LostintheDataStream

My interview with Madeleine Hart June 29, 2009

Posted by JSM in General, Interview, Writing.
Tags: author, gazette, intergalactic, Interview, Madeleine Hart, novel, sci-fi, Writing
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I was in St. Catharines on Saturday, at the book signing for Madeleine Hart’s first novel Intergalactic Gazette and sat down with Madeleine to discuss her novel and her other work.

What is Intergalactic Gazette about?

It’s about a small print newspaper. The last to print any words at all (since no one reads anymore), in the Spurious galaxy. It only has 15 subscribers, none of whom have ever been seen by the Gazette’s staff. These 15 mysteriously disappear, which means the newspaper, after 350 years, is out of business. The delivery boy, Leon, and the paper’s only journalist, Dube Merrrick, try in their own way to save the paper.

It isn’t meant to be deep, but I couldn’t help but inject some social commentary in there.

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

I don’t really remember the original threads from where it came from. I was writing a serious literary fiction novel at the time, and it was very draining. I started writing chapters of Intergaz, in between. I just wanted to write something completely opposite than what I was working on; something that was fun, and funny, to write.

You mentioned Dube Merrick. Can you say a bit more about him?

Dube Merrick is the apparent hero, where as the young kid Leon, to me, is the real hero. Dube falls into trouble and is just good at quick thinking to get out of it. Leon dares to face trouble, and he cares a lot more about things than Dube does, I think.

Dube is the Gazette’s only journalist, but in his mind that means, the best journalist. Dube cracks me up. There are parts where I laugh at him, because he just sees things differently than most would.

What about Leon?

Leon is the paper delivery boy. Leon is this unusual kid. He has an unusual ability (to travel through space holding his breath), and it’s just, to him, something he can do, no big deal. He’s interesting to me, because he has that innocence and wide-eyed enthusiasm for things, while also having a thoughtful old soul.

Pickle is actually my favourite character, and she wasn’t in the original draft. You’ll have to read the book to meet Pickle.

Who would you say is your main audience for the book?

I’m hoping there’s an audience out there. I see them as my friends. Those people who care about social issues, who keep informed, and read comic books, watch movies and play video games, and love to laugh also. They’re out there.

I think most marketers need to have a very straightforward clear demographic to sell to.

I think it’s a surprise to marketers that something might appeal to a wide range of people who cross many demographics. At least that’s been my observation as a sci-fi and comic book fan. They don’t know who we are, so they just keep assuming we’re all just 14 year old boys. They don’t see that we’re also adults; teachers, doctors, programmers, writers, artists. We’re everywhere.

No matter how often we tell them! (laughs) What’s a gal gotta do?

My mother loves Joss Whedon. I don’t think that’s unusual. She watches every sci-fi show that airs, and yet to mention that to a marketer they wouldn’t get it.

Intergalactic Gazette, to me, is about misfits, characters who don’t belong anywhere and so converge at this one small place that they have in common. The Gazette itself is a misfit, and so funny then that it’s the Gazette, which acts as the catalyst for Pickle’s intellectual evolution.

So, I guess I see the audience as the same people who would walk into the Gazette office, hang out, have a few laughs with the diverse collection of staff there. No judgement, just laughs and mutual respect for differences.

What are your thoughts on the “non” science in your book?

Yeah, I’ve had a few people ask why it’s science fiction since my science is made-up. In part, it was fun to not have that sort of restriction on telling the story.

That’s also the reason why the story has that retro feeling, and that Ryan’s (Andrews) cover art captures so well. That flash back to cliffhanger serials where the rules are, the hero always finds a way out of his trap, no matter how, uhh, ludicrous. (laughs)

I don’t know that I think sci-fi writing should only be for those who hold science degrees. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sci-fi that stays close to real science. But I think the genre has gone through all the waves, and has found that it can be flexible.

