[I shared this video previously on my EssentialEdits.ca/SFeditor.ca blog, but I'm still learning how to use Youtube, so am trying out the feature where the embedded video skips the first minute and five seconds, and actually starts where me. But I can't figure out how to show the frame from where the video starts, rather than a picture of Lorina Stephens, my boss at Five Rivers Publishing, who brings greetings from the press to start the video. (Click here if you'd like to hear Lorina.]
Robert: Your latest work, Harvest Moon, is based on elements from aboriginal culture. Why aboriginal culture?
Krista: I worked at a homeless agency in Edmonton’s inner city for three years. I wrote Harvest Moon while there, in fact. Edmonton’s homeless has a large aboriginal population and, thus, you end up being exposed to their cultures, traditions, and even language just as part of your day-to-day living.
Robert: Do you ever worry about charges/issues of cultural appropriation?
Krista: Any charge against culture appropriation would be valid and invalid at the same time. I am white (nearly translucent white, in fact). However, several members of my extended family are Métis. I feel that I am writing a family story as much as a historical fantasy. On top of that, I think it’s important to be able to write about different kinds of peoples, cultures, and traditions. It would be no different if I wrote about the ancient Greeks, or Jews during WW2.
Robert: Some of your work has some pretty violent imagery in it. How have audiences reacted to that?
Krista: Right now, I have a fantasy novel for consideration at a publisher and another science fiction novel nearing completion. Both are quite dark and violent. My beta readers (and, even slush readers) have commented how they felt the violence always fell on the edge but never went into the “gore porn” that some pieces fall into.
But here’s the interesting thing. Out of my published and unpublished works, I have had far more stink kicked up over sexual orientation, sex, and alcohol use. In “Space Sucks” (a short story in Bardic Tales and Sage Advice II), I had several people tell me that they didn’t like that a woman was an alcoholic in the story — “women don’t drink like that.” Others have commented on Bearclaw in “Harvest Moon” being bisexual, saying that bisexual people didn’t exist before the modern era (clearly, they’ve never read ancient Greek poetry).
Robert: You're kidding me! People actually said that? Because a lot of plains cultures had quite specific, culturally acceptable roles for gays, so bisexual is hardly a stretch. Indeed, there's a lot of cultural anthropology to suggest that bisexuality was only problematic to a minority of Western cultures. So it's hard to think anyone would object to that in a story about pre-contact native cultures.
Krista: The total amount of bisexuality talk in "Harvest Moon" consists of probably 30 /11000 words total. Two of my reviews have already put a “bisexual references” warning. Then, I get an email who said that he was very bothered by the fact that one of the character was not straight. He also said it was a really good story, other than the “gay thing.”
It’s odd that brutal, graphic violence decapitation of toddlers and having them nailed to a doorpost is fine; but anything outside of rigid gender roles and expectations are not. It’s weird.
However, nothing has made me as happy as the first piece of hate mail arrived last week. I still show it off proudly and think I might frame it. It was like being in high school again, only with better fashion sense.
Robert: What do you hope readers will take away with them from reading your work?
Krista: I really just want people to forget their lives for a few hours and sink into the worlds that I’ve created. For the light-hearted stories (i.e. "Flying Kite, Crashing Ship"), I want to make people laugh. For the more serious works, I want people to feel that they could live another person’s life for a few hours. I don’t want anything more complicated than that, really.
Robert: What do consider the best piece you've ever written?
Krista: This changes all of the time. I generally like a piece when it first gets submitted and, after several rounds of content or line edits, I want to rip the work to shreds and never read it again!
Robert: Anything you now regret?
Krista: I sometimes say that I wish I hadn’t stopped writing when I left high school. Between 18 and 30, I barely wrote. At the same time, I wasn’t in a place to be producing the kind of work that I do now, dealing with the business end of things, and the other parts of being a full-time writer that people don’t realize. I honestly thought after I’d publish a couple magazine articles and a book, I’d be living like Danielle Steele and wearing mink coats (eww! What was I even thinking?). There was no way I could have handled the business side.
Now, I have enough corporate conditioning behind me that my writing is a career, a job, whatever you want to call it. I get a rejection and the story is back out the door somewhere else in under 3 minutes. I couldn’t have done that when I was younger. So, perhaps, it’s just as well I stopped when I did.
Robert: Do you read a lot of SF, or do you read a range of genres? If I were to ask you what you read in an average month, what would I find on your bookshelf?
