Interview with Neal Asher

Here's an interview I did with Neal Asher for a graduate presentation several months ago. If you haven't read any of Neal's books, I highly recommend that you do. He writes high-energy action driven space opera like nobody else, and he's one of the top SF writers working today. Check out his blog at http://theskinner.blogspot.com. His latest novel, Zero Point, is now out from Tor books and is available on Amazon and Amazon UK.

TP: Do you feel that writing short stories has helped you develop a distinct narrative voice which has translated into novels? 

NA: I suspect that a distinct narrative voice comes about through writing lots and development over time. I reckon all writers start out basically copying the stuff they love before they head off in their own direction; before they gain a clear vision of what they are aiming for. However, certainly my brevity came about through writing short stories and I still find that after editing my typescripts end up being added to rather than cut. Also the ‘hooks’ I have at the end of each section in a book arose from the short story format i.e. if I was to take each section I write, add in some background detail and some clarification, they could be turned into short stories in themselves.   

TP: Why the Polity? How has your vision of that setting changed and evolved since its inception? 

NA: I started off with the short stories and in each of those I often used common elements: the runcible, the augs, U-space drives, the AIs and drones, sometimes the same characters. When I came to writing Gridlinked I wanted everything in there, including the kitchen sink. I wanted a canvas large enough to tell just about any story I wished. This has evolved over time what with the sheer weight of the stories told, incorporating the necessity for a chronology, a history. It has also turned into a constriction I hoped it wouldn’t be.

TP: What are the advantages of developing a world in short fiction before writing novels set in that milieu? The disadvantages (if any)?

NA: The advantages are that the short stories work as a test-bed for ideas, technologies, ecologies, characters in fact everything you use in the later novels. For example: you can create superman but soon learn in the short form that without kryptonite there’s little story to tell. The disadvantages are the constraints you put on yourself if you want to ensure those stories are to be included in that milieu. It all needs to slot together and there’ll always be some fan pointing out your errors.

TP: Do you find that short stories can spawn ideas for longer works like novels? This certainly seems true for The Technician, which has many ties to "Alien Archaeology" and "The Gabble." 

NA: Yes, definitely. The prime example is The Skinner. I picked up two of my favourite short stories – Spatterjay and Snairls – and used them as the basis of that book, the character Erlin appearing in the first and Janer appearing in the second. They can be handy leg-up and can contain ideas and characters to develop into the longer form. 

TP: Do you still write short stories now that you are publishing novels full-time, and if so, what do you find so appealing about the form? 

NA: I keep meaning to write more short stories and, sometimes when I get a request I will produce something, but generally the novel writing keeps getting in the way. First off it is the bread-and-butter work. I’m fairly certain now that just about any short stories I write will get published somewhere, but their earning power is limited. Also, liking to have something in the bank, I want to be always ahead of Macmillan. Right now I’m a year and a half ahead, but keep thinking wouldn’t it be great to be two or maybe three years ahead? Maybe that stems from a fear that if I lay off the novel writing for a while I might not be able to do it again, which is silly.

Thanks again Neal! Check out his Amazon page and order some of his books! My personal favorites are Gridlinked, The Skinner, and Brass Man as well as the short story collections The Gabble and Other Stories and The Engineer ReConditioned. 

                    

Interview

                                   

     Just a quick update. Zachary Jernigan, author of the upcoming novel, No Return, has posted an interview with me on his blog. Thanks, Zach, for stroking my ego! Check it out HERE.

Bad Storytelling, or Why I Think Skyfall is a Steaming Pile of Shit Despite Its Rave Reviews

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!        

