Grim Interview: Peter Newman

I was excited to see that Marc Alpin and the awesome folks over at Fantasy Faction had scheduled another Grim Gathering event, April 10th in Bristol, UK (for anyone living across the pond you can get all the details here). Then I scrolled across the names of those who'd be in attendance. Mark Lawrence, check. Peter V. Brett, check. Joe Abercrombie, check. Peter Newman. Peter Newman? The name didn't ring a bell. But my curiosity was instantly spiked, and I set off to some serious Google-fu just to find out how this stranger could just somehow show up from nowhere and rub elbows with my literary superheroes. So today I simply aim to find out, just who the hell is Peter Newman? What I've discovered is that Peter is a professional, a gentleman, and his forthcoming title from Harper Voyager, titled The Vagrant, available April 23rd, has some pretty epic praise already, and is one of the most anticipated debut releases scheduled for 2015.

Where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets? Secret identities?

I grew up just outside Watford (which is just NW of London for those of you outside the UK). I now live in Somerset with my wife, Emma and our son, sometimes referred to as the Bean. I sometimes pretend to be a butler.

When did you first start writing? 

I always loved that kind of thing at school but it seems (sadly) that most of the creative writing in primary school and early secondary school gets replaced with literary criticism as you get older. I first had a ‘proper’ go at writing in my early twenties. It ended badly and I didn't write anything else till 2011.

What authors and / or books have had an influence on your craft as a writer?

That’s quite hard to answer. I know a lot of books where I thought ‘I wish I could write like that!’ and I know a lot of books that I love even though they may not be the finest examples of literature, but it’s hard to say what exactly influenced my craft. Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light and the Amber chronicles blew my mind when I was growing up. The books were incredibly imaginative, fast paced and the world building is excellent. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was another major winner for me. He seems able to write so deeply so easily. Weis and Hickman’s Dragonlance chronicles imprinted on me early so I’ll always have a soft spot for them. And Watchman by Alan Moore. I’m still processing that and I read it nearly twenty years ago.

Tell us about your forthcoming debut novel The Vagrant?

It’s an epic fantasy set in a far future world that has recently suffered a demonic apocalypse. It features a silent protagonist, singing swords, demon knights, a baby and a badass goat.

Many of our readers are aspiring writers. Can you give us just a few details on how you landed your publishing deal?

It was pretty straightforward really. I wrote a book. It sucked (but I’m still fond of it). I wrote a sequel. It sucked less. I wrote a third book in a new world. It only sucked a little. I re-wrote it and it was good but not good enough. Then I wrote The Vagrant. It didn’t suck at all. It still went through multiple drafts, test readers and all that kind of thing.

Then I looked at all of the agents that were taking on submissions for SFF and all of the publishers taking unsolicited manuscripts and read their guidelines very carefully. I also went to some UK conventions and attended the panels on getting an agent and how to write submission letters.

After that it was just a case of picking who I liked (which was quite liberating). Then, in August 2013 I sent it out to publishers and agents. I was signed on by Juliet Mushens in December 2013 and she got me a deal with Harper Voyager in January 2014.

What does a writing day look like for you?

On a happy day when I’m not doing my other work, I’ll take my son to school, make a nice strong coffee and indulge my social media fetish for about fifteen minutes. Then I switch everything extraneous off and get started. I like to have music to help transition into the writing. After a while I associate a particular album with a particular project and the opening bars of the first track spark that world in my head. For The Vagrant it was the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack.

I write fairly slowly, excavating as I go. When I’ve written a scene I read it aloud to Emma for feedback and reassurance. I find I notice problems reading to another person that I don’t notice when reading it in my head. When I’m in a project I try to write something every day, even if it’s just a few hundred words, five or six days a week.

You also happen to be a writer for the Hugo nominated podcast Tea & Jeopardy, tell us about the show.

It’s a geeky interview show crossed with a dash of audio drama and a lot of silliness. Each episode is set in a special Tea Lair. Past examples have included an undersea base, a volcano, a giant robot and the labyrinth. A guest comes to the lair and has tea and cake with Emma while she interviews them. Afterwards they have to survive a peril of some sort, often instigated by the butler, Latimer (I voice the butler). Past guests include: Aliette de Bodard, Joe Abercrombie, Myke Cole, Seanan McGuire, John Hornor Jacobs and N.K. Jemisin.

If you’re interested, you can find all the episodes here.

Tell us how you came to join the panel at the upcoming Grim Gathering 2 event? What are you looking forward to at the event?

It went something like this:

Harper Voyager: Would you like to be part of the Grim Gathering?

Me: HELL YES!

The end.

As to what I’m looking forward to: ALL OF IT! Honestly, it feels incredible to be alongside such a great collection of writers. It’s a touch intimidating too. I think I’ll be more than ready for a drink afterwards!

What are your thoughts on the Grimdark sub-genre? Where do you see the future of Grimdark?

Tricky one! I suppose when somebody says Grimdark to me, I think of fantasy with a more realistic edge (even if there is world-shaking magic). Where a happy ending is unlikely and where there isn’t necessarily any kind of narrative justice.

I think Grimdark makes a nice counterpoint to more heroic fantasy. I also think at the moment there’s a really healthy range of fantasy out there and there’s plenty of room in it for more gritty and epic stories (as well as lighter romps).

Wizard, rogue, warrior, or cleric?

If we’re talking 5e then Wizard all the way. I’m all for standing at the back and blowing stuff up. I’m also quite a fan of teleportation, reading lots and magical servants to clean the house.

Speaking of D&D 5e, what role has gaming (video games, table top gaming, etc) played in your writing?

Quite a big role, I think. I've roleplayed constantly since the age of eleven. I ran a Warhammer campaign for six years and used to know the rulebook so well I didn’t need it. I've also run Amber, Gurps, Exalted and D&D 3rd edition (I’m proud to say I took a party from 1st to 20th level). Gaming taught me about world building and making interesting characters; however running a game isn’t the same as writing and while a game might help generate ideas and flesh out areas of a secondary world, it won’t deliver you the perfect novel on a plate. Trust me on that one.  I've played a lot of video games too and I have no doubt that Final Fantasy 7 has left deep marks in my delicate brain, as has most of Bioware’s back catalogue. Yes, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect (MASS EFFECT!), Dragon Age, I’m looking at you. Oh, oh, and Torment. What a game that was.