I’ve always been fascinated with science, astronomy in particular. I had my first telescope when I was seven. I’ve been an avid reader of Scientific American for over fifteen years. But man, I have to say, I just, sadly, do not have the brain for it. (groans)

So for my writing, I grab ideas, and research concepts, out of Sciam (Scientific American), which I find particularly interesting. I think, hmm, how can I use that? I would run that fascinating science theory, like string theory, through my ten year-old science brain and things like the “brane-weave” network come out. Or when I had a physicist explain chaotic inflation theory (bubble universes) to me, I saw it as someone blowing a bubble-gum bubble within a bubble-gum bubble. All that, Intergalactic Gazette is what I came up with. (chuckles)

I care about real science, and fight to make sure facts aren’t distorted to suit an agenda in the real world. I respect real scientists and eagerly read their work and listen to the podcasts. My absolute favourite is the, Are We Alone? podcast by the SETI Institute. Check it out.

But in fiction, I think the rules of the genre should allow for flexibility.

If people feel more comfortable categorizing Intergalactic Gazette under fantasy, that’s fine.

The other point I wanted to say, is that under the surface, the story does have some social commentary to it. There are many speculative fiction novels out there, which stretch a story into a strange world in order to reflect us back at ourselves.

You don’t have to read the book for that but it’s nice if you take something more away from it.

On your website you describe the book as an homage to Douglas Adams. Did you intend to write it in a similar style or was it more about the influence of Adams works?

Douglas Adams’ and Terry Pratchett’s complex style of writing, to me, demonstrate such a love of words and wordplay. I think any writer would love to have that wit and parry at the tip of their tongue.

It isn’t easy to do. I’m not sure I captured it as masterfully as they have, in all places. There were times where I thought, this is hilarious, and then reread it and wondered what I was on about. When I started it, the story fell into that style and tone. I just went with it. But yes, of course, I’m an enormous fan of Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett. There are other writers, Charles Stross, who has a clever writing style also.

You chose to self-publish, why was that?

This ties to your earlier question about who my audience is. Intergalactic Gazette was a strange thing to publishers. I received a lot of positive feedback from the traditional publishers. Many of whom, said things like, “this was fun,” “I laughed out loud.”

But then they would all say they had no idea who the market would be. And of course publishing is a business. They want to know they have that set demographic.

I took the time to have a professional editor look it over, and proof it. I asked them to give me an honest answer about whether I should drop it. The editor encouraged me to go the Indie way, and so I did.

Are you happy you chose that route?

I am happy that I got the book out there. I’m proud of it. It’s a lot of work to take this route. Tough making people aware of it. But so far, I’m enjoying it.

What other work have you had published?

I’ve had short stories published in Canadian magazines, and in the U.K.

Have you done any writing outside of novels and short-stories?

My original professional focus was in screen-writing. I have a number of feature-length scripts loitering around.

Can you talk a little about your working in gaming?

I’ve been a writer in the video game industry for just over four years. Writing for games is an interesting blend of prose and script writing. It certainly has its own challenges. The big difference is that the writer isn’t the sole source of the story, or in some cases they’re not involved right at the beginning.

The game design is what matters. As a game writer, it’s about working with the design team to, hopefully, make sure everything interconnects.

I enjoy the challenge of the added dimension, that is: considering the player and avatar persona, as a single entity or in some cases recognizing their duality and working with that. I’ve played a lot of WoW (World of Warcraft), so I’ve given a lot of thought to my relationship with my warrior. (laughs) She’s cooler than me.

Video game stories are getting much better. Game developers are becoming more creative about how to deliver story in-game as the player moves through the world.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on my literary novel through the Humber College Writing Program. I have a mentor helping me improve my craft. It’s that same literary novel mentioned earlier, and it’ll likely cause me to start writing another comedy soon. Either that or go insane. Why so serious? (laughs)

Any plans for a sequel to Intergalactic Gazette then?

Absolutely. I have a rough outline. I get such a kick out of the characters and the trouble they get in to. I just need the time.