Krista: I read or have read pretty much everything. In September, I read a romance novel, a light horror short, a m/m erotica novella, a m/m/f erotica novel, a mystery short, and four books of a fantasy series. And a Star Trek novel because I read one of those a month.
Robert: Star Trek? What do you think makes that series such an enduring read?"
Krista: My favourite is Deep Space Nine, where it combines the alien worlds and customs with everyday people. Even the aliens had crappy days sometimes. I like that a lot. It combined the wonder of space with the mundane everyday.
Robert: I remember that I discovered John M. Ford from his two ST novels. Who are your favorite ST authors?
Krista: I found David Mack from his ST novels. He writes other tie-ins and also has his own work out. I love his writing and would never have found him otherwise.
Robert: Any genre you don’t like/read?
Krista: I can’t read most horror. I’ve tried, but I either end up with nightmares or rather nauseous. I generally read more short stories than novels these days. I like the shorter time commitment with them. Also, with an e-Reader, I can purchase all different lengths of works and enjoy as I see fit.
Robert: Who are the big influences on your writing? Who are the SF writers who’ve had the greatest impact on you / your writing?
Krista: Here is a confession – I hated speculative fiction for most of my life. I loved science fiction on TV but I hated most of the books that I picked up. The only ones I liked as a teenager were Star Trek novels and a military assassin series (I can’t remember the name of them). I wanted so bad to read about girls like me slaying dragons and invading planets, but I couldn’t find those stories. They always had boring girls (if they even had girls) and it was the guys that did everything. I hated it. So, I gave up on the genre.
Skip a decade and I began to find so many new authors that I love, who write the works that I wanted to read as a kid. Jim Butcher, Diana Pharaoh Franics, Elizabeth Moon...Then, the world of ebooks opened up an entire new world for me, where I could find all lengths of books on all kinds of things that I’d never find in a store.
In the end, I began writing what I have because I didn’t like what was out there for most of my life. I write the works that me at sixteen was desperate to read.
Robert:As a Canadian, do you see your writing as particularly Canadian, or is your fiction more accurately described by genre labels?
Krista: Oh, I could go on and on about this one. I am genre-based, but I make it a point to be as Canadian as possible (and as Newfie as possible without needing to provide a dictionary and footnotes). I’m sick of stories set in New York City or LA. I’m sick of governments and laws all being based on US systems. Canadians do things differently and I want to include that different point of view.
For example, I created a First Nations tribe in Northern Alberta for Harvest Moon. Some of my beta readers are American and were really confused by the “six month winter.” They had just assumed the story was based in the US. I went back and edited a scene early on where Dancing Cat actually pinpoints where the story is taking place, without actually saying it (since “Alberta” doesn’t exist yet in the book).
Robert: Have you noticed a difference generally in the reception your stories receive from readers/reviewers/editors from outside Canada?
Krista: Most of my beta readers are American. It can be really annoying when basic things like weather, culture, socialized medicine all need to be presented in an American manner or else you are told it’s “wrong.” I’ve even had my spelling corrected by beta readers; one told me that I needed to learn to spell “colour” before I could ever hope to become published.
I’ve been lucky in that most of my editors have been Canadian or British. However, even Americans have told me that my stories have challenged them to not assume the stories are American-based. I take it as a compliment, as I never want people to assume anything when they start reading my work.
Robert: I'm always interested in a writer's process. Some writers write by just sitting down at the keyboard and letting things develop as they may; at the other end of the continuum are those that don't set pen to paper until they have a completed outline, a white board filled with timelines and thematic analysis, and a stack of index cards detailing each character, his/her growth, and their interaction with every other character.
Krista: I have used all forms of outlining, including no outline! I generally write out a paragraph about what the story is about and go from there. Usually, I stop halfway through, re-evaluate and either start over with a basic point-form outline or finish to the end because the logic is working already.
Robert: You mention rewriting one chapter nine times. How can you tell the difference between necessary revision to get the story right, and obsessive polishing to stall from tackling a piece of a project you've been avoiding?
Krista: If I’m at the stage where all I’m doing is line edits, I stop. For me, if I’m still adjusting plot, character development, setting and texture, then the story isn’t done. If I’m merely fiddling with words, the thing is done.
Robert: Is writer's block ever a problem for you?
Krista: The cure for writer’s block is to write freelance. You learn pretty quickly that either you write or you starve.
