Hello, Jeffrey: many thanks for giving us some time here. Welcome to SFFWorld.
We are writing these questions as Open Road Media are releasing some of your older work in the USA as e-books.
Of the current list now on sale (The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Cosmology of the Wider World, The Empire of Ice Cream, The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant), have you got any particular personal favorites in that list?
Not really. They were all fun to write. Of course they all have their own peculiar personalities, but they were, to a book, all good company. My favorite piece of my own fiction is always what I’m working on at the moment. I leave the coronation of favorites to the reader.
How comfortable are you generally with seeing the re-appearance of older work? Is it something you’re happy to do, reaching a potentially new, wider audience, or are they something from your past but something you’ve moved on from?
I like it. I love having stories reprinted in anthologies and online, books and stories translated into new languages and new formats, new editions of books (just thinking about how much I loved the John Picacio covers on the Well-Built City Trilogy paperback editions). It’s all good, and it gives readers who might have missed an earlier incarnation a chance to connect with the work. It gives me a chance to make a couple of bucks. What’s not to love?
The two collections being released electronically, The Empire of Ice Cream and The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant display a wide range of imaginative stories, some from themed anthologies, other stories from the magazine/short story market. Do you find crafting a story for a specific themed anthology to prove more challenging than crafting stories that appear in “unthemed” in a place like The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction or Tor.com?
Sometimes it’s easier because you at least have some parameters to begin with, so the limitation offers direction. The problem is it can become stultifying if the subject of the anthology is too played — like zombies, vampires, etc. Story possibilities have been milked for all their worth and then some. Still, if you’re able to come up with a story that escapes the pedestrian in those flayed categories that can be exciting writing. On the other hand, writing with no parameters, the sky’s the limit, that can also be daunting. Unless, of course, you have a story already in mind.
Your Well-Built City trilogy (The Physiognomy, Memoranda, and The Beyond) has had an interesting life, from publication with Harper, to those lovely editions from Golden Gryphon with John Picacio art & design, to these electronic versions from Open Road Media. How often have you reexamined them over the years and what do you think speaks to their relative longevity since it seems those of us who have read them, think very highly of those books?
Actually, The Physiognomy was first published by Avon as a literary novel and only became SF/F/H when the trilogy was picked up by Harper Collins for the next two books. My best assessment is going to sound self-serving, but I believe their appeal is that they’re unique. There’s nothing else like them. The style and structure of them is very different from most SF trilogies and most SF. Of course, it’s up to readers to decide if they’re any good. All I can say is that they’re not the same old, same old.
It seems with how prolific you are with short stories, you prefer the shorter form over the novel. Is that a fair assumption and if so, why?
I like both forms, but contingencies in my life have often only left me the space to write stories. I like the immersion you get with novels, living in them for long periods of time. Stories, I enjoy because you can try new things in them. It’s more likely that readers will give a chance to some new approach in your writing if the piece is only 15 to 20 pages long. Maybe not so when it’s 400. There are certain techniques that can only usually be effectively achieved in novels – multiple narrators, effects of coincidence and the passage of time allowing for “remembering” within the life of the novel. I like it all.
Do you have a process you follow when creating short stories? Does a well-formed idea come to you and you just polish it, or do you spend a long time maturing ideas and mixing them together until you find something that work?
My approach to writing stories is usually one of discovery. I get an idea, see a character, catch a mood, experience a vision, and then the story is found in the act of writing it. I don’t take notes and don’t make outlines. To me, writing stories in which you know what’s going to happen every step of the way before you start writing it is a big old drag. In an approach that’s based around discovery, when it is revealed to you (the writer) what will happen next, there is a certain amount of excitement that is captured in the writing. If the writer is not feeling any sense of surprise during the act of writing then how is the reader supposed to?
Any other short story writers you admire?
Any others? Yeah, way too many to mention. By this point in my life I’ve read oceans of stories from all points in history and from all over the globe. I could start with Pu Songling’s Tales From a Studio and work my way forward to the present. I’m going to be 60 this year, though, and my time grows more precious. To narrow down my response, I’ll just mention a few of the writers I visit and revisit with often –
Alvaro Mutis
Angela Carter
Junichiro Tanizaki
Bruno Schulz
Henry James
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Willa Cather
Daphne du Maurier
Rudyard Kipling
Edgar Allan Poe
Jorge Luis Borges
Isaac Babel
Etc, etc, etc.
As for the contemporary SF/F/H scene there are so many great short story writers. My list would obviously start with Ted Chiang, Kelly Link, Andy Duncan, Liz Hand, Caitlin Kiernan, Rick Bowes, Michael Swanwick, Delia Sherman, Steve Rasnik Tem, Brian Evenson, Jeff VanderMeer, Mary Rickert, Joyce Carol Oates, Joe Lansdale, Peter Straub, and then there’d be about 30 more slots I could easily fill off the top of my head. I once did a list for a publication of who I thought were the most interesting story writers in the genre. I gave myself 25 slots, and in the end, after I’d turned it in, I realized I’d forgotten to mention Howard Waldrop. I mean, how do you forget a phenomenal writer like Waldrop? The way that happens is that there are just so many good ones. It’s an embarrassment of riches these days. Also, I have to say, these newer story writers that came along some time after me are way too talented – a real pain in the ass. Here are a few that are terrific. Try not to pay too much attention to them. Laird Barron, Veronica Schanoes, Stephen Graham Jones, Kaaron Warren, John Langan, Karin Tidbeck, Nathan Ballingrud, Anna Tambour, Usman Tanveer Malik, Lisa Bolekaja, Sam Miller, … If you’re a short story lover, dig into the genre. These writers can do it all.
