Interview

Interview with MELISSA F. OLSON

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OlsonMF-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Melissa F. Olson?

Oh, boy, I suddenly feel like I’m in Defending Your Life! I’m going to resist the temptation to write in third person, and just say that I’m a writer, a mother, and a bewildered chinchilla owner. By that, I mean that my chinchilla bewilders me, not that the chinchilla himself is in a constant state of bewilderment.

Your new novella, Nightshades (which I enjoyed very much), will be published by Tor.com this month. How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

I hope there will be more Nightshades! One reviewer recently described it as “Criminal Minds with vampires,” and although I’ve never seen Criminal Minds, that does kind of feel right. The book is about the moments right after vampires – or shades, as they’re called in this world – are discovered to be real. The focus is on the government agents who have to deal with all shade-related crime. Continue reading →

Interview with BRIAN EVENSON

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EvensonB-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Brian Evenson?

I’m a writer who grew you in the American West, mostly in Utah, but who has lived all over the place in the US as well as in France, Switzerland, and briefly in Mexico. My writing often has one foot in what people think of as literature and one foot happily in genre. I was raised Mormon, but was pressured out of that religion (and out of my first teaching job at a Mormon university, BYU) because of the nature of my first book, Altman’s Tongue, and am very happily non-religious now.

Tor.com will be publishing your new novella, The Warren, later this year. It looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

It’s a book told from the perspective of a solitary person within a ruined structure who has had other personalities loaded into his head as a way of preserving them as the mechanical systems of the structure begin to expire. The man character is trying to figure out who he is, whether he and his kind are likely to die out, and whether he is in fact human after all. I think the audience starts to figure things out along with him, sharing his journey and maybe understanding some things that he just can’t. Continue reading →

Interview with CHRISTOPHER HUSBERG

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HusbergC-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Christopher Husberg?

Well I’m a soon-to-be published fantasy author, which is sort of a surreal thing to say! I’m also a husband, stay-at-home dad, desultory blogger, Dota 2 hobbyist, and self-proclaimed expert on all things regarding Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Pastimes include reading, hiking, running, watching great movies and TV, and generally having fun times with family and friends.

Your debut novel, Duskfall, will be published by Titan Books later this year. The first in your Chaos Queen series, it looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?

It depends on the person! One of the things I like about Duskfall is that I think it has quite a bit to offer. Want action? It’s got an amnesiac assassin trying to escape his former employers as well as his dark past. Want magic? There’s a young woman who develops a crippling addiction to psimancy (the magic in the books) and has to learn how to curb her dependency or succumb completely — and either way, she’ll likely change the world while she’s at it. Want something more existential? There’s a priestess investigating a heretical uprising, the leader of which turns out to be her own sister. Oh, and it’s got vampires. Something for everyone! Continue reading →

Interview with YOON HA LEE

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LeeYH-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Yoon Ha Lee?

I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with my family and a cat with the personality of an unusually submissive marshmallow. My twelve-year-old daughter would like you to know that I have a twelve-year-old daughter.

She also wants to let you know that I write genocidal science fiction. Her term, not mine. Maybe I had better set her up with some computer games or a book and get her away from me…

Solaris are publishing your new novel, Ninefox Gambit, in June. It looks rather fascinating: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

Ninefox Gambit is about a disgraced captain, Kel Cheris, who allies with a brilliant undead tactician, Shuos Jedao, to defend one of her nation’s star fortresses. The good news: Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one capable of cracking the fortress’s defenses. Continue reading →

Interview with EMMI ITÄRANTA

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ItarantaE-AuthorPic2Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Emmi Itäranta?

I’m a Finnish writer living in the UK. I have written two novels to date: Memory of Water and The City of Woven Streets, which is out in the UK on 2 June 2016. I write in two languages, English and Finnish.

Voyager has just published your new novel, The City of Woven Streets. It looks fantastic: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

Thank you! The City of Woven Streets is a story set on an isolated island where dreaming is forbidden. The main character, Eliana, is a young woman who works as a weaver; she is also a dreamer, and she must hide this ability, because in her society it’s a taboo. Her life changes when she finds a woman with her tongue cut off and Eliana’s name tattooed on her skin. It’s a stand-alone novel. Continue reading →

Interview with KIJ JOHNSON

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JohnsonK-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Kij Johnson?