Seriously, though, sitting my butt in the chair and writing even when I feel “blocked” is the key. Because, really, I’m not blocked. I just want to be doing something else. I don’t want to write the difficult scene, I don’t want to write myself out of the hole I’ve dug, I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t want. That isn’t a good enough excuse for me. I write for a local magazine who give me monthly assignments. I might not always feel like working on an article but flaking out isn’t an option. I have to do my work.
I see my fiction the same way. I have a responsibility to treat it with the same professionalism.
Robert: You've described novels as long term relationships, and short stories as affairs. It's a fun analogy, but do you prefer one format over the other? Does one come more easily than the other? Is writing a novel the same as art as writing a short story, or is there a difference besides simply one of scale?
Krista: Without short stories, I would go insane. Without novels, I would get bored. For me, the short stories give me a chance to write on a small scale. Basic character compliment, tight setting, one plot, one conflict. It really gives my brain a break. I can be naughty and silly in short stories. My novels right now tend towards the dark. The stories give my emotions and brain a release of tension. They are a different skill set, though. Novels require a well-developed plot that can withstand several bouts of conflict, characters in and out, etc. Short stories are smaller, taking only a snapshot in time.
Robert: So why do you post stories for free? Is it a marketing thing for your more major works?
Krista: A lot of my published work is non-fiction articles (i.e. I am a regular contributor to Merge Magazine in Edmonton), so people who don’t read the local Edmonton works don’t really have a sense for my writing style. Also, non-fiction and fiction read rather differently. The free stories offer people a chance to see if they’d like my style without having to pay.
Robert: You have pretty decent blog/website. Did you design it yourself?
Krista: Thanks! I’m sleeping with the webmaster ;) We used a basic template and then my partner customized it for me.
Robert:How important do you think it is for an author to maintain a presence on the web?
Krista: I believe that authors need a web presence, depending on what works best for them. If you are really new, it isn’t that important. I think blogs are a good idea for new writers simply because it gives them practice on how to blog and figure out what kind of blog they want. I went through a couple of blogs before I settled on my current one. It was better to do that early, as opposed to now.
But, if an author hates blogging, I recommend just setting up a website and posting news every couple of months so that there is updated content whenever it’s available.
I also freelance on top of fiction, so I do try to keep an active blog and website. It does help keep readers up to date – and they get to hear me rant on a regular basis.
Robert: Do you think blogs and virtual tours and so on are effective? Or are they losing their novelty?
Krista: I am rather concerned about the growing trend for unpublished authors to have extensive blog tours, guest visits, “my book is debuting in 2011” (meaning they will be hopefully done writing it, not that it’s been published), etc. I think they should be focusing on writing.
Robert: How does keeping your blog relate to your writing? Does it relate, or do you see these as completely separate activities? Is it strictly a promotional tool, or is it part and parcel of your writing? Do you ever use blog postings as a kind of ‘warm up’ activity before starting in on the day’s fiction writing? As a ‘cool down’ exercise? As a coffee break when ‘blocked’?
Blogging is just another part of my writing days. I usually blog first thing in the morning or really late at night. There’s no reasoning for that, other than that’s usually when it comes to mind. As for the why I do it, it’s mostly as a means to keep me connected to people who enjoy my work or writers just starting out who want to follow someone who is also just starting out.
Robert: Some authors have told me that they use their blogs to vent, so that they keep whatever this week’s hobbyhorse happens to be out of their novel — that without the blog, they find their characters suddenly holding forth about the importance of table manners or the War in Iraq or whatever, whether or not it actually fits the book. Have you consciously used your blog this way?
Krista: That wouldn’t work for me. If something needs to be vented about, I am quite happy to either include it in a current work or slot it for another work down the road. Short stories are often my way to vent about the world.
Robert:I notice on your website you have progress counters to track how many words you've written on your next novel, or whatever. And I was struck by the fact that you've formatted that as X number of words out of 90,000. But how can you know how long a story/novel will be before you write it? How can you possibly know it will take exactly 90,000 words?
Krista: Doing freelance writing work really forced me to learn how to write for a specific word count. Add into that mix my history degree, where I had to write mountains of research papers, all with specific page counts. I discovered that fiction could be approached the same way. When I figured that out, my “waste” writing (i.e. the 3 chapter tangents that do nothing to progress a novel) vanished. Now, I only write paragraph-length tangents!