What is the single most profound piece of writing advice you've ever received?

I don’t know about profound but I’d say keep writing is the most important thing, especially while out on submission.

Following the release of The Vagrant, what other projects are on the horizon?

Next up is the sequel, due out early next year. All other projects are highly secret but have a high probability of containing demons.

Where do you see Peter Newman in the next 10 years?

Ha! I’m finding it hard to see past April at the moment. But okay, it’d be lovely if, in ten years, I’m chatting to you about my tenth book coming out in a new series and we’re looking fondly back on this interview. That or I’m a bitter drunk, ranting about the good old days, when I used to hang out with Abercrombie, Brett and Lawrence. Let’s go with option one, shall we?

Also, is there anywhere on the web where we can read some of what you've written? And where can our readers find out more about you?

Well, you can certainly hear something I’ve written. I did a short story for the Pseudopod podcast last Halloween that you can listen to here.  Mine is the last story in the episode called The Biggest Candle of Them All.

I blog at www.runpetewrite.com and I’m @runpetewrite on twitter. Feel free to come and say hi.

~

Thanks so much Peter, best of luck with The Vagrant release, and we'll be seeing you soon at the Grim Gathering.

Grim Interview: Tim Marquitz of Ragnarok Publications

Today we have editor in chief of indie press Ragnarok Publications, Tim Marquitz. Tim has an extensive resume as not only an experienced dark / urban fantasy author, including the Demon Squad series and the Blood War Trilogy, but he has also worked as an editor and contributor on many anthologies and other projects, including the Dead West Series and Neverland’s Library. His most recent professional endeavor is taking the helm of the new indie press Ragnarok Publications. Coming off the heels of the amazing Kickstarter Campaign for Blackgaurds, (which damn near tripled it's funding goal), we're chatting with Tim for a little insight into the beast that is Ragnarok Publications...

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So, give us the story of how Ragnarok Publications got started. 

Joe Martin approached me originally to work on a project (which ended up being Dead West) and he and I got to talking about publishing in general. I’d been wanting to spearhead something different publishing-wise, expanding on my editing work, and along the way I realized Joe would be the perfect partner for this project given his experiences. We sat down and chatted about it. The idea exploded, and here we are.

What does a day in the life of the editor-in-chief look like? 

Coffee, coffee, coffee, followed by words. My days are actually split between all the different things I need to get done. Some days are slower, when I get to write and focus on my own stuff, but most days are spent dealing with the vagaries of Ragnarok, from contract creation to editing to doling out assignments to talking to agents to formatting to promoting. There’s a constant stream of little tasks that aren’t scheduled so it’s hard to define each day. That said, I love every minute of it, chaotic as it can sometimes be. 

What are some of the challenges of running an indie press? 

The biggest I can think of is staying (becoming) relevant. There are thousands of smaller presses out there these days. The hardest part for us is to stand out above and beyond these folks as a press authors want to share their work with and be published by. We push ourselves every release, every day for that matter, to do better, to learn more, to become more competitive. 

Another huge challenge is finding an audience. We’ve been lucky to turn our Kickstarter successes into a soapbox, so to speak, but it doesn’t translate across the board for all of our titles. We’re constantly struggling to find a larger audience so the amazing authors we’ve picked up can shine as they should. 

What do you enjoy most about running and operating Ragnarok? 

For me, it’s finding and promoting authors I love who haven’t quite found their place in publishing yet. While we publish folks who are successes in their own right, we have a number of authors who should be successful but just haven’t hit that point yet. It’s frustrating because they’re talented and fantastic story tellers but just haven’t stumbled across the luck factor yet. I love being a part of these peoples’ careers this early on and helping to push the out there. 

Why the focus on darker fiction stories? 

I think that’s just the direction that appeals to us most. There’s a beauty in darkness that we like to tap into with our books. We’re comfortable in that darkness. 

Overall, how has Ragnarok Publications been received by readers and the industry? 

You’d have to tell me. I feel we’re fairly well received given our limited time in existence. Our Kickstarter campaigns have spread our name far and wide and we produce quality books consistently. People likely still see us as a small outfit, and they wouldn't be wrong, but we have huge aspirations. I think I’ll have a better feel for how we’re received as we get a little older in the business. 

How has social media played a part in the development and promotion of Ragnarok Publications? 

Social media has played a huge role in our development. We’ve a dedicated social media team who promote the hell out of us and do everything they can to get our name out there in a positive light. We’ve also used social media to coordinate and create our greatest successes along the way. If it weren’t for the current atmosphere of social media, I don’t think Ragnarok would exist. 

Currently Ragnarok isn't taking new submissions, but once you open the flood gates, what sort of works will you be looking to receive?

We want dark but different. We don’t have a specific type of story (outside of our basic genre preferences) but we want to be hit over the head by a story. We want something that screams at us to be published, whether it’s horror or urban fantasy isn’t an issue. 

I think our preference falls in the little-left-of-center category. 

Can you give us your take on the publishing industry eBook revolution that’s taking place right now? Where do you see the future of the publishing and eBooks headed? 

I feel there will be a slight correcting of course, paperbacks coming back a little more while eBooks begin to settle in sales comparison to paper. That said, eBooks will continue to be the new market, the technology spurring new directions for innovative and interactive eBooks. 

Small and self-publishers will continue to thrive for a long time to come. They’re becoming more adept at adapting to the climate while the larger presses stumble against tradition and investors’ needs. I suspect you’ll see a number of smaller presses explode over the next 3-4 years, becoming monsters in their own rights, but then the cycle will reset. 

Where would you like to see Ragnarok five years down the road? 

