.jpg)
It's my pleasure to provide a number of interviews with authors from the wide array of speculative fiction genres. The slant of these interviews is a "Never Have, Never Will" line of questioning, where we get a bit of a twisted perspective on their past and present works, plus learn how they approach various aspects of writing and the whole publishing process.
To start it all off, let's chat with author T.A. Pratt, whose latest work is the Marla Mason series, novels about a sorcerer/crime boss who deals with everything from bloodthirsty Aztec gods to Death incarnate.
All right, Mr. Pratt. You're up.
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 have many, many trunk stories -- I wrote at least 200 short stories, starting in third grade, before I ever sold a story -- but not many a sensible person would *want* to see. I do have a story about my series character Marla Mason, called "Pride Is an Engine," that I will never publish, even though some people would want to read it. I decided it failed completely as a story on its own merits, but it had value in that it allowed me to figure out some things about the character's backstory. The events of the story will essentially be retold in my online serial novella Bone Shop, though, which is a prequel to the Marla Mason novels.
2. What’s a story you’ve never written, but always wanted to?
I might still write them someday! The oldest viable idea is for a story about bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde meeting the devil. I keep thinking I'll get to that, someday. Though at this point the idea is so old I'd have to do the research all over again, and the thought of all that work makes me sleepy.
.jpg)
3. Is there a character or plot point you’ve wanted to change in retrospect?
My novel Spell Games ends on a cliffhanger, of sorts -- I wrap up the main storyline, but have some final scenes that set up for the events of the next book. It worked, in that a lot of readers are eager to read the fifth book. But, unfortunately, the publisher decided not to continue doing the series, so now my readers are just annoyed. If I could do it over again, I'd change the way I ended that book, so people would be less irritated. I feel genuinely bad about stringing them along.
4. Which of your characters would you never want to meet (in a dark alley or otherwise)?
I'm fond of many of my characters, even my villains, but I could do without ever meeting the revivified mummy of John Wilkes Booth, from my novel Dead Reign. That guy's a dick.
5. Which of your worlds/realities/cities would you never want to visit?
Most of my stories are set in some variant of the real world, often in cities where I've actually lived, so the options are narrow -- but I could live without ever seeing the lands of Reave, king of nightmares, from my novel Poison Sleep. I also have an early story called "Bleeding West" about a frontier town called Tolerance, which is pretty unpleasant. And, you know. I've written about Hell. Don't wanna go there.
6. Are there any real-world locations you’ve written about but have never visited (or never want to)?:
I mostly set things in places I've actually been, but in my collaboration with Nick Mamatas, "The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft", there's a New England setting, though I've never been north of Washington DC. (Okay, that's a lie, I've been to Michigan and so far up in Ohio I was practically in Canada, but the east coast north of DC is mysterious to me.) So Nick wrote the landscapey parts.
7. Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?
To have a schedule and stick to it rigorously. I don't do that at all. I just write whenever I feel like it. Fortunately, I enjoy writing, so I feel like it often enough to produce a quarter million words a year or so.
8. What is an aspect of the writing craft you’ve never had a problem with (and why)?
I am told I'm good at writing characters. But I do work at that. I guess coming up with story ideas and weird s**t comes pretty naturally to me.
9. What’s the one book out there 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)?
(skipping this one, can't narrow it down...)
10. What aspect of writing will you never stop working to improve in?
Well... all of them! Style, voice, character, plot, dialogue -- these are all intertwined. I have trouble picking the pieces apart. They all inform all the others. And I could be better at all of them.
11. What’s one part of the publishing industry/process you wish you could do without?
That last round of proofreading, when I'm so sick of the book and yet I have to read it AGAIN, but during which I can make only minor changes, no matter how much I want to rewrite whole swaths of the prose. But, then, if they took that part of the process away, I'd probably complain about not having one last chance to fix things.
12. What’s the one thing you would never do to shamelessly promote your current release?
I wouldn't dress up in a purple cloak and punch people in the throat until they buy Spell Games.
A black cloak, maybe.
13. What’s a question you’ve always wanted to answer, but have never been asked?
Do you mind if I give you this dumptruck full of money just because I admire your writing so much?
(The answer would be, "No, I don't mind at all.")
Many thanks to T.A. Pratt for taking the time to participate in this interview! Keep an eye out for more to come.
Comments