Generally, I can estimate within 10% of the final word count. I decide the type of project first, be it novel, flash fiction, short story, whatever. Then, I take one of my idea that will fit that word length. I make a couple of notes of how many scenes I think I need, what the risk will be for the story, and I start writing. My first draft will be significantly shorter than the final count. When I go back and edit, I add the texture of the world, clean up the plot, clarify things, and flush out the scene transitions. And lo and behold, I’m close to my target writing count.
It isn’t a huge deal if it goes off, though I rarely do. It’s mostly a tool I use to focus my writing so that every scene is focused on addressing the risk of the story. Keeping that in my mind and being mindful of the target length of my pieces really help focus my writing.
Robert: Thanks very much for agreeing to this interview!
M.D. Benoit, on Virtual Tour
M.D. Benoit's third published novel, Synergy, is coming out this week, prompting this virtual book tour. I had the opportunity to interview Dominique over the course of the last several weeks, and tried to focus on areas not likely already covered elsewhere in her tour. So let me just briefly introduce her book:
Synergy is a near future (perhaps alternate history) novel set in Ottawa. The plot concerns a genetic researcher in a future where genetic research is so tightly controlled as to be effectively banned. The illegal research attracts the attention of a local drug lord, government regulators, and the statistician hired to help analyze the data (unaware that the research is unauthorized). Some interesting speculation on genetics, the role of dreams in innovation, and the ethics of research form subthemes within the larger narrative, but mostly this is an actioner -- especially in the second half of the book where it becomes quite a page-turner.
In another interview, Benoit mentions that she would cast John Cusack as protagonist Torver Lockwood, and Natalie Portman as statistician, Demetria Greyson. I would have said Kevin Spacy for Lockwood, but I get Cusack: the point is he's not your typical scientist hero. Indeed, none of the characters in Synergy are exactly sympathetic; instead of simple black and white dichotomies, Benoit gives you complex people with their own agendas, some of whom end up more on the side of the angles than others, but all of whom have their dark sides.
For more on the book, check out
The Synergy book launch page
The Synergy video
Win a free copy of Synergy
And so, on to the interview:
Interviewed by Robert Runté
Robert: As the big monopoly publishers increasingly focus on a few blockbuster-style titles/authors with sales in the millions, we've seen the emergence of many more regional and specialty presses to fill the vacuum for titles with more limited local or genre appeal. I'm interested in how authors decide where to position themselves in the market. What made you choose to go with a small specialty press like Zumaya, rather than a more mass market publisher?
Dominique: In the beginning, I tried the large presses (Tor, Baen, etc.) and I had some nibbles, but the responses always ended up as "we like what you write but we can’t fit it anywhere." I've learned that large publishers are not flexible with mixed genres or difficult to classify books, and my books definitely are. So I decided to look for a publisher that could be more flexible in its approach. I found this is the case with small independent publishers. I liked what Zumaya Publications published, so I submitted to them.
Robert: What drew you to Zumaya Otherworlds specifically?
Dominique: The imprint was created last year. Even though they’re small, Zumaya puts you through the same rigorous submission and edit process as any other respected publisher. They're very professional, but because they have little overhead, they can spend more time with their authors. All the books they publish are different. I liked that, too. Instead of feeling like a misfit, I feel I found a home. Yet, even though Zumaya Publications takes in a different kind of fiction, it doesn't accept every manuscript that comes across its desk. They receive about 25 submissions a week. The rate of acceptance is around 1-2%. They’re looking for quality writing as well as the different.
Robert: Some small presses make a point of providing much more intensive support for authors than the big mass market houses do these days, in hopes that the extra editorial support will compensate for the lack of big $ advances. Other small presses make a point of “not tampering” with the author's manuscript, protecting them from the over zealous (and not necessarily SF-savvy) copy editors sometimes encountered in the big publishing houses. Where does Zumaya fall on that continuum in terms of the kind of editorial support you have received? What has working with Zumaya been like?
Dominique: At Zumaya, you can develop a relationship with your editor. There’s a real give-and-take, but the editor has the final say in some cases. Once trust has been established, as happened with my editor, Liz Burton, there’s a sort of symbiosis that happens. A lot of the editing is done through Instant Messenger, a sign of the times, I guess. We’ll discuss something through the chat, the same way it would’ve been done on the phone or through email, and we solve issues a lot faster.