I’ve been blown away by Ragnarok’s success so far, so I can only imagine what five years would do for us. I think we’ll have ironed out the “in store” aspect of distribution and will expand into the market. We have big plans yet we still want to retain the creator-comfortable atmosphere we’ve developed. Ultimately, Ragnarok will succeed, expand, become better and wiser, as the years progress. Beyond that, I can’t say. 

What are the next titles coming down the pike that we should be keeping an eye out for? 

We’ve just re-released the first book in the Red Reaper series, Sword Sisters, by Tara Cardinal and Alex Bledsoe as well as the first book in the Gnomesaga series, Rough Magick, by Kenny Soward. We’re looking at releasing Rob J. Haye’s gritty, The Ties that Bind series so there will finally be a paperback version of it out there in the world. We’ve also got Skinjumper by Lincoln Crisler coming up and a bunch more. 

Tim, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us.

Thanks so much for having us. We’re grateful to everyone who’s help make Ragnarok a success and we plan to hang around a long time and give y’all plenty of dark fiction to hunker down with.

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To learn more about Ragnarok Publications, just head on over to ragnarokpub.com, and to find out more about everything Tim Marquitz, check out his blog at tmarquitz.com. Tim, thanks again for hanging out, and best of luck to you and Ragnarok Publications.

Grim Interview: Timothy C. Ward

Up next for the Grim Interview is probably one of the nicest authors I've had the opportunity to come into contact with. It seems whatever the subject of discussion, Tim always brings an encouraging, positive perspective. As an author, blogger, reviewer, and podcaster, Timothy is a respected voice in the genre fiction community. His newest title Scavanger: Blue Dawn, the second installment in his Sand universe series made popular by Hugh Howey, is available now here.   

Roll call. Name? Age? Where are you from? What do you do when you’re not writing or blogging or podcasting? Hobbies?

Tim Ward, author name, Timothy C. Ward because the guy who published under the former writes Buddhist Erotica. Anyway, off to a fun start. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, raised in suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. Right now, I work out, play with my seven month old boy, Kai, my firstborn, and whatever I can to remind my wife that this author wants to spend time with her as well as in a book. I'm waiting patiently for that dream trip to Colorado to snowboard.

Where did your love for reading and writing science fiction and fantasy come from? When did you first begin writing?

I always loved books, but R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books were early addiction reading in elementary school. Middle school and high school was discovering Dragonlance and that I can finish Stephen King books (sorry The Regulators, you didn't work for me.) My first author experience was creating a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic in Kindergarten. But I didn't write fiction/prose until high school, when I started a novel about skateboarding mice in a mansion. It was awesome. Very Secret of Nihm-esque.

Besides fantasy and science fiction, do you enjoy any other genres of literature?

Horror is the first subgenre to come to mind. Not splatter and massacre Horror, but Ronald Malfi type, character driver horror. Aside from his stuff, Post Apocalyptic, survivor Horror is probably my favorite, if done well. I'm still looking for The Walking Dead type character focused zombie fiction. I've read some very good books in that genre, but none excite me quite like the show. Most of my fiction has elements of Horror, even Scavenger 2 has brought in a little Horror to the mix.

Your latest releases, Scavenger and Scavenger 2, is a shared world novelette set in Hugh Howey’s Sand universe. Tell us how this project came to fruition.

Hugh is one of my favorite authors. His book, Wool, is one of my favorites, and is part of the Kindle Worlds, shared world project. That world is a bit crowded with fanfiction though. In reading his novel, Sand, there was a moment where scavengers were described sand diving for survivors of a terrorist attack. I was immediately inspired to tell the story of one of those people and whom they were diving after. The character came to life right away as a drunk holed up in the local brothel who must get over his problems in order to save the woman he loved.

Scavenger was a stand alone novelette, but I’m getting good reviews and encouragement to keep writing, so I’ve already written 18k words on the next part. There is a lot left explored in Howey’s novel, such as the lost city of Danvar, a city of the old world now buried under a mile of sand. There are also a few remaining cities on the east coast, so I have a lot of ideas and adventure left planned. The goal is to put out a novel. At the moment, I’m trying to decide if I should serialize novellas or wait until I have a novel and then self publish that.

When it comes to craft, what’s the most profound writing advice you’ve ever received?

I did a podcast with Hugh Howey and Robin Sullivan on my old show, AudioTim (Episode 33: http://timothycward.com/2012/05/01/audiotim-33-indie-publishing-with-hugh-howey-and-robin-sullivan/). During our conversation about how Hugh and Robin’s husband, Michael Sullivan, hit it big, they talked about how Hugh had written about seven books, and Michael over ten before they had their overnight success. Hugh said he did no marketing on Wool, his breakout title, after having tried nearly everything on previous books. His success was unexplainable. Readers loved the story, told their friends, and he worked his butt off to serialize another four parts to make up the complete Wool Omnibus within a couple months (one of the most successful NaNoWriMo’s). Robin chimed in with the advice that after writing book one, you should spend about 80% or more of your time writing book two, and the rest marketing.

These ideas and examples imprinted on me the importance of a long term vision for my writing. Stamina is a must. Don’t get distracted by platform building and marketing. Write the next book, then the next, etc. and don’t let your hopes rest on that first book being a success cause you to crash when it isn’t. This has helped me develop a mentality of daily writing, counting my success on that production and not on whether or not the few short stories or still unpublished novels will become instant bestsellers.

For new authors looking to get their fiction out there and go the route of self publishing, what general advice would you offer? 

Try to find beta readers who are willing to criticize your work. I’ve found too many “yes men” and not enough who have challenged me that my story isn’t good enough. The problem there is that everyone is busy and reading poorly written fiction is a kind of torture I’m apt to avoid. So, you have to practice. Get involved in the community via facebook, goodreads, blogs, etc and when you have friends who are critical readers, ask if they’d mind reading something. Give them the opportunity to stop reading at any time, asking only that they say why, then use that to make the story better and ask someone else. Reddit has an active critique community in the /r/writing forum. Critters.org is another option.

