Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts

19 Jul 2024

Interview with Jill Baguchinsky, author of SO WITCHES WE BECAME!

19 July 0 Comments

I am thrilled to be hosting Jill Baguchinsky today for an interview about her young adult queer-feminist thriller, SO WITCHES WE BECAME.


SO WITCHES WE BECAME

Author: Jill Baguchinsky
Series: N/A
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 23, 2024

Representation: queer characters

Summary:
Step into your witchy power or be swallowed by the curse– the choice is yours.

A queer, feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, this ode to female-rage is a perfect pick for fans of She Is a Haunting, and a reminder that if "boys will be boys," girls will fight back. 

For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her—secrets that fuse with the island's tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast.
 
Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she'd rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that's haunted her since childhood.

Easier said than done.

But when Nell's friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape.

Reading like a YA feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, So Witches We Became is a diverse, queer horror about female friendship, the emotional aftermath of surviving assault, and how to find power in the shadows of your past. 
Purchase*:
(note that these are affiliate links! I receive a small amount of compensation at no cost to you)

Describe SO WITCHES WE BECAME in 15 words or less.

Jill Baguchinsky: Friends trapped by a curse must fight back together or be devoured one by one. 

(That was trickier than I was expecting it to be! Haha.)

How do you ensure that the elements you pulled from Stephen King’s The Mist are unique to your novel while still being an homage to the original?

Jill Baguchinsky: As much as I absolutely adore Stephen King, I didn’t actually start out with The Mist in mind when I wrote So Witches We Became. Both stories feature an ominous fog/mist/haze and a deadly mystery lurking within, but the dynamics of a group of teenagers trapped on a Florida island are different from those of a collection of people trapped in a Maine supermarket, so the stories veer off in very different directions. There’s just something absolutely eerie about the idea of a weird mist settling in and hiding who-knows-what, the way it dulls sound and makes landmarks vanish. It’s all so still, so empty, like the world’s been swallowed up by a void. There’s a lot to play with in that.
On a related note, King fans may recognize a bit of inspiration from his short story “The Raft” in So Witches as well. Some of the imagery from that one has stuck with me for decades.

What character arcs in SO WITCHES WE BECAME were particularly rewarding to write?

Jill Baguchinsky: So Witches’ main character, Nell, goes from a quiet, private, somewhat self-conscious girl to a vengeance-seeking badass determined to figure out how to save herself and her friends. She starts off as the “mom friend” of the group, taking care of everyone else, but when she starts standing up for herself instead of always keeping her focus only on others, that’s when things start turning around. I end up as the mom friend in a lot of group situations, too, so I know how easy it can be to focus so much on everyone else that you forget yourself, and how invisible that can make you. Letting Nell acknowledge her past and find her strength was a delight. 

What core themes did you explore in SO WITCHES WE BECAME, and why are they important to you?

Jill Baguchinsky: I really wanted to tackle the idea that we’re so often stronger when we support and care for each other, especially when it comes to standing up to some of the ideas society pushes on us. The book deals a lot with the sentiment that “boys will be boys” and how those boys are subsequently not held accountable for some of their actions. I remember being young and hearing, “Oh, that little boy hit you? It’s just because he likes you!” or reading high school dress codes that limited girls’ wardrobe choices based on what would or wouldn’t be distracting to boys, etc. I look back on all that and wonder just what we’re teaching the younger generations – where we’re laying blame, and where we’re making excuses, and why. I wanted my characters to challenge the ideas they’ve internalized and accepted for too long. Sometimes all it takes is for one member of a group to push back – they inspire others to do the same, and suddenly changes start to happen.

How do you keep the element of horror and suspense alive while writing?

