How did the Queen of Hearts come to be?
In 2006, I sold a short story of the same name to Fantasy Magazine; the publisher, Sean Wallace, commissioned me to expand it into a novel. I never intended to write a fantastical/new weird/whatever-you-want-to-call-it-novel, but I thought it was an interesting opportunity and so I took it. As a kid, I read a lot of fantasy: Tolkein, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, you name it. But as I got older, I lost interest the genre, though I still tended to go for fantastic novels.
One advantage of writing a fantasy novel is that the unfamiliar setting allowed me to write about the Iraq War and terrorism in general. I chose a somewhat fablish/allegorial style because I thought it suited the subject matter. Not sure if I’ll ever write another fantasy novel, but it was an interesting opportunity.
What are you up to now?
Writing my first novel. It’s called The Island Builders.
Who drew that spiffy banner?
Adrian Rodriquez. Incredible artist, and you can see more of his work here.
What books do you like?
One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Flowers for Algernon, Slaughter House Five, The Power and the Glory, Oryx and Crake, Ender’s Game, Cat’s Cradle, Catch 22, Brighton Rock, Invisible Man, Brave New World, Pale Fire, The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay, Wonder Boys, The Things They Carried, In the Lake of the Woods. 1984, Grapes of Wrath, Dune, Beloved, Portnoy’s Complaint, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Catcher in the Rye, The Road.