Cover of M.D. Benoit's latest novel, Synergy, now available from Amazon.com.Robert: Most writers have stories (positive or negative) about the cover art for their books. Did you choose the artists, or did the publisher?
Dominique: The publisher chose the artist, but I did have some input into the creative process. For instance, I didn’t want people in my covers for the Jack Meter Case File series, because I don’t really describe my main character, Jack Meter. Martine Jardin, the cover artist and designer, came up with the door opening unto the universe, which we’ll keep for the entire series. I liked the concept.
For Synergy, Moor Dragon (who worked on covers for Ursula LeGuin) did the cover. Again, I wanted something that evoked DNA and time. Hence the ribbons and the DNA ladders on the cover.
Robert: How much input did you have over what your covers would look like? Did you get to see preliminary sketches, or did the final cover just turn up as a fait accompli?
Dominique: As I said, I was able to suggest some things, and I saw the covers several times before they were firmed up. I didn’t have final approval, but I didn’t feel ignored, either. On the Synergy cover, I suggested a couple of things I didn’t like, and they were changed.
Robert: How well do you feel the covers reflect the tone/theme/story of the novels?
Dominique: All the covers I have relate to the story inside, which cannot always be said in SF. I’m satisfied with that.
Robert:W hat would your ideal cover for Synergy have looked like?
Dominique: Hmm. That’s kind of a trick question since I’m not an artist. As I said, the cover of Synergy reflects the story inside.
M.D. Benoit on Virtual Tour outside Lethbridge WaterTower (now resturant) via this blogRobert: One of the factors that attracted me to your writing originally was your blog. It was one of the very first blogs of someone I didn’t already know that I started reading on a regular basis. How important do you think it is for an author to maintain a presence on the web?
Dominique: It’s absolutely crucial, especially for an emerging writer or a writer who can’t get a lot of financial support from her publisher. I think blogs are becoming the medium to communicate with people, but still a website is important. Websites give static information that gets lost from one post to the other. By having a blog, visitors can get to know you, see what’s important to you, how you look at life.
Robert: How much time do you put into your blog? Do you have more than one?
Dominique: I have my own, Life’s Weirder than Fiction. I also contribute to It’s a mad, mad, world: Writing confessions of ten mad authors. Jack Meter also has his own blog, The Jack Meter Case Files. He gets to talk about the darker side of life, makes fun of people, and chats about his cases. I’ve just started this one, so it’s not quite honed, yet.
Robert: How does keeping your blog relate to your novel writing? Does it relate, or do you see these as completely separate activities? Do you ever use blog postings as a kind of ‘warm up’ activity before starting in on the day’s fiction writing? As a ‘cool down’ exercise? As a coffee break when ‘blocked’?
Dominique: My blog activities are mostly separate from my writing. I’ll mention what I’m doing, of course, and sometimes post excerpts, but I didn’t want it to be another writer’s blog discussing angst and difficulties. I really think that life is weirder than fiction, and I wanted to prove it. So the site is eclectic, sometimes humorous, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes looking for beauty through art and photography. I also post book reviews, since I’m an avid reader and opinionated.
Robert: Have you ever used a blog to workshop scenes from your writing? Get input from your blog readership?
Dominique: Never, and that was never my intention to do so. I find it really annoying to visit other blogs and find that they’ve put a raw piece of work up and are looking for feedback. What, do they want me to do their work for them?
Robert: Some authors have told me that they use their blogs to vent, so that they keep whatever this week’s hobbyhorse happens to be out of their novel — that without the blog, they find their characters suddenly holding forth about the importance of table manners or the War in Iraq or whatever, whether or not it actually fits the book. Have you consciously used your blog this way?
Dominique: Never, and again, it was never my intention to do so. I have a very active brain, with a strange, curious bent, so there’s no place for rants. Who cares about my opinions, anyway? If, on the other hand, my blog were strictly a political blog, then I’d feel free to rant, since I’d feel that not only that was my main interest, but that I have some knowledge about what’s going on.
If I really feel like ranting, I’ll usually post a comment on someone else’s blog, start a discussion that way. I follow about two dozen blogs myself.
Robert: Who does your webpage design? There are some very slick touches! Is it something you take on yourself, or do you (like many authors) contract that out to professionals?