Jill Baguchinsky: In So Witches, I played with some horror elements and tropes that scare me personally. For example, one character has a history of sleep paralysis and sees a terrifying shadow creature in her room at night – as a child I experienced something similar, although my personal sleep paralysis visitor was a creepy old woman rather than a living shadow (lucky me!). So Witches also draws a lot of parallels between the group’s predicament on the island and the reality of hurricane prep and tracking, something I know all too well thanks to spending most of my life in Florida. By pulling from situations that spook me in real life, I hope I was able to convey the resulting fear in a realistic and convincing manner. 

Can you describe your typical writing routine? Do you have any specific rituals or practices that help you stay productive?

Jill Baguchinsky: I’m very much a pantser when it comes to writing, rather than a plotter. I tend to get really excited about a new idea, obsess over it constantly for a few weeks, and rough out a messy first draft in a short period of time. I throw everything into that mess and see what sticks (and a lot doesn’t!). Then I take that complete dumpster fire of a draft, tear it apart, and start polishing it into something I might actually let someone else read someday. Once I get it to the point where I can bear to let others peek at it, I get feedback from a few trusted beta readers and tear the whole thing apart again based on what does and doesn’t work for them. I used to fear constructive criticism, but over the years I’ve come to realize how valuable other points of view can be. It’s not really possible to objectively judge our own work; we’re too close to it. Someone else might read it and ask, “Okay, but why didn’t this character do this when this happened?” or whatever, and boom, epiphany! I love those “why didn’t I think of that?!?” moments. They’re frustrating, but also fascinating, and SO inspiring.

How do you handle writer’s block or moments of self-doubt?

Jill Baguchinsky: I like to joke that since I’m a Taurus I’m too stubborn to give into such things. If I’m mired in imposter syndrome, it really helps to talk about it with people I trust. I have such brilliant friends accomplishing amazing things, and every one of them seems to doubt themselves, just like I doubt myself. We end up supporting each other and being each other’s cheerleaders.  As far as writer’s block goes, my characters are going to babble at me and do their thing whether or not I’m writing it all down, so it’s mostly a matter of getting myself in front of the computer and not letting myself procrastinate too much. 

What do you hope readers will take away from SO WITCHES WE BECAME?

Jill Baguchinsky: Without giving too much away, I hope that those who need a story like this find it empowering and satisfying. I also hope it encourages some readers to think about challenging how society sometimes assigns accountability and blame. More than anything, I hope there’s a reader out there who feels seen by this book.
Jill Baguchinsky grew up fluent in darkness and Disney. Born in New York and raised on Marco Island, Florida, Jill spent her time reading way too much Stephen King and dodging more hurricanes than she could count.

(credit J. Baguchinsky)
Jill’s first novel, a lighthearted ghost-hunting story titled SPOOKYGIRL: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR, won the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for Young Adult Fiction and was published by Dutton Children’s Books in 2012. In her next book, MAMMOTH (Turner 2018), Jill tackled topics like bullying, body image, and the struggle young women often face trying to stand out in male-dominated scientific fields.
“Green Thumb,” Jill’s post-apocalyptic blend of science fiction, horror, and proper succulent care, was chosen by author and guest judge Ken Liu as a winner in Uncharted Magazine’s 2021 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Short Story Award contest, and her Baba Yaga-inspired piece “All Bitterness Burned Away” appeared in the Stoker-nominated women-in-horror anthology INTO THE FOREST: TALES OF THE BABA YAGA from Black Spot Books in late 2022.

In July 2024 Little, Brown and Company will publish Jill’s SO WITCHES WE BECAME, a queer feminist young adult horror novel inspired by female rage and Hurricane Irma. Pitched as THE WICKED DEEP meets Stephen King’s THE MIST, SWWB involves an out-of-control curse that traps a group of friends on a barrier island, forcing them to harness the shared power of their traumatic secrets or risk being devoured.

Jill still lives in Florida, but after one hurricane too many, she and her mini menagerie of rescue animals moved inland. Aside from the manatees she used to watch in her backyard canal, she doesn’t miss much about island life.

Connect with Jill
X (Twitter) | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Have you pre-ordered your copy of SO WITCHES WE BECAME?

