Joel Shepherd interview

A year ago, before I got chucked from my dayjob, I was doing a regular series of interviews with authors once a month or so. I had acquired a batch of them that I never got around to getting published up here after the transition to freelancer, and while organizing my hard drive after the move to this new computer (computer spring cleaning) I found my file of them. Might as well run them now anyway.

So here’s the first, a year late, but hey. It’s with Joel Shepherd:

-Who -is- Joel, really?

Oh… you don’t want to know who I am.

-Why write? Videogames and TV are much more fun, aren’t they?

But many of the best videogames and TV are made that way because some poor
schmuck writer wrote a decent plotline for them. I like to create my own
stories about things I find interesting, important, or just downright
entertaining, and I much prefer the creative independence that comes with
novels as opposed to collaborations like in TV and other media. Maybe I’m
just a control freak…

-Why genre?

There’s no limits. Whether it’s about intellect and ideas, or just way cool
action scenes, genre doesn’t impose limits on what you can do. Anything is
possible, and indeed encouraged.

-If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?

Expect for it to take longer!

-What warps your writing the most?

Lack of sleep’s not good. Lack of exercise isn’t good either. Hunger isn’t
great either, nor too much heat, nor too much cold… I like comfort.
Writers are frequently compared to hibernating bears, you know…

-Do you have a favorite place to write?

Anyplace comfortable. Preferably with a lack of screaming kids, barking
dogs, whizzing traffic, etc. But then, I think I’m becoming more adaptable
lately.

-What’s the most challenging aspect of writing?

Exposition. My plots tend to be complex, so getting that complexity across
in a way that’s entertaining, and doesn’t drop a truckload of boring data on a
reader’s head, is the most challenging bit. But it can also be the most fun
bit to write, because this is basically the art of making intelligent stuff
entertaining, and that’s what I enjoy most in SF, both reading and writing.

-What’s the most whacked out thing said in a review of your work?

Hey, I’m just thrilled to get a review, I’ve only been published in Australia
to date, they’re more likely to review cookbooks than SF. But, if pressed,
I’d nominate a review that said something to the effect of ‘this isn’t what
the future will look like’. To which I was tempted to reply ‘If you know
what the future looks like, mate, I wish you’d show us your crystal ball,
because there’d be a lot of people thrilled to see’.

-Okay, you’re going to get marooned on an island by a bunch of angry
editors, what one book do you take and why?

If I said ‘How to Survive on a Deserted Island’, would I get smacked in the
head? ‘How to Build a Raft’? ‘Fishing for Beginners’? But seriously, I
think fiction is a luxury for comfortable, first-world existences. If I was
stranded on an island, I’m sure I’d be far too busy surviving to bother.
Thank God for modernity.

-Is there a book or story you wish you could go back in time and kill
the author of so you could submit their manuscript as your own?

No. Because if it’s not my idea, I’d get no satisfaction claiming credit for
it, and I’m perfectly happy with competition. And no literature (though some
may not believe it) is worth killing for. But if you’re just asking for a
favorite book… jeez, there’s too many. Can’t answer.

-When I interview you again in 10 years, what will you hope to be
talking to us about?

Oh… general happiness in life. I could detail specifics, but I’m
superstitious enough to think that if I mention them, they’ll never happen.

-What are your current plans for literary world domination?

Well I’m working on a fantasy… which is a fairly original fantasy, and
there’s some interesting things happening there right now… which I won’t
talk about yet, naturally! But it’s fantasy without all the fantasy tropes
that have been driving me nuts for so long… and with a somewhat brutal,
realist streak.

-Last, but not least, if zombies were spreading throughout the land
by infectious bite what would be your 5 point response?

One: Kill all the zombies.
Two: Have a lie down.

Thereby making the final three points redundant. Cunning, huh?

Filed under the topic On Writing: Author Interviews on March 8th 2007 at 6:07 am. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for this entry to keep track of comments. You can also use to trackback.