           Maybe that's a bit harsh, but after all the hype, this movie was a huge flop for me. The reason is simple. In order to make a good Bond movie, you have to follow a formula. Bond stories aren't known for their innovation, originality, or groundbreaking style, they're flashy, over-the-top action movies with colorful and entertaining characters, complex plots, gorgeous scenery, and badder than bad villains. 
        I think the last point is the one I'm most aggravated about. You'd think Javier Bardem of No Country fame would play an excellent, creepy, and downright nasty Bond villain, but unfortunately the writers gave him absolutely nothing to work with. His character motivations throughout the entire film are completely inconsistent. If he wants to kill M in person so badly, why does he send a team of commandos to shoot up the house where she's hiding out first? Why bust into a court hearing, guns blazing, only to later try to commit suicide/homicide at the film's climax? His character isn't fleshed out enough for his motivations to make sense, and he's introduced HALF WAY through the movie, by which point we've gone through two other would-be villains and plot points that in the end, don't really add up to anything at all. 
        For me, a good villain must compliment the hero in some way. They must have enough similarities so that there is an immediate connection, but differ on certain points that make the confrontation inevitable. Look at any other decent Bond movie and you'll see this. Le Chiffre in Casino Royale has wealth, power, and style (all characteristics of Bond), and he's a crack poker player (also Bond's thing), but he's out to destroy civilization as we know it, whereas Bond is trying to hold it all together. There's immediate tension, particularly when the two sit down to play cards, and the conflict drives the entire film. Not to mention the fact that we meet Le Chiffre in the FIRST FIVE MINUTES, not an hour in. 

         The writers try to establish a connection in this film, with Bardem's character having been betrayed by MI6, just as Bond is in the beginning, but they go nowhere with this. Bond doesn't remotely identify with him, because he's basically crazy (and in an inconsistent way, not in a way that makes him interesting or even threatening). In many ways, Skyfall felt like three storylines the writers decided to cut and paste together at the last minute, so the movie has an uneven feel throghout. For the first third of the film, you'd think it was about Bond being betrayed by his own agency, but that quickly gets resolved and forgotten. Then it's about getting the bad guy who got away, who turns out to be unimportant when Bardem's character is introduced. Then for the last third of the film it vacillates between being a "protect M at all costs" mission and Bond revisiting his childhood (which isn't important to the plot or developed enough for me to care at all). 
          Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful shots in this movie, particularly in the scene where Bond charges away from his burning home, silhouetted against the raging fires, but it adds nothing thematically because they haven't set anything up with the story. It's just pretty imagery and nothing else, which is totally annoying because it could have been SO MUCH MORE! I don't understand why this movie is being praised, except for the fact that it's far more coherent than Quantum of Solace, which in my opinion, isn't an excuse. Just because your plot makes sense, doesn't mean it's a good plot. On the whole, Skyfall had so much potential but just didn't carry through with anything it set up. Maybe one day, Hollywood will learn that flashy special effects and beautiful actors/actresses are no substitute for story. Do yourself a favor and watch one of the Connery-era bonds, or even the Brosnan-era for that matter (at least they had good stories!) or, better yet, read one of the original Fleming novels. Trust me, your time will be much better spent than seeing this travesty.

Interview with Jeffrey Thomas

 

      In the spirit of Halloween, here's an interview I did with SF/horror writer Jeffrey Thomas, author of the novels Monstrocity, Health Agent, Deadstock, and Blue War, as well as the short story collections Punktown, Voices from Punktown, Punktown: Shades of Grey, and Punktown: Third Eye. If you've never encountered Jeff's work before, you're missing out. His unique brand of science fiction combined with atmospheric horror is some of the best I've ever read. But don't take my word for it, here's what China Mievelle has to say about Thomas's work: "Punktown is searing and alien and anxious and rich, and it is humane, and it is moving. Jeffrey Thomas has done something wonderful." I had the opportunity to interview Jeff several months ago for a graduate presentation I was giving on world-building and short fiction. You can read two of Jeff's stories online for free on Infinity Plus: "The Hate Machines"  and "The Library of Sorrows".

1. First off, why Punktown? Can you describe this world and your ideal vision of it? 

JT: I’m not sure I can explain why Punktown, but I guess I could say why not, in that Punktown seems to be the very personification of my chaotic imagination; a center of vibrant activity, where strange and frightening but hopefully also wondrous things can occur. In 1980, I arrived at the idea of setting a series of stories in a weird futuristic city -- ostensibly a science fiction environment, but as much a funhouse mirror reflection of our own world -- where I could address sociological issues in a darkly satirical way. But my vision of Punktown has grown since then and continues to grow.

2. When creating Punktown did you originally envision it as short stories or longer works? Which did you write first? 

JT: I started in 1980 with a novel, and invited my brother Scott Thomas and friend Thomas Hughes to write their own Punktown-based stories (from a series of guidelines I created for them). My first novel and Scott’s have never been submitted to a publisher (though I hope one day to prepare them for that; both are still in a handwritten state!), but Tom Hughes’ short novel ultimately appeared in the shared world anthology PUNKTOWN: THIRD EYE that I edited for Prime Books. It was actually Scott who first planned on writing some Punktown short stories. He didn’t do so until years later, however, after I had begun doing so. It was short stories I sold first, to small press magazines, and which composed the contents of my 2000 collection PUNKTOWN. Novels set in Punktown, from various publishers, began following a few years later.