If so, fill out this form and email proof of order (a redacted receipt, if you're uncomfortable sharing information on the receipt) to witches.campaign@gmail.com, and Jill will send you some goodies to say thank you!

While supplies last, the SWWB swag pack includes the following:

  • signed bookplate
  • cover art postcard print
  • holographic “hollow but thriving” quote sticker from Tris
  • set of sketchbook stickers from Harper
  • holographic cover sticker

In addition, the first 50 people to submit their info will also receive a limited-edition copy of Nell and Harper’s horror zine HERE IN THE SHADOWS.

The zine is a big part of the friendship that’s at the heart of SO WITCHES WE BECAME, and I couldn’t resist bringing an issue to life. In the book, every issue of HERE IN THE SHADOWS features a short horror story by Nell (this one includes “I was Promised a Tooth”) along with artwork by Harper (for this issue Insomniac Illustrations recreated Harper’s style gorgeously!).

Each copy is signed by Nell and Harper, and each is individually numbered and hand-assembled.

Swag is available worldwide while supplies last. Some items (especially the zine and the holo cover sticker) are more limited than others. Requests must be received before July 23, 2024. Items will be mailed after this date (or sooner if Jill has time!). Valid for pre-orders of hardcovers, ebooks, and audiobooks from your bookseller of choice.

Thank you for pre-ordering! And keep fighting back, Team Witches! You’ve got magic in you.

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12 May 2023

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays: Event Recap: Heroes, Antiheroes, and Everyone in Between featuring Brent Weeks and Andrea Stewart!

12 May 0 Comments
Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays introduces readers who are unfamiliar with the Adult SF/F genre to books, authors, and discussions all about the vast expanse of the world of Adult SF/F!

As fantasy readers, we cheer for a hero… but we also stan an assassin. It’s not always as easy as black-and-white in new books from Brent Weeks, Andrea Stewart, C.L. Clark, and Justin Lee Anderson!

Join the authors and moderator Bradley Englert for a conversation about the larger-than-life characters we love, hate, and love to hate.

Heroes, Antiheroes, and Everyone in Between

Spotlight on the Panel Discussion



Newest Releases

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11 Nov 2022

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays: RAVEN UNVEILED by Grace Draven

11 November 0 Comments

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays introduces readers who are unfamiliar with the Adult SF/F genre to books, authors, and discussions all about the vast expanse of the world of Adult SF/F!

RAVEN UNVEILED

Author: Grace Draven
Series: Fallen Empire #3
Source: ARC from Publisher
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: November 8, 2022

Summary:
A woman with the gift to speak to the dead—and the assassin pursuing her—may be the only chance a crumbling empire has of holding back true evil, in this electrifying fantasy romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.

Siora has been on the run for longer than she cares to remember, from her past and her gift. Born with the ability to see and speak to ghosts, she has heard their desperate pleas as an otherworldly predator stalks the dead amid the fertile killing fields of the collapsing Krael Empire. The creature’s power and reach are growing with every soul it consumes, but Siora is preoccupied with her own troubles: namely an assassin who has sworn an oath of vengeance against her.

Gharek of Cabast was once the right-hand man of the reviled empress but is now a wanted fugitive. Although his reasons for hunting Siora are viscerally personal, what Gharek can’t anticipate is that when he finally does find her, she will hold the key to saving his world, or what’s left of it. To make good on old debts and protect the vulnerable dead from a malevolent force, Gharek and Siora will both need to make an ally out of an enemy—and trust that will be enough to save each other. 

Purchase:

Describe RAVEN UNVEILED in 240 characters or less.

Grace Draven: RAVEN UNVEILED is a story about a woman possessing necromantic magic and an assassin with a bounty on his head who must team up together to conquer the dangers of a collapsing empire and stop an otherworldly menace from consume the living and the dead.

What have you learned while writing THE FALLEN EMPIRE series? If you could go back and rewrite pieces of PHOENIX UNBOUND, what would you change?

