[Interview] Max Gladstone

Max Gladstone lives, works, and writes in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of several novels which include Three Parts Dead, which is currently out on submission.

His short stories have been featured in magazines that include Space Westerns and On The Premises as well as in the anthology, The Book of Exodi (Eposic, 2009).

He also administers the blog Two Guys, Three Hundred Poems, where he publishes and comments on translations of the anthology of Tang poetry known as the 300 Tang Poems.

In this interview, Max Gladstone talked about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I began writing before I actually knew how to put letters together -- just a bunch of scratches filling my parents' old notebooks, one line at a time -- but if you mean writing stories, it started with a very simple vampire story typed out on an old suitcase Remington in my closet at the age of five or six.

From there, it was a short skip and a jump to wanting to be a published writer: I realized as soon as I started reading books that were worth remarking upon that I wanted to respond to the ladies and gentleman I had read, and the best way to do that was to write books of my own.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

In terms of genre, I write mostly in what John Crowley would call the genres of romance: science fiction and fantasy, with a bit of mystery thrown in.

I'm concerned about the degree to which American fantasy fiction concerns itself with the same issues as English fantasy fiction. It seems to me that we should be trying to do something different, and I've been trying to reach towards that.

I've spent the last year or two reading a lot of American fiction and trying to develop the voice in my writing. It's a very strange exercise, something like practicing Taiji Quan, where you have to be very conscious of the words you're writing and what they mean.

Who is your target audience?

I try to write for all intelligent people who like awesome stories.

Roger Zelazny has been an immense influence since I was a child, and a lot of my initial sense of the poetry in speculative fiction comes from him.

I also loved LeGuin's Earthsea books; her dragons are some of the best realized creatures (monsters? beasts? people?) in fantasy.

John Crowley's Little, Big has also molded the way I see fiction, though I didn't discover that particular masterpiece until college.

Recently, I've found non-genre authors the most moving and influential: Mikhail Bulgakov, Salman Rushdie, and Toni Morrison on the slightly slipstream side, and [William] Faulkner and John Steinbeck on the more traditional side.

East of Eden and Absalom, Absalom are particularly amazing, though in different ways.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Every writer is shaped by his personal experience, whether he admits it or not. I try to avoid directly copying events from my life into fiction, but my experiences in Asia (I lived in China, traveled in Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan), and my travels in Europe and out west in the United States as a child gave me a wealth of experiences that are endlessly valuable in my work.

Bits of truth about life in China, and about the history of suffering there, show up from time to time in my work that's not set anywhere near China, for example. Certainly my sense of the pleasures and occasional torments of village life come from my experiences in China, and my students' discussions.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, honestly, is that it's quite difficult to make a living as a writer, and that in the context of a full-time job I won't find time enough to get serious work done. So far I've tried to fight that with a rigorous writing schedule, and had some success.

My biggest challenges arise when the obligations of life get in the way of doing real, capital-W work, without being a huge loser to my family and friends. As far as challenges go, these are pretty simple, I guess.

I once met a farmer in rural China who made 100 kuai a month (about $12.50) from his crop; I said that seemed a very small amount and he said it was fine, that he made a lot less during the Cultural Revolution. He's been through challenges far greater than any I've faced in this life, and there are still tons of people in the world worse off than him.

Do you write everyday?

I write every day, though I don't have a set habit. I have an extremely portable word processor (an AlphaSmart Neo, if you're interested), that I carry with me while I'm writing, and if I have a few minutes I sit down and slam out a few sentences, a paragraph, a thousand words. The one-track mind is a great help to me there.

I've written several novels, one of which I'm submitting to agents as I write this; none of these have been published, though I have published a handful of short stories in small presses and magazines in the last two years: one short story of espionage and assassination, one about a group of Martian rebels, one about a dream-space-Viking invasion of Miami, and one about the travails of a Chinese doctor who discovers the secret to re-animating the dead (some of the time), all of which are linked off my website.

