparks gave me this idea of a society in which there wasn’t enough resource for everyone to be awake at the same time, and the idea that a lottery would be a fair way (perhaps) to decide who got to be awake, and for how long. So then the story was set in a utopia, but a utopia with a problem. And when the protagonist wins the lottery and is woken up, he has a goal in mind that is not easy to achieve.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

B.C.: Easiest: coming up with ideas. Hardest: actually sitting down and writing. Seriously, I find it so difficult sometimes just to get out my laptop and start typing. Once I’m typing, it’s not so bad, but getting going is always the hardest part.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

B.C.: I’m working on a second novel. It’s science fiction, obviously, and is about legacies and how we can focus too much on the legacy and not enough on what’s going on now. It’s actually based on an idea I had many years ago, and in fact wrote a very short story about it, which got published a few years ago. I won’t say which one…

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Ben Coppin: Just write. It’s the hardest thing. Reading books and taking courses are super helpful for the basics and for getting a sense of what the rules are: as people always say, if you want to break the rules, you need to know what they are first. But once you’ve done all that, just write, as much and as often as you can. The more you write, the easier it is to keep doing it. Even if you just write garbage, it is easier to then write something worthwhile than if you’ve written nothing. And if you don’t write anything, you’ll never get anything published. So if publication is what you’re aiming for, write, and submit. A lot.

Thank you, Ben.

Readers can find out more about Ben at his website.

May 23, 2023Permalink

Author Interview – Karl Dandenell

In my last post, I hinted I would interview authors whose stories also appear in The Science Fiction Tarot.

Today, I’m pleased to present the first of these interviews.

Karl Dandenell is a first-generation Swedish American, graduate of Viable Paradise XVI, and Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He lives on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture with his family and cat overlords. He is fond of strong tea and distilled spirits.

On with the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: When and why did you begin writing fiction?

Karl Dandenell: I remember writing basic stories in grade school, and moved on to SF around middle school. (Yes, I did my own version of Star Trek fanfic.)

My school had several excellent reading programs that allowed you to get extra breaks from class if you committed to read (X) number of pages per month/semester. I might be conflating here, but I recall that in 6th grade the class (or at least the advanced readers) was put on a bus to a book fair in nearby Santa Barbara. One of the authors presenting was Beverly Cleary, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of my favorites. Meeting her was a major event in my life.

As to why I began writing… I think I always wanted to be a storyteller. At least, I wanted people to pay attention to me. Writing seemed a better route than sports. (For the record, I also dabbled in theatre.)

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

K.D.: I read pretty much everything in the local library SF/F section, which didn’t take long. When I started using my Christmas money at the bookstore, I gravitated toward folks like Zelazny, Le Guin, Patricia McKillip, and Jack Vance (all exceptional prose stylists). For Big Idea stories, I’m a big fan of Greg Bear, Larry Niven, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Nancy Kress.

Favorite books: wow, another hard one. Like many writers, there are books that I go back to again and again, the ones that have survived multiple relationships and house moves. There are also books that come into your life at a critical moment and smack you upside the head. A short list would have to include Lord of Light, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, The Wine of Violence, Emerald Eyes, and In the Garden of Iden.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

K.D.: I write a lot of small cast stories; sometimes it’s just two (main) characters dealing with story’s conflict. My narrators tend to be solitary, or perhaps quiet outsiders. It’s hard for me to write someone like Shakespeare’s John Falstaff. My settings are all over the place. They will, however, always feature food and drink as part of the action. I suspect that started because I would write early in the morning or late at night, especially in grad school, so when I was hungry, my characters tended to eat. So it became a habit.

P.S.: You seem to favor the short story form. Why?

K.D.: Ironically, I find it easier, even though every novelist I know says the short form is harder. For me, the creation of an entire novel is a huge commitment not only to the world but the people, the characters. You’ve got to hang out with these folks for at least a year, and that’s only the draft! With revisions, submissions, re-revisions, etc., you’re looking at multi-year project.

Don’t get me wrong. I love novels. I love a good series. If I ever find myself truly passionate about a theme and cast some engaging characters, I will wade right in. For now, I like to sprint, or at least jog, to the ending. Rejections come a lot faster too, although I’m not sure that’s better. Writers have to develop a thick skin.

P.S.: Your blog has an intriguing title: “Beware of Fire Wombats.” There’s got to be a story behind that. What is it?

K.D.: Oh, yes! You can blame Scott Lynch, an amazing fantasy writer and all-around clever fellow. He was a guest lecturer during my week at Viable Paradise. He was talking about worldbuilding and there was a little digression about the Epic Creation Myth that some writers permit themselves. He tossed out an example of some Ancient War Between Great Powers, like dragons versus fire wombats. Whatever. I loved the image and immediately grabbed that domain (firewombats.com) for my new blog. It’s sort of an unofficial mascot for the VP 16 class.

P.S.: For readers unfamiliar with Viable Paradise, please describe it, and let us know what it was like for you.

K.D.: Viable Paradise bills itself as “a science fiction and fantasy writer’s workshop.” On its most basic level, that’s true, though a better definition might be “genre writers’ grown-up summer camp.” Every year (except during the serious COVID lockdown), twenty-four students and a dozen instructors and “house elves” gather in a hotel on Martha’s Vineyard. In October. It’s off-season, and the hotel is pretty empty. The weather can be lovely, or cold and wet. Not that you see much of the outdoors (at least I didn’t). For five intense days (plus the arrival/departure day), you read, critique, attend lectures, and write. There are also other delightful and challenging diversions that I cannot describe because of the code of secrecy. 

What I got during that week was a huge reboot to my writing approach. While I’d had a few professional sales before VP, I lacked a clear understanding of the larger genre writing community and the potential pitfalls of the artistic life. Or the joys, to be honest. Writing is a solitary business, and attending VP introduced me to amazing people, both faculty and students. They were a new tribe, a found family, or perhaps an island of misfit toys. I made some very important friendships, and they have been maintained thanks to the internet and other writing events, like conventions. I honestly think if I hadn’t attended VP I would have struggled for a decade or two to figure out what I wanted.

P.S.: Tell us about your short story, “The Schadenfreuders,” which appears in The Science Fiction Tarot. Something about aliens with strange eating habits, I’ve heard.

K.D.: That was a tough story. I did the initial drafts at a weekend writing workshop in San Antonio but it changed a lot since then. (And was rejected by plenty of markets, honestly.) My idea was to play around with the “alien invasion” trope. I wanted to make it funny, in a dry manner, like classic British humor. What if the aliens came here not because they wanted to enslave us or steal our women, but to eat us? Specifically, they want to eat our suffering. It’s a treat for them. And what if the aliens were just as obnoxious about their gourmet experiences as humans? Well, they’d need someone to act as their intermediary, which gave me my narrator, a poor schmuck of an attorney just trying to make an honest buck. Things don’t go quite the way you’d think.

P.S.: Tell us about your short story, “Supply and Demand Among the Sidhe,” which appears in Strange Economics. Did I hear right? Leprechaun mafia?

K.D.: The title comes from one of my beta readers and her lecture on economic underpinnings in fiction. The working title was “Changeling” since the plot revolved how leprechauns made some extra coin by selling human babies and replacing them with changelings. Eventually, I abandoned that idea and kept the characters, whom I really loved. The story explores the underbelly of capitalism in the land of fae. Specifically, it’s an oligarchy, with all the money flowing upward to Queen Titania. To make any kind of a decent living, all the enchanted creatures had their side gigs. That evolved into organized crime and illicit trade with humans because why not? The main conflict involves a currency shortage, and the queen isn’t putting up with that. Our enterprising leprechaun MC has to ally himself with goblins and sabotage his political rivals (the dwarves) in order to come through the crisis with his skin and bank account intact. It’s very tongue-in-cheek.

P.S.: It seemed you waxed Shakespearean in your tale “Sullied Flesh,” which appears in Speculative North. Tell us about that one.

K.D.: Every writer with an English degree feels the need to do a riff on Shakespeare. The Bard stole from everyone, and I returned the favor. (Full disclosure: I acted a tiny bit in college.) I wanted to use my theatre experience to inform a near-future SF story that is going to be fact sooner rather than later. When I first conceived the plot, it leaned heavily into cyberpunk: what if we would only hire actors to be puppets for famous performances? And what if there were an actor who wanted to prove that he could do Hamlet just like Richard Burton without the brain hardware? That gave me my main character and my conflict.

