Cherie Priest (2014)

ALL RIGHT, YOU...

...Let's reframe this question as, "Which British author looks most like a serial killer in his publicity photos but is actually a lovely human being in person?" So...that would be either you, or Warren Ellis :)

Well, Boneshaker was the last book I was under contract for at the time - so I kind of wrote it as a stand-alone; when it took off (rather unexpectedly, I confess), suddenly I was supposed to write more of them. Therefore, I tried to treat the Clockwork Century as less of a series, and more like a loosely affiliated set of stories, set in the same universe. Tackling it that way allowed me to write about other characters, and set the tales in other locations - and therefore give the readers a better idea of what the world looks like outside the walls of Seattle.

As for the movie, at this point I'd be surprised to see it happen. The option lapsed last year (I think), and I suspect that the moment has simply passed. Obviously, Hollywood is welcome to prove me wrong. I bought this lovely little Victorian house in 2012, and I'd love to finish restoring it and/or trick it out like mad.

I love ghosts in general - which is good, what with me living on a Civil War battlefield in the south, and all. Do I have a single particular favorite? Not really...?

But I'm working on a ghost story for Tor next year, called The Family Plot - based loosely on some events that happened here in my neighborhood, back in the day. Real life is always a whole lot weirder than anything I could make up, anyway.

She is tiny and old, but full of piss and vinegar - I assure you. She's got the 90-pound mutt under one wee paw. He adores her...she tolerates him...you know how it goes.

Oh yes - I definitely started out with the epistolary novel in mind. For one thing, it's very true to the period (1890s)...and for another, it gave me a lot of flexibility. I could add in Bonus! point-of-view characters for a broader picture of what's going on, while still keeping the story very personal and focused.

I am so afraid of Delilah you don't even KNOW....

Thank you! And maybe I would take a Nerf bat to a few friends for giggles, but I have no great or juicy feuds to offer you. Alas!

I HAVE! I have hair that's plenty long enough for it, these days, but I just can't make it work. I fail the girlie test, when it comes to hair stuff; all I can do is pin it up and stab stuff into it. I have a sizeable collection of vintage (19th and early 20th century) hair combs, so that helps...

Hey baby! [:: waves ::] Lizzie came first. I stumbled upon her trial transcripts online, and was absolutely transfixed by how weird the case actually was. Most of it's been largely forgotten by pop culture, but trust me - it was far stranger than the nursery rhyme would have you to think.

GUILTY AS CHARGED. Sort of. I haven't worn it in awhile, I confess - but it's a lovely wool number - and the goggles are vintage WWII ski patrol jobbies. In my defense, you know...

Nancy Drew! Especially the first ones, where she's a gun-toting flapper who drinks.

But I wasn't allowed to have them in the house; my mom is a fundie who wouldn't let us own anything except christian fiction and/or literature...but my dad figured out a work-around. (Parents divorced when I was quite young, and Mom got custody.) My mom's definition of "literature" was essentially "the author is totally dead and stuff." So Dad hooked me up with a lot of Victorian stuff - Poe, LeFanu, Algernon Blackwood, Doyle, Stoker, F. Marion Crawford, Lovecraft, etc. etc. etc.

Honestly, I only wanted to do one. This is a stand-alone, but it was a 2-book deal, and they wanted a follow-up. So my plans are to do just the two...period.

The second one (Chapelwood) isn't a sequel so much as another story set thirty years later, featuring some of the same characters. That one's entirely self-contained as well.

Anyone with the appropriate (a). level of empathy, (b). willingness to ask questions, and (c). comfort level with being wrong and/or taking feedback ... can write a character with a background that differs from their own.

But it's important to keep in mind that no single person (or character) can or should speak for an entire demographic. No two people, even within very narrow/specific boundaries, have the exact same life experiences; and it isn't fair to make a single person a spokesperson or authority for everyone who looks like them.

Don't just ask one dude how it feels to get kicked in the balls - ask as many dudes as you can get to answer the question. You'll get a wide spectrum of answers, but you'll get the gist you're looking for where those answers overlap.

But in a broader sense, if you want to write about people who aren't like you - then talk to people who aren't like you, and more importantly, listen to people who aren't like you. Respect their experiences without arguing. Respect their boundaries, and make note of where they lie. Basically, pay attention and try no to be a douchebag.

You probably won't get it perfectly right, and sometimes you'll take criticism; but it's absolutely worth doing, all the same.

Probably Dreadnought - because of the protagonist. I'm fascinated by (and enjoy writing about) people who are not well educated, but who are quite intelligent...like the nurse, Mercy Lynch. Besides that, my dad and stepmom (to whom the book is dedicated) were army nurses for years, and I had a good time combining what I knew of their experiences with research re: 19th century medicine.

I would love to see that - but I'd be a surprised. Steampunk had a big moment a few years ago...but it seems to be on the decline for now. (That said, it'll probably pop back up again before long; it's been on this sine curve pattern for decades.)

Of course, Hollywood is welcome to prove me wrong.

Nope. I don't know who this is, and I've had a number of roommates...so you'll have to be more specific.

Hey there, and thanks, of course.

I've done a bit of Lovecraftian/quasi-Lovecraftian material - some short stories, and most notably, my novel Fathom, though some say that my novella Those Who Went Remain There Still counts, too. (I wouldn't argue, but not everyone agrees.)

And since I'm on a Weird kick, I absolutely plan to do more. Next year's Chapelwood, for starters - and I'm toying with a Lovecraftian/southern gothic mashup for next year, called Godbothering. It's a bit True Detective times Justified plus The Mountains of Madness. But that one's still up in the air.

Not reading any novel, right this moment - but I'm going through a couple of books I picked up in Albuquerque/Santa Fe last month. I have this bookshelf dedicated to regional ghost stories, and it's bursting to overflowing - because I travel a lot, and my collection is outpacing my reading time.