This year I'll be collaborating with Alana Abbott on a serial novel about fairy politics, gladiatorial combat, and political rebellion called Blood and Tumult, which should start appearing in fall on Baeg Tobar.

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is a sort of legal procedural with necromancers; it took me the better part of six months to write, and is currently in the submission stage of its life.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The query letter and plot synopsis were the most difficult parts of the writing process, though I did finally get the hang of them.

Essentially, you have to distill the book you've written to a few sentences. The problem is, if you could represent adequately your book in those few sentences you wouldn't have written a book, you'd have written flash fiction. So then you think about it as an exercise in marketing and flash fiction, and it's (mostly) okay. Of course, the success of that method remains to be seen -- fingers crossed!

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy writing the most. Putting one word in front of the other is great, especially when you feel that they're good words.

Revising is second-best. It's like whittling, only you're whittling your own child. Maybe it's more fun than that sounds.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Each of my books (and each of my pieces of short fiction, for that matter) have come out of different inspirations, and have been written in states of obsession with different topics. While writing this one, I spent a lot of time thinking about neural networks, religion, evolution, and finance, for example; previous books have been more concerned with Go, or with Genghis Khan.

I hope readers would say that all my books have interesting, well-defined characters, and a driving plot that consists of many wheels within wheels.

What will your next book be about?

The next project is going to be Blood and Tumult, an exciting project that I'm collaborating upon with Alana Abbott. I'm looking forward to collaborating with someone so experienced on such an interesting property as Baeg Tobar.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

So far, I'd say my most significant achievement as a writer has been persisting. Writers write, finish what they start, revise endlessly, and move on to the next project. That way (I hope!) the best story is always the next one.

Related articles:

• Dylan Birtolo [Interview], Conversations with Writers, April 20, 2011
• The Amazing Max Gladstone: Mystery Agent Success Story [Interview], Operation Awesome, April 15, 2011
• Max Gladstone, Out of Order Interview, Mystic Vision, December 6, 2009

[Interview] Daniel Tyler Gooden

Daniel Tyler Gooden was born in Independence, Missouri and graduated from Baker University in 1998 with a degree in English.

His short stories have been featured in magazine and anthologies that include Crown Tales (Dark Quest Books, 2009), Nth Degree and Alien Skin Magazine.

His second novel, The Unmade Man was published by Outland Entertainment in 2009.

In this interview, Daniel Gooden talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

My first story came after watching a horrible Leslie Nielsen Dracula spoof. I thought it was so corny that anyone could write something more entertaining. That evening I tried my own short horror piece, and while I can’t remember it being good either, I distinctly remember how spooked I was while writing it. The thrill definitely hooked me. I think that I got my first taste of the story being in control, the sense that it was a creature moving under its own power.

I got my degree in English, and after college found myself writing for a small bi-weekly newspaper. It was rural Louisiana, west of New Orleans, and great work for a young writer. Regular deadlines really drove home that writing wasn’t about waiting on inspiration, but just getting the first line of letters on that blank screen.

I was lucky enough to be given a new parish that the newspaper had only rarely covered. While there was a share of dry governmental reporting, most of the job was driving the roads and looking into the landscapes for stories. Stories are everywhere, once you really start looking. The best stories too were just about regular people. People are doing good, fascinating and tremendous things and they have no idea. It is daily life for them.

After I married, and moved back home to Missouri, my wife gave me liberty to work part-time. I decided that if I was going to continue to dream about being a fiction novelist, I would have to make sure I could actually write an entire book. That project taught me there is no better hone to your writing mind than daily effort. I was amazed to find that after a week of writing, I knew what was coming in the next two days. If I took more than two days off I’d have to pull the story back out from under my fingernails.

Soon after I finished that first book, I joined with a group of writers and illustrators in building a world called Baeg Tobar. I’ve spent the last few years with them, writing a second novel and a number of webcomics, all of which they’ve published, or are currently publishing online.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

Most of it is traditional fantasy at the moment. I’ve enjoyed recently mixing science and magic. Baeg Tobar has blended pre-industrial technology into their magical realm. It is a fun bit of work to rationalize ways magical elements can be used in concrete scientific rules and what inventions can be born from that.