Some trivia: Hamlet is the most off-quoted Shakespeare play. For my part, I have a wrought iron sculpture in my entryway that spells out, “To thine own self be true.”

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

K.D.: I have a lot of WIP stories. It’s a condition. My most recent draft was something I put together during the Nebula Awards conference. It’s a very short piece of secondary world fantasy. In broad strokes, it’s a slightly different POV on the traditional knight vs. dragon trope. Everyone wants to be a hero, but not everyone is cut out for the life.

P.S.: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

K.D.: Write. Read. Read widely and weirdly. Don’t feel boxed in by classic literature: Shakespeare and Milton and Chaucer are great but they may not call to you. Look to untraditional voices (i.e., woman and writers of color). Travel when you can afford it. Try to make friends with other writers so you can share each other’s pain and celebrate triumphs. Be wary of friends who give you feedback but don’t really say anything. (The same rule applies to family and partners.) Pace yourself: this is a marathon, not a sprint.

And never, ever ignore the Muse. She’s fickle, and appears at the oddest times. If you feel compelled to write something that wasn’t in your plans, then WRITE THE THING. You can always edit later.

P.S.: You’ve traveled through time and met yourself at a point when you were first thinking of being a writer. What one thing do you tell this younger version of you?

K.D.: Similar to what I mentioned above for aspiring writers. For me, I might add that attending an expensive MFA program is more beneficial to job hunting than actual writing. I’d also tell myself to swallow my discomfort, go to those early SF cons, and ask questions. Writers generally love to talk about their work. You can learn a lot more from them than you can from any course.

P.S.: Tell us a little bit about your most recently published story/book.

K.D.: The Science Fiction Tarot! This was my 4th publication associated with the lovely folks in Toronto. (I previously appeared in their “Strange” series: Strange Economics, Strange Wars, and Strange Religion.)

I was attracted to the project’s concept: creating a literary “tarot deck” anthology in which the Major Arcana of the Tarot would represent many of the classic SF tropes (e.g., time travel). As part of the project, the editor planned to commission new artwork for each story. That’s always fun (and pretty rare, unfortunately). It was also a Kickstarter project, which I love to support.

My story, “Schadenfreuders” had been rejected over 40 times before finding a home with TSFT. When the editor reached out, I knew that my story about weird gourmet aliens might be a good match. And it was! At the time I’m writing this, the anthology has only been out in the world a few weeks. I’ve read a few stories and look forward to the rest. And hey, you can get your very copy in gorgeous paper or e-format. Just saying.

P.S.: You’ve won a trip to the fictional world of another author. Where will you go and what will you do there?

K.D.: My first impulse is to name one of the big fantasy realms, but I don’t think that would be much of a vacation. I like indoor plumbing. If I were to stretch the definition of “fictional” to include “imagined future,” then I would love to go to the Mars created by Kim Stanley Robinson, specifically Blue Mars. There would be so much territory to explore.

P.S.: You just met an interested reader in an elevator. The reader asks, “What sort of stories do you write?” The doors will open soon, so what short answer do you give this reader?

K.D.: “I write short fiction, primarily fantasy and speculative fiction. My spec fiction doesn’t require math to appreciate it, and my characters are occasionally snarky.”

Poseidon’s Scribe.: What non-writing hobby or interest do you have? Does it complement your writing or is it a relief from writing?

Karl Dandenell: Does reading count as a hobby? If it does, then it’s both a relief and a complement.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you very much, Karl.

Readers can follow Karl Dandenell on his website and blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, and on his Amazon page.

May 19, 2023Permalink

Author Interview—Daniel Johnston

My interviews tend to feature fiction writers, and an occasional poet. Today, to vary things up, I’m interviewing a nonfiction author. Daniel joined a writing critique group I’m in.

Daniel Johnston’s area of expertise is the business relationship between governments and oil companies. He’s traveled widely, worked for dozens of governments, and testified as an economics expert in 35 legal disputes. He teaches graduate level seminars to petroleum accountants. He’s written numerous books and articles, as you’ll read about in one of the questions below. In a less academic vein, he wrote the book Growing up Johnston, a compilation of stories and anecdotes about his wife and children extracted from a lifetime of journaling.

Here’s the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Daniel Johnston: Early in my career I worked for a large consulting firm where publishing was the lifeblood of their marketing efforts. The old publish-or-perish trope applied there just as much as it did in the academic world. I also managed to develop a few analytical techniques that are now in common use in the industry and I wanted to get credit for them.

But, for me it was more than just career ambition. There was certainly the allure of getting published and I also felt somewhat compelled. 

It is hard to say where that came from but I suspect it is just part of the human condition. I suppose some people get the urge and some may not. But even people who do not write or publish seem to appreciate the magic of it.

Now my inspiration and compulsion are what drive me most, not the commercial and marketing forces. This is especially true now that I am trying to capture and record many of my experiences over the past seventy years.

In addition to my personal experiences, I am trying to capture and breathe life into some of the old family stories that have passed down through the ages. Some of them have devolved into a single sentence or two such as the story of my children’s Great Great Great Grandfather John Gearhart. The family story that filtered down to my wife and me shortly after we were married was: “He was in the Civil War on the Union side. Fought at Shiloh and was wounded and crippled for the rest of his life.” My wife’s grandfather told me this and he remembered his grandfather. I have now extensively researched him and that battle and can show on a map roughly where he was (32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry under General Hurlbut) half-hour by half-hour during that battle. At one point he was at the famous “Peach Orchard” where there was so much lead in the air, soldiers remembered and recorded that the falling peach blossoms looked like falling snow. I can’t help but imagine those beautiful peach blossoms and petals covering the bloody blue uniforms of the dead and wounded Union Soldiers lying on the ground in that orchard.

These are the kinds of things I want to write about now.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

D. J.: I was a voracious reader from early on in my existence reading such things as The Hardy Boys, A Wrinkle in Time, The Secret Garden, Little Women, etc. Fortunately, television in Wyoming in the 1950s was almost non-existent and reception was awful. Furthermore, our parents did not allow much television once it became so common in every household. We were not allowed to sit and stare at a TV. But, I loved reading anyway.

As I got older I preferred non-fiction history books such as Julius Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul or The Civil War and all kinds of biographies and autobiographies. In particular those about such characters as Benjamin Franklin, Golda Meir, Robert Rogers, Hernan Cortes, Alexander the Great, Chief Tecumseh, Hannibal, Cleopatra, George Custer, etc.

I also love historical novels like, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Chang’s Wild Swans or James Michener’s works.

With respect to my career, starting in the early 1980s I read anything I could find that had to do with petrophysics, petroleum engineering, petroleum economics and finance. These subjects and my experiences are the foundations of the consulting practice I developed over the past forty years. 

P.S.: Please give us a description of your book Growing up Johnston. What prompted you to write it?

D.J.: This book is a self-published memoir. My co-author, Julianna Johnston Ehlert, is our middle daughter. We only had fifty hard-cover copies of the book printed. If we want to print off a few more later it is easy and it is a miracle in this day-and-age to be able to do that! The book consists of over 340 pages of family anecdotes, photos, stories and journal entries. There is a chapter for each of our six children (three girls and three boys) and additional sections for stories that involved more than one child or my wife, Jill. Many of these memories are simply cute or sweet things the kids did or said or special moments in our lives.

For example, when our youngest daughter was around 4 years old, she asked me: “Daddy? Why is it that flapping works for birds but not for people?”

On another occasion we were out on a lake and my middle son said, “Hey Daddy! I saw a fish jump!”

“How big was it?” I asked.

He thought for a minute then said, “About the size of an octave on the piano!” All three of the boys play the piano and violin.

There are a lot of other events that are not so light hearted. In 1980 we had a still-born baby. I wrote about that pregnancy and that painful experience as well. 

Everybody with children has experienced these sweet and powerful moments and that is what this book is all about—a record of those precious heart-warming/heart-breaking times in our lives and in the lives of our children.

P.S.: Tell us about your journaling habit. When did it start, and why do you do it? What do you write about?

D.J.: I started writing/recording in a journal shortly after I got married. In addition to recording the various nuggets and landmark events in our lives, I often took my journal on trips with me and there were always lots of things to write about. I also took our children with me on many business trips, sometimes just one child or my wife and sometimes a few kids or the whole family. My journals have been helpful for remembering times, places, people and details of some of the incidents and experiences I am trying to capture in my collection of short stories.  

P.S.: You are likely the most widely-published author in the world on the subject of the business relationships between governments and oil companies. Please give us a brief listing of your major written works in this field.