Your fiction has touched on many of the genres: fantasy, horror, mystery. Is there one of those “flavors” that “fits” you better, from a creative perspective? Or does that even come into play when you begin crafting a story?
If you take fantasy, horror, mystery and combine them together, that’s pretty much my genre. Thoughts of character, setting, mood, voice, style come into play when I start a story, but I’m rarely conscious of genre at that point, unless I’m doing a piece for a themed anthology.
Of the various flavors of genre you either haven’t worked in or worked in minimally, is there one that sits at the back of your mind you plan to attempt?
Good question, but I’m drawing a blank. Recently I did a spy story for a Canadian anthology of James Bond stories, and a couple of years ago John Joseph Adams gave me an opportunity to do a weird western. What’s left? Maybe romance. That might be fun.
What sort of challenges, as a writer, might you have faced over the years? Any insights you would be able to share for those aspiring writers seeking advice?
I’ve had my challenges with writing through the years. Maybe not as difficult as some others, but I’ve known frustration, and writer’s block, and had to juggle issues in my personal life and teaching life with time for writing. In the long run, if you’re a real writer, you’ll figure out a way to write. A while ago, at the request of a student, I wrote out this list of things to keep in mind. I don’t know if it achieves the level of advice, but for what it’s worth —
You gotta love your work.
Revision is the key.
Master the skill of daydreaming and from time to time analyze its processes.
Be a practiced observer.
Take time to talk to friendly strangers.
Only by forgetting about the money have I made money.
Listen to children and animals.
Speak your mind. Let the inmost become the outmost.
Enjoy your freakin life.
Be kind to other travelers you might meet on the path.
Enjoy your colleagues’ successes.
One must retain a zest for the battle.
You will never learn more from a teacher or a workshop than you will from the act of writing.
Swim through libraries.
Family and friendships trump the importance of writing.
Irony is the engine of the world.
Vital fiction is not the result of hiding but an act of revelation.
Be skeptical of advice.
Always try to work with great editors.
Never run with the pack as there is always a point where you will be left behind. Strike out on your own. Let your intuition be your guide.
Have you ever struggled between what you would like to happen to a character and what you considered more sensible to occur? Can you tell us when and what did you do at last?
I usually don’t “want” the character to do anything. I just watch the character and record what he or she does. Writing is a matter of discovery for me. I don’t plan in advance. I don’t use notes. I see the scenes in my head and watch what happens. I have no idea what the character is going to do next. If I start playing the puppet master, that’s usually where the fiction falls apart.
How are you finding the e-book revolution? Are you happy with an e-reader these days, or do you still prefer ‘tree-books’?
I have an iPad with Kindle on it, and I also read paper books. I like both formats, and usually have a couple of books in each going at the same time. The main advantage for me now with the e-books is I can adjust the size of the font. There are some real books where the print is just too small for me to read anymore. Still, I guess I favor the experience of real books more — the feel and smell of them. They’re just such a perfect streamlined technology. No power source necessary; just your imagination.
Your fiction has won several awards, do any of the awards hold a greater significance than the others? I know that is quite like asking to name your favorite story you’ve written.
It’s nice to win awards, to be recognized by peers and readers for work you’ve done. They’re fun in the moment. You can’t harp on them. Once won, they can only be seen in the rear view mirror, and it’s not like you can put them to work writing the next story. A lot of hard feelings and craziness are generated from them as well. I always get a kick out of those who dis them, until, of course, they themselves get nominated, and then it all seems to make perfect sense. Recently the awards in the genre have begun to open up, notice, and encourage writers who were previously passed over due in large part to race, gender, and global distance. This is a very positive turn of events. Sofia Samatar’s recent acceptance speech for the World Fantasy Award summed things up nicely. This is an indication that US/UK genre is expanding and now recognizing different voices. This can only be a boon for writers and readers once trapped in the white walled city. An invitation to the banquet that has always been available but missed out on previously due to cultural blindness.
Living and working the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, you must have come across some really interesting stories about the Jersey Devil. Aside from a (maybe) a hint in “On the Road to New Egypt,” have you ever thought of spinning a tale about this creature of folklore? (One of the members of SFFWorld is a fellow native/resident of the Great Garden State).
I live in Ohio now, but I liked South Jersey when I was there. The Pine Barrens are incredible. 1.1 million acres of wilderness. We lived right on the western edge of it. The only time I ever believed in the Jersey Devil was when I was deep in the woods. It’s a sentient landscape. You can feel it thinking, plotting. There, amid its ancient stillness, you can’t help but believe in the Jersey Devil. The creature was never of interest to me as a subject for fiction — there were so many other aspects of New Jersey that presented themselves as far more outlandish and weird. If you want to find the Jersey Devil, visit Trenton.
And, in 2015? What are your aspirations today?
As far as writing goes, just to keep at it. I’ll have a new story collection coming out in 2016, A Natural History of Autumn, from Small Beer Press. There will also be a number of stories coming out in various magazines and anthologies throughout 2015. Onward.
I guess at this point it would be appropriate to ask the age-old question: what is it that keeps you writing, today – or have you now got to the point where you can happily walk away, feeling that ‘the job is done’?
I’ve never really thought of writing as a job, although I have made a considerable amount of money from it over the years. For me it was always more of a path that I decided to travel in my youth. Not someone else’s writing path but my own distinct one. I told myself I would stay on the path for better or worse and see what I could learn. Sometimes this was for better and sometimes for worse, but I’m still on the path. The goal is to always try to get better. That means always changing, doubling back, making mistakes and moving forward. The path is erratic, frustrating, joyous, foolish, rewarding. At times, all at once.
Once again, thank you very much for your time.
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Interview by Rob Bedford & Dag Rambraut – SFFWorld.com © 2015
