Today on the Speculative Fiction Showcase it gives us great pleasure to welcome back Scott Colby, author of the Deviant Magic series, who we first interviewed back in 2014!
Tell us something about Deviant Magic. There are four books in the series, and counting. What got you started?
Deviant Magic started a long time ago, when I first wrote the story that eventually became Shotgun while pretending to take notes in my high school classes. I'd recently seen the movie Men in Black and I'd been reading a lot of Terry Brooks and I wanted to sort of combine the two. I reworked Shotgun multiple times over the next ten years before finally deciding to spin the idea into a bigger series. I really enjoy messing around with the idea of what might happen if magic were real in the modern world. It's sort of a secret to most of humanity where things stand right now, but long term I plan to break down that barrier and explore what happens when technology's suddenly not the only game in town.
The protagonist is a young sorceress trying to level the odds between humans and unscrupulous fantasy beings. She plays a different role in each book - can you tell us a bit about that?
I kind of fell backwards into the idea of Rayn as my protagonist. Initially I'd thought of her as the villain, but the more I fleshed out her background and her goals I realized that she's doing the right thing in the wrong way. She was misused by the people controlling the secret world of magic and she wants to fight back to make sure that never happens to anyone ever again. Her only appearance in the first book is a single mention at the end when one of the main characters realizes she was behind the entire problem. She's a complicated villain in book two, sort of a mentor character in book three, and a catalyst for a big reveal in book four. I enjoy working with a variety of perspectives, and I find it more interesting and a heck of a lot more fun to tell the stories of those affected by her crusade instead of just doing it through her eyes.
The stories are set in the real world (not a secondary or fantasy world) where magical creatures hide their existence from humans by means of magic and memory-altering dust. That’s an unnerving thought! What particular challenges does that create for you?
It's wild, right? I think the biggest challenge is maintaining that separation without making it feel like it's forced or like it's just a plot device. Humanity is kept in the dark because these magic creatures are severely outnumbered and they're legitimately afraid of what would happen if they were revealed--and every day that separation is maintained, the possible chaos that could occur if it ended increases exponentially. Beyond the strife caused by the stereotypical fear of people who are new and different, imagine you recently lost a loved one to cancer and one morning you wake up and find out that there are people who could've cured it with their magic. There's a lot of potential for drama here.
On your About page it says: “Deviant Magic explores themes of discovery, immortality, corruption, and the role of memory in shaping who we are, but at its core it’s a story about changes big and small and the myriad ways both individuals and institutions adapt to our ever-evolving social situation. The series also features magic-enhanced keg stands and a water nymph who gets kidnapped and trapped in a toilet.” Can you elaborate on that a bit? There are some big ideas in there. Also, what is a keg stand?
I love this question! A keg stand is a truly horrible way to drink beer. You get a keg, do a handstand on top of it, and drink from the pump. I don't recommend it. I've got a character who performs just such a skillful maneuver while magically levitating a few nearby bar patrons. The point I was trying to get across with that description is that my work is a mix of big ideas and lowbrow weirdness. Magic is often treated as a really serious power to be treated with respect. Most real people wouldn't do that. I mean, think about technology. Every single one of us has a device in his or her pocket with access to more information than our ancestors ever could've dreamed of. Most of us use those devices primarily to take silly photographs, play mindless games, or watch weird cat videos. I think people with magic powers would treat those abilities the same way. Plus it gives me an excuse to write really ridiculous scenes.
Modern or urban fantasy brings the fantastic right into the mundane. It’s hugely popular in books and across a whole range of media. Why do you think that is?
Who hasn't daydreamed about waking up one morning suddenly in possession of an ability that can change their life? I think that's the appeal; urban and contemporary fantasy play on those inner fantasies we all have about being able to make life less boring just by snapping our fingers. I think there's also a lower barrier to entry than you get with high fantasy or hard science fiction. It's your world, except your neighbor's secretly a troll and you really don't want to know about the secret ingredient in that home brew he insists you drink whenever he invites you over for a barbecue.
You mention several fantasy titans - Terry Brooks, Neil Gaiman, Frank Herbert, as well as Chuck Palahniuk and Thomas Pynchon (who doesn’t fit neatly into any genre pigeonhole). And Chelsea Handler - please tell us more about their influence and why you enjoy their work.
All of those authors are just amazingly creative (yes, even Chelsea), and I learn something about storytelling whenever I read their work. They are who they are and they put it right out there in an engaging format.
What are you working on at the moment?
I'm working on the fifth Deviant Magic novel! I wanted to dive into the inner workings of my big evil corporation, so I'm doing so through the story of an intern who joins the company in a bigger full time role than he expected. Not only does he have to deal with his new knowledge of all the secret magic things going on, he has to come to terms with the fact that he hasn't been working for the good guys--and he has to decide if he wants to continue working with them in a role that might help temper how horrible they are. I'm really excited for this one!