D.J.: This is a pretty bold claim but I believe I am also the most widely quoted or cited author on this subject. Not only that, my second book, International Petroleum Fiscal Systems and Production Sharing Contracts, was essentially the first of its kind in the international petroleum industry.

By way of explanation, I got involved in the international oil industry at the end of the 1970s just as many governments were opening up to foreign investment in their petroleum sector. The World Bank was helping many developing nations craft petroleum laws and regulations and contract terms to enable them to establish business relationships with international oil companies. Because I worked for a consulting firm I worked with many different governments and companies. Most of my peers in the international sector worked for one or two companies in one or two countries. Their perspectives were much narrower than mine.

By the late 1980s I realized there were few people in the industry with the range and depth of experience and knowledge of the subject as I had. I recognized my opportunity and saw publishing as a way to stake my claim on this niche and advance my career.

I ultimately published five books through PennWell Books, three by the University of Dundee, Scotland, and one with the World Bank. I also published a large database on contractual/fiscal terms in various oil producing countries and I am currently working on a second edition to this database which stands at over 1,500 pages. 

PennWell was the main publishing house in the petroleum industry during the1980s-2010s. PennWell also published the Oil & Gas Journal and Offshore Magazine, (now published by Endeavor Business Media). These were two of the main periodicals in the industry during most of that time.

I published a number of articles in their magazines before I wrote my first book for them, Oil Company Financial Analysis in Non-technical Language. This book did well due to the fact that it reached a broader audience than most of PennWell’s other, more focused, books. Their ‘non-technical series’ books were often their most popular.

I should point out that I had many huge panic attacks when I worked on that book and the next one. I would be overwhelmed by insecurity. What if I make a big mistake? What if people don’t like it? What if it is a failure? It could ruin my consulting practice. These attacks were brutal. It always took me a while to convince myself that I had a number of nuggets, even whole chapters in these books that were unique and would benefit people. I was right. My first book became required reading for candidates wanting to earn official certification as petroleum accountants. This was administered by the Institute of Petroleum Accounting and the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies (COPAS).

As a result of this book, I was asked to write a column for the Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal published by the Institute of Petroleum Accounting at the University of North Texas (UNT). I wrote my column for about ten years and taught annual seminars at UNT.

My next book (1994), International Petroleum Fiscal Systems and Production Sharing Contracts went viral. It has been translated into the Russian and Chinese languages as have most of my PennWell books. Both of these books stayed on PennWell’s bestseller list for over a dozen years. Inclusion on their bestseller list, I should point out, was based simply on gross revenues. The top 25 titles, in terms of gross revenues, are included on their bestseller list. I was their first author to have two books on their bestseller list at the same time. 

I published three other books for PennWell including a few other works. Of these, my favorite, is International Exploration Economics, Risk and Contract Analysis (2003). This has also been translated into Russian and Chinese. It makes a good companion book to my book on fiscal systems and production sharing contracts. My five PennWell books ranged from 100,000 to 150,000 words each. And, I might point out, the first few books were researched and written before the internet was born. I spent hours-on-end in libraries in Dallas and Dundee. Researching the old-fashioned way!

Two of my other favorite books were published by the University of Dundee in Scotland. These include: Economic Modeling and Risk Analysis Handbook (about 450 pages) and Maximum Efficient Production Rate (60 pages).

I taught there for over ten years. Each year I would go to Dundee and teach two one-week long seminars attended by both LLM students (Masters of Laws – postgraduate ) as well as industry people from around the world, such as accountants, financial people, managers, executives from both oil companies as well as governments. Because the subjects were still relatively new, and my books were so popular, my courses were heavily attended.

I taught my courses all over the world in both the public setting as well as in-house courses for oil companies as well as government agencies (national oil companies or oil ministries). During the next 25 years I averaged 10-15 overseas trips per year. 

In 2007 two lawyers (Dr. Thomas Walde and Tim Martin) and I founded a new professional journal, the Journal of World Energy Law and Business (JWELB). It is published by the Oxford University Press (OUP) and the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN). It is a refereed journal and has been a huge success. I have been the Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee since the inception of this journal. 

Also, I have published over 100 articles, half of which have been in refereed publications. I have been cited over 1,250 times that I know of.

Knowing my subject thoroughly was one thing. My books launched me into the stratosphere.

P.S.: Your job has taken you to many countries. Do you plan to write about these experiences?

D.J.: Yes. I have been to places I never dreamed of or even heard of before. So, I have seen a lot of things that I believe people might find interesting or inspiring. I was raised in northern Wyoming along the eastern face of the Big Horn Mountains. To me it was a paradise. I never dreamed of traveling abroad. Nor was it an ambition of mine. My career, from 1980 onwards, changed all that, but I still see the magic, mystery and misery of our world from the perspective of a Wyoming native and proud American.

Traveling to the countries and regions where the oil industry was active was much more important when my career began. This is because communications were nothing like they are today. For example, in the late 1970s sometimes people had to fly from Jakarta to Singapore in order to make a phone call back to the United States. Back then we sent and received Telexes.  Also, primitive computers and fax machines were just starting to enter the workplace in 1980. So, traveling was more common back then because we didn’t have ‘virtual’ capability such as Zoom or Webex.

As a result, I got to see a lot places and things that few of today’s generation in the petroleum industry will likely experience.

For example, around 1996 I was in New Delhi about to head home when I was contacted by a lawyer I knew in Singapore. He asked me to come to Singapore and meet with him so that we could go to Jakarta for an important meeting. So I joined him in Singapore, and as we settled into our seats on the flight to Jakarta he handed me a magazine and pointed to the picture on the cover. It was of a handsome young man about my age, Setaiwan Djodi. “This is who we are meeting with.” he said.

The magazine had an article about Djodi, a Javanese prince and famous musician. He was also, at that time, owner of Lamborghini, the famous Italian car company. The article also mentioned that Djodi had put on a concert and half a million people showed up. During lunch the day I met him I said, “I read this article that said half a million people came to your concert! That is fabulous.” He shook his head and smiled, “Oh no. It was only around 300,000.”

He had a potential business opportunity (petroleum) in Kazakhstan and wanted me to evaluate the situation. So, from Jakarta I went on to Kazakhstan and spent a wild week there traveling from Almaty to Autyrau on the north coast of the Caspian Sea. That trip was amazing and I hope to capture and preserve some of those stories.  

I was also stranded in Lagos Nigeria for two extra weeks because of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers. That was a crazy time. In those days the Murtala Muhammed airport (Lagos) was considered the most dangerous airport in the world and it was shut down for international flights to the US and many other countries, thus the two-week delay. When I was finally able to fly out, I was instructed to arrive at the airport twelve hours early. I arrived thirteen hours early, just to be safe, and there was already a line. It was probably during one of my many trips to western Africa that I contracted malaria—another story.

As a result of my work and travels, I have seen a lot of this world in the past forty years and I am writing about those travels.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

D.J.: I have decided that writer’s block can be fatal. I have only barely survived a number of close calls. And, for me, panic attacks come without warning and are always fueled by insecurity, as I mentioned previously.

One of the biggest problems for me is to get things in the proper and logical sequence. This is true of both my technical/economic writing as well as my essays and short stories. This effort taxes every ounce of my powers of explanation but my technical books are much easier to write compared to writing a story or essay.

I have not yet tried to write fiction and tremble at the thought. However, to me thought of it fascinates me. I am not sure I have the talent or the ability to write fiction but I plan to try some day.

P.S.: I understand you’re a musician and gardener. Do these hobbies complement your writing or are they a relief from writing?

D.J.: There are a couple of short vignettes that are influenced by my modest musical background and love of classical music. I have already started work on two such stories. One deals with meeting a young woman named Tasmin Little—who, at the time, was solo violinist for the Brussels Symphony Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. We spent three evenings together because of a chance encounter in Brussels. It is a simple sweet story but it adds a different flavor or dimension to my collection of experiences I am writing about.

Another minor story that involves classical music took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on my first trip there. However, that is about all there is to the influence of my music on my writing so far.

With respect to gardening, I only have a couple of small stories, vignettes actually, that I hope to bring to life. One is a simple story that involves a metaphorical vine I came across in a Sumatran jungle. I have thought about it a lot since then. Sometimes it is the little things that touch our hearts.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

D.J.: At the moment I am just finalizing and recovering from a project I had been working on for years. I provided expert witness testimony in an arbitration between a big oil company and a foreign government involving a $1.5 billion claim. I do a lot of this kind of work the last twenty years. These projects require a considerable amount of written testimony that must be carefully and meticulously crafted. This is because everything I write in an expert witness statement and every article or book I have ever written come under intense hostile scrutiny that culminates in various rebuttal statements from opposing experts and ultimately, oral cross examination—pure hell.