Grace Draven: I've learned about the strength and fallibility of the human spirit while writing this series. While we refer to our main characters as heroes and heroines, I still try to write them as people who deal with the consequences of their successes and their failures. I've learned I can write a character whose actions I may not personally agree with but who makes me think and wonder what I might do if I were in their shoes.

As for PHOENIX UNBOUND, I don't think I'd rewrite any of it at this point. At the time I wrote it, I was in a different head-space than I am now. That can be said for any book I've written. I think it's better to move on and write something new, employing what you learned from the previous books to make the current and future ones better.

Which of your characters did you find easiest to write?

Grace Draven: For PHOENIX UNBOUND, I found Azarion easier to write than Gilene. His focus and goals were more straightforward than hers. For DRAGON UNLEASHED, it was easier to write Malachus but more fun to write Halani. Again, his motivations were more straightforward. I felt Halani was a more complex character. For RAVEN UNVEILED, that's a 505/50 toss-up between Gharek and Siora. They were both complicated to write, and I enjoyed unpacking their enormous respective baggage.

What is your favourite romantic moment between Gilene and Azarion throughout the series?

Grace Draven: Favorite romantic moment between Gilene and Azarion – at one point in the story, they part ways. She reaches out to him and he stops her, telling her if she does, he won't let her go.

What is the most interesting part of writing fantasy novels?

Grace Draven: I love world-building, so that is always the most interesting part of writing any novel in any genre (but especially fantasy) in my opinion.

What has been the best book you've read in the past six months?

Grace Draven: Best book I've read in the past six months – that's a difficult question. That all depends on the mood I'm in at the time I'm reading. Right now I'm reading a horror/psychological thriller called HIDDEN COMPANY by Sarah England. It has time loop elements, a Victorian woman trapped in an asylum, a 21st century woman who's a psych nurse and reluctant medium, and some very nightmarish and sinister fae creatures. It takes place in the Welsh countryside. Atmospheric and perfect for Halloween.

What can we expect from you next?

Grace Draven: I have a heavy schedule for the remainder of this year and throughout 2023. I'm finishing a Wraith Kings novella called BLACK HELLEBORE, working on another novella called THE HANDMAIDEN, submitting two proposals to my agent, and working on the 4th novel in the Wraith Kings series titled THE NOMAS KING with the goal of releasing that one sometime next year. So very, very busy.
Gharek held a small lamp aloft to illuminate the path ahead. He didn't worry that the fragile light might be seen in the distance and alert someone. His mount's hooves crushing sticks and brittle deadfall would accomplish the task long before the light did.

The music of insects and bird calls had been loud just before he crossed the tree line, a cacophony of whistles, rustles, and chirps. Those sounds died away the closer he rode to the ruins of the dead city until the silence itself held its breath and only the gloom shrouding the trees breathed. His amiable mare stopped suddenly then pranced backward, tossing her head and snorting. Gharek tapped his heels against her sides to coax her forward. She'd have none of it, fighting the bit in her mouth as she pivoted on her hooves to trot back the way they'd come.

Gharek reined her to a halt, considering whether it was wise to continue his scouting in another direction or make camp nearby and wait until morning to resume his hunt. He'd lose time with camping but trying to find anyone in this darkness while riding a spooked horse was an exercise in futility. Besides, he could make up the time in daylight. Siora was on foot, he on horseback. He'd cover far more ground in less time than she would, and the chance she'd outrun him if he spotted her was nonexistent.

He guided the mare to retrace her steps, and this time she readily obeyed the command, eager to put distance between them and the city that squatted like a pustule on the landscape. But she'd taken no more than a pair of steps when something wrapped icy fingers around Gharek's spine and wrenched him backward. He flew off the saddle as if lassoed from behind and landed on his back. The ground beneath him vibrated from the beat of his mare's hooves as she bolted past him into the labyrinth of trees.

