Author J.M. McDermott’s novel “Last Dragon” was released in 2008 to great critical acclaim. Unfortunately, the book stayed in print for only a short while. Now, thanks to independent publisher Apex Book Company, “Last Dragon” will be getting a second chance on a book shelf near you, along with McDermott’s newest, a mosaic novel titled “Maze.” McDermott recently spoke with me about his work, both past and present.
Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Salutations from Georgia! I write under the name J M McDermott, but please call me Joe.
Where are you right now as you answer these interview questions?
I’m sitting at my desk at my day job, as a game writer for an unnanounced XBox 360 title with Xaviant Software, north of Atlanta. I was just interrupted halfway through that first sentence by one of my workmates, who is trying to start a DnD campaign here at work. Then, I completed the prior sentence distracted by the thought that I can’t remember the last time I watered the two plants in my apartment. Are they still alive? I’ll have to check when I get home. Reading this on Suvudu will be my reminder to check the plants.
Tell me about MAZE. What’s a mosaic novel? Is it the same thing as a fix-up novel?
A mosaic is a special sort of work of art – distinct from a collage, or a fix-up. The mosaic tiles of Rome take these jewel-like tiles and arrange them into shapes and forms that become a larger shape in the viewer’s eye. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. When I was first really introduced to the idea, in fiction, when I encountered Jeff VanderMeer’s “City of Saints and Madmen,” years and years ago. I started mentally organizing it with two other works that I think merit the definition. “The Bridge of San Luis Rey“ by Thornton Wilder and “Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters. What this term means, to me, is that there are individual chunks of recognizable art of varying strength and magnitude being pulled together loosely. Unlike a collage, where elements are jammed together scene-by-scene, a mosaic recognizes and celebrates the individual separation of smaller units in the whole. There’s gaps. This does not take away from the work, but enhances it, as the eye of the observer must pour into the gaps between tiles, and create form what one’s perspective could easily interpret as only bits of rocks glued into a mass. When I think of this idea, in books, I see a bell curve of numerous works that could easily meet that definition, whether short story collections or novels or non-fiction pieces. On this bell curve, I’d place the ”Bridge of San Luis Rey” up at the apex of the curve, where many works emulate a form that meets my criteria of loosely collected fictions that may or may not relate to each other, but – together – form a unifying whole that is greater than the individual parts. I’d place “Spoon River Anthology” at the bottom of the curve, where what is ostensibly a poetry anthology with tightly connected parts that interweave and interlock right on the edge of a collage. Beyond – below – that anthology, works form the fading edge where pieces may or may not be considered a mosaic from that point and onward. “City of Saints and Madman,” I’d place at the very narrow top of the curve, among the epitomes, where only a few works are present, because it is exactly what my definition expresses, with loosely connected stories that together form a superior whole over the course of the jewel-like fictions present. I’m rambling, but I think what is important is that the term, to me, is very loose, like a cage made of hanging curtains. Anyone can move the curtains around a large swathe of books, or pull them away from large swathes of books.
My novel, MAZE, has different narrators, with different tones and influences to their narrative. Some of them never meet. Even the ones who meet may not really be connected to each other beyond a gesture. What they all experience, separate from each other most of the time, forms a whole that is greater than these loosely-mortared individual fictions. But, time also doesn’t work quite… correctly. Things wrap around and around and around and people meet that probably shouldn’t.
How did you come up with the storyline?
I have seen “Labyrinth” by Jim Henson so many, many, many times. One time, I had a realization that if I actually showed up in that maze, I would get very lost, get very thirsty, get very hungry, and probably not actually make it to the center of the maze. In fact, I’d probably never even find my way out again. With this idea in mind, firstly, I wrote the short story “Dedalus and the Labyrinth”, which will be in the next issue of Weird Tales Magazine. At the time I had the idea, I was hard at work on an unpublished trilogy (*cough* Still available, and please extend inquiries to my agent, Matt Bialer…). So, the second thing I did was contact John Helfers of Tekno Books and some writers I knew either personally or peripherally about the possibility of an anthology with this as a theme: a maze where no one enters, and no one leaves. Despite early enthusiasm, the idea fizzled when it hit publishers. I assumed that was the end of it and went back to work on Dogsland.