Other than my professional writing obligations, I am also working on a book of short stories (essays) about the experiences and subjects I mentioned above.

Also, in addition to my international travels, I am writing about some of my experiences growing up in Wyoming in the 1950s and 1960s, and being an identical twin. I am also working on some of the old family stories. For example, I have an ancestor who fought under Admiral Nelson in the Battle of the Nile and then was crippled with grape shot at Trafalgar. I want to bring that story to life—doing lots of research at the moment.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Daniel Johnston: If you feel you have a story in you—you do. It is there and only needs work and inspiration to give it life. With respect to the work I just mentioned it helps to have some writing skills.

Writer’s block, insecurity, panic attacks and self-doubt are part of the experience in my opinion. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a grueling experience for me if I had studied writing instead of almost exclusively focusing on the physical sciences.

Fortunately, the wonderful part of writing is the editing process. With all of my manuscripts, books, articles and witness statements, I edit over and over and over. I will easily go through dozens of drafts for even small articles or stories. 

With respect to writer’s block, when the frustration becomes overwhelming, take a day off. Or more. Do anything other than write or worry about writing. Sometimes the human mind does its best work when we are doing anything other than work.   

Also, join a writer’s group. While I only have experience with the Fort Worth Writers group, it has been wonderful for me in many ways. Fascinating people. Fabulous learning opportunity. I love it.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thanks, Daniel. Readers who want to find out more about Daniel Johnston can check out his website.

August 14, 2022Permalink

Author Interview – Nigel Blackwell

Today I’m interviewing author Nigel Blackwell, a fellow member of one of the writing critique groups I’m in.

Nigel Blackwell was born in rural Oxfordshire in England. He has a love of books, a PhD in Physical Chemistry, and a black belt in pointing out the obvious. He is presently working on both short stories with supernatural and mystical elements, and thrillers. By The Light is the first book in this range. In the past he authored Paris Love Match, the story of what happens when an engineer encounters the mob, a bag of diamonds, and a girl to die for— and finds that’s exactly what might happen if he doesn’t think fast.

Collaborating with New York Times best selling author Diane Capri, he wrote the Jessica Kimball series of thrillers. Jess is an investigative reporter with an uncanny gift for putting herself in mortal danger when justice needs to be served. Nigel has driven trains, crashed single seat race cars, and travelled much of the world. He now lives in Texas with his wife and daughter, where they enjoy the sunshine and listen to the coyotes howl at night.

And now, the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Nigel Blackwell: I‘ve loved reading and stories since elementary school, and writing seemed an obvious thing to do, but I didn’t start on full length novels until about ten years ago.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

N.B.: Wow. Where do I start? In (what Americans would call) middle school, we used to have to read classics such as Sheridan, Shakespeare, and Chaucer (but sadly not the “Wife of Bath’s tale!”). I can’t say I hated them, but at the time HG Wells, AC Clarke, Aldous Huxley, Isaac Asimov and almost anyone else was more interesting. Weirdly, when I read back over my own writing, I think the stiff style of the former set have influenced me as much as the latter.

These days, I’ve added many more influences. Lee Child for the way he’s made a brilliant series that doesn’t feel like soap opera; Michael Crichton for his variety; Greg Bear for his science; F Paul Wilson for his mix of realism with the supernatural, and … well, it’s a big list.

As for books, The Affair by Lee Child is a standout in both style and story, Rendezvous with Rama because of its mystery and portent (Raman’s do everything in threes …), and Pirate Latitudes because (published after Crichton passing) it is a fitting end to a fabulous storytelling career.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

N.B.: Ha, if eclectic is the polite way to say all over the place, then yes, with thrillers, capers, mysteries, and verse, I’m eclectic! That said, what I try for in all my work is close POV with conflict on multiple levels.

P.S.: You’ve collaborated with author Diane Capri on several books in the Jess Kimball thriller series. What was it like to collaborate? How did you split up the work?

N.B.: Diane’s a full-time author. She works very hard on all aspects of the business from concepts and writing to marketing and promotion. That focus certainly helped my productivity! We tried various approaches to collaborating, interleaving chapters for example, but they made for more work. So we settled on a quick first draft which we would cycle back and forth editing. It was a great time, and I’m proud to have worked on the series.

P.S.: You’ve written novels, novellas, short stories, and poems. Do you have a preference among those forms?

N.B.: I prefer to write novels, they give time to explore the characters’ lives and situations. But short stories and verse are good in two respects, they help you focus on what’s essential to tell the story (no getting sidetracked into bunny trails), and they take a month not a year 🙂

P.S.: If you could win a trip to the fictional world of another author, where would you go and what would you do there?

N.B.: As a teen, I wanted to be in Clarke’s 2001—grown up and heading to Jupiter. Now I’m grown up I want to be a teen at Hogwarts. But that’s the great thing about books, they give us the chance to live vicariously. You can travel in time and space meeting new people in faraway places—all at the turn of a page!

P.S.: Your most recent book is By the Light, a collection of novellas, short stories, and poems. Please tell us about it. Is there a common theme?

N.B.: After a string of Jess Kimble thrillers, it was great to write self-contained pieces on different subjects. Most have a touch of the supernatural to them, and a number have an element of ambiguity until the end. For example, the captain (a typically male occupation) in “Sisters” is never said to be female, but for a cryptic comment (“… of no comfort to man. Nor me.”).

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

N.B.: Easiest is the first draft, most difficult is the last. Sadly, that’s more than just humor. It’s easy to come up with ideas, but filling in all the details is hard work. But it’s satisfying when things come together in a scene, and that makes it all worthwhile.

P.S.: If you traveled through time and met yourself at a point when you were first thinking of being a writer, what would you tell this younger version of you?

N.B.: Know the ending before you start.

A book takes readers on a journey. If you simply take left- and right-hand turns hoping to end up somewhere interesting, you might, but most times you won’t. On the other hand, if you decide you’re going to Niagara Falls you can plot the most interesting way to get there. That way the reader feels like the draw of each step inevitably leads to the right conclusion.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

N.B.: I’m closing in on the end of The Devil’s Bible. In WW1, a British mathematician is sent to retrieve a document from occupied France. He finds the document is one of a series of scrolls spread across Europe that will bestow demonic powers. Chasing after them, he discovers a German General is also in the hunt … and the General has a whole army behind him.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Nigel Blackwell: The typical response would be to stop aspiring and write. I’d also say, see question 9 😉

Less flippantly, watching movies is a quick way to pick up story ideas, characters, and locations. But most important is to read. When I started writing novels, I felt reading was a luxury that took me away from the work. But really it’s education, inspiration, and encouragement all rolled into one—mysteries are solved, justice is done, and heroes and heroines save the day. Stories are all about playing with the readers emotions, and is there any better feeling to help put pen to paper?

Thank you, Nigel.

Readers can keep up with Nigel at his website, and on Facebook, Amazon, and Goodreads.

July 23, 2022Permalink

Author Interview—Scott Edelman

Today I have the honor of interviewing author, editor, and podcaster, Scott Edelman. He recently interviewed me on his unique podcast, Eating the Fantastic and we’re delighted he could visit our modest skyscraper at Poseidon’s Scribe Enterprises for an interview.

Scott Edelman has published over 100 short stories in magazines such as Analog, The Twilight Zone, Postscripts, Absolute Magnitude, Science Fiction Review and Fantasy Book, and in anthologies such as You, Human, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Crossroads, MetaHorror, Once Upon a Galaxy, Moon Shots, Mars Probes, and Forbidden Planets. His poetry has appeared in Asimov’s, Amazing, Dreams and Nightmares, and others.

His recent short story collection is Things That Never Happened. Of that book, Publishers Weekly wrote: “His talent is undeniable.” Other collections include Tell Me What You Done Before (and Other Stories Written on the Shoulders of Giants), What Will Come After, and What We Still Talk About. He has been a Stoker Award finalist eight times, and What Will Come After was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award.

Additionally, Edelman worked as an editor for the Syfy Channel. Magazines he edited include Science Fiction Age, Sci-Fi Universe, Sci-Fi Flix, Satellite Orbit, and Rampage. He has been a four-time Hugo Award finalist for Best Editor.