Be warned, editing can be very expensive. I recently shelled out nearly 4k for a novel that the editor did not finish reading and said needed rewritten. Tough lesson to learn after hiring another editor before that one. I thought it was ready to submit and/or needed polish before publishing and this editor had different views. Read books by editors you seek out to see if you like their style of storytelling. The one thousand word sample is not enough to determine if you are a good fit for each other, and by the time they are ten or twenty thousand words in it is likely too late to back out.

Episode 12 of the Rocking Self Publishing Podcast has an interview with editor, Harry Dewulf. I haven’t used him, but his advice is excellent and I really like his method for making sure you are a good fit by reading an extended portion of the work to determine character arcs, etc. (http://rockingselfpublishing.com/episode-12-effective-editing-harry-dewulf/)

Lastly, please, for your sake, don’t put out an ugly product. A poor cover and poor writing is going to kill your chances of selling and building readership. If you can’t afford a quality cover or editing, either wait and keep writing or submit to a quality small publisher who offers at least 50/50 royalties and other rights that are better than what large publishing houses offer. Custom covers aren’t cheap, but some cover designers offer premade covers for a discount. Get a second job or something on the side to help save money for that editor. Some may say publish and let the readers help you edit as you go. I say that time has passed; there are too many other books out there to read to take the time to email the author about why you aren’t going to read their book.

When did you first start podcasting? What was it about podcasting that caught your interest?

I started podcasting in 2010. I discovered podcasts in about 2008 and listened to every one I could find (Adventures in Scifi Publishing, Dragon Page, I Should Be Writing, The Secrets w/Michael Stackpole, Dead Robots Society, etc). Listening to authors talk about writing was the inspirational fuel I needed to push me through writing my first book and beyond. As much time as it takes to write a lot and read a lot of fiction, let your commute and workout time be where you get injections of writing advice and inspiration.

What has been your best experience when it comes to podcasting? Also, what has been your worst experience?

The best would probably be the two podcasts I did with Hugh Howey. I was a big fan. He is incredibly nice and inspired me like no other guest.  My worst will be under wraps, but in short, when a guest takes over the show, gives general answers, and is rude, yeah, that’s unpleasant.

Not only do you write and podcast, but you’re also a pretty busy book reviewer. When did you decide to start writing reviews and sharing your reading experiences with others? What do you enjoy most about reviewing books?

I think it was around 2009 when I started noticing blogs and was given the advice to buy a web domain with my author name (www.timothycward.com), that I thought it would be fun to fill it with book reviews and stories about writing. Plus, I wanted to help writers by reviewing their books on Goodreads and Amazon. I enjoy getting free books because I’m poor and don’t like how the library gives me so little time (if I can’t renew it). Plus, I like ebooks better, and the library has been really slow to improve their selection in that format.

I’m struggling with being a book reviewer now because I want to be more critical and harsh on my ratings than I can as a peer to these authors. The closer I get to publishing my first novel, the more I contemplate not reviewing. I have more than enough books at this point.

Can you give us your list of the top 5 genre books you’ve read?

Germline by T.C. McCarthy

Fiend by Peter Stenson

Wool by Hugh Howey

The Explorer by James Smythe

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (a bit dated at this point, but my first book love experience)

What’s the next project on the horizon?

Aside from writing the novel extension to Scavenger, I’m waiting on beta readers for my novel, Order After Dark, a post apocalyptic fantasy set in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss. Any volunteers to help me beta are welcomed. I have a certain small publisher I’d love to submit this to, partly because they are very talented, have a larger reach than I do alone (good boost to an author with no books out), and would save me the upfront cost of cover design and editing. I think the hybrid approach is a smart one, especially when I have multiple books that will be done before year’s end and won’t have the money to pay for covers and editing for both.

Grim Interview: Janet Morris

I'm honored to have Janet Morris as our next guest. Janet has been a prolific author, with more than 40 novels, her career started in 1976 and since then, she's been offering heaping helpings of darker fantasy, scifi, and short fiction. Often co-writing with her husband Chris Morris, there's so much to choose from in their extensive bibliography. For those who prefer something darker, there's The Sacred Band Of Stepsons series, based around the ancient warriors known as the sacred band of Thebes. Or there's the Heroes In Hell series, a sprawling set of anthologies, each featuring a broad cast of characters who find their final resting place in the pits of the underworld; selected titles in the series include Angels In Hell, War In Hell, and the latest edition (currently priced at $6.66 on Amazon), Poets In Hell. And for those who want science fiction with a dark twist, there's Outpassage, a scifi thriller offering plenty of intrigue and adventure. When Janet isn't creating writing, she is a championship level horse breeder, and an advocate for non-lethal military proliferation.

Janet, thanks so much for taking some time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.

Thanks for having me with you here at Grimdark, Rob. Grimdark well describes much of what I read and what I write.

Grimdark fiction is on the rise. It seems that, at least for now, fantasy fiction readers have given up on the black or white, good or evil, PG rated writing that has saturated much of the genre for years. People seem to want a true sense of the human condition, that life is sometimes brutal, and sometimes the good guys lose. In your opinion, what factors do you think have contributed to rise of darker storytelling?
 

Grimdark fiction has always been out there; from as far back as the epic of Gilgamesh, writers and poets and mythologists framed their worlds around struggle: struggle against Nature, struggle against their gods, who often controlled elements of nature; struggle against each other; struggle to define themselves in a hostile world. As the early Greeks evolved the novel form, writers found ways to show the human condition and tell the stories that still haunt our dreams. Once Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, Grimdark fiction had its calling card. And from there on, all great writers, and would-be great writers, tried to set their characters daunting tasks in a world where their hearts and souls would be tested. The heroic monomyth itself ( as it defines our sense of heroism and ethics and morality) defines Grimdark: if a hero isn’t faced with great trials, he is not truly a hero. At times, this model has been sweetened and softened for children and for reasons of religious persuasion, creating stories of perfect heroes in various versions of Camelot, and peopling these visions with watered-down beasties such as friendly fairies and elves and such. These elementals weren’t sweet at their beginnings. But then came warfare utilizing naphtha fireballs, plague-bearing rats thrown over the walls of besieged cities, and two things happened: the darkness of humanity’s soul became overwhelming; writers either wrote about man’s failings, or pretended those failings didn’t exist. In the 20th century alone, over 180 million people were killed in warfare. Mustard gas, carpet bombing, napalm – all these made humanity admit the increasing lethality of our species. This plus the first atomic bombs, and the threat of nuclear annihilation by a single push of a button, made people ask “Is God dead?” In the face of the unanswerable question, fiction and the other arts reacted; from Kandinsky and Klee and Sartre and Kafka onward, from horror movies and the rise of science fiction, two reactions rocked the world: tell fairy tales and stories of perfect heroes who’ll save us; tell the truth about the human condition as history revealed it and as we know it: penetrate and understand the Grimdark reaches of the human soul.

