David Louis Edelman recently published the third in his Jump 225 science fiction trilogy. Geosynchron wraps up a reality-bending story about the future of business, software and human nature. Now he joins us for the latest Never Have, Never Will interview and talks about making up words and why he would prefer to stay out of orbital fortresses.
1. Is there a story you’ve written that will never see the light of day? Why would you deprive us of this genius?
I tried off and on for several years to write stories set in the Jump 225 universe, but I was never satisfied with them. Given the pace at which I write, I seriously doubt that these stories will ever see the light of day. Although I plan to leave them in an anonymous safety deposit box in the hopes that my son will discover them after my death and hire Kevin J. Anderson to finish them.
2. What’s a story you’ve never written, but always wanted to?
See question #1. I originally planned to write a whole series of stories to fill in the backstory of Jump 225. The big surprise about the Autonomous Revolt in Geosynchron was going to be something that only came out in the short stories. But when I started rewriting the book, I realized that it was now or never, so I decided to throw in most of the big ideas that I had been holding back.
3. Is there a character or plot point you’ve wanted to change in retrospect?
I regret that I didn't pay much attention to the racial makeup of my main characters in Infoquake until it was too late to change them. Race has never been something I've felt comfortable writing about, and I thought I could set the series far enough in the future that race didn't matter. But I realized afterwards that having all the members of Natch's fiefcorp be lily-white was a statement all by itself, whether I intended it or not. So if I had to write the series over again, I would have made the fiefcorpers be multiracial.
4. Which of your characters would you never want to meet (in a dark alley or otherwise)?
I'd never want to meet Brone, the main villain of the series, because he's clearly cruel and manipulative and much smarter than I am. I also wouldn't want to meet Quell the Islander in a dark alley, because he has no patience for bulls**t and he could clearly kick my a**.
5. Which of your worlds/realities/cities would you never want to visit?
I don't think I'd have a very good time in DWCR, the Defense and Wellness Council Root. It's an orbital fortress with shifting corridors designed to entrap any unauthorized intruder. Although given that I've done web programming work for the government, I suppose I might be visiting DWCR as part of a very lucrative IT contract, in which case it would be a good thing.
6. Are there any real-world locations you’ve written about but have never visited (or never want to)?:
Alas, I've visited almost none of the places I've written about. It's practically criminal. Large parts of the trilogy take place in London, Melbourne, Minneapolis, Manila and India, and I've never been to any of those places. I've partially been able to skirt around that by setting the trilogy far enough in the future that any architectural or cultural details would be irrelevant. But I'm sure the locals noticed the difference. (One English friend pointed out to me that there really is no "western bank of the Thames." I thought about telling him that a thousand years from now, the Thames would flow in a different direction, but I don't think he would have bought it.)
7. Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?
Much of the writing advice I've read seems designed to produce books with impeccable yet boring prose. I decided early on that I'd much rather be ridiculous than boring. So my books are full of ignored writing advice -- run-on sentences, telling not showing, made-up words, lots of serial adverbs, you name it. I'm particularly proud to have invented the word "deadendingest." My strategy seems to have worked. Half of the people who read the books comment on the "gorgeous prose," and the other half say "come back when you've learned how to write." Clearly the people who make up the second half are deranged.
8. What is an aspect of the writing craft you’ve never had a problem with (and why)?
Listening to the advice of my first readers. So many novice writers get defensive when they finally let the outside world see their precious manuscript, and when the outside world starts to point out its flaws. But I have to say that I took in quite a bit of advice from first readers and never took the criticism personally. I might not have followed 100% of it, but I did at least consider everything and make lots of changes to reflect that criticism.
9. What’s the one book out there that you wish you’d written (but of course won’t, because it’s already written, and writing it again would be plagiarism, and that’s just mean)?
I'd love to have written Dune, because it's just a phenomenal (and phenomenally weird) universe that Frank Herbert created. On the other hand, Herbert really didn't really know what to do with it after the first book, and obviously I would have known.
10. What aspect of writing will you never stop working to improve in?
The diligence factor. I have a terrible time getting myself to sit down and just plow through the difficult portions of the manuscript. I'd much rather be rewriting and rewriting and rewriting something that I've already got a handle on until it's perfect. Trying to force myself to put my butt in the seat and type through that necessary bridging scene between Cool Speech A and Awesome Action Sequence B is something I'm terrible at. I want to like every scene in the book.
11. What’s one part of the publishing industry/process you wish you could do without?
I think the whole "bowing down to the wishes of the marketplace" thing is pretty tiresome. I'd much prefer to toss my art down from the top of the mountain and let the world take it or leave it. As long as they leave me offerings of money, food and virgins in return.
12. What’s the one thing you would never do to shamelessly promote your current release?
Lie. Oh wait, no, I've done that.
13. What’s a question you’ve always wanted to answer, but have never been asked?
"Would you prefer the film adaptation of Infoquake to be directed by Peter Jackson or by George Lucas? Would you mind if we cast Will Smith in the part of Natch, and stuck in a car chase/laser battle/wrestling match? And do you think a score by Devo would be appropriate?"
- And your answer?
"I don't care. Just sign the frickin' check."
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