He got his start editing at Marvel Comics, writing ad copy and editing the Marvel-produced fan magazine FOOM (Friend of Ol’ Marvel). He also wrote trade paperbacks such as The Captain Midnight Action Book of Sports, Health and Nutrition and The Mighty Marvel Fun Book number four and five. After leaving Marvel, he freelanced for both Marvel and DC, and his scripts appeared in Captain Marvel, Master of Kung Fu, Omega the Unknown, Time Warp, House of Mystery, Weird War Tales, Welcome Back, Kotter and others.

His first novel, The Gift, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in the category of Best Gay SF/Fantasy Novel. His writing for television includes Saturday morning cartoon work for Hanna Barbera and treatments for the syndicated TV show Tales from the Darkside (the episodes “Fear of Floating,” “Baker’s Dozen” and “My Ghost Writer, the Vampire”). His book reviews have appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Review.

An awesome bio! Here’s the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you?

Scott Edelman: The earliest writing I can remember doing—back when I was only in the single digits, probably around the 3rd Grade—were prose stories of comic book characters who hadn’t yet met in the pages of the comics themselves, but who I very much wished would get together. I scribbled out long, complicated encounters between all the Marvel and DC characters—something which wouldn’t happen in the real life world for several decades. So it was a case of writing the stories I wish had already been written by others, but since they hadn’t yet done it, I had to do it myself. And once I’d done that, I learned I enjoyed telling stories.

But the first story I ever wrote and submitted professionally came about after I’d read a few of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, and with the ego of youth, thought, “Hey, I can do that!” So at age 16, I wrote what would be my first story every written with the goal of publication. It was about a barbarian warrior on a quest, was sent off to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, from which it was rejected in three days.

And several thousand rejections (I stopped counting after my first 1,000) and 113 short story sales later, here I still am.

P.S.: I’m sure people are fascinated that you worked at Marvel Comics. Please describe what that was like, and your advice for writers thinking of working in comics today.

S.E.: I have no useful advice whatsoever for writers thinking of working in comics today. I wouldn’t even have had advice for writers who hoped to work in comics at the same time I did, which was in 1974, 48 years ago. That’s because it all happened by accident! Serendipity has always been my friend.

I’d never intended to work in comics. I’d always thought I’d be a journalist, and hopefully become a three-day-a-week newspaper columnist in the Pete Hamill or Jimmy Breslin vein, names which probably mean little to contemporary readers. I was a comics fan who, living in Brooklyn as I did, was able to become friends with the professional writers, editors, and artists who worked at Marvel and DC through the convention circuit,  but I wanted nothing from them. I wasn’t on the make for freelance assignments or a staff job. But then one came looking for me.

A comics fan named Duffy Vohland who’d moved to New York to begin working for Marvel rented an apartment in my neighborhood, and as he was unloading his possessions, some local kids saw his boxes of comics, and told him there was another guy only a few blocks away who also collected comics—me. So one day, he showed up at my door, we became friends, one thing led to another, and when a job opening happened at Marvel Comics, I was asked to apply.

So I got my job because a) I was born in Brooklyn b) started attending comic book conventions when they were small c) developed friendships with creators d) had someone move into my neighborhood e) was offered a job…and several other steps which no one could possibly replicate. How to do it today? No idea!

As for what it was like…it was a job which didn’t feel like a job, and from which none of us ever wanted to go home. Imagine the Dick Van Dyke Show, except about comics. No one ever wanted to leave, because we were living in a dream, and didn’t want to wake up. In the evenings we’d go to restaurants and movies together, or play poker, and on the weekends, we’d get together for volleyball and BBQ. There was no separation between work and the wider community of comics professionals of the ‘70s. It was the most creative group of people I’ve ever worked with. It was a family.

And eventually it became more than a family, because that’s where I found my wife, with whom this year I’ll celebrate my 46th anniversary.

P.S.: In what ways, if any, did your start in the comic book industry shape your later fiction writing?

S.E.: What I took away from my time in comics were lessons about what I didn’t want my prose fiction career to be like.

To begin with, it had multiple negative effects. First, I found it difficult to write what I wanted to write, vs. what others wanted me to write. It’s hard to turn down writing assignments when you know whatever you hand in on a Friday you’ll be paid for the following Wednesday. So I was writing not just comics, but letter columns, house ads, etc., doing those rather than my own writing. I shut down my muse during those years. I was the embodiment of what George Bernard Shaw meant when he wrote: “If you want to be a writer, you must have money, otherwise people will throw money at your head to buy your talent to use it and distort it for their own frivolous purpose.” A dreadful warning!

But in addition to stealing my time, comics also affected my style. I noticed the writing I did manage to find time to write for myself began to sound more and more like Stan Lee’s Bullpen Bulletins prose. Bombastic. Alliterative. His style had seeped into my subconscious and I was unable to control my word choices.

But remember—I was only age 19 when I started in comics, not yet mature enough to keep the walls separated between the writing I did for myself and the writing I did for others. Later on, during my years editing Science Fiction Age and working for the Syfy Channel, I was able to maintain that separation, But back then, I knew the only way I’d get back to my own fiction again, written my own way, was to leave. And so began a series of non-creative jobs so I could protect what I considered the most important.

That’s not to say I didn’t love my time there. But I probably loved comics too much for my own good, and would probably have been better off remaining a fan than becoming part of the industry.

P.S.: Who are the three main people who influenced your writing? What are three of your favorite books?

S.E.: My answer would differ depending on when you asked me that question. When I was a kid, I’d say Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke. As a teen, my triumvirate was instead Harlan Ellison, Samuel R. Delany, and Roger Zelazny. Next came Italo Calvino, Raymond Carver, and James Tiptree, Jr. (that is, Alice Sheldon).

But influence doesn’t end just because we’re no longer at the beginning. I continue to be influenced by my peers. So I take from writers such as (to name just a few) Sarah Pinsker, P. Djèlí Clark, Meg Elison, Fonda Lee, Andy Duncan, Sam J. Miller, Amal El-Mohtar, Victor LaValle, Alyssa Wong, Sam J. Miller…I could go on.  They are as much an inspiration as any of those I encountered when I was starting. It’s important to continue to read widely, and to leave ourselves open to the future as well as the past.

As for my favorite books, I’d prefer to share three short stories I return to and reread year after year, because they still amaze me—

“Day Million,” by Frederick Pohl

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” by Raymond Carver

“The Women Men Don’t See” by James Tiptree, Jr.

P.S.: You’ve written for, and in, so many mediums—short stories, novels, poems, comic books, television, podcasting, etc.—which is your favorite, and why?

S.E.: It will now and forever be the short story. I am a minimalist, and my sweet spot when writing is 5,000-7,000 words. I prefer to create stories which can be consumed in a single sitting, so the whole of it can be contained in one’s head at once. I feel no need to fill in the entire background history of a character, or what happens next once the story is over, or to follow every untold side tangent which might arise. The only novel I’ve ever published was originally a short story, but it got away from me in rewrites, and I find the chances of that repeating as highly unlikely. I’ve heard it said that a short story is the most important moment in a person’s life, after which they are changed forever, or conversely, decide they’ll never change. Those are the moments I always wish to explore.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

S.E.: If you look past genre, the common attribute is love. Theodore Sturgeon once said all of his stories were actually love stories, and I think anyone who reads widely in my published fiction—and I just placed my 113th story last week—will see that as my most predominant theme, though there are others.

But in terms of form and genre, I am indeed eclectic. The opening line of my entry in the Science Fiction Encyclopedia reads: “US editor and author, his fiction having had perhaps unduly little recognition, almost certainly because his work shifts from horror to fantasy to SF without any marketing consistency.” I wear that description as a badge of honor! I will always use any metaphorical tools to tell the stories I want to tell.

P.S.: Much of your writing leans to the horror side. What fascinates you about that genre?

S.E.: Your question made me curious about the true extent of my relationship with horror, so I ran down my list of 113 published (and about to be published) stories and discovered the breakdown is—

  • 43% horror
  • 34 % science fiction
  • 20% fantasy
  • 3% metafictional/unclassifiable

Which I thought intriguing…but unsurprising.

But those percentages shift if I categorize only the most recent 25 stories, though—

  • 48% science fiction
  • 30% fantasy
  • 22% horror

So over the past five years, I was still writing horror… just not as high a percentage of my output as before. The only explanation I can imagine for that shift is—the horror of the 2016 election and what came after was enough for me, and for that period of time, I didn’t feel felt like dwelling there. But I imagine that shift is only temporary.