He lay there for a moment, stunned and winded. The ice shard wedged against his backbone remained, though whatever had ripped him from horseback didn't press him into the dirt. A few more breaths and he lurched to his feet, unsettled by his unusual clumsiness, alarmed by the violence of an invisible force that had so thoroughly unhorsed him. There'd been no trip rope to clothesline him, nor had he been riding fast when he fell. The lamp he held had fallen when he did, lost somewhere in the underbrush when its flickering light had guttered. Darkness hung thick enough to scoop with a spoon.

His muttered curses sounded loud to his ears as he peered into the sepulchral black, hoping he might spot the mare standing nearby or at least find a partially cleared path that led back to open pasture. He took a step only to suffer a hard clamp on his backbone, as if the icicle there had suddenly transformed into a shackle locked around his middle. Invisible tethers seized his arms and legs and he was jerked to one side and then the other as if by a drunken puppeteer with their hands on the strings.

Gharek staggered, struggling to keep his feet, struggling to free himself from the bonds that held him in an unbreakable grip that both dragged and yanked him in the direction of Midrigar's walls. He careened through the dark, along a jagged path that propelled him into tree trunks before spinning him away to tear through the underbrush. He tried planting his feet in the dirt to no avail, his boots carving skid marks as he was pulled along like a cur on a leash. His palms left bloody smears on the bark of those trees he tried to grip for purchase and was wrenched away with little effort.

The iciness slithering down his spine spread in creeper tendrils throughout his body, wrapping around his lungs and heart, his liver, even his tongue so that his curses and snarls slowly ebbed away and his struggles waned. Speaking was an impossibility, breathing a challenge, and he was reduced to nothing more than a grunting, shambling mute driven inexorably toward an ancient city of the damned and a fate he could not know but feared with every part of his soul.

Excerpted from Raven Unveiled by Grace Draven Copyright © 2022 by Grace Draven. Excerpted by permission of Ace. All rights reserved.

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14 Oct 2022

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays: Event Recap of Naomi Novik & Terry Brooks in conversation, hosted by Shawn Speakman

14 October 0 Comments

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays introduces readers who are unfamiliar with the Adult SF/F genre to books, authors, and discussions all about the vast expanse of the world of Adult SF/F!
Bestselling Del Rey Books authors Naomi Novik and Terry Brooks will be in discussion talking about fantasy, writing, and their two new books The Golden Enclaves and Daughter of Darkness.

It was an enjoyable night of learning about their newest books and about writing in general.

Naomi Novik & Terry Brooks in conversation, hosted by Shawn Speakman

Spotlight on Naomi Novik & Terry Brooks

Terry told the group how when he was a child he wasn't given access to just anywhere in the library, so he would have to sneak around. He read some books before he should have because of this!

Naomi mentioned that her daughter isn't censored for what she can read, but definitely read some of her books before she thought or intended her to. She has kept the door open for conversation, which has gotten her some awkward questions.

What are you currently reading?


Naomi Novik: I'm currently reading, BOATS WITH AN OPEN MIND, which is about the design of yachts and WE, THE NAVIGATORS about Polynesian traditions of ocean navigation. When I'm working on a project, my fiction reading drops off a cliff.

Terry Brooks: I tend to read a lot of fiction when I'm writing because I seem to write better when I'm caught up in someone else's story. I go back to mine and feel fresher about it. Except at the end - because I'm locked in and have to finish.

What is your next project?

Naomi Novik: It's related to the books I'm reading and all the research I'm doing is for a very short prequel story that will probably have minimal impact on the story overall. It will be two lines of text, but I find that it really matters. I'm writing about the discovery of new continents and I have to figure out how they do that.

Terry Brooks: I'm 75% done with the next Child of the Light series, but to write the rest, I have to learn more about mermaids. I'm learning about mermaid history throughout the world. I research as much as I can and write down as little as I have to. I want to get the feeling and sense of what it would be like and work from there.

Do you see yourself as having periods in your writing life?