I’ve always wanted to write for borderline genre fans. I read as much, or more, horror growing up and tend to want someone to pick up my work and decide that though it is magic, swords and sorcery, the characters are not that much different than the characters they know and love.

Which authors influenced you most?

What I really have wanted to do is write the common-man character that Stephen King has done so well with. Judges and housewives alike read King, I think, because his characters are most like you.

I like that heroes can be, and most often are, people that don’t realize they are such kind. Heroes aren’t bred for that purpose. They are folk living their lives and suddenly required to scratch their way out of something unexpected. That is certainly not something new to fantasy. Tolkien stated immediately that hobbits were the least likely adventuring folk, but nonetheless they turned out to be fantastic heroes.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

When you begin writing it’s hard enough to get those first thoughts out well. I think people say “write what you know” because it puts the writer in a comfortable place. I thought I’d start with fantasy because had read a lot of it, and I also figured that I was young and didn’t “know” that much yet. I hadn’t realized that in building a new fantasy world not only do you need to create everything from scratch; you also have to find amazing ways to make it uniquely different from anything bearing a resemblance. So much for going with what I knew.

Stories do spring to life around you, though. Some of them you miss, just because you aren’t ready to see them yet. With everything that changes you, your writing is drawn through a new filter. After the birth of my first son, any story with a child in danger would bring out a fury in me. Characters of temptation and infidelity, in those fresh years of love with my wife, were often met with contempt. One can imagine a great many situations and relationships, and write them true, but life unlocks a great deal of emotion. It removes placards and sets these pieces of you in their place. After that they come to your writing with an honesty that wasn’t quite there before.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Most artists, I imagine, worry about whether they work in vain. While I would love to have my work widely read and well respected, making enough to support my family would be a dream accomplished.

I also remind myself that being a successful father is most important to me. If that means I work diligently and never become a successful writer … well, the lesson of perseverance will serve my children better than the pride of my success.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Maintaining a high level of creativity is not easy for me. I spend a lot of time with my children, I enjoy lounging with my wife, and I drive to my parents most Sundays. Writing time often ends up being traded for other events and once the habit of writing is interrupted, it’s that much harder to get back.

When I’m kicking myself for not sitting at my desk I try to make up for it by being creative, or at least productive, elsewhere. I work on the house, or in the yard and garden, or catch up on reading. I like to think that being active will at least keep my mind in shape for when I return to my desk.

Do you write everyday?

I wish writing for me was an addiction, like it seems for some writers. While I know I can accomplish so much more by writing everyday, it doesn’t happen as much as it should.

I finished a large edit on my last book, The Unmade Man, prior to the birth of my second boy. He pushed me out of my office and between turning an old porch into a new office, and learning how to raise two boys at once, I’ve been sorely out of the habit. Writing is returning to normal now, thankfully.

When I am writing regularly, though, I shoot for about 2,000 or 2,500 words a day. If I’ve been at it several days in a row, that is not too hard to accomplish. I seem to write action scenes faster than anything else, and if the scene is good enough I can get out 4,000 to 6,000 words in a session.

The next day I’ll re-read the prior day's work and that helps me slip back into my place.

I’ll generally end where it feels right, either on a good note or where if I continue it’s just going to be a mess that needs fixing. I’ve certainly quit with only a few words down before, but I’m striving to change that.

Neil Gaiman said, to the effect, the days where writing came easily and the days where it came hard were often indistinguishable from each other after the fact. It makes me think that it’s not talent that ebbs and flows, but just one’s concentration.

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written two books.

The first is overweight by about 300 words. There’s a solid story under there, and once I find time to carve it out I’m sure I’ll be pleased with it.

My second, The Unmade Man, was published by the Baeg Tobar’s parent company, Outland Entertainment.  The Unmade Man was written in the Baeg Tobar setting. The setting was pretty new at the time and I had a lot of room to explore.

