INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY G. CONNOR SALTER

GCS: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I have been writing seriously—meaning with the goal of publication—for a little over ten years. I have had several short stories and articles published in the Sci Phi Journal, Variety Pack Fiction, and Silence and Starsong. I was also the editor of the connected anthology God, Robot, which got a small bit of fame when one of the short stories, John C. Wright’s “An Unimaginable Light,” got nominated for a Hugo Award. I edited an anthology titled Tales of the Once and Future King, which did not get any fame at all, and now I’m working on various projects, most prominently my Arthuriad, which is set in a shared universe with my good friend Ben Wheeler (who you should also contact to interview).

GCS: What first inspired you to get into writing?

I feel like a lot of people from my generation should give this answer and are a bit embarrassed about it, but the answer is Harry Potter. Harry Potter as a young child blew my mind. I was into Hardy Boys mysteries at the time and already getting a bit bored with them when my mom recommended Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone* to me. I was 11 at the time, the same age as Harry, and I was just gobsmacked. It was the first time I had ever read a book that I couldn’t finish in a single sitting. I didn’t even realize there were books that long. And the plot! I was entranced. Quirrell being the real villain, not Snape? Are you kidding me? That was it. I was hooked. Some of my earliest writing was terrible Harry Potter clones.

Of course, I grew up and moved beyond Harry Potter when a lot of my generation didn’t, but I still think it’s a good series that has mostly aged pretty well. And I cannot deny that it is absolutely what made me want to be a writer.

*I am American. Sorcerer’s Stone!

GCS: What, for you, have been the easiest and hardest parts of writing in your genre?

You know what’s funny? These are the same thing. I write Arthurian fantasy. On one hand, it is very well-trod ground, and you want to make sure that you’re covering things from a, if not unique angle—nothing in writing is ever unique—an interesting one. Malcolm Guite’s Galahad and the Grail is a masterpiece, genuinely one of the best things I have ever read in my entire life, but it was frustrating because I realized that if I ever wrote a Grail book, I would want to do exactly what Guite already did!

On the other hand, I find plotting to be one of the hardest parts of writing, and when I wrote my novel Son of Orkney, Malory had already taken care of much of the plot. The book is based on Book VII of Le Morte d’Arthur, The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney, which is great because that book is unusually well-structured for Malory, with a five-act structure almost built in already with only a little bit of reconfiguring—not that that’s the only way to tell a story, but it is effective and in this case it’s practically been set up for me. So the fact that there is a pre-existing body of work to draw on is the biggest curse and the biggest blessing!

GCS: What type of books do you prefer to read: nonfiction or fiction, and why?

Fiction. Definitely. The why is harder, though; I never put much thought into it. I suppose when it comes down to it the “Why” has to do with the art of storytelling; real history has fascinating stories, and I love history, but ultimately there’s a reason author is a profession—it allows for more breadth in storytelling possibility and I love exploring that.

GCS: What are your favorite subjects/genres to read when you aren’t writing your own stories?

Right now I am going through a self-made curriculum of classic literature, so I can become more conversant with the western canon. This really goes through all genres; the last fantasy novel I read was Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe, the last Arthurian novel was Gareth of Orkney by Edith Ditmas, I recently finished the brilliant crime thriller Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, and the last novel I finished period was The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O’Connor. Currently I am in the middle of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. In other words, my taste is fairly eclectic. I also like science fiction, my favorites being Awake in the Night Land by my friend John C. Wright and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller.

GCS: So far, what is your favorite book(s) that you have written, and why?

I have written two novels, Son of Orkney and After Camelot; both have been accepted for publication, but only one has so far been published. I am very proud of both of them; I think After Camelot is most ambitious in individual moments but Son of Orkney is a more coherent, sustained narrative. I can’t say between the two I really have a favorite, but if I was really forced to pick, I suppose the answer would be Son of Orkney, because it’s really the first time I succeeded at writing a single sustained narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end at novel length. So it’s a notable achievement for me in that I was able to prove I could do that successfully.

GCS: Do you have any favorite subjects you regularly return to, and what attracts you about them?

Arthuriana, if you couldn’t already tell. Early on there was something very fascinating to me that Lancelot was both the greatest knight and one of the causes of Camelot’s fall, but over time I began to fall in love with all of it—the atmosphere, the moral canvas, the world of knights and heroes that Arthur belonged to. There are so many stories that can be told in that universe. And it’s a great setting to explore questions of morality and human nature. Malory in particular has the knights act in seemingly contradictory ways, but I think the apparent contradictions are really very human, and when explored properly you can explore some of the fundamental tensions of human nature. Malory is also not very interior or psychological, at least by modern standards, so even when a character’s actions seem puzzling there is a lot of opportunity for an author to find a psychologically plausible motivation. For example, why does Gareth hide his name in The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney? Malory doesn’t tell us, but it becomes in some ways the central question at the heart of Son of Orkney.

Q: What would you say makes your particular writing style unique?

The short answer is nothing, just like everyone else. We have had millions of writers over the course of human history; whatever I think is unique, it is nearly impossible somebody else hasn’t already pulled it off, and possibly better. The long answer is, I wouldn’t say this is unique strictly speaking but I write with a real sincerity. I believe in the things I write about, really believe in them, and I don’t apologize for that. I hope people find that refreshing. I also write with a moral realism that is rare in modern publishing.

GCS: What is some advice you would give to aspiring writers?

  1. There are only two ways to improve at writing: Read a lot, particularly good books, and write a lot. And I don’t mean you should read how to write books. I mean literature. That’s it. Nothing else will help you nearly as much as these two things.
  2. There are two ways to make a decent amount of money. The first is to get extraordinarily lucky. That probably won’t happen and anyway you can’t control it. The second is to write at an extraordinarily fast pace and market yourself extensively. This is absolutely doable, I know people who do it, but it is very difficult. The truth is you almost certainly will not support yourself with writing. Come to terms with this now and you’ll be much happier later, or else develop a plan to be the second type of writer mentioned above. I’ve made and am comfortable with my choices.

GCS: Thank you. Where can readers find links to your socials and books?

Follow me on Substack! https://substack.com/@themechanicaldragon

Son of Orkney is available here: Amazon.com: Son of Orkney eBook : Marchetta, Anthony: Kindle Store