Tobias Buckell is a Caribbean born-and-bred author whose cultural background can be vividly seen in his science fiction novels, Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin, and Sly Mongoose. He has also written a number of short stories, and several Halo tie-ins, The Cole Protocol and The Halo Encyclopedia (Oct. 2009).
Now he's been gracious enough to take part in an interview here at Examiner.com, providing some info on alien worlds, psychotic characters, and Caribbean space opera.
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 a great deal of written juvenilia, back when I was trying to get my feet on the ground in high school and early college, that will never see the light of the day. It isn't that there's anything I'm embarrassed about, it's just that it's all perfectly tepid and not very well written, as new authors tend to be.
2. What’s a story you’ve never written, but always wanted to?
I don't know, I have stories that I want to write written, and if I've not written it yet, I haven't wanted to, if that makes any sense. I have some plans on the table for future projects, but it's not like they're being denied to me, I just haven't written them yet. The closest answer I have for this is that my 4th and 5th Caribbean Space Opera books, the sequels to my first 3 books, are currently on hold. I'm hoping I can get back to finishing that series up.
3. Is there a character or plot point you’ve wanted to change in retrospect?
Of course, a novel is never so much finished as abandoned, a more famous writer than I once said. Some critics have pointed out that in my first novel, Crystal Rain, I only have one fully fleshed out female character in a sub plot. That hasn't happened in the subsequent books, but I do regret that in the first book, and as a more mature writer, can see how I could have avoided doing that while staying true to all the elements of the book that I still think are super-cool.
4. Which of your characters would you never want to meet (in a dark alley or otherwise)?
Pepper scares the crap out of me. He's a bit psychotic, and although he pulls through, if you're ever in his way, you're just as likely to get caught in the crossfire as anything. Some people ask if he's a character I want to be like, I guess they're asking if I wish I were like that. To be honest, not so much.
5. Which of your worlds/realities/cities would you never want to visit?
Probably Astragalai, the alien world where humans are kept in a strictly walled off slum-like reservations and not allowed to travel anywhere without alien permission.
6. Are there any real-world locations you’ve written about but have never visited (or never want to)?:
Not really.
7. Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?
As a writer you're always making the decision to break some rule or the other. The trick is figuring out why you're breaking it. I'm guessing I've broken most of them.
8. What is an aspect of the writing craft you’ve never had a problem with (and why)?
Pacing, adventure and structure, I think, are what I excel in. I think its because I read books fast, and get a sense for how they're constructed on a big picture level fairly comfortably.
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)?
Probably Islands in The Net, by Bruce Sterling, which is a book I really admired on a lot of levels.
10. What aspect of writing will you never stop working to improve in?
The line level prose. I read very quickly, so I'm always going to be trying to make the details work better.
11. What’s one part of the publishing industry/process you wish you could do without?
I plead the 5th. There's no way I can answer that one without pissing someone off LOL.
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