In the 1970s, when I started my writing career by selling the first draft of my first novel, “High Couch of Silistra,” I wrote because I couldn’t find the book I wanted to read. Any ethical writer writes that book for the self; writing less is pandering. Silistra turned into a quartet of novels exploring the link between sex and power in the human psyche, and the responsibilities that come with overwhelming power; the books were smart, erotic, philosophical and took no prisoners. They looked like science fantasy, or what is now called sword and planet. Soon Silistra, a series whose hero is a bisexual prostitute, had four million in print. This series was very dark and made me few friends among the old guard of science fiction or the woman’s movement, for it broke new ground and gored all oxen. This issue of limits to power and responsibility can be found in many other writers now thought ‘Grimdark’ at that time, the days of Stephen King’s first novel and many other anti-heroic views of humanity. Whence the anti-heroism? All around us was proof that humanity is self-destructive and hates any members of our species even slightly different from ourselves; that we can’t be trusted with power; that we are lethal to one another and every other species on the planet. This focus on the worst elements of the human condition is our way of coming to term with ourselves as recent history shows us to be: willing to destroy wantonly for reasons of politics, greed, and metaphor. Since those who grew up in the “duck and cover” days when children learned to hide under school desks before the A-bombs hit, is it any wonder that today, faced with the horror of what we have become, writers feel compelled to explore the darkest part of our fictionalized souls?

After Silistra, I then wrote “I, the Sun,” the biography of Suppiluliumas, Great King of the Hittites – not scifi or fantasy but a rigorous biographical novel about a man who raised his Ancient Near East empire from ashes, took three queens, made twenty-four of his sons kings, and sired at least forty-six children while he brought chariot warfare to a new peak, took slaves and countries, and conquered his way from the Black Sea to the gates of Amarna Egypt. The book was called “a masterpiece of historical fiction” by Dr. Jerry Pournelle, and the Hittite expert O.R. Gurney praised it as: “familiar with every part of Hittite society.” In Hittite society, if you cut off a man’s ear, you paid him twenty shekels of silver; in Hittite society, sorcery was punishable by death; in Hittite society, if two men had sex with the same free woman, there was no harm in it; in Hittite society, sack and pillage were normal tactics of warfare. That book, reprinted today, still incenses and scandalizes those who want to recast history in a kind and gentler light.

When I had just finished “I, the Sun,” Bob Asprin asked me on a conference panel to write for “Thieves’ World,” and described it as the “meanest town in fantasy, dark and gritty and filled with mankind’s worst.” Having determined he was serious, I brought my character Tempus, an immortalized son of a storm-god, and his “sister” whom he loved, and their ancient ethos into sword and sorcery-style fantasy. In the early 1980s, as the stories progressed, readers saw a man dragged to death by the entrails; another staked out over a badger’s bower while the badger was smoked out with nowhere to go but through the man’s body to freedom, and more. Some readers found Tempus a villain – I can’t think why. Any ethical writer can confront these issues of state-sanctioned incest, murder, pederasty and treachery through the right character, and Tempus was – and is – the right character. He applied historically-acceptable corrections to wrong-doers, from knee-capping to burning alive, but he also brought the Sacred Band ethos to life in fantasy. In his turn, Tempus is saddled with a female elemental of great power who has her way with him when she chooses. The Sacred Band, male/male pairs of bisexual and homosexual fighters, have since graduated into my Sacred Band of Stepsons series, which, from those early days to these, is not for the faint of heart. A good sense of history pervades all Grimdark fiction: not so much what disturbing methods were used, but why they were used, and the characters of those who use them: our heroes of Tempus’ Sacred Band fight valiantly, mercenaries of the god of war – realistic war, not a pastel childlike view of humans and their failings. Much darker than Conan or Elric novels, our Sacred Band of Stepsons fight more and worse enemies, but realistic ones. They do this because no writer of good conscience can write about anything but the human condition, and how realistic heroes deal with the horrors within us all, often worse than any dragon or demon or plague.

In science fiction, I wrote Outpassage, a bleak future wherein governments and corporations collude for reasons of national security (sound familiar now? It didn’t, then.), and a Ranger outfit finds aliens where aliens shouldn’t be… But when given orders to mine the equatorial faults of a planet with nukes to blow it apart, my Rangers balk – at first. I won’t tell you the story, but having spent twenty years in government, that story seems more plausible than ever. And the dystopian Kerrion Consortium Dream Dancer books, based in science but truly about dynasties exported into space, had two volumes on the Locus bestseller list at the same time. Meanwhile, many other writers were beginning to write dark and darker still, including not only King but Clancy and Tom Wolfe and Truman Capote.

Whatever I write, whether solo, or co-author with Chris Morris or others, my sense of history and what it tells us of the human condition pervades the story. I don’t write horror per se, but what I write may be horrific, sometimes, but inspiring, always. One of the most important things about our species is its capacity for hope. All Grimdark writers realize that hope is the only justification for heroics: hope of glory, hope of love, hope of honor, hope of triumph, hope of survival. 

And beneath all subterfuge, the Grimdark writer faces the final truth: every one of us lives to die. It is the quality of that living which matters. And by my lights, this is what Grimdark is about: taking bold action in service to an ideal when you know that death is at the end of all striving. 

No doubt that you have an extensive body of work, and there's no doubt you have a broad perspective on the ebb and flow of the publishing industry. Tell us a bit of your experience with the industry, the industry at present, and direction you see it going.

