Interview

Interview with RYM KECHACHA

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KechachaR-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Rym Kechacha?

I’m a writer and teacher from London, currently living in Norwich. I love: my vegetable patch, secondhand bookshops, endless cups of tea and bright sunny days.

Your new novel, Dark River, is about to be published by Unsung Stories. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?

Dark River is the twinned tales of Shaye and Shante, who live eight thousand years apart. In Mesolithic Doggerland, Shaye has to perform a ritual meant to keep her family safe from the floods that threaten her home. In a near future London where the Thames has broken its banks, Shante has to lead her family to safety in another city. Despite their devotion to their children, they both realise there is little they can do to save those they love. Continue reading →

Interview with T. R. NAPPER

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NapperTR-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is T. R. Napper?

My website has, as a subheading: “writes, plays poker, smashes poverty with his bare hands.” This is a decent summary.

The last, obviously ironic reference, is to my previous career as an aid worker in Southeast Asia. I worked on projects that delivered basic education to some of the poorest communities in places like Laos and Burma, where children would never otherwise have set foot inside a school.

I did once play a lot of poker, I was what you’d call a ‘semi-professional’, meaning I derived part of my income from cards. I quit for a few years, but just recently got back into it with gusto.

These days I work in the community sector with ‘at risk’ teenagers and with people living with autism. I’m a professional dungeon master, as well. Continue reading →

Interview with K.S. VILLOSO

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VillosoKS-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is K.S. Villoso?

I’m a Filipino-Canadian living in BC, Canada. When I’m not writing, I’m enjoying my time with family and friends, getting lost in the woods or running around with my dogs. My background is in civil engineering technology, but I foolishly gave all of that up so I could write more books…

Your debut novel, The Wolf of Oren-Yaro, will be published by Orbit in February. It looks really intriguing: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

Let’s take an epic story with high stakes and complex politics like Game of Thrones, and then throw everything but one point-of-view away. Now, let’s make it unfold like a sword-and-sorcery with thriller-like pacing from the perspective of a woman haunted by her failed marriage and her father’s crimes. It is a book of contrasts, all done in a manner to serve this woman’s character arc; love it or hate it, it’s going to make you think. Continue reading →

Interview with VICKI JARRETT

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JarettV-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Vicki Jarrett?

Do other people have coherent answers when asked who they are? I’m not one of those people. As a massive over-thinker, questions like that can create sink holes in my brain that’ll take me weeks to crawl out of so, sorry, but I’ll pass on that one.

Your new novel, Always North, was recently published by Unsung Stories. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?

Always North is about complicity, accountability and our messed-up environment, about what constitutes mind and memory, and how wrong we might be about the way time works. It’s set over two time frames and settings: an oil survey vessel in the Arctic Ocean in 2025 and the Scottish Highlands in 2045. It’s been called ‘psychological scifi’ and ‘speculative literary fiction’ but I’m happy for readers to decide what they think it is. Continue reading →

Quick Q&A with JENN LYONS

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LyonsJ-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Jenn Lyons?

I’m a writer, artist, and gaming nerd with a love of all manner of esoteric fields. I have previously worked as a video game producer and as a graphic designer.

Your debut novel, The Ruin of Kings, will soon be published in paperback by Tor Books. How would you introduce the series to a potential reader?

It would tell a reader that this was my chance to twist the “Chosen One” trope, because what if you were “chosen” to be something actively terrible? And also: there’s a volcanic dragon and a kraken. Continue reading →

Interview with DAVID WRAGG

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WraggD-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is David Wragg?

Hi! I’m a middle-aged white British man of impractical height, and the author of the Articles of Faith series, the first of which is The Black Hawks. When not writing, I work as a freelance software engineer, and at home I am generally surrounded by/buried beneath cats and small children (usually mine).

Your debut novel, The Black Hawks, will be published by Voyager. It looks like a lot of fun: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

It’s the first in a two-part series, which I’m apparently not supposed to call a Bilogy. I’d summarise it briefly as: ‘a story about a young man with strongly held opinions about the world, and the intersection of said opinions with said world.’ More prosaically, it’s about a bunch of people just trying to make a living in the middle of a fantasy plot-line. Continue reading →

Interview with REESE HOGAN

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Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Reese Hogan?

I’m a sci fi writer who loves to write books with a blend of high action and broken relationships. I’m also the father of two very cool children. I love working out, and I’m obsessed with music, especially alt and punk rock.

Your latest novel, Shrouded Loyalties, is published this month by Angry Robot Books. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

It’s a dieselpunk spy fi about a submarine that can travel vast distances across the planet through an alternate realm inhabited by monsters. When Chief Sea Officer Blackwood receives strange powers during a mission through this realm, she is put in the hands of ruthless scientists to be studied, along with her partner, Holland. But she doesn’t know that Holland is an enemy spy… or that Holland’s partner has seduced her teenage brother Andrew and drawn him into enemy collaboration. Continue reading →

Interview with TROY CARROL BUCHER

Civilian Reader Interview

BucherTC-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Troy Carrol Bucher?

Former marathon runner. Former resident of Arizona. Soon to be former Lieutenant Colonel. Served in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Your debut novel, Lies of Descent, is due to be published by DAW in August. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

It’s the first of three books in the coming-of-age story of two characters, Riam and Nola. While it begins along the lines of the typical hero’s journey, things soon spiral in very different directions for the protagonists. It’s an otherworld fantasy, in a place where the gods fell from the heavens and fought long ago. It has a bit of military flavour, since it is loosely centered around the regiments that remain from the Fallen Gods’ War. So that’s were the story begins, with Riam and Nola plucked from their homes to serve in the regiments that remain. Whether or not they ever get to serve, or if they even should… well, those are for the reader to find out. Continue reading →

Interview with FONDA LEE

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LeeF-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Fonda Lee?

A novelist, martial artist, action movie aficionado, recovering corporate strategist, and Eggs Benedict enthusiast.

Your latest novel, Jade War, was recently published by Orbit – who have also announced the follow-up: Jade Legacy. They are the second and third novel in your Green Bone Saga series. How would you introduce the series to a new reader? And what can fans of the first novel expect from the middle and third books?

The Green Bone Saga is an epic urban fantasy Asia-inspired gangster family saga. I’ve referred to it as “The Godfather with magic and kung fu.” Fans of the first novel can expect the second book, Jade War, to be bigger in every way — not simply in terms of page count, but because the scope of the story broadens onto an international stage. Jade Legacy is going to take place over a longer period of time and gives the conflicts introduced in the earlier books intergenerational aspects and repercussions. Continue reading →

An Interview with KAMERON HURLEY

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HurleyK-AuthorPic2019Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Kameron Hurley?

Honestly, I just got back from a book tour and am severely jetlagged, so I couldn’t really tell you. James S.A. Corey says I’m “one of the most important voices in the field”, though! That’s something. Always listen to the Coreys.

Your new book, Meet Me in the Future, will be published by Tachyon. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?  

Meet Me in the Future is a collection of my best short fiction to date. It’s got everything: a body-hopping mercenary who avenge his pet elephant, an orphan who falls in love with a sentient starship, fighters who power a reality-bending engine, and a swamp-dwelling introvert who tries to save the world from her plague-casting former wife. And that’s just off the top of my head. I wrote many of these stories with the support of my Patreon backers, and these are the best gems of the lot. Continue reading →