3. What are the advantages of writing short stories set in the same world as opposed to creating a new one for each story? The disadvantages (if any)? 

JT: The clearest advantage is I don’t have to create a whole new world from the ground up; I have a firm idea of the setting already in my mind, knowledge of what can take place there, places or alien races or technologies that can be tied in from stories gone before. I’m always careful, however, to make each and every Punktown tale -- be it novel or short story -- capable of existing as a standalone piece, to prevent readers from being intimidated by a need to read more than they might care to in order to understand what’s going on. I suppose a disadvantage might be growing too comfortable, not venturing into new directions and creating other exciting worlds. So I do try to leave Punktown alone for stretches. Yet I always go back there, because the setting is such that it can accommodate pretty much any type of story. There’s always another street to explore, and the inhabitants of that street to meet. (And I very seldom reuse characters in my Punktown stories, which helps keep things fresh for me and the reader.) I think an author could write only of New York City and never bore his readers...so a far-future city full of people from other planets and even dimensions should offer up even more potential stories. Ultimately, my favorite advantage is that you can end up with this wonderful mosaic effect where the sum becomes greater than its parts.

4. What comes first: character, situation, or a scene/image?

JT: I would say it varies on the story, as Punktown stories can vary widely in feel and approach, but it’s more likely situation or scene/image as opposed to character. Once I have that situation or scene, I’ll know who I need to create to interact therein. But if I looked back at my Punktown stories, I think in most cases I wouldn’t recall what sparked that tale, at least not clearly. They start as nebulous things. I truly believe my stories take shape in a smoky back room of my mind, where my conscious mind is only sometimes allowed to visit; and that when I write I enter into a kind of waking dream-state in which another “me” takes over. He seems to know what will form from that nebulous cloud. But sometimes I can trace a story’s origins to a specific inspiration. One story of mine in my next collection of Punktown stories (“Ghosts of Punktown,” forthcoming from Dark Regions Press) was inspired by several unpleasant images I chanced upon on the internet; they shook me, and I felt the need to address them. I think I process the world through my art, and one example of that is my Punktown story “Face.” When I received the diagnosis that my son Colin was autistic, one way I assimilated that was to write a story that addresses the child as “other.” It’s a very sad story, but somehow writing it helped me work things out inside.

5. Do you plan your Punktown stories in advance or do you just write whatever you feel like writing at the moment?

JT: Again, it varies. Some stories are written as if I’m just jumping into the water and learning to swim -- and where to swim to -- as I go along, trusting to my survival instincts as it were. Occasionally I’ll adhere to more of a preconceived structure, however, such as detailed notes. In the case of my Punktown novels DEADSTOCK and BLUE WAR, released by the mass market publisher Solaris, I was required to submit a chapter-by-chapter breakdown before writing them. Initially I thought this approach would inhibit me, and I wasn’t even sure I could do it, but I found it worked out quite well! I wrote the outline as if writing a very, very concise story...and then when the project got the green light and I sat down to write the actual novel, it was fun putting the flesh on those bones. I’ve never used that chapter-by-chapter approach again, but as I say I do often rely on extensive notes that guide me through by the hand.

6. Cloning and biotechnology are central themes of the novels Deadstock and Blue War, as well as many of your short stories. Did any of the concepts originally created in your shorter work spawn ideas for your novels?

JT: First of all that’s very true, though I’d like to state my intention is not to warn the world about the threats of cloning, but to use cloning for all the great metaphors it can embody, such as exploitation of workers and the cheapness of human life. But all my cloning stories do seem to spring originally from my favorite Punktown short story, “The Reflections of Ghosts,” about an artists who clones copies of himself and changes them radically into art objects. I find these kinds of scientific themes are great vessels for more human concerns. In BLUE WAR, the runaway semi-organic building process that turns a proposed condo complex into a spreading replica of Punktown on another planet is not so much a cautionary tale about biotech gone wrong as a metaphor for overlapping one’s culture onto another society’s culture. 