When I sold my first novel, I had no familiarity with publishing as a business. I had written the story for myself and my friends to read. I was completely unaware of science fiction politics, or conventions, or its fan network. Because my books made a few bucks and publishers called me “bestselling author Janet Morris,” I was thrust into an arena where you sold books and were paid half before you wrote them, half on delivery. I took multiple book contracts. I had books go to auction in the US and England because more than one publisher wanted them. I did this until an editor, making a multi-book deal with me in a bar on a napkin, said that what she wanted in these books was “blood on every page.” In her mind what she meant, I am sure, given my body of work, was a bestseller. In mine, she had slapped me across the face: I didn’t write for those reasons. I took the contract, wrote the books, but decided that if this was where the industry was going, I’d do something else.

About then I started writing primarily nonfiction for government customers, and found it difficult to write fiction that wasn’t in some way related to my nonfiction. So for about 20 years I wrote only nonfiction, primarily in the defense and policy arenas. Because of this, I was on the sidelines of the implosion of the book business: since much of what I did for my government customers was predictive, one could stretch a point and say I took a look at what was coming and got out of the line of fire.

With the internet came book piracy, which made the old publishing model unsound. For example, one pirate had 57 editions of my work on the internet for free – probably for years, until I started fighting back. Since every writer expects royalties and is judged by their sales, piracy hurts: not only does it hurt publishers, it makes publishers less likely to invest in new writers. Big publishers died off and tiny publishers sprouted. People tried marketing on the internet. Confusion reigned.

In the first decade of the 21st century, when I knew I wanted to write fiction again, I talked to my New York agent, who said that the book business had radically changed, and we couldn’t offer a book to what was left of NY publishing without offering digital rights. So, since I wanted to keep my digital rights, we formed a small publishing company to do the kind of books we liked to read: edgy, dark, and well-written: that publisher is “theperseidpress.com”. During the time we had not been concerned with fiction, the “worldwide” bestseller became a possibility. These were and often are books written to suit youngsters-to-adults of minimal sophistication and education, books with simple plot and vocabulary. In the 20th century a book needed to be readable by a twelve-year-old; now, in the 21st, publsihers wanted to pitch to a nine-year-. Perseid doesn’t do those books. Perseid, heading into the wind as is our nature, does books for a literate audience. We’re publishing to stick a thumb into the dike holding back a newer and darker dark age; we publish the book we want to read: dark, lyric, literate, and compelling. Others like us are trying micro-publishing, and none of us “know” where that will lead us. But we are slowly publishing more books, by more writers, and getting our backlist into modern print (sometimes as “Author’s Cut editions,” revised and expanded because now we are not limited by a publisher’s contract to a certain word count) in editions with more readable print. Will this get us ‘worldwide’ bestsellers. There’s no way to tell.

One thing is certain: as long as digital editions exist, good books will be available, sometimes for free, sometimes not.

You've paired up with your spouse Chris to coauthor a number of works. Give us an insight into your collaboration process, and what you like best about working together. And have your two hit any bumps along the road in learning each others work habits?
 
Chris and I fell into full collaboration naturally: he was always my first reader; he always contributed ideas. But in those days and still today a book written by a man and a woman is less desirable to some than a book written by one male. We had to fight hard to get his name on our books once it was obvious to us that this would be the next step. We sold a book at auction for a high five figure advance that we wrote under the pseudonym of a single male, and got more for it than we’d ever gotten for a book written by a woman or a man and wife team. Nevertheless, fair is fair: if Chris contributes substantial to my work, or me to his, both names go on the product.

Our collaboration process goes like this: One of us suggests a title or a story line. We discuss it, expand it. I type the draft because I am a faster typist. He then comes in o my office and we go through the draft line by line, aloud. We argue and discuss, sometimes for as much as fifteen minutes on one line, until we have each line as we want it. Then we break and eat and discuss what needs to happen in the story on the following day and how the characters will be impacted by the new events. So we both live with the characters around the clock. Then I type that next bit of draft, always early in the day. Thus it has evolved: separate work early, combined work late on any day. We take notes on good lines or points to be included for the next day. If one of us doesn’t like something, we pull it out and try again, until each line is as we want it. The result is an increasingly strong sense of presence and character. In the early days of drafting on paper, when I would finish draft, Chris would take it all the way across the room before he started reading, so I couldn’t grab the paper away from him and rewrite in pen then and there. Now, with computers, it is much easier.

My work habits are three hours of concentrated drafting per day; his read/edit mode and mine are truly combinatory, to the point where often neither of us will know who actually first came up with a line or a quip or a piece of description.

Writing and editing together creates a whole that is more cohesive than any other way. When I’ve written with other collaborators, I don’t get the seamless quality I do when Chris and I write together, or the depth of insight that putting both male and female eyes on a story can yield.

The rise of the e-book has had an enormous impact on the industry as a whole, and with that eBook piracy has also been a factor. Give us your take the effects of piracy and how your think authors, readers, and publishers should respond.

The first thing the internet brought us was piracy, which has virtually destroyed the book business as big business, and forced print publishers into e-books to try to hold onto their rights. One pirate had 57 editions of my works on the internet for free. Like others trying to make a living writing, this was distressing. And remains distressing. The wonderful thing about the internet is you can get nearly any book immediately. The horrific thing is you can steal almost any book without fear. For the midlist writer, piracy has meant tremendous privation. The writer can’t keep track of sales or popularity. “Beyond Sanctuary”, one of my most popular pirated books, has been available from numerous pirates for at least fifteen years, before real e-books existed, as ugly scanned copies. People who would never break into my house and steal my clothes or food or medicine or animals are without compunction when it comes to stealing my livelihood: my books. Because of this overwhelming piracy, we began the “Author’s Cut” series of books at Perseid Press with the “Beyond Sanctuary Trilogy,” which is expanded by fifty-thousand words over the three volumes and contains new scenes and new insights; on these editions, I am trying harder to control the piracy. I ask people not to steal my books or books of other writers: in doing so, these people harm not only the writers, who need royalties to live and write more, but other readers, who may lose access to talented writers because the piracy problem is insoluble unless readers refuse to read pirated books. Today if your book is pirated you can report the pirate, and if the pirate doesn’t remove your book, they are banned from the internet. So now the pirates ask you to sign up before you see their list of illicit titles, and often that sign up agrees abiding by their rules… which may preclude your right to report them. This is an issue of ethics and morality, person by person. The unethical will steal e-books, others will not. Thieves will always be with us. But consider: there are many free books available from young writers, fledgling publishers, and from big companies such as Amazon; there is no real reason to steal. But as long as e-books exist, people will steal them unless and until an internet methodology for banning pirates permanently is found.