Terry Brooks: I'm just trying to remember what my childhood was like. Everything runs together in a way. I just had a class reunion that I did not go to and those people are elderly! Not only that, I looked at the photos and don't know a single person and so little I remember about that period of my life.

Did you have any issues in school?

Naomi Novik: In retrospect, so many of us remember misery from those years because the miserable bits are what stick in our minds. I was the library nerd with no friends because I wasn't quite ready to do that. I was so deeply engaged in the world in my head which was more exciting than the real world. I hadn't found my people and I didn't until college and the internet.

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29 Sept 2021

Interview: BY THE BLOOD OF ROWANS by Xan van Rooyen

29 September 2 Comments

BY THE BLOOD OF ROWANS

Author: Xan van Rooyen
Series: N/A
Publisher: Skolion
Publication Date: September 28, 2021

Summary:
The Sheehy witches are the most feared and detested family on the island of Inisliath, and none more so than Rowan.

As a deathwalker, Rowan ferries island souls to the Otherworld, experiencing their deaths and carrying their memories like ghosts within him. It's a fated role he accepts even as it inexorably destroys him.

When the magic on the island starts to seep away from the other founding families, everyone blames the Sheehys—especially when islanders start dying.

Ash is sick of their father's fists and constantly having to apologize for who they are. Life on Inisliath might be the fresh start Ash and their mum need, and meeting soft-spoken, curly-haired Rowan feels like the ray of sunshine Ash has desperately needed—but everything goes sideways when Ash's mum becomes lead detective on a series of ritualistic murders allegedly tied to island magic, and Ash's family history.

The islanders are convinced Rowan is guilty, but Ash refuses to believe it. When Ash does some investigating of their own, they discover Rowan is far more likely to be the next victim. With time running out to save Rowan, Ash will have to choose between a life free of their father or the boy they’re starting to love. Meanwhile Rowan will have to decide just how much he's willing to sacrifice to save his family from the darkness about to be unleashed on the island.
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD | Barnes & Noble

Describe BY THE BLOOD OF  ROWANS in 10 words or less.

Xan: A dark story about complicated family, ancient magic, and new love.

What was your favourite scene to write in BY THE BLOOD OF ROWANS?

Xan: Pretty much every scene where Rowan and Ash were together. Also the scenes where Rowan travels to the Otherworld because I could be really imaginative with the description and sensory details there.

What is the most interesting part of writing new magic systems?

Xan: I love coming up with magic systems that are based in extant systems or that borrow  from traditional  folklore. One of the interesting parts of developing my own fictional system is always what the toll will be, how the price of that power will affect my characters, and how much they’re willing to sacrifice for their magic.

Who is your favourite character in this story?

Xan: That’s like asking a parent who their favourite child is!! But honestly, aside from the obvious Rowan and Ash, I have a really soft spot for Deidre. She was inspired, in part, by my favourite character—Delirium—from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series and I really enjoyed writing her wild and carefree character. 

How do you hope people will react to the abuse that Ash faces?

Xan: I know this will be a difficult aspect of the story for some readers, but I made sure to never have too many explicit details on the page, never have any violence happen in real time (in the story) and to center Ash’s feelings  and experiences about what they’ve been through. I also made it explicitly clear that Ash’s gender identity was never what provoked the abuse. I’m hoping that my story won’t be triggering (although it comes with that warning  for a reason) and that people are able to understand Ash’s trauma without it causing any more for them as readers. Sadly, what Ash lives with is a reality for far too many young people, but I never wanted to make my story a book about the abuse Ash lives with because I believe that we are so much more than the hurt we carry.

Both Rowan and Ash have to make difficult decisions. How did you differentiate their thought process as they were making those decisions?

Xan: They are two very different people. Rowan is self-less to a fault, self-sacrificing actually. He always puts his family first so he constantly makes decisions based on what he believes is best for others with very little care for his own well-being. Ash is in a very different place. They have started the journey to claim their space in the world and stop apologizing for who they are, no longer wanting to be made to feel small or not enough, so their decision making process takes their own well-being into consideration a lot more. But ultimately, both my characters are trying to be good people and do the right thing.

