Author Interview with
Chris Lodwig
Author of Systemic
Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.
These days, I’m mostly trying to promote my recently published
novel, Systemic. That said, I'm currently working on two other pieces. One is a
short story about the transference of empathy over social networks. The other
is the sequel to Systemic. I've recently finished the outline and now I'm really
starting to get into the meat of it. I’m about 150 pages in. Like Systemic, the
sequel has multiple narrative threads and story arcs, one of which picks up
right where Systemic left off. The other threads are many generations later. I
would love to tell you more, but I don’t want to ruin Systemic. So, if you’ve
read Systemic, drop me a line and I’ll gladly tell you everything you want to
know about the sequel.
Where did
you get the idea for this book or series?
While I was writing the draft of Systemic, I was watching
every TED Talk I could get my hands on. I was also taking psychology classes in
my spare time where we were dealing with ego and personality and intrinsic
motivation. I found all that really fascinating. And I was thinking a lot about
the vagaries of memory. For instance, the job of our memory isn't to record
facts and play them back verbatim, but to find important things and play them
back in ways that are useful. For instance, Brian Williams the news caster
often told the story of being shot at in a war. Turns out that never really
happened. But because it was dangerous and exciting, his brain made up the
memory about how he was almost killed. We all decided he was a liar, he lost
his job. But your brain would do that too, so would mine. It does that so that the
next time you’re in a war you'll know to keep your head down. Memory is like
that. It’s entirely untrustworthy, but we build our entire reality on it. It’s
pretty much what our reality is.
I was also frustrated with and terrified by the current political environment, and the willful destruction of truth. I was thinking—and still am thinking—about whether and how we can ever get back to a place where we have a general agreement about facts. I tried to imagine something that could solve that problem; a generally accepted non-partisan arbiter of truth. I’m not optimistic that humans will ever be able to fit that bill. And so, the System was born, and I had a sci-fi novel on my hands.
Do you
write in more than one genre?
At the moment, I'm focused on science fiction. Though in the
past I tried my hand at literary fiction and bad poetry as all overly sensitive
young men should.
Tell me
about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of
attention.
I get the impression that a lot of sci-fi stories start
off with some cool technology then the writer builds a plot line that highlights
the promises or problems that result from that technology’s existence. Systemic,
on the other hand, started off with a woman hiking through a valley in the
sagelands. I wanted to know where she was going and why. For the first 90 pages
or so of my rough draft I didn't even know I was writing a sci-fi novel. The
technology grew out of the story I found myself telling. So, I write science
fiction stories, but the technology is there to support the story, not the
other way around.
Also, I spend an awful lot of time and energy focused
on imagery and mood and pacing and characters. But I’m also well-versed in
computer engineering and science, so the sci-fi bits are still credible.
Is there
anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in
your writing?
Surprisingly no. I've had many people ask which of
the characters in Systemic is me. There's a little bit of me in every one of
them, obviously, but to a large degree Systemic isn't borrowed from my life and
it’s not about me.
That said, I'm very curious. I woke up every
morning excited to learn what was going to happen. As a result, creating the
story felt more like I was reading it than writing it. I think that that might
come through. I hope it does.
What else
would be helpful for readers to know about you?
Most of my readers I would assume are into sci-fi.
They probably have some reasonable expectations from the genre. I think it's
only fair to warn them that—while there is a lot of sci-fi and speculative
fiction going on in the book—it isn't your standard sci-fi novel. There aren’t
any laser beams or spaceships. Technology takes a backseat to the story. A good
portion of the book takes place in small towns and rural settings rather than
the standard megalopolises. I figure the future will come to sparsely populated
places as well, and I think those places are underrepresented in the genre. So,
I thought it made for an interesting setting for the book.
Also, I don't have bad guys in my stories. Which
isn't to say there aren't bad situations or that there's no tension, but I find
two-dimensional bad guys—or two-dimensional heroes for that matter—uninteresting.
Excluding
your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more
people read? Why?
I feel awful saying this, but I don't really have
one. When trying to come up with an answer to this question, I looked at all of
the books that I genuinely love. Unsurprisingly, they're also very highly rated.
So, let’s talk about TV shows and movies instead.
An Amazon reviewer said my book reminded them of “Black
Mirror but you don’t have to drink yourself to sleep.” That was the best compliment
I could imagine. I’m also really enjoying Tales from the Loop. Both of those
shows have a lot in common with Systemic.
After reading my book, a friend turned me on to a movie
that's kind of a kindred spirit to Systemic. It’s called Everything Beautiful
Is Far Away, and I want more people to see that movie. It’s charming and simple
and beautifully shot. Another movie that I enjoyed lately that I don’t think a
lot of folks have seen was called, Safety Not Guaranteed. That was really fun
and sweet. Plus, I have a soft spot for independent films shot around Seattle.
Which of
your books do you most highly recommend? Why?
I only have the one, so I would recommend people read
Systemic.
Which
break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your
writing career the most?
When I look back over the last couple years, every
single aspect of the creation of this book has felt fortuitous. For example, I
never set out to write a book, I just started writing one day on the bus and it
just worked. I consider that to be very fortunate. I wrote most of Systemic on
the bus and I don't get carsick. I think that's very fortunate. Then there was a
long series of extremely talented and generous people who were excited to help
me. I had fantastic insightful and honest beta readers. My friend Ramez Naam the
author of the Nexus series read Systemic twice and offered to write the testimonial.
I wound up finding a great editor through a Facebook friend. She may have
taught me more about writing during the editing process than all the writing
classes I ever took. When I needed a temporary eBook cover my old friend Carley
sent me three gorgeous covers in one day. My friend Todd who’s a talented
digital artist did all the cover design and layout. Microsoft Corporate Vice President
Charlotte Yarkoni offered me the opportunity to feature my book on her video
blog. All of these things kept lining up until it felt like the world was
pushing me towards making this book successful.
What
question do you wish you would get asked more often?
Anything that starts, “Have you ever noticed…?”
Do you have
a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?
I have two. The first is “There but for the grace
of God go I.” The next is, “Everyone is the hero in their own story.” I like
these quotes because they’re about empathy and seeing things from other
people’s perspectives. I think that’s an important part of my writing, it helps
me write richer characters. And it helps explain my earlier statement about
there not being any bad guys in my stories, just complicated people.
No comments:
Post a Comment