Many of our readers are aspiring writers of Grimdark fantasy and scifi fiction. What advice would you give to new writers when it comes to writing about darker themes?

 
Tough question, and an easy one. The writer knows darker themes; they are a part of each of us. If the writer chooses to write a character-driven piece, rather than get caught up in techno-babble or historicity for mechanical propulsion of plot, that piece will succeed; someone will see it and want to publish it – IF that writer has enough basic grammatical skills, literacy, and understanding of dramatic modalities to create a viable story. The good editor is seeking the good writer; the good writer is seeking the good editor. When those two find one another, great things happen. However, too much of what I see today is derivative: fiction written by people who have not read the basic Western Canon, which you must read if you want to be a fluent writer of fiction, and instead take their cues from hack writers who have impressed them because some hack’s book sold many copies. To make things worse, the internet is full of scalpers who claim to be copy-editors, editors, and publishers but have little understanding of what is needed beyond how to upload a file and secure an ISBN number. Don’t use people to help you with your work who are not better than you at something; a BA in English does not make a competent copy-editor, much less a savvy editor or publisher. When I read a manuscript from someone whose editor and copy-editor haven’t done a good job, I can only blame the writer for allowing their work to fall into clumsy hands.

As for how to write dark, if you don’t feel the magic, read some ancient history. Read those who shaped literature, all the early Mesopotamians and Greeks. If you want truly dark, read Milton’s Paradise Lost: don’t skim it, read it. True ‘dark” isn’t a matter of window-dressing: it’s inherent in the viewpoint character on every line and page. Spend a bit of money and buy Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts, and hear the words of those historical characters that shaped our world. Then read Homer, Xenophon, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca. You waste your time if you read derivative works for inspiration: read the source material, always, as those before you have read these works and been inspired.

What projects are you currently working on?
 
We’re writing a new novel with a new hero, “Rhesos of Thrace: The Black Sword” is the working title. Rhesos is a quasi-mythical hero, and his small part in the Iliad convinced me that, were I bold enough, I could tell his story. He’s a hero forgotten in modern times, whose assassination Pallas Athene decreed, for, if he fought at Troy, the Danaäns would lose the war. I’ve done the beginning of this story, published in “Nine Heroes” edited by Walter Rhein, and fifteen thousand words beyond that. I’m also doing a new Sacred Band of Stepsons novel, a sciamachy; and a new series of “Grimdark” heroic anthologies, “Heroica,” the first of which I hope will be out in mid 2015. Speaking of dark, we’re at work on the yearly Heroes in Hell volume, this one being “Doctors in Hell.” And we have a hush-hush project with a new collaborator.

To date, what has been the most rewarding part of being a writer? In hindsight, anything you might have done differently? 
 
The most rewarding part of writing is drafting: being whisked away into another time, another place, another life, and seeing the world through a different temperament. The writer of a tale experiences about 90% more than he can communicate to the reader; for these pale shadowings, some of us are royally paid, some not. I love to draft; when I have been drafting for three days, my endorphins take over: after that, until I skip a drafting day, I have no discomfort, no concerns but getting back to that world awaiting; the story tells itself, subject only to the limitations of my physical body’s ability to sit still and take down what I see and hear and feel. This is what I write to accomplish: to fall through the words into another world, and hopefully take you with me.

In hindsight, as far as fictional work, I probably should have stayed with my first editor, who was brilliant and protective of me. But I was young and impetuous, headstrong. However, I am happy with what I have accomplished. And because of our nonfiction work, people are alive today who might not have been if Chris and I hadn’t written that door and ushered others through it. So we’re content enough, and busy writing using what we’ve learned.


Thanks again to Janet for taking the time to give us some insight. To win a kindle eBook copy of The Sacred Band, Poets In Hell, or Outpassage, just email us, grimdarkfcition@gmail.com, with the subject line JANET MORRIS, and we'll pick a random winner on August 31st, 2014, U.S. only.

Grim Interview: Adrian Collins

Our first interview!  Grimdark is on the rise, and nothing could be cooler than a new e-zine chalk full of gritty goodness to satisfy our unending thirst.  Grimdark Magazine, online at grimdarkmagazine.com, is slated to hit the interwebs in October, and I the chance to chat with Adrian Collins, the editor and founder.

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The first guest for the Grimdark Fiction Interview is none other than Adrian Collins, founder and editor in chief of the forthcoming quarterly e-zine, “Grimdark Magazine”.  Adrian, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us.

No worries.

Tell us a bit about yourself.  Where are you from?  Family, kids, career, secret identity?  How did you get involved in writing and publishing?

I live and work in Sydney, Australia, working as a tender/proposal writer for a tax company. I live with my very supportive girlfriend. She's backed me from writing my first short story to kicking off this magazine.

My background is in business processes, project management, as well as business and creative writing.

I got involved in writing a long time ago, in my teens. I'd read and written since I can remember being alive. Unfortunately, where I grew up, anything creative that wasn't music was generally frowned upon and I allowed myself to be shamed out of writing and really loving the sci-fi and fantasy genres openly by my peers.

When I finally picked it back up again I was in uni. That first novel disappeared in a haze of drinking, rugby, and more drinking (pretty sure I turned up to a class or two as well at some point). Eventually I woke up one morning with an absolutely fucking belting new year's day hangover and realized I'd thrown away almost six years without writing. I set myself a goal of writing my first novel by the end of the year and delivered on that promise to myself.