7. Do you feel that writing short fiction has helped you develop a distinctive narrative voice, which has translated into novels?

JT: It could be said the other way around, as well, since short stories are a difficult form in themselves and not merely a developmental stage leading to the writing of novels.

8. Punktown serves as an elaborate metaphor for the world we live in, showcasing all the dark and light aspects of humanity. How has your vision of Punktown (and by extension, our world) changed since you first started writing stories set in that milieu?

JT: My vision of our own world has broadened over the years, and I’m certain that has helped Punktown expand in scope and texture. When I first conceived of the city, I had in mind the city I was most familiar with -- Worcester, Massachusetts. But later on I became more familiar with Boston. I visited New York. I spent some time in Seoul, and a lot of time in Saigon. These experiences have gradually helped me better portray Punktown in all the richness a future megalopolis, peopled by beings from other worlds and sentient machines, must encompass. I might also suggest that growing older has helped the city, and its characters, become more nuanced, complex, and perhaps more mature. And as I say, I hope to keep building onto the city and inviting more characters to immigrate there until my digits can no longer dance upon these keys!

*****

And that'll do it. Thanks so much! 

Thank YOU, Taylor, for flattering me so!

BUY JEFF'S BOOKS ON AMAZON!

 Also, check out his blog:        http://www.jeffreyethomas.com/blog/

 Thanks again, Jeff! 

The Agent Hunt Begins

   

        Having recently completed the revision of The Singularity War, I'm now looking for representation. Finding an agent can be a long, arduous process, and it's not something I've taken to lightly. After compiling a list of 40 potentials, I sent out my first 10 query letters on Wednesday. As I understand it, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to get a reply, so instead of sitting on my hands while I wait anxiously, I've decided to dive right into my next project. 
      I have two novels I'm working on at the moment. One is the sequel to The Singularity War, which has just entered the outline stage, and the other is a cyberpunk detective story set in the same milieu as Blood Red Mars, focusing on the character of Christina and her dealings with the Shadow Man, a plot thread that was never fully resolved in the collection. Now that I'm finally free of The Singularity War, I feel much more confident and energized about my writing. I can already see drastic improvements in my ability to plot, develop character, and integrate detail into the narrative. It all flows so much easier from my mind to the computer screen, and for that I have the Stonecoast MFA program to thank. 
       Working closely with so many fantastic writers has undoubtedly had an impact on my abilities. I'm happy to see that Stonecoast has made the jump from number 8 to number 6 on Poets & Writers top low residency MFA programs list. I can honestly say, going to Stonecoast was one of the best experiences of my life. I can't wait to see what new and exciting writers come out of the program over the next few years.

Writing/Reading Update

     

          So far, it's been a busy month. I just reached the 200 page mark in my revision, read a few good books, started a new novel, and I'm doing my best to stay disciplined now that I no longer have my Stonecoast mentors to hold me accountable. Oh yeah, and I graduated. I'm now officially an MFA. What that means for my future, I've no idea. But it feels nice. I had the pleasure of chatting with an agent who works for the Rees Literary Agency at my last residency in July, and she had some nice things to say about a sample from my novel, though she doesn't represent science fiction. I did, however, get a list of agents who might be interested, which is both surprising and exciting. Speaking of the novel, the revision's coming along nicely. I've got about a hundred pages of heavy lifting left before I do a final read-through and polish. Then I'll start shopping it around.
         I'm reading/listening to several good books at the moment. I just finished Infidel by Kameron Hurley, which was even better than the first book, God's War. I also read Overthrowing Heaven by Mark L. Van Name, which I liked quite a bit (thought not as much as the first two in the series), and I'm working on Sandstorm by James Rollins and the audio version of Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Also, I'm starting to get into The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, a strange piece of genrebending metafiction that's not normally my cup of tea but I'm finding quite enjoyable. Up next is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby,  Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen on audio, and The High Window by Raymond Chandler. On the writing front, I've started work on Argos, the sequel to The Singularity War, and I'm in the note-taking stages of a cyberpunk detective story set on Mars, tentatively titled Shadow Game. I'm trying my best to stay occupied in my post-Stonecoast life and doing whatever I can to avoid the slump in productivity that always seems to be waiting just around the corner three months after residency. More ebook stuff is on hiatus for the time being, until I finish the revision of my completed novel and the outline for Argos. Sometimes I wish I had multiple clones, so I could work on several projects simultaneously, but unfortunately we're not quite there yet.
          Not much else to report. As usual, I'm slogging ahead. Gotta keep up the momentum. Oh, and some good news: my friend and fellow Stonecoast alum Zachary Jernigan just sold his first novel, No Return, to Night Shade Books! Can't wait to read it when it comes out next year. Night Shade is, in my opinion, one of the best indie publishers of science fiction and fantasy working today. They really seem to be pushing the envelope when it comes to discovering new and exciting voices. Congrats, man! May you be the first of many! That's all for now...