As for why I love horror…it provides me with an amazing toolbox of metaphors with which to speak of our true fears—the fear of aging, the fear of loneliness, the fear of loss of agency, the fear of loss of self. Wrapping those fears in zombies, ghosts, vampires and the less traditional horrors makes them more terrifying…and more poignant.

Though sometimes, of course, it isn’t about the metaphors, and zombies are just cool!

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

S.E.: The most difficult aspect of writing for me is my writing method itself, as I have learned my best work only comes when I scribble my first drafts longhand, and then edit them the same way. I’ve tried to compose at a keyboard, but when I do, either nothing comes, or if it does, its either clumsy or facile. So I write with pen and paper, then key it into a computer, and print it out to do edits and revisions…which I then key in, print out, and do the same over and over again.

And another thing that’s difficult for me, I guess—though I don’t think of it as difficult, just slow—is that I can’t begin a day’s writing without rereading all words on a particular work up to that point. So if I left off in the middle of page 10, I must the next day slowly reread all that went before, rebuilding the house of cards in my head. And if it’s a novella, I must reread dozens of pages. I can never jump right in.

As for the easiest? I will never run out of ideas! I usually get 3-4 new ones for each one I write, so I will never catch up during this or any other lifetime. I am grateful for my subconscious, which collaborates with me that way.

P.S.: I was pleased to participate in your unique podcast, “Eating the Fantastic.” Tell us about that podcast series—how it started and what listeners can learn from it.

S.E.: I’d been a guest on many podcasts in my life, but it wasn’t until I appeared on The Horror Show with Brian Keene podcast during its first year that I thought—hey, I can do that! I love talking to people, love finding out their secret origins and how they do what they do. But I knew there were dozens, if not hundreds, of interview shows out there. How to differentiate mine from all the others? What would be my niche? I decided to marry my love of food and love of people into a single podcast—but one which was about the people more than the food.

My love of tracking down good food while traveling the world attending conventions was so well known one blogger dubbed me “science fiction’s Anthony Bourdain.” And since the con away from the con—which takes place when I wander off-site with friends for a meal—can often be more fun than the con itself, I decided to replicate that good conversation with good friends over good food for listeners.

I believe food relaxes my guests, loosens their tongues, distracts them from the interview process so they sometimes forget they’re even recording, and as a result, gives listeners a more intimate picture of them than any studio podcast where the guests is always aware they’re “on.”

As for what listeners can learn from it—across the nearly 300 hours so far, they’ll hear from nearly 250 writers, editors, and agents about both the art and craft of writing. They’ll feel they’re at the table with us, learning as I learn how they create the fiction of the fantastic we love.

P.S.: Tell us about Things That Never Happened. How did that book, and its interesting cover, happen?

S.E.: I wish there was some fascinating backstory I could tell you about why and how my most recent collection came to exist, but it’s merely that I had reached critical mass of a certain type of story—dark fantasies of the Twilight Zone-ish type—and so began looking for publisher willing to join me on the project. That’s often the way collections occur for me—when looking back at the mass of stories in my wake—currently 113 of them—and seeing such similarities. Luckily, Norm Prentiss of Cemetery Dance was willing to take me on, and I’m extremely pleased with the result.

As for the cover of Things That Never Happened, I’m so glad I had nothing to do with the creation other than to inspire artist Lynne Hansen with my stories. The covers I’d helped design myself have all been disasters. Which is an important lesson to learn—just because you’re a writer, it doesn’t mean you’re also a cover designer who can help create what’s essentially an advertisement for you book. The ones I had anything to do with I later realized repelled rather than attracted readers. Those mistakes were how I learned to stay out of cover design other than to say “thank you very much” when others do great work.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

S.E.: I dislike talking about my stories in progress—not just until after I’ve finishing writing them—but also not until they’re sold and published. But I will say this much—

I earlier today completed the first draft of a new fantasy story which came in at around 4,200 words—and for which the ending I decided necessary is, I fear, almost impossible to pull off. But I’ve always felt that if I’m not always attempting to do something I think can’t be done, what’s the point?

Some believe a writer—or anyone in any field—should stick to their strengths. But I’ve always felt I should stick to my weaknesses. How else will I get better, and level up to the point where one of my facets becomes a strength rather than a weakness? Writing, like anything else, is a muscle, and I can only get better by doing what is hard, what needs improvement.

I’m able to do this, I think, because I recognize my writing life is more about a career than any particular story, which means what attempting to get something right this time around might do, even if I should fail, is equip me for getting it right next time. At least that’s what I hope.

And that’s all I feel comfortable saying about my current story—which still has about 10 working titles. My next step, before diving into draft two, will be to winnow down to the final one, because that will focus me as I move on.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer to aspiring writers?

Scott Edelman: I think I’ve already given some with my previous answer, but the most important advice I can give is to repeat the memorable line from Galaxy Quest: “Never give up! Never surrender!”

The reason I’m still here isn’t because I was any good when I began. It’s because in the face of rejection—the first of which I received at age 16, remember—I never took it personally. I kept writing, I kept submitting—and because inevitably, if one does both of those things—I kept improving.

If you can find find joy in your work, so that the writing can be its own reward, if you can focus on having fun writing the next story rather than worrying about the fate of the last one, you will eventually achieve your goals.

I urge you to find joy in telling the tales you want to tell, the ones only you can tell. I can think of no better life than that.

Thank you very much, Scott. Readers of my blog can find out much more about Scott at his website, or on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook . Also check out his podcast.

Poseidon’s Scribe

June 25, 2022Permalink

Eating the Fantastic, with Scott Edelman

Earlier this month, I had the honor of being interviewed by author Scott Edelman (Wikipedia page here).

The author, about to talk with his mouth full for 1.5 hours

We’d met a few years ago at Balticon, the Baltimore Science Fiction convention, and served on a couple of discussion panels together. For several years now, he’s been interviewing scifi authors for a podcast series he calls ‘Eating the Fantastic.’

While attending cons, Scott enjoyed eating meals with other authors and discussing science fiction. He soon realized he didn’t need to wait for cons to do that, so started his unique podcast series and has interviewed over 170 authors so far.

We met at the Bonnie Blue Southern Market and Bakery in Winchester, Virginia on May 3rd. A nice day, so we ate outside at one of their patio tables. After conducting so many of these interviews, Scott knew just how to make me feel at ease, and I forgot about the microphone and just answered his questions the best I could.

Most authors enjoy talking about their writing, and I’m no different. Ask any author that, and you’ll see. Before you do, though, clear your schedule for the next few hours.

My conversation with Scott ranged over many topics, and I struggled for answers at times, but overall, he’s a wonderful interviewer. My breakfast at Bonnie Blue tasted delicious. The restaurant staff provided professional and friendly service.

As you listen to the podcast, you’ll hear my views on:

  • the pandemic’s effect on writing;
  • SciFi conventions, including my experiences as panelist and moderator;
  • how I started writing;
  • my early influences, including Verne, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, and Bradbury;
  • my own writing career and writing style;
  • my short stories;
  • Alternate History, and the research necessary to write in that subgenre;
  • the Snowflake Method* of writing;
  • writing for themed anthologies;
  • responding to editors who request story changes;
  • co-editing 20,000 Leagues Remembered
  • the depiction of submarines in books and movies; and
  • my current Work in Progress, and beyond.

* During the interview, I mispronounced Dr. Randy Ingermanson’s last name. My apologies to him. He’s the inventor of the Snowflake Method for writing novels. I use an abbreviated form of that method to write short stories.

Many thanks to Scott Edelman. Being interviewed by him for ‘Eating the Fantastic’ was a distinct honor for—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 29, 2022Permalink

Author Interview — Corrie Garrett

The anthology 20,000 Leagues Remembered contains great stories by sixteen fine authors, and you’ll get to meet another one of them today. She’s Corrie Garrett, author of “A Concurrent Process.”

Corrie Garrett is an indie author of more than ten science fiction and romance novels. She went to school in the Piney Woods of East Texas, earning a degree in Political Science with a minor in Computer Science, since she mistook her love of dystopian novels for a career path. Corrie’s favorite authors include Asimov, Niven, and Wells, and she enjoys writing science fiction with an old-school feel. Her Alien Cadet series is in this vein, following the choices of a group of young adults coming of age under the (arguably benevolent) despotism of an alien race. Corrie lives in Los Angeles with her husband, four kids, and a surprising number of coyotes.