Grimdark Magazine was born out of a few bits of feedback I got that my short fiction magazine submission were too grim in their endings and the frustration of not being able to place those works. It also came from a want to experience the other side of the publishing industry coin. We only get to live once. We might as well try everything. I know how to develop businesses, have some pretty solid contacts, passion for the industry and the genre, and have been very fortunate to gather like minds around me to contribute and collaborate.

Weapon of choice?  (Sword, ax, mace, or bow and arrow?)

I have a really nice 14th C Lord Marshall sword (made by Hanwei). So I'll pick a mace, or a flail, or maybe a Norseman's axe... Can I take a few? What about a shield?

There have been some gentlemanly disagreements over what the sub-genre of grimdark is defined as.  How would you define grimdark?

This is an easy, yet really difficult question. Easy, because I know what I believe it is. Hard, because everyone has a different perspective on it. Therefore I'll preface this opinion by saying the opinion is mine and I'm always happy to be challenged.

Grimdark is a grim story in a dark world. Authors challenge readers. They challenge readers to love unlovable characters. They challenge you to read through unspeakable acts and keep believing that there is a way out or back for the protagonist or antagonist. Authors use perspective to keep readers reading like a surgeon uses a scalpel to keep you breathing. 

Finally, black humor. Without it the sub-genre loses its flavor to dreariness.

The first issue of Grimdark Magazine is scheduled to drop October 1st of this year (I can’t hardly wait), can you tell us the process of how the magazine came to fruition?

A great deal more hard work than I'd originally thought, actually! It started as a business plan I wrote with a mate over a few beers and grew from there. My background is in business, so setting up processes, working with change, website design, etc are all pretty easy for me. 

I chipped away at the setup over about 4 months before it was ready to bring people on board and asking for submissions. It's just sky-rocketed from there.

The magazine is a work in progress, and always will be, so long as I or the subscribers can fund it. I'm pretty open with the guys volunteering with the mag, so we're always coming up with new ideas to implement in order to further the publication. For example, you can expect to see Cheresse Burke out at Worldcon in a GdM shirt handing out our cards and posting on our page in August this year. 

You’re stranded on an abandoned habitable undead alien infested moon-base, what three books do you take along?

You mean, I have time to read in between wantonly slaying them with bolter and chainsword? I think I'd have to take Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes, Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, and probably an Australian war history book like Peter Fitzsimmon's Kokoda.

You're currently taking submissions for short fiction and for artwork, have you been seeing some quality work come across your desk?

There's been some amazing stuff. I've actually had some pieces from some big names in the genre that we're really keen on. There have been some pieces that we've agonized over but had to pass on, and a couple we're holding on to, to see if we're going to be able to find a spot for. There are plenty more that either just aren't a fit or aren't quite there. Plenty of amazing stories and slices of imagination in this first bit.  Reading these has been the most fun I've had with the magazine.

On the flip side of this are the buggers that clearly haven't even bothered to read the submission guidelines or are trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. If I've ever accidentally done this to a magazine, then those first readers and editors have my sincerest apologies.

We're a but lacking in the artwork department, though we've had a submission from Luke Spooner, whose done some good work for other markets. If you know any good artists, send them our way.

Why choose grimdark?  Why not alt history supernatural romance or middle grade literary cyberpunk?

It's my personal favorite to read and write. I also researched the current paying markets and found a lack of a pro-paying market for the sub-genre. 

No doubt that dark and gritty fantasy is on the rise, do you have an idea as to what factors have contributed to the popularity of grimdark fiction?

I think people like it because it's more real. We can relate to character's fallacies because we all have some - or many - of our own. I know I certainly do.

We're realizing that there is no such thing as a golden hero or pure evil. People are a million shades of grey between absolute good or evil, and there are six billion perspectives around the world to appreciate it. 

On a grander scale, I think we as a society, especially in the west, are beginning to question the world more. We've had it pretty good for a long time and now we've started really asking if our governments and banks have our best interests at heart and we're doing it with a never before seen level of cynicism (mostly due to social media allowing us to connect opinions and research like never before). 

Besides being the maliciously evil genius masterminding the precise construction on this awesome new e-zine, do you have any other works in progress we can look forward to?

I have two self-published books on amazon that nobody should buy. They are the two novels that every writer should put in the drawer and never allow to see the light of day. I wouldn't hand back the experience of writing and publishing them for anything, though!

Other than that I've got my third novel 90% done. I'm chasing an agent on this one. You might see some of my shorter stuff in magazines in the next year as well. Grimdark stuff, of course. Keep an eye out for me. I might just get lucky.

What direction do you see the grimdark genre going from here?

I see it branching out into other genres and taking over. Medieval fantasy and futuristic sci-fi have taking a right beating at its hands.  Who’s to say when somebody will grab another sub-genre by the balls and grimdark the hell out of it?

What wisdom or advice could you offer to aspiring authors when it comes to writing and submitting grimdark short fiction?

Learn to write well. You'd be surprised how many absolutely cracking stories get lost beneath prose that is either sub-par or gets tied up in the author's own cleverness. Look at Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. The prose is simple, beautiful. It's almost like you forget you're reading.

Take my money already!  October 1st is when we can expect the first issue of Grimdark Magazine to infest e-readers across the globe with it’s blood soaked pages of literary malignance.  Where can folks go to drop some gold pieces in your satchel? 

Amazon, iBooks, iPhone/android app, bloody hell, wherever I can get the thing up it's going up! Each electronic issue will probably set you back at about $2.99, individual stories (from the apps) about $1.50 each. Hard copies will come in a bit dearer, depending on the page count.

I'll make sure the website has links to every method the magazine is available. Jump on our Facebook page for updates, Facebook.com/grimdarkmagazine.

Again, Adrian, thanks so much for hanging out with us here at Grimdark Fiction Readers & Writers.  It’s much appreciated, and best of luck with the new e-zine.

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My thanks to Adrian for jumping in and taking his time to talk to us.  I encourage you all to keep an eye out for the new magazine in October, be sure to buy a copy, and spread the word.  The more noise we can make, the more grimdark goodness to come our way.