What can we expect from you next?

Xan: Hopefully an adult arcano-punk novel set in a futuristic Finland and an adult science-fantasy novella in my Fray-verse story-world. I’ve already had short stories connected to both of these longer works published, so I’m really looking forward to getting these bigger stories out into the world. And who knows… maybe a sequel to Rowans if readers like the book ;)

Climber, tattoo-enthusiast, peanut-butter addict and loyal shibe-minion, Xan van Rooyen is a genderqueer, non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland where the heavy metal is soothing and the cold, dark forests inspiring. Xan has a Master’s degree in music, and–when not teaching–enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan’s short stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, Apparition Lit, and The Colored Lens. Xan hangs out on instagram, twitter, and facebook so feel free to say hi over there.


Connect with the Author:

https://linktr.ee/xanvanrooyen

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17 Sept 2021

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays: Event Recap of Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey!

17 September 1 Comments

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fridays introduces readers who are unfamiliar with the Adult SF/F genre to books, authors, and discussions all about the vast expanse of the world of Adult SF/F!
I spent my Friday night with Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey, thanks to Copper Dog Books and Erewhon! It was such a neat event, completely virtual, and it was great to get some "behind the scenes" access to their writing, books, and all others!

Below you can learn more about the books and some of the conversation!

You can see my thread on Twitter to learn more about intial reactions and other thoughts.

Cassandra Khaw in conversation with Richard Kadrey

Spotlight on Cassandra Khaw

Cassandra Khaw is an award-winning game writer, whose fiction work has been nominated for several awards. You can find their fiction in places like F&SF, Year's Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Tor.com. Their next book Nothing But Blackened Teeth is coming out in 2021.

THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD

Author: Cassandra Khaw
Series: N/A
Publisher: Erewhon
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
Summary:
A diverse team of broken, diminished former criminals get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade... but they’re not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir. The highly-evolved AI of the universe have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humans from ever controlling the universe again. This band of dangerous women, half-clone and half-machine, must battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all. 

Cassandra Khaw’s debut novel is a page-turning exploration of humans and machines that is perfect for readers of Ann Leckie, Ursula Le Guin, and Kameron Hurley.
Preorder:

Spotlight on Richard Kadrey

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times-bestselling author of fifteen
novels, including the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime.” Chad Stahelski of John Wick fame is directing the book as a feature film. Some of Kadrey’s other books include The Grand Dark, Hollywood Dead, The Everything Box, and Butcher Bird. In comics, he’s written for Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer. He’s also been immortalized as an action figure.

Connect with the Author:

SANDMAN SLIM

Author: Richard Kadrey
Series: Sandman Slim #1
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Publication Date: July 21, 2009
Summary:
Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero in Sandman Slim, star of this gripping, gritty new series by Richard Kadrey.

Life sucks and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.

Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

The event started off with Richard telling us about the time he punched a horse, so you knew it was going to be a great event. (Spoiler: About half way through the walk with his niece and his ex on the horse, it started bucking and was about to throw them off. He used to box and knows when you hit someone in a specific spot on their jaw, it can snap them back into reality, so he punched the horse there. The horse stopped and no one was injured.) Richard does not recommend punching horses.

But then we got more information about how Cass has punched a lot of people in her past. The high school they went to was rough and a girl threatened her with glass, so she went with it. 

The theme of crime believes into the books that both of the authors have written. This includes smoking and stealing cars in Richard's books. But karma got to him: someone stole his car when he lived in San Francisco for a joy ride. 
Crime leads us into THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD which is mainly about crime and the main interview between the authors. It was a nice conversation and I've pulled out some of my favourite parts!

Richard: Was it a conscious thing? Did you see it as an opportunity to put your past into your writing?