After I finished my little trilogy, I was working at the Kimball Art Museum, at the time, and I came face-to-face with this work of art. There he was, a character in the story that was bubbling in my brain, just waiting for me to write about him. As I started working on this idea, and had completed one large fictional chunk, I also went to my 10-year high school reunion. Returning from that, I had a dream about a fluff of light that came to me in the night, with a name and a strange request: Put me in your lung. From that moment in that vivid dream, I experienced the entire course of events detailed when the character Joseph is the narrator. That’s me. That’s my name. You can read what happens next. It’s the “surrealist horror” section of “MAZE.”
Let’s see, I’m confusing myself… First I wrote Julie Station’s section. Then, I wrote my own sections. Then, Wang Xin’s section. Last, I wrote the first part of the novel, featuring Julie’s mother Maia Station, after my agent advised me that the reader might need more to understand what the heck was happening. The novel begins with Maia Station’s sudden and unexpected arrival in the maze.
Can you talk a bit about your influences? Your publisher is comparing the book to Pan’s Labyrinth. Is that an apt comparison?
I mentioned some of my influences already, though there are doubtless countless others, good and bad. For a while, I was scouring used DVD racks for anything that had a maze, or maze in the title. Of these, only “Minotaur” counts as having no influence whatsoever on the work, though it did inspire much laughter.
“Pan’s Labyrinth is a very dark take on fantasy and labyrinths and mazes, and I know it was one of the references I reached out to when I was constructing the first draft. I think, maybe, it is apt. But, my magical little girl was born in the maze, and she’s old enough to marry and fall in love with someone who isn’t her husband. And, you don’t really meet Julie Station until the final section of the novel, though there are, naturally, some complications. What would that princess’ life – of “Pan’s Labyrinth” – be like if the story started when she was a princess in that magical kingdom? If the breach happened not when she left here, but when we get there?
Another important influence of this book is “Solaris,” by Stanislaw Lem. I was fascinated by how well he portrayed the planet that seemed to operate under a logic that defied human explanation at every turn – defying even the brightest minds and tools of science. Science is very good at things that can be reproduced in laboratories, and very bad at miracles. Science is very good at things that can be measured, and very bad at things that cannot be measured. Mine is a work of out-and-out science fiction that reads like surrealist horror, dark heroic fantasy, or something in between. It is an intentionally interstitial novel.
I don’t know if I can get specific beyond that. I find it hard to think of what my novel is like, exactly, because I’m too close to the material and too heavily influenced by too many things.
How did your book end up in with Apex? What has your experience with them been like so far?
My agent read the book and told me that no mainstream publisher would touch something this strange. As the eBook of “Last Dragon” was already out with Apex Books, I knew firsthand that they were doing a really good job with it, paying on-time, responding promptly, and energetically marketing my work. I also noticed they put out some great products, beyond just mine. (My favorite, so far, is Paul Jessup’s Open Your Eyes.) I mentioned to my agent that I could e-mail Jason Sizemore in mere moments and see if he wanted to consider a full-length novel. Not only has Apex been great to work with in both their magazine, and their eBooks, they also specialize in interstitial stuff, where science fiction and horror collide. Seemed natural to pass along my own dark, magical science fiction to the guys and gals that really like that sort of thing. As a matter of fact, they did like it. In only three months, we’ve signed and sealed on it.
I also understand that they’ll be republishing “Last Dragon,” which was previously published by Wizards of the Coast. Will this edition be different in any substantive way from the prior edition?
To answer your question, I never even considered that question. I don’t think so. Maybe. I hope not. I’d have to ask Jason. I assume not. The big, substantive difference will be having a publisher that will stand behind the work for more than six months. I’m really looking forward to having an actual print run, instead of a lot of fanfare and promises followed by near immediate cancellation due to nothing having anything to do with the books and how well they were selling. I don’t blame Wizards of the Coast for this. They didn’t want to lose the imprint, and it wasn’t their choice to make. They fought hard, too. They were doing their best in a corporate climate that did not share their values. It’s a shame, really, that such talented people aren’t given the opportunity to pursue imprints independent of the game properties. They have the ability and the distribution for it.
When can we expect these books to be released?
I’m hearing Spring 2011. I don’t know what will come first, or when it will arrive.
Thanks, Matt, for inviting me! Thanks for reading, everyone!