Dominique: I’m lucky that my husband, Daniel, is a web designer. He did, however, start from an Open Source design, which was free (indicated at the bottom of my site). I do all the maintenance myself, had to teach myself html to do so, but I have a lot more control over the site, and don’t have to wait for changes. I can make them immediately.
I think it’s very important to have a professional-looking website. A lot of authors skimp on that. I’d be curious to find out if visitors get the impression that the author’s writing is also amateurish from the look of the website.
Robert: What drew you to your interest in genetics?
Dominique: I became interested in genetic engineering during the controversies about Genetically Modified Organisms. Then I came upon a newspaper article about genetic warfare, and I followed avidly the issues around cloning with Dolly the sheep and the race to map the human genome. This gave me ideas for stories. Synergy is about genetic modification and warfare. The next in the trio of novels about genetic engineering, Catalyst, is about human cloning farms. The third, which I’m working on right now, is entitled Entropy, and deals with the consequences of monoculture and genetically modifying food staples like rice, maize, and wheat.
Robert: Where did the complex characters come from in this novel? Did you model the characters on people you know, or are they entirely from your own imagination?
Dominique: Torver Lockwood, one of my two protagonists, popped out of a dream, all grown up. I woke up one morning and there he was, standing, and saying "Damn. I missed five years." He was the catalyst for the story I wanted to write.
Demetria was harder to write. As you noted earlier, I seem to be more comfortable writing from a man's point-of-view, so she was more difficult to "create". But part of the concept of the story was to have two broken people who became whole when they were together, like yin and yang, or sister souls. One white, one black. Or one black, one white. No one's perfect. I'm not talking about romance, here, but of finding something in someone else that makes you a better person when you're with them.
So I constructed Demetria painstakingly, but neither of them were based on people I knew. Occasionally, I'll do that. In Meter Made, I modeled one of the minor characters after someone I despised, then killed him off. Great fun.
Robert:There are a couple of important dream sequences in this novel. Were they inspired by Watson's story that he dreamed the double helix, or are you just interested in the role of dreams and the unconscious in research/creativity?
Dominique: I've always been a vivid dreamer. I dream in color, and can often remember my dreams days or weeks after I've had them. People shake their head when I recount my dreams, in great detail. I've also read a lot of Jung, and his interpretations of dreams have always fascinated me (some of these analyses are downright weird, almost as weird as the dreams themselves). In Synergy the visions, or dream sequences, were a way for me to explore the subconscious and provide Demetria with an outlet to question herself and her actions, to destabilize her world, while at the same time provide a connection with Torver.
Robert: What do you hope readers will take away with them from reading Synergy?
Dominique: First, that it was an entertaining book, that it took them away from their own reality, that they escaped into a new world for a while. Second, that it gets them to think about genetic engineering and its implications. A lot is happening, these days, from patenting genes and weaponry research, to modifying our food. It's important to be aware and informed, and not necessarily believe the politicians.
Robert: And, kind of a trivial question, but I'm curious: Where does the name "Torver" come from?
Dominique: Funny you should ask that. His name is a deviation of Trevor, but I had the idea from the French word "torve" which means grim, menacing, baleful. The names of my characters are all somehow related to the story. Demetria means "earth mother"; she provides Torver with grounding and a dose of reality.
Robert: Are your previous two books still available?
Dominique: Yes, both Metered Space and Meter Made are available on amazon.com and amazon.uk. Metered Space is also available on amazon.ca. And of course, both are available as ebooks from fictionwise.com.
Robert: Can you briefly talk about the Jack Meter books for those who may be unfamiliar with that series?
Dominique: Jack Meter is a Private Investigator living in Ottawa, Canada. In Metered Space, after Jack’s physicist girlfriend died in a lab explosion, he’s gone on a downhill curve of smoking and boozing that leads pretty much to only one conclusion. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. Jack gets kidnapped by aliens who “repair” him, give him a universe-hopping device, and the job of retrieving a stolen transporter. In Meter Made, Jack teams up with a sexy intergalactic agent to find out who is stealing pieces of the universe, and why.
I call them my “Sam Spade in space”, Dashiell Hammett mixed with Terry Pratchett. They’re tongue-in-cheek, irreverent, fun. Definitely not literature. I have no pretensions to that effect.
Robert:I am interested in how authors choose the gender of their protagonists. Why did you choose to write about a male lead in the Jack Meter books rather than write from a woman’s perspective?
Dominique: Probably because in most of the SF genre, males dominate. On the other hand, Jack would be helpless without Claire Foucault, a biochemist, who ends up —very reluctantly— his sidekick.