“A Date with Death explores a fantastic situation in the sort of small town the author grew up in.” Why is it that the USA seems to have this unique relationship with myth and fantasy? For instance the Coen brothers remaking Homer’s Odyssey in the Deep South in O Brother Where Art Thou.
That's an interesting question. Rural life, and perhaps more specifically the idea of "where I came from" has been heavily romanticized in all aspects of American culture, so I think it's natural that creators who want to provide an easy base for more imaginative concepts use that as a base.
“Diary of a Fairy Princess features a young royal fighting the patriarchy in the most stylish way she can”. Please tell us more.
Diary of a Fairy Princess might be my favorite. It takes place in a city packed with magical fairy creatures. The role of the princess in this society is to grow up, function as a figurehead with no real power or responsibilities, get married to whoever's chosen as the next king, and then die in labor while giving birth to the next princess. This cycle's been going on for millennia; it's necessary to keep a vile form of corruption at bay that's surrounding the city and would overwhelm it if there ever wasn't a princess. Our hero, Myrindi, isn't having it, and she leans hard into the stereotypical spoiled princess role as a means of breaking free and giving herself more agency. The story alternates between the "live" story of Myrindi battling to rid herself of her betrothed and diary entries, written in her unique voice, that fill the reader in on exactly what her life has been like. Writing from the perspective of a spoiled princess was super fun.
Stranger than Fiction is your latest book, featuring “a group of former heroes unhappy that they’ve been replaced” - an issue that is seldom discussed by Marvel or DC. What happens to superheroes when they get fired? Can you talk as well about the humour that realism introduces into your books.
When heroes get fired, it's not pretty. They let themselves go, they wallow for a bit in drugs and alcohol, and then they desperately grasp for new relevance. Stranger Than Fiction was inspired by my general dislike of young adult epilogues that show the protagonists all grown up and happily married and getting ready to send their children off to magic school or whatever. That's too easy. Life doesn't work that way, especially for people who are probably pretty beaten up inside by the ordeals they've been through. My former heroes are a mess. Their relationships are strained, their children are entitled jerks, and their lives peaked far too early. So when a mysterious figure offers them the chance to get themselves back into the spotlight and maybe knock the new heroes down a peg or two, they can't resist the opportunity--even though they know there's more going on here.
What are you watching? And will you be watching the latest series of Game of Thrones?
I don't watch much that isn't live sports, to be honest, but lately I've been really into The Incredible Dr. Pol, a reality show about a country vet. I tend to latch onto random shows like that for a little bit and then move on. I don't have much patience for binge watching and I seriously miss the days when sitting through three hours of TV meant watching four or five different things. Does that make me sound old? It makes me feel old. TV's just not my favorite thing. I'd rather read or write or get some Playstation in. I am, however, looking forward to Good Omens and I plan to (slowly) watch that.
Superheroes: are you a Marvel or a DC man? You say you started out drawing before you switched to writing. How much influence have comic books had on your writing, if any?
I enjoy both Marvel and DC, but I've never been a big comic book guy. I really enjoyed the old X-Men and Batman animated series as a teenager, though. I usually try to make sure I get to all the big Marvel movies while they're in theaters and I'm really excited to check out Captain Marvel.
Marshmallow fluff somehow evokes memories of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man from the first Ghostbusters. Is marshmallow irredeemably linked with horror, or can it be reclaimed?
Marshmallow is an irredeemable substance and should be avoided at all costs.
What do you do when you sit down to write, and what displacement activities interrupt your writing?
Life in general is a huge hindrance to my writing. Ha! But in all seriousness, I do my best work around background noise. One of my favorite activities is to grab my notebook and a handful of pens and bounce around between random coffee shops and bars. I need something to concentrate against, if that makes any sense. Plus I never know what I'm going to see or who I'm going to talk to while I'm out and about that might inspire something interesting in what I'm working on.
Amazon and the internet have given rise to many new genres, and cross-genre books. How do you see the future of books?
Although I'm sure we'll develop lots of diverse new ways to read books in the next five to ten years, I don't think the idea of books themselves will change much. I've seen companies looking to insert more multimedia into the experience and I just don't see that taking off. Reading a book is a simple task and I think people like it that way--but I'm also that old curmudgeon who wishes he had a web browser that just didn't show any pictures or video and just gave me the words, so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. I think the publishing industry itself is ripe for a bit of disruption, but I'm not real sure where that's going to come from.
About Scott Colby:
The story that initially became Shotgun was written during Scott’s senior year of high school, when he decided to rip off the hit movie Men in Black but with fantasy creatures instead of aliens and elves in the Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones roles. This story was subsequently rewritten about a dozen times before it reached its final form and spawned the Deviant Magic series. The Deviant Magic story isn’t close to complete and there are many more novels on the way.
Scott resides in scenic Somerville, Massachusetts, the home of marshmallow Fluff. His other interests include gaming, fitness, and technology. Like any good Masshole, Scott also enjoys trips to Dunkin’ Donuts and swearing at the Red Sox.
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