Baeg Tobar is a realm divided between a mortal realm and a Fae realm. I wanted to write a story that would bridge those two places. What I came up with was Boruin, a man devoid of any past. The only hint to what he was, before waking in his 50s, was a line of tattooed runes that slid across his body like beads on an abacas. Boruin can draw those runes, one by one, into his palm and create some powerful magic. The downside is he doesn’t know the runes any more than he knows his past and guessing at these rune combinations tend to cause more trouble rather than get him out of it.

I liked the idea of chaotic spell casting because I really wanted to create some oddball spells. If you asked a fantasy fan what spell he’d use to take down a dragon, his suggestions would make sense and probably work. What I wanted were spells that didn’t make sense at all, and might not even solve the conflict at hand. What a temptation—incredibly powerful spells that could save you from certain death but may kill you directly instead.

The story took about two years to write, as we were publishing the chapters monthly and I never did get ahead of the work. That was also a big draw in having a character with amnesia. I don’t like planning out my books in depth and this allowed me to discover Boruin at the same time he did, and my readers would.

Writing this book through Baeg Tobar and Outland Entertainment was quite a lot of fun. Being such a small, upstart company, I was given total control over my work even though the story was set in their world. They’ve even allowed me to rewrite their setting where The Unmade Man built new and intriguing concepts.

The downside of Baeg Tobar is the same with all small publishers. It’s a lot of work to get readers to your story—but that’s the task all writers must accomplish one way or another.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into The Unmade Man?

Writing for Baeg Tobar has been tricky, in that a lot of authors have put their ideas into the mix and not stepping on toes can be a huge referencing challenge. We’ve really had to keep track of whose storylines are crossing what portions of the map and setting what details into stone. You can’t visit a city and describe it contrary to what has already been laid out in another’s story. Luckily our writers tend to be cooperative and we keep in close touch, reading each others work and working to tie our stories together effectively.

Writing The Unmade Man with only hints about the character was harder than I initially expected. As I was only about two months ahead of the publishing date with each chapter, I didn’t initially have the convenience of going back and fixing contradictions. It was a challenge that in the end forced me to be more inventive in writing myself out of traps. Once the story finished its first publishing, I did finally get to revisit the work and smooth out some creases.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

Something unique for me on this book was an illustrator on hand to produce chapter art. Jeffrey Koch did all the chapter art in the first publishing. He was excellent about thoroughly studying the chapters and working with me to find the most visual scenes. To see Jeff bring my characters alive in his own art was fabulous. It made me feel like the characters were growing, somehow more alive by being in another’s hands. Scott Godlewski was hired to create chapter art in line with Baeg Tobar’s new art style and his work has been very exciting to see as well.

I find it a shame that publishing companies have turned away from regularly hiring illustrators for chapter art. I think if someone would take the hit and hire artists, they’d find their illustrated book line would really do well. With any luck, I’ll be a part of that.

What sets The Unmade Man apart from the other things you've written?

My scenes are quite visual to me while writing and so action has been fairly quick and easy to put on paper. With this book I challenged myself to introduce a larger set of characters and concentrate on carrying the scenes more with dialogue than I had in the past (my first book having one or two characters in scene most of the time). I picked four characters as my main crew and it worked well. They had a good chemistry together and it helped the story immensely.

This book also taught me to better trim the excess bits between scenes. Serial fiction has to get to the crux of the scenes quickly, especially on the web where your reader always has his cursor poised over the exit link. As a result, The Unmade Man is one of the tighter stories I’ve written, with a consistent pace throughout.

In what way is it similar to the others?

Both of my books deal with characters that aren’t trying to be special, and aren’t really. Sometimes they step up because it’s the best route toward where they are really going. Sometimes they are heroic because there is no one else around to do it for them.

What will your next book be about?

I love post-apocalyptic stories and I’m currently pursuing the idea of faith creating reality.

My next book is set in a world where people are waking up to the idea that the wonders of science have failed them and our industrial world has slipped away. People turn back to superstition, nature-based health remedies, worshipping numerous gods, etc. to create meaning for themselves and find their way through their struggles. As they begin to disregard science as absolute fact, magic swells again in the world to fill that void.