But I do love regional ghostly tales. I think of them as almost a historic meme - whereby places remember their most interesting characters by immortalizing them as spirits.

Or maybe that sounds nuts, I don't know. Anyway, there it is.

I'm a paranormal enthusiast. And she was a fascinating woman, about whom very little is known - considering how famous she is.

None planned at this time, I'm afraid. The books didn't sell well enough for the publisher to want any more of them - which is weird, because probably half a dozen people a week email me to ask about them.

I had a third one proposed - called SAWBONES, re: a haunted 19th century baseball that steals the luck of even the best-prepared person - but the publisher was all like, "Nah. We're done here." (Gently. It was a friendly parting of ways; I'm still fond of the editor, and think she's awesome - and my experience with that company was a good one.)

You mean the flap copy? I don't know; I didn't write it.

If you mean the stuff above - well, I was on a conference call when I pulled it out of my ass...so if it's not pristine, well. I'll pick up the pieces of my shattered life and move on.

Something about Boyd Crowder and a snake-handling cult at a water park during some kind of natural disaster. Just the other night. I have no idea, man. It was right after DragonCon.

No. No I will not, you FIEND.

I'd like to see that too - and we actually came close to a deal with [publisher redacted] to do a series of comics set in the Clockwork Century, but that fell through. I ended up re-working the proposal/storyline/etc. into Jacaranda - a novella coming later this year from Subterranean. (The same company that did Clementine.) That's the final piece of steampunk I have in the queue...kind of an epilogue to the Boneshaker universe, I suppose.

See my response to someone asking what I was reading - I love regional ghost stories, and have a massive collection of these books (collected from all over the country). I always get the best ideas from those things.

There's a follow-up called Chapelwood coming, around this time next year. It's set 30 years after Maplecroft, and likewise is a stand-alone, really.

Nah, I hate outlining. I usually start with an abstract - a few paragraphs that kind of keep the thing centered. As I go, sometimes I'll take a notebook and spend a few pages keeping myself on track - with regards to what comes next, which characters know what things, and so forth ... but no, never a proper outline.

Thank you! And she is named so, because everywhere she goes, she acts like she owns the place. The joke was that she behaves like she carries a bunch of little flags, as in, "I claim this land for Spain!"

[:: waves at Damian ::]

Hey there, darling :) And you answered your own question, really - I tend to troll around the internet and/or nonfiction books, historic whatnot, and etc ... that's where I get all my best ideas.

1. [:: yells ::] YOU SHOULD BE WRITING!

2. No book #3 on that one. I answered this below, somewhere; basically, they didn't sell well enough - and the publisher wasn't interested in pursuing the series any further.

3. The Clockwork Century is all but finished - Fiddlehead is the main arc (to use the term loosely) conclusion ... but there will be an epilogue of sorts. The novella Jacaranda will come out through Subterranean Press later this year, and that's officially The End.

I do apologize, but I'm all booked up with contracted work - and don't have time to compose a wrap-up right now. If I get some downtime next year (or whenever), I'll try to do Sawbones as a novella and provide some closure.

None at all.

Ass in chair.
Fingers on keyboard.

Yeah, they turned down the proposal - and didn't ask for anything else, thereby effectively ending it.

And as for Kickstarter (as mentioned above) ... it works for some people, but I'm not really interested in going that route. Not yet, anyway. Besides, as I said elsewhere - I really don't have time, as I have a number of other contracted projects to work on right now. (And next year.)

Thanks! And one day I just noticed that a number of vampire mythologies (around the world) included a weird element of OCD about them - for example, if you throw a handful of rice, the vampire has to stop and count them all before he/she can proceed; or they can't cross certain lines, or running water, etc. etc. etc.

So I thought it'd be interesting to overlay the modern understanding of OCD onto the old lore. I tried to treat Raylene's condition with respect, and not treat it as the butt of anyone's humor (except occasionally her own) - and even turn it into a source of strength.

Anyway, Sesame Street beat me to it.
(Remember the Count? ONE...ha ha ha...TWO...ha ha ha...)

I dunno. One of them flying jobbies, I guess.

Thanks, of course! And the truth is, I slid into it sideways as an old goth - via Tim Burton. I liked the challenge of doing something specifically American with the genre too; because everything seemed to be set in Victorian England. That's an awesome time/place for steampunk, no doubt - but it's not the only time/place, and I wanted to prove it.

I've definitely seen things I couldn't explain, and been in some very strange places...which I tend to work into my fiction. I'll just leave it at that :)

Many thanks! And as for me...I'll always put my money on the ghosts and/or ninjas.

Aw, thank you very much! But to answer your question - I'd say it depends. Do you enjoy writing short stories? Then sure, go for it. Start there, if it's something that works for you. But if you don't like doing them...I say skip it. Concentrate on the things that make you happy, and do that instead.

This is one reason I do so few short stories; with the occasional exception - I don't enjoy reading or writing them. I don't think I'm really very good at them; but I'm not interested in practicing to improve. If that sounds lazy...well...I'd prefer to think of it as being pragmatic :)

Yeah, I get bored with that particular dynamic real quick, and when I do include romantic angles, I try to make them more...not like that.

The truth is, I tend to skip romance-as-a-conflict-point in general - not because there's anything wrong with romance (far from it), but because it's not my strong suit. Other people do much better writing the romantic bits, so I'll leave them to it.

Larger audience? Probably, I suppose; I'm all about the convenience of e-readers, if it makes the audience happy. I have one myself.

You're welcome...but that's not up to me - that's up to the publisher :)

One day! I hope!

Yeah, that's the flap copy - I didn't have a hand in that.