And now, the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: I suspect many would-be writers out there, who happen to be moms, are wondering this: how you find time to write stories while raising—and homeschooling—four children? Is there a time warp in your home that gives you more hours in each day?

Corrie Garrett: I wish! The answer falls somewhere between shirking laundry and pulling the occasional all-nighter. What I wouldn’t give for J.K. Rowling’s time-turner! But the real trick, I believe, is making writing—the process itself, not the result—the thing I look forward to. If I start thinking of writing as work, it’s difficult to get it done. When I consistently channel my thoughts toward how I get to relax and write at the end of the day, then I look forward to it, and it is easier to carve out the time.

P.S.: Did the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) really spark your interest in writing? How often have you participated? With its emphasis on quantity, rather than quality, has it taken a lot of effort to convert a NaNo rough draft into a publishable novel?

C.G.: Yes, I love Nano! I’ve participated nine times and “finished” (in November) four times. Writing was a far-off dream until I realized that I could do it for one month, once a year, and produce a novel. That was all I did for the first four years: only wrote in November (and often December) then took a break and edited for… the rest of the year. That editing was often like bloodletting; the manuscripts were messy, and I hated rewriting so much! Now, ten novels in, I write more carefully the first time, cycling back whenever I need to fix something, with the goal to need only light editing at the end. Writing carefully, I can usually finish a novel in three to four months.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books by other authors?

C.G.: It wouldn’t be fair not to mention Dean Wesley Smith first, both as an influence and an author whose work I admire! I would’ve stopped years ago if not for following his advice about cycling and killing the myths of writing.

As far as favorite books, I love classics like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, and sci-fi series like Dune, Asimov’s Foundation, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders, and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War.

P.S.: Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

C.G.: It’s usually a kernel of another story that I explore in a new way. Pride and Prejudice in the time of Trump, the story of Esther with aliens, or… Captain Nemo and time travel! My latest novella started with my sister’s idea of placing Shakespeare’s The Tempest on Mars.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes)?

C.G.: My fiction is pretty diverse by genre, but I think the underlying theme is that while evil is real, good is also real. Empathy, self-control, and self-sacrifice are usually the traits that save my heroes.

P.S.: You write both romance and science fiction. At your website, you state you’d like to settle on one genre, but can’t. Did you feel pressure to choose one of them? Now that you’ve picked both, do you see that as a problem?

C.G.: Well, my mom will read everything I write, but not many other people will! There’s not much overlap between my Austen Ensemble readers and Alien Cadet readers, for instance. I have no issue with that, but publishing “wisdom” generally says to pick a genre and develop some momentum with your readers. I was afraid by splitting my time, I’d never develop consistent readers in either genre. But I decided that was short term thinking! I like both, I want to write both… it’s a slower path, but I’m going to give it a try.

P.S.: Your story “A Concurrent Process” in 20,000 Leagues Remembered is a fun and thoughtful time-travel tale. (I’ll bet even Verne scholars won’t notice your meaningful choice of character names on the first read-through.) What prompted you to write that story?

C.G.: In the original, the wonder of the deep ocean, unknown creatures, and unexplored wonders was a large part of the magic! I wanted to capture a little of that feeling, and the future is definitely one of the great unknowns. Plus, I always like time travel stories where a genius in one era becomes a genius in another—if he has time to assimilate the science!

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

C.G.: For me, nothing is better than a blank page. Starting a story is glorious and nothing is more fun than writing into the dark and discovering the character, mystery, and chaos that emerge. That’s the easy part. The worst is when I’m 3/5ths of the way through a story and I realize… no one is coming to finish this book! I’ve either got to finish riding the rollercoaster or fall off the unfinished scaffolding. Endings are crazy difficult for me, even when I’ve plotted out the climax and I know where I’m going.

P.S.: Tell us about your Austen Ensemble series (A Lively Companion, A True Likeness, and A Gentle Touch). All three books are getting very nice reviews. Are you planning to write more?

C.G.: Thanks! Austen Ensemble explores a slight variation in the Pride and Prejudice story (and beyond) and each book follows one of the women from the original: Elizabeth Bennet, Georgiana Darcy, and Anne de Bourgh. That trilogy is definitely done, but I’m already working on another Pride and Prejudice story that crosses over with Emma. It’s a fun sub-genre!

P.S.: Your Alien Cadets series (Manipulate, Captivate, Eradicate, and Evaluate) looks fascinating and is earning fine reviews. Please describe the universe of these books. What ties them together? Do you plan to continue the series?

C.G.: The Alien Cadet series is basically a space opera; you’ve got alien assassins, sentient trees, ancient religions, and a bit of romance (not surprising for me, right?). A group of aliens comes to Earth after a huge catastrophe and takes over—not necessarily to be tyrants, but not terribly keen on being friends, either. (A little like David Brin’s Uplift series.)  They not-so-gently draw humanity into the wider galactic scene, where it is common to have mentoring programs that reach cross-species. The first group of human kids are forcibly taken to join one of these programs, and each book follows a core group as they navigate coming home, finding their identity, and defending their planet from nefarious schemes.

P.S.: You’ve traveled through time and met yourself at a point when you were first thinking of being a writer. What one thing do you tell this younger version of you?

C.G.: Stop writing and invest in masks! Just kidding, that is a really good question. I think I’d tell myself not to rewrite those first novels for months and sometimes years at a time. One author compared it to making a cake. You can mess with one recipe for years and make one (im)perfect cake…but you won’t be a cook at the end of that time. The only way to learn is try multiple recipes, eat the food, and move on.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Corrie Garrett: Don’t let the doom and gloom you hear about discoverability and the difficulty of publishing deter you. There are a lot of indie books being published every day, and there are a lot of readers. Seriously, more than you think. If you keep writing, keep learning craft as you go, and publish enjoyable, gripping stories, you can find readers. It’s a long-term thing, no short cuts, but there’s nobody to stop you except yourself!

Thank you, Corrie.

Readers can stay up to speed with Corrie’s writing successes at her website and on Facebook.

Poseidon’s Scribe

November 16, 2020Permalink

Author Interview — Maya Chhabra

Having just launched the new anthology 20,000 Leagues Remembered, I took the opportunity to interview one of the ‘crewmembers.’ Please welcome author Maya Chhabra aboard our literary Nautilus. Readers will enjoy her story, “The Maelstrom,” and will want to find out more about her and read her other works.

Maya Chhabra is the author of the middle grade historical novel Stranger on the Home Front (Jolly Fish Press), dealing with Indian immigration and the Indian independence movement. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Daily Science Fiction, Cast of Wonders, and Strange Horizons. Visit her online at Maya Reads Books, or on Twitter as @mayachhabra.

Here’s the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Maya Chhabra: I don’t actually know! I’ve been writing since I was a little kid, probably because I liked books so much. I got started with poetry because my aunt is a poet, but I don’t know how I got started with prose.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

M.C.: My influences for poetry include Sonya Taaffe, another author of mythological poetry. Prose influences depend on the project I’m working on. For example, for Stranger on the Home Front, I was influenced by Laurence Yep’s middle grade stories about growing up Chinese in different parts of US history, particularly his book The Traitor. I wanted to do a similar sort of story about early Punjabi immigrants. The cross-cultural friendship in The Traitor also influenced my portrayal of Margaret and her best friend Betty.

P.S.: You’ve had a great number of poems published. Do you find your skill as a poet complements your prose writing? Do you find yourself thinking in poetic imagery, rhythms, and word sounds before converting to prose?

M.C.: For me, they’re very different, because a poem is so compact and closed. It has to hit its theme very quickly and hard, rather than a novel where you have time to explore the theme. However, I do try to make my prose aesthetically pleasing and use metaphorical language.

P.S.: Many of your poems touch on classical or mythological references. Why is that?

M.C.: I grew up with D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths and it made a big impression on me.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

M.C.: I think I’m definitely pretty eclectic, but my favorite genres to work in are fantasy, historical, and SF. I don’t really write contemporary, not since I was a teenager just starting out. I like the setting of my work to be removed from everyday life.

Clicking image will bring up Amazon page

P.S.: You’ve written a novel, Stranger on the Home Front, to be published in 2021. Please tell us a little about the book’s protagonist, Margaret Singh, and the conflicts she faces.

