I met Tobias Buckell through the Codex Writers Group a number of years ago. He is a full time writer and an e-book creator. His blog has thoughtful commentary on a variety of topics.
This is the second time I have interviewed Tobias, the first being on my short-lived video podcast Novy MIRror.
His new novel, Arctic Rising, released yesterday.
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For somebody unfamiliar with the writings of Tobias Buckell, how would you describe your fiction, and which story do you think makes the best introduction to your work?
I write action-oriented adventure science fiction of various sorts. My novels have been, up to this point, inspired heavily by space opera sub genres. A good story to try is my short story Necahual. My novel Crystal Rain will toss you into the start of that series.
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As a Carribean-born author, you bring a little different perspective to fiction. Now that your career has matured with dozens of short stories and several novels on your shelf, how would you say your experiences in the Carribean, and living on boats impacted your fiction?
It’s everywhere, even when it’s not! The real obvious thing is that I have a lot of Caribbean characters threaded throughout my work, and tend to have a global cast. Growing up in a crossroads of the world I tend to try and weave that outlook into my fiction.
Growing up on a boat is something I bring to the work as well. I often will have maritime settings when I can sneak them in. I also feel that small, cramped boat living is also a great primer for what life aboard a spaceship might be like.
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Take us all the way back to your first short story sale, “The Fish Merchant.” How much struggle was it to get that story published, and what was your reaction to getting that first yes?
Before then I’d submitted many stories to many markets. I’d had a couple hundred rejections by then, so I was working very hard toward the goal of selling a short story. Getting that first yes was pretty epic. I got the phone call from editor Scott Edelman in my dorm room, so after I hung up there was shouting and victory celebrations. People were a bit alarmed next door.
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As a writer myself, I know that feeling never goes away, and every story sale is special. Which of your published short stories are you the most proud?
Yeah, each one is really special. A Jar of Goodwill is the one I really am proud of. It took four or so drafts over years and years, always coming back to it, until I figured out how to nail it. After that long a battle, seeing it sell was a huge victory.
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Last time we did an interview was on my short-lived video podcast. At that time, you discussed your new novel, Arctic Rising, still in the concept phase back then. Did the book turn out pretty much the way you envisioned it, or did it evolve substantially as you started putting words on the page?
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy, to stretch a metaphor. Once you get in to the nitty gritty of wrestling with the page, a lot of plans have to be abandoned. There were many scenes and ideas I wanted to explore, even a whole point of view, all of which I abandoned after testing them out quickly on the page.
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Arctic Rising is a different kind of novel than anything you wrote prior. What aspects of this project did you find particularly challenging or difficult?
Taking the time to double check the details I needed because this was the real world. Since I wasn’t making this all up from whole cloth I kept doing research as I wrote it, which slowed things down. But that also, I felt, gave it an extra layer of interesting tension.
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Where can we find Arctic Rising?
It should be in bookstores, online bookstores, libraries, etc.
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You have a kickstarter campaign for a project called “The Apocalypse Ocean.” Tell us a little about this project.
The Apocalypse Ocean is the sequel to my novel Sly Mongoose, and the fourth book in that series of big off planet adventures I was writing. I worked with fans who wanted to read the fourth book to pre-fund the book, and as a result of the successful Kickstarter project, am now writing the book!
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/store/the-apocalypse-ocean/
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Other than The Apocalypse Ocean, What projects do you have coming up that get you the most excited?
Well, two novels is quite a bit as it is! But I do have some more stuff in store. A new short story collection is in the wings for later this year. I have some new short stories coming out in a handful of anthologies and online places. That’s about all I can say for sure. There’s other stuff, but it’s still early days.
Most of it is detailed over my blog at www.tobiasbuckell.com though.