Cass: A little bit of both. When I was younger, I was poor and had to be a pick-pocket. I also tricked men into giving me money because I needed to pay for college. I mostly did outside pockets of people, just running into them and taking what I could. In THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD, I wanted to explore if you've been involved in crime, the military, or jobs that make you feral, how do you fit back into society? Your brain can't always bend back into normal, civilian state.

Richard: Crime is part of who you are and who the characters are, but their brains are wired for a certain kind of life.

Cass: When you're exposed to something for so long, it is inevitable. Rita, the mastermind, alters them a little bit to make them more likely to want to do these crimes.

I enjoyed making this book very cinematic. There is an explosion scene where the entire ship explodes and the main character is trying to fight and survive knowing she needs to get somewhere.

This is something I rexplore in my books - what are the limits of what people can face and still live? How does it change a person? Do they resign to their pain? So far, my characters have all put themselves back into that pain or conflict.

Richard: There is a lot of PTSD in your characters, especially in this book.

Cass: I've joked a few times that this is my way of interrogating abuse and life. THE ALL-CONSUMING LIFE is about impurity and immortality - how do you process trauma and PTSD? I wanted to look at a way that we deal with trauma in a variety of ways through the main characters in this story.

I think it's one way people deal with abuse - jumping at life, gobbling it down because you realize how much has been taken from you so you want to make up for lost time. Some people can be so broken by things that happen to them that they want to go into the evil or the greater horror to protect themselves from it happening again. And some people are petty and need to get revenge.

Cass: Eventually you force your main character to confront everything that has happened to him and I'm wondering if that was intentional?

Richard: The twelve book arc was meant to rexamine the meaning of monsters. In SANDMAN SLIM, our main character is clinically insane and learns to kill. By the time he escapes, he is nothing but a vegenance machine, he just wants to kill, kick, and take on the world. Over the course of the books, I wanted to rehabilitate a true monster into someone who can function into the world. He consciously deals with PTSD, takes medication, and becomes better with it over time. That life of chaos and violence breeds behaviours that if you don't take them in hand, you won't get past them.

Cass: Have you gotten any negative reviews for "foul" language?

Richard: That's an interesting topic because "boy" books have very few complaints about the language in them. I have seen my women counterparts getting complaints about the language or the content in general - the themes, the characters, the fact that you are writing in a cyberpunk universe - has made people upset.

Cass: I wouldn't be surprised - I remember when Cyberpunk 2077 came out and people raised their eyebrows about it. What do you think about the new wave?

Richard: I'm sick of what I see of the public perception of "cyberpunk" which is sunglasses and guns in their bodies. Neon, wet streets - I'm tired of it. But there seems to be a huge amount of sexism in Science Fiction - and in "Cyberpunk" it's heightened. Do you have feelings about that?

Cass: At this point, I am resigned to it. I don't know what to say about it. A lot of early women writers who built elements of "Cyberpunk" are completely erased from the narrative. I see online men saying: "Women are writing a specific genre to fit in with the boys." Maybe in a few years the gender disparity will stop being an issue.

Richard: I wonder if it's also a combination of the book being queer. The boys reading feel as though they can't "see" themselves in the book because they aren't men and that impacts how they view the book as "good" or "bad."

Cass: I think that may be part of it too because women and non-binary folks in my book are along the LGBTQ+ spectrum. They have no time for boys. I hope people can see themselves in the book no matter how they identify.

Richard: You're so known for fantasy and horror - what SciFi or Cyberpunk works that made you want to write this?

Cass: The Matrix. I loved it growing up and broke my brain in the best possible way. I ran around for the next 15 years or so wanting to do something like that. I don't know if I succeeded at it but I had my brain tweaked a few times while writing it.

Richard: I had the idea for SANDMAN SLIM for about 10 years but waited for the right time to write it. Was it similar for you for THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD?

Cass: It kinda did. It was supposed to be a tie-in novella for a game, but it didn't happen. So it got stuck in my brain and I had to finish the book. I hadned it to my editor saying I need to write this and the editor wanted to make it into a novel.

Have you read any of these authors books?
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