M.C.: Margaret is a mixed-race girl growing up in WWI-era San Francisco. Her father is an immigrant from India who’s involved with a radical pro-independence group based out of the US, and when the group goes on trial, he’s implicated, leading to difficulties for his family. This is based on the Hindu Conspiracy Trial, at the time the most expensive trial in US history, which exposed a link between the Central Powers and an Indian independence movement to sabotage the British Empire. Part of the conflict has to do with the perception of disloyalty, and that was influenced by my having been about Margaret’s age during the lead-up to the Iraq War. Reading about WWI, I saw many similarities in the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” mindset. The friendship and conflict between German-American Betty, who wants nothing more than to prove her patriotism despite the suspicion others have of her heritage, and Margaret, whose radical family is out of step with the nationalistic mood of the country, is really the heart of the novel.

P.S.: Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

M.C.: Often I start with a pre-existing story, like a myth or fairy tale, or a bit of history. I like to show an angle on things that people might not have thought of before, even if they’re familiar with the history or story.

P.S.: Your story, “The Maelstrom” appears in 20,000 Leagues Remembered. Jules Verne would have called it a pourquoi, or origin, story. It tells a version of the backstory of Captain Nemo, (originally Prince Dakkar). How did you come up with the idea for this story?

M.C.: I love 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and I’d been fascinated by Prince Dakkar’s story since finding out about it from The Mysterious Island, especially because I basically grew up on the story of the Indian independence movement. Prince Dakkar is obviously fictional and belongs to a generation before the independence movement really took off—he’s royalty, whereas that movement was led by lawyers and other middle-class people. But his feelings toward colonialism as described by Jules Verne definitely resonated. I’d always wanted to explore his story and this anthology was the perfect opportunity. I also appreciated that Jules Verne, despite not really being ahead of his time on racial and ethnic issues, was able to portray the resentment towards imperialism with such feeling, to the point where the original English translator had to tone it down and make the narration more condescending to make it palatable to a British audience.

P.S.: “The Maelstrom” depicts Prince Dakkar’s wife as a strong and determined woman, a very admirable character. How do you see her as different from, or similar to, Margaret Singh of Stranger on the Home Front? 

M.C.: Margaret is a shy girl who knows, as a mixed-race kid in a predominantly white environment, that she’s outnumbered and only conditionally accepted. She learns over the course of the story to stand up for herself, and also to realize that other people are also going through similar conflicts between social acceptance and integrity. The princess, Prince Dakkar’s wife, is far from being shy. She’s been raised in a life of privilege, but also stands out as unusual for a woman of her time. I thought she made a good partner for a strong personality like that of Captain Nemo, explaining his longstanding grief for her.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers, particularly things you wish you had known when starting out?

Maya Chhabra: I’d still consider myself an aspiring writer, as I’m trying to get an agent for my YA fantasy novel Thorns. But my advice would be: send stuff out. Don’t let rejection get you down, and even if it does, keep putting yourself out there. Don’t be shy about approaching editors for opportunities, but do your research first.

Thank you, Maya.

Readers can find out more about Maya at her website, on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Goodreads.

Poseidon’s Scribe

June 23, 2020Permalink

Author Interview (Updated) — Todd Sullivan

Readers with long memories will recall I interviewed Todd Sullivan once before. I decided to interview him again because a lot has happened in his writing career. He’s got two novellas being published soon.

Author Todd Sullivan

Todd Sullivan teaches English as a Second Language, and English Literature & Writing in Asia. He has had numerous short stories, novelettes, and novellas published across several countries, including Thailand, the U.K., Australia, the U.S., and Canada. He is a practitioner of the sword-fighting martial arts, kumdo/kendo, and has trained in fencing (foil), Muay Thai, Capoeira, Wing Chun, and JKD. He graduated from Queens College with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgia State University. He attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the National Book Foundation Summer Writing Camps. He currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan, and looks forward to studying Mandarin.

Here’s the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: Since I last interviewed you in September 2017, what have you been writing?

Todd Sullivan: Funny enough, I’ve still been writing from the same narrative universe that that 2017 story, “Wheels and Deals,” published in the Dark Luminous Wings anthology, took place in. My current novella, Butchers, is a vampire story that takes place in South Korea. But the actual storyline, along with several other short stories that were published between 2016 and 2018, all exist in the same nightmarish reality.

P.S.: What are the titles of the other stories?

T.S.: “Gwi’shin,” published in Eastlit Journal; “Transubstantiation,” published in Aurealis Science Fiction & Fantasy. “Chingu,” published in Tincture Journal. “The Ascent Made Him Plunge,” published in The Big Book of Bootleg Horror 2. They’re all connected.

P.S.: You’ve been busy, and successful in getting your stories published. Congratulations on the publication of Butchers. The book cover is eye-catching. If you had to describe this novella in three words, what would they be?

T.S.: To coin Public Enemy, “Fight the power.”

P.S.: The story is set in Seoul, South Korea. Why did you choose that setting?

T.S.: I lived in South Korea for ten years, three of which were spent in Seoul. The very first incarnation of this story took place on a small island at the southern-most tip of the country called Jeju. Jeju will still play a pivotal role in how the ongoing narrative unfolds. If one can imagine the narrative universe as a typhoon, Jeju is the center of the maelstrom.

P.S.: So many horror stories deal with vampires working alone. In Butchers, there’s an entire vampire organization with initiation rites, rules, a mission, and rogue members. What can you tell us about this group?

T.S.: The Gwanlyo is, in many ways, the tyrannical employer. Mindlessly cruel, and diabolical, with arcane regulations that seem to serve only one purpose: to torture their employees.

P.S.: The novella’s protagonist, Sey-Mi, sounds fascinating. Please tell us what she’s like at the beginning of the book.

T.S.: Kim Sey-Mi is a graduating high school senior who, like Alice, tumbles down the rabbit hole. She meets strange and terrible figures, and the question is will she become one of them: a strange, terrible person.

P.S.: You describe this as a novella of extreme horror. Why will this book appeal to horror and vampire fans?

T.S.: As a vampire fan myself, I have to admit that it doesn’t take much to make me fall in love with a vampire story. I think a lot of vampire fans share a similar sentiment. I think, though, that Butchers is a unique take on the mythology. It combines Korean culture with Western horror to create an exciting fusion of ideas. I think even a vampire fan really appreciates a new take on the undying genre.

P.S.: Is the launching of this book coming soon? How can eager readers find out more, and buy it?

T.S.: Butchers is available to purchase now in ebook and book form. The official launch date is December 5th, and there will be a Facebook event from 10am to 12am EST where I’ll answer questions, and where an attendee can win a free copy of the novella.

P.S.: I understand this will be the first of a series. What can you tell us about the second book?

T.S.: The Gray Man of Smoke and Shadows is a stellar tale that focuses on a character introduced in Butchers: Hyeri. I had a lot of fun writing Hyeri, and I knew that the next book in the series would be about her. There’s no point in wasting a character this good.

P.S.: You’ve also got another novella soon to be published, called Hollow Men. I love its cover image as well. Please give us three words to describe this book.

T.S.: Death comes easy.

P.S.: Please describe the setting of this work of epic fantasy. Where and when are you taking your readers this time? What makes this setting different from most other works in this genre?

T.S.: So, Hollow Men takes place in a fantasy version of medieval South Korea. The story revolves around men who go on quests to become heroes. The story also deals with the politics of being a foreigner in a homogeneous society. And it’s different because it fuses the east and west in a tale of swords & sorcery. It’s a D&D campaign that takes place in the Hermit Kingdom.

P.S.: What are the fantasy elements in the story? I understand there’s a heroic quest, a magic sword, and a knight. What else will readers encounter?

T.S.: I guess the narrative touches upon the ideas of globalism. We can say that we are all just the human race, but do we really believe it? Actions speak louder than words, and if one were to look at the actions of the world’s people, can one really say that we truly believe we are all of the human race? So imagine this quandary using the metaphor of the fantastical, and that’s Hollow Men.

P.S.: Please paint a word picture of Ha Jun, your protagonist.

T.S.: Ha Jun is a young man who increasingly realizes that the world is trying to kill him. And he’s simply trying to figure out how to stay alive.

P.S.: When and where can readers get this book?

T.S.: Hollow Men’s expected release date is December 9th, 2019. It would make a great Christmas gift for teen readers.

P.S.: It certainly would. You also intend this novella to be the beginning of a series. Can you give us a glimpse of the second book, and what connects the two?

T.S.: Life is a constant struggle. That’s actually the general theme of this fantasy series. One keeps fighting, and either one dies, or one survives to fight again. There is no peace. There is only the hustle, the struggle to survive.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Where can readers go to find out more about you?

Todd Sullivan: Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Thanks, Todd, and best of luck with both novellas and both resulting series.

December 1, 2019Permalink