My mother always told me that I was a troll changeling, and that some grabby troll mother had lucked into a quiet, well-mannered, obedient little human girl in the exchange. So one answer is that I am a smallish mountain-troll who passes as human with moderate success.

Another answer is that I am easily bored. I grew up in very small town in the midwest, at a time when climbing out your second-story window at midnight and riding a bike alone to the county park was in the acceptable range of eleven-year-old behaviors. I studied ancient history in college, which prepared me for a career in nothing, so I worked in bookstores for a few years. Then it was publishing: Tor Books, Dark Horse Comics, Wizards of the Coast/TSR. I also did stints in tech. I would move every few years to a new city, pick up some new hobbies, and cut my hair again. At some point I realized that my summer gig — teaching people how to write novels as part of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction’s SF Summer program — was more fun than any of the jobs I was doing, and I went back to school to be able to do it formally.

Is that who I am? Well, it’s what I’ve done. Now I teach creative writing at the University of Kansas and at various summer programs. Continue reading →

Interview with ROBERT KROESE

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KroeseR-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Robert Kroese?

I relate strongly to a character in my Mercury books, Ederatz. Ederatz is an angel who has been assigned by the Heavenly bureaucracy to observe and report on human civilization. That’s me: an oddball from another plane of existence doing my best to make sense of humanity.

Your new novel, The Big Sheep, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in June. It looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

I describe The Big Sheep as “Sherlock meets Blade Runner.” The book is near future scifi mystery that centers on a brilliant but unconventional detective’s search for a genetically altered sheep that’s on the loose in Los Angeles. And yes, it’s (hopefully) as bizarre and unpredictable as it sounds. Continue reading →

Interview with LAURA LAM

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LamL-AuthorPic2Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Laura Lam?

I’m a displaced Californian who now lives in Scotland. I moved across the world when I was 21 and started writing books seriously once I got here. Other interests include reading as much as I can, cooking (with occasional disasters), traveling (when I can afford to), and drawing (passably well).

Your next novel, False Hearts, will be published by Macmillan in June. It looks rather intriguing: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

Orphan Black meets Inception. Conjoined twins Taema and Tila were raised in a cult in the redwoods outside of San Francisco. When their shared heart begins to fail, they escape and are pressured into being separated and being fitted with mechanical hearts. Ten years later, Tila is accused of murder, and Taema is given an offer she can’t refuse: to impersonate her sister, go deep into the underbelly of San Francisco crime, and try to prove her sister’s innocence to save her life. It’s part of a series of standalone thrillers set in the same world. There’ll be at least two, maybe more. Continue reading →

Interview with ANDREW CARTMEL

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CartmelA-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Andrew Cartmel?

A question I often ask myself on my bleaker days. The answer is, I’m a writer. Ever since I could read I’ve wanted to write books. I thought an easy way to support myself while breaking through as a novelist would be to write TV scripts. The word “easy” is not a good choice in that context. But I did end up working as a script editor/show runner on Doctor Who for three seasons.

Your new novel, The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax, is published by Titan Books. It looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

The book is called Written in Dead Wax, and the Vinyl Detective is the title of the series. It’s a murder mystery in the classic mould, with our sleuth being a record collector hired by a beautiful mysterious woman and embarking on a quest for a desirable object which people are willing to kill to obtain. In this case (and in the future books) the object is a rare record. Three books in the series have been written so far and are scheduled for publication. Continue reading →

Interview with EDWARD LAZELLARI

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Lazellari-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Ed Lazellari?

Ed Lazellari is a fiction writer who believes he looks like John Lennon, but suspects others think he looks like Ringo. Ed really enjoys speaking of himself in the third person. If Ed was a Seinfeld character, he’d be the guy who makes George look good.

Your Guardians of Aandor is published by Tor Books. The first novel, Awakenings, is out now, with two more on the way. The series looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?

What if Bran or Arya Stark, in trying to get away from their enemies came to our world and hid out? And what if those enemies from Westeros got wind of it and came over to get them? Throw in some guardians sworn to protect a boy prince, wizards, amnesia, and you have Awakenings. The Guardians of Aandor is a hodgepodge of the literature I love. It’s a portal fantasy, urban fantasy, adventure, and a mystery. It’s Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones. Continue reading →