It’s also a way for me to explore gender differences and the power men have in this world. I come from a very conservative family, where female and male roles were firmly established. In a way, using a male protagonist might have been a way to break free, at least in the imaginary world, or these restrictions.
M.D. Benoit on Virtual Tour to University of Lethbridge, via this blogRobert: So, let me ask you about your heritage. Are you primarily a francophone or an anglophone? How does your francophone heritage influence your work? I hadn’t thought of it until you mentioned it again just now, but now that I think of it, I believe I can detect a francophone literary undercurrent, though it’s hard to put my finger on exactly. Maybe a slightly more literary edge? Or am I imaging that?
Dominique: I am a francophone writing in English. I didn't learn English (enough to be functional) until I was 21, so I read only in French until then. I come from a small town in the Hautes Laurentides where to this day it is still 100% francophone, mainly white, and Catholic. Fortunately, we had a great library, and I've always been a reader, so by the age of 15 I'd read at least one book from most of the Nobel Prize winners from 1930 to 1960. I'd also read the classics –Hugo, Stendhal, Verlaine, Apollinaire, Camus, Balzac, for instance-- by the time I was 21, and of course read our own Quebec writers, Marie-Claire Blais, Yves Beauchemin, Rock Carrier, Francois Xavier-Garneau, Anne Hébert. I was also a fan of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle (I read most of his work), and Henri Vernes, whose character was a French version of James Bond. So yes, you could say that my early reading has influenced my writing. Francophones also have a different way of addressing issues; it’s a cultural thing, so maybe that also translates into my writing.
The first novel I read in English (with a dictionary beside me) was Lord Foul's Bane, from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson. It had a huge impact on me.
Robert: Do you read a lot of French/Quebec SF? Any?
Dominique: I'm starting to, now. I haven't before, mainly because of the accessibility of French material. It's changing, though, so I've started reading in French again, but I find written French language often ponderous and static. My problem is that I live in an Anglophone environment, so it’s difficult to get recommendations. It’s the same for music. A year ago, I started listening to Radio Canada’s Espace Musique, and, after 20 years, I find I’m slowly reconnecting with my heritage. It’s very rewarding.
Robert:Then let me ask another obvious interview question — who are the big influences on your writing? ( I’m thinking here particularly of your latest novel, Synergy, rather than the Meter books which I assume owe a lot to Sam Spade detective genre etc.) Who are the SF writers who’ve had the greatest impact on you / your writing?
Dominique: Certainly, Donaldson’s anti-hero, Thomas Covenant, influenced me a lot. The thought of engaging your reader with someone who’s totally unsympathetic fascinates me. For storytelling, Orson Scott Card, Anne Tyler, Guy Gavriel Kay. For setting, China Miéville, Gordon R. Dickson, Roger Zelazny, Arthur C. Clarke. For characterization, Alice Munro, Kurt Vonnegut. Two authors have had a huge impact on my way of thinking through a story, and they’re not SF writers: Isabel Allende, and José Saramago. I’m fortunate that I can read both in the original language they write in.
Robert: Do you read a lot of SF, or do you read a range of genres? If I were to ask you what you read in an average month, what would I find on your bookshelf? Any genre you don’t like/read?
Dominique: I read SF, but I’m also an extremely eclectic reader. The only books I won’t read are erotica and horror. Last month I read Elizabeth Lowell (romantic suspense), Joshua Palmatier (Fantasy), C. C. Benison (Mystery), Tanya Huff (Fantasy). Reading right now Jed Rudenfeld (Historical Mystery) and the Idiot’s Guide to Learning Italian. On my shelf is Nalo Hopkinson (Fantasy), Christopher Moore (Humour/Fantasy), Salman Rushdie (Literary), M. K. Fisher (Non-fiction), and Mark Twain (Satire). I’ve also on reserve at the library Dave Duncan, David Baldacci, Elizabeth Moon, Nicholas Sparks, R. J. Harlick, Sherilynn Kenyon, C. S. Friedman, Dan Simmons, Sandy Ault.
M. D. Benoit
Dominique Benoit is now in the second day of her virtual tour and can be found at Joshua Palmatier's blog for the rest of the day; i.e., will answer questions posted there today.
Check out the list of tour dates, and remember that Benoit will be appearing HERE on April 4th, 2007.