Worldbuilding: The Devil is in the Details

       

        As I launch into the full-on revision of my novel, The Singularity War, I've been thinking a lot about worldbuilding, specifically, how to convey the scale and complexity of a far future civilization, including all the different planets, cultures, races, technologies, politics, and histories without disrupting narrative flow or pacing. Admittedly, it's a difficult task. In the worst examples I've read, the author just dumped loads of information on the reader, as if he or she simply cut and pasted from his or her notes. But how do you get across what you need to get across without resorting to stilted dialogue where the characters explain everything to each other or dull, monotonous exposition? The trick, I think, is to write as if you inhabit your characters' world. When you read a contemporary novel, the author spends no time explaining economic systems or the finer points of auto mechanics. How stuff works isn't that important, just that it works consistently and believably. The key is to lay down ground rules and follow them to the letter (unless there's a very good reason to break them). But, of course, there are some things that simply must be explained. When that happens, I think it's best to just give the information as quickly and concisely as possible, then get on with the story. 
      When I started writing this novel, I knew very little about the world. I knew it was set in the far future with lots of colonized planets, faster-than-light travel, and real-time interstellar communication. I knew that people lived a lot longer than they do today, could record copies of their minds to be reconstituted in the event of death, and that emergent artificial intelligence was a constant threat. But beyond that, I had little in the way of actual worldbuilding. The story is set primarily on two different planets: the wealthy, cosmopolitan  Calliope, and the desolate, former mining colony Nyx. Each world offers a strikingly different environment. Calliope, while Earthlike, is rife with native life forms, including massive rainforests that span the equator. Due to a quirk in the photosynthesis process, most of the vegetation is purple. Nyx, on the other hand, is a barren wasteland, orbiting a red dwarf star that provides too little light and heat. Its atmosphere is toxic and its surface is scoured by dust storms. Nevertheless, there are native life forms, the deadliest of which are the nighthunters. All of these details came out in the first draft, and now it's time to fine tune them. Why, for instance, is Calliope's plant life purple? I remember reading an article once in New Scientist (or maybe it was an astronomy magazine, I'm not really sure) about how stars of different spectral classes could affect the flora of their planets, producing a range of colors, depending on what wavelengths they use for photosynthesis. If I remember correctly, this included purple. As for the nighthunters, how did such a creature come to evolve? What sort of ecology must exist on Nyx, as barren and lifeless as it appears to be, in order for them to prosper? It's details like this that, though they might not actually appear in the text, I need to work out, so that everything hangs together. 
        As I work through the novel, I find myself constantly questioning decisions I've made (or avoided making). What is the culture like on Calliope? There are numerous references to "mods," individuals who continuously alter their appearance in accordance with a particular fad, and cosmetic technology is so advanced that people change their physical forms as frequently as we change our clothes. This poses some interesting questions about the nature of identity. How closely are we tied to our physical form? When you can copy and transfer your consciousness between bodies, what are you? Is your body important, or is it just a shell for your mind? I'm seeing lots of thematic potential here, and it's all in the details. 
       Everything in the world effects everything else. One's religious belief can affect their choice of clothing, food and drink, social behavior, and even their choice of entertainment. Culture and language have a resounding impact on artistic design, architecture, and sociopolitical systems. What do families look like on other worlds, in the distant future, where reproduction is intrinsically linked to technology and completely ex utero? What does it mean to raise a child, when information can be directly downloaded and traditional schooling no longer exists? How will entertainment change, when severe injury and death no longer carry the weight they once did? All of these questions, and more, are on my mind now, and as I push forward with my rewrite I'm hoping to answer most if not all of them, at least through the actions and attitudes of my characters. Because, if there's one thing I've learned about worldbuilding over the last two years, it's all about the little things, the details, that make the setting come alive on the page.