Of course, there will be some last bastion of science and working industry. There is a good chance that these two forces will square off to see who will inherit the earth.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

For the majority of writers the chance at being truly significant to more than a handful of people is a slim. Because of that, it is important that writers remember that they must be writing for themselves. As long as they are happy, even flat broke and never published, then the writing is a true and good thing. Being content with that reality may be my most significant achievement.

I love discovering stories in my own head. I love being my own boss, even though I am often not the best employee. I’ve put the weight of failure or success squarely on my own shoulders and I’ll take that over cubicle work and a guaranteed paycheck for as long as I possibly can.

Related articles:

• DANIEL TYLER GOODEN: Writer of The Unmade Man and The Broken Mantle [Interview], by Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online, May 26, 2007
• Scott Colby [Interview], Conversations with Writers, August 15, 2010
• Alana Abbott [Interview], Conversations with Writers, October 6, 2010

Possibly related books:

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[Interview] Scott Colby

Baeg Tobar is an epic fantasy world that is brought to life through comics, short fiction, novels and other forms of illustrated media.

Scott Colby is one of the project's editor-contributors.

In this interview, Colby talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing way back in elementary school. I was very good at finishing my work long before everybody else, which meant I needed something to keep myself entertained. I couldn't draw worth a lick, but luckily I was alright with the English. It wasn't long before I was cranking out ten page novellas and reading them in front of the entire class.

Since then, I've just kept plugging along, trying to incorporate things I've liked to read into my work. When I saw an open call for writers at Baeg Tobar, I sent in a few samples. Luckily they liked me!

How would you describe your writing?

Fantasy with my own little twist.

I've always felt like the genre can handle a lot more than just the typical "go there, find that" quest mechanic, and I think Baeg Tobar is definitely built along those lines. It's really not as far removed from science fiction as people might think. Remove the details, and you're dealing with the same flexible theme: man against something far superior.

Who is your target audience?

I know it's not necessarily the best idea, but I'm not aiming for one audience in particular.

Lots of writers find a niche by aiming to please a certain set of people. I don't really feel the need to do that. You either like me or you don't, and I'm fine either way as long as you've got a legitimate reason for your opinion.

Which authors influenced you most?

Terry Brooks was probably number one. He began as a bit of a Tolkien impersonator, but he's grown above and beyond that.

I also like to think that I've pulled a lot from Frank Herbert, even though I know I can never touch his prose. He's made me like deep, multi-faceted characters who don't necessarily show the world their true faces.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I try very hard to keep my writing clear. If the reader doesn't understand what I'm talking about, I'm not doing my job, flowerly language be dipped.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Getting started has always been my biggest hurdle, but transitioning between scenes is a close second. I think the two are very related.

I find the best way to deal with any writing problem is to walk away from it. Look at other things, do other things, and give your mind time away from what's frustrating you.

Lately I've also become a big fan of writing things out of order, of plugging along with what you know about one particular thread until you hit a roadblock. Then you work on another aspect of the plot for awhile until you finally come back to your initial problem. I find this works great.

Do you write everyday?

I've been trying to either write or edit 500 words a day. It doesn't always happen, but the days it doesn't are rare. If I become completely stuck on something, I leave it for another time and either write or edit something else or stop working completely.

Unless you're on a deadline, it's best to let these things come naturally.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

This is more as an editor than as a writer...but I like to think I've gotten Baeg Tobar into a great place. I think we're entertaining, and I think we should be very attractive to fans and publishers alike. It's a huge, complicated, diverse world, and I think it's a lot of fun to see what a wide variety of writers can do with it - but it's also quite a challenge to keep all those writers on the same page, to make sure that everything they do jives and has a place.

If I have to pick one thing I'm especially proud of being involved with, it's Daniel Tyler Gooden's The Unmade Man. I've read it five or six times as an editor, and I haven't gotten tired of seeing it - which, for me, means it's something I really like.