10 Questions with Writer Gwyneth Jones (@AnnHalam)
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Gwyneth Jones
author of
Grasshopper's Child
Gwyneth Jones was born in Manchester,
England. She took an undergraduate degree at the University of Sussex, in History
of Ideas (with Latin), specializing in seventeenth-century Europe, which gave
her a taste for studying the structure of
scientific revolutions, and societies (scientific and otherwise) in
phase transition; a background that still resonates in her work.
She's written
many genre novels for teenagers, mostly using the pseudonym Ann Halam, and
several highly regarded science fiction novels for adults, notably the Aleutian
Trilogy: White Queen, North Wind, and Phoenix
Café; Life, the fictional
biography of a woman scientist of genius, and the ‘near-future fantasy’ series,
Bold As Love based on alternative
cultures, horrific new science, revolution and rock music in a darkening world.
Collections of her critical writings and essays ‘Deconstructing The Starships’
and ‘Imagination/Space’ appeared in 1999 and 2011 respectively. She has also
published short story collections, ‘The Universe Of Things’, ‘The Buonarotti
Quartet’ (USA), and ‘Gravegoods’ (UK).
Among
other honors she has won the Arthur C. Clarke award, the Tiptree award, two
World Fantasy awards, the BSFA short story award, the Children Of The Night
award, and the Pilgrim Lifetime Achievement award for SF criticism. Several
stories and essays are available free on line at http://www.gwynethjones.uk/ . She
practices yoga, and has done some extreme tourism in her time. Hobbies include
watching old movies, playing Zelda and staring out of the window.
1.How did you get into writing and why do you write?
My father told terrific
bedtime stories. His best work was based on a fairytale (lots of variants, but
it’s the one where a girl discovers she once had seven brothers, who were
turned into crows and driven away: and she sets off in search of them). Instead
of heading straight for the happy ending, after a short sequence of perils, the
adventures just went on and on. We loved it. When I took over from my dad I added my own
twists to the formula. I kept the folklore, but I mixed-in science fiction, and
er, popular cultural references. The
Avengers, our favourite tv programme, was a great source of inspiration.
I’m still doing the same now. I wrote my first story for pay (children’s page
in our local newspaper) when I was fourteen. When I found out that I loved
shaping and crafting a story that would stay on the page, even more than I
loved making it up as I went along, I was hooked for life. Why do I write? Really
it’s always for my own entertainment first. But I think any proper craftsperson
should be able to say that.
Janis Ian has said something
like “practicing the arts isn’t a way to make a living, it’s a way to make life
bearable”. I think that’s a good corrective to the idea that you have to be
making money or your writing is worthless. But I’d say “wonderful”, instead of
“bearable”.
2.What do you like best (or least) about writing?
Getting stuck. That will do
for least and best. It’s agonising
when something isn’t working, and you just can’t see how to fix the problem. Bliss
when suddenly it all glides into place. Not infrequently, this miracle happens
overnight. Our dreams, Aristotle said, are the continuation of our thoughts in
sleep. Without the anxious censor of conscious attention, problem solving is so much easier sometimes.
3.What is your writing process? IE do you outline? Do you
stick to a daily word or page count, write 7 days a week, etc?
I have a compelling idea.
That’s absolutely essential. You can unpack a whole story from a single good
idea. Then I hack out an outline, ruthlessly forcing myself to get the story from A to B, some way or other. Then I start writing.
I write very fast, and then I revise
endlessly. Sometimes I get obsessed, and I will write night and day, 7 days a week.
Other times I’ll have a sensible schedule. There’s no set pattern.
4.Who are some other writers you read and admire, regardless
of whether they are commercially “successful?”
Off the top of my head:
Charlotte
and Emily Brontë (I’ve just been re-reading the Brontës) Karen Jay
Fowler, Monica Byrne, Nalo Hopinkson. Scarlett Thomas is a great discovery.
Donna Tartt. I also love H.P Lovecraft, Arthur Machen and Sheridan Le Fanu. I’ve
just finished reading Cixin Liu’s “The Three Body Problem”. It’s not perfect,
but I enjoyed it very much. Ken Liu did a great job on the translation: I was
so glad he let the book, the characters and the storytelling stay properly
Chinese.
5.Should the question mark in the above question be inside
or outside the quotes?
You don’t need the quotes
& that solves that.
6.What’s your stance on the Oxford Comma?
Huh? I googled it (actually I
didn’t Google it, I use a search engine that doesn’t track me). There certainly
does seem to be an issue! Punctuation is something I may take up, and try to
understand, when I’m very old and wise. Until then, I just throw in a lot of
those little marks at first, and take most of them out again in the final
draft.
7.What is your book Grasshopper’s Child about and how did it
come to fruition?
The Grasshopper’s Child is about a young girl, Heidi Ryan,
whose sweet, feckless father has been murdered. Her mother, who has mental
health issues, is the obvious suspect, and Heidi has legally become the
property of the loan company, to pay off her father’s debts. She’s sent to be
the slavey-housekeeper for an eccentric old couple, in a seaside village (in
Sussex where I live), and meets the other reject teens in the area. Able-bodied
teens are sent off to compulsory agricultural labour camps, because there’s no
power for the machinery any more. It’s a mystery, a horror story, and a
futuristic thriller, set in the same world as my Bold As Love series, but this
time it’s about young adults, their friendships, and how they cope in a terrifying
future that (in many ways) might well be ours. Although the three main Bold As
Love characters do have cameo roles.
I tried to get it published
traditionally, or mainstreamly, but in the end I had to accept it couldn’t be
done, not without changes I didn’t want to make. So I brought it out myself.
8.What’s your current writing project?
I’m doing a sci-fi novella
for Tor.com, and I’ve signed up to write a monograph on Joanna Russ for the
University of Illinois New Masters Of Science Fiction series. The reading for
the latter is going to keep me pretty busy for a while.
9.What book(s) are you currently reading?
The Brontës’ Web Of Childhood, Fannie Elizabeth Ratchford
A Shepherd’s Life, James
Rebanks
A River Runs Again, Meera
Subramanian
And my bedtime story is The
Lord Of The Rings. I haven’t read TLOR for a long, long time. It’s a bit
disconcerting, like going back to where you lived as a child. Everything does seem smaller. But I’m still finding
a lot to like, and to admire.
10.Who or what inspires your writing?
Everything, anything. If it’s
happening to me; if it’s happening to my world, I’m probably getting fleeting ideas
for a story about it. When one of these ideas becomes compelling, that’s when I
start writing something new.
Finally, is there anything you’d care to add? Please also
include where people can read your published stories, buy your book, etc.
A lot of my books, including The Bold As Love series, The
Grasshopper’s Child, and my “Ann Halam” ghost stories, are available as my own re-edited
ebooks, in the usual retail venues. I also have some books with The Aqueduct
Press http://www.aqueductpress.com/authors/GwynethJones.php
You can read stories &
novel samples free online, and find out more about all my books, at my website http://www.gwynethjones.uk/
Email:
gwyneth.jones@ntlworld.com
Websites: http://www.boldaslove.co.uk
Gwyneth Jones tweets at @AnnHalam
Thank you, Gwyneth, for sharing your books and your writing life with us. Please visit with us again in the future when you have new books to share.
There you have it, gang. Words of wisdom from another big-time, award-winning writer. Be sure to visit Gwyneth's website to check out her free samples and purchase a copy of Grasshopper's Child today!
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