Interview with Nicolas Lemieux, author of Seven Drifts

Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview Nicolas Lemieux, author of Cradle and Seven Drifts.

Nicolas Lemieux, you are writing your first full-length novel with the working title Seven Drifts. What can you tell us about the genesis of the novel, how it started and where it’s going now?

As a fan of Julia Cameron’s famous creativity book The Artist’s Way, I like to do a few pages of stream-of-consciousness writing in the morning. Maybe it happened during my morning pages, I don’t remember for sure but it’s probable. I love playing with new ideas and impressions. One day, something appeared out of the blue. It started with three simple words: Thus they left… 

It was a fuzzy image at first, but I played along, just to see. A few minutes later—or an hour—I ended up with a little snippet of narrative prose that looked like it could lead to something else. I didn’t know at the time whether it would develop into anything bigger, but I kept coming back to it. It kind of worked for me. It got my creative juices flowing, and I liked it. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Some months later, something else clicked: what if I could use this budding story idea and set it up in the past of the story on which I was already working? As a prequel, it had the potential to explain so much within my work-in-progress story… The notion got me excited!

I’d been working on a novel for a while (Tides of Cath), which is set in a far future on a planet named Cathedrals; a planet with considerable tides, allegedly. The story is still developing to this day—by which I mean I haven’t finished it yet—because after this I elected to work on the prequel right away. Even if I’d thought of it after writing most of Tides Of Cath, it made sense to write the first story first (Thus They Left, which turned into Seven Drifts). So I could either use them as two parallel storylines, or, if the prequel developed into something bigger, I could end up with two separate stories, which is what happened.

If you don’t mind a bit of unpolished, improvised narrative prose, you’ll find Thus They Left on my website. (https://www.nicolaslemieux.com/post/genesis-of-my-novel)

Your short story Cradle is free to download from your website. Is there a connection between Cradle and Seven Drifts?

Cradle is a scene that sprung to life when I was re-thinking Seven Drifts, shortly after finishing the first draft. It’s the first scene I ever showed to my developmental editor Courtney Harrell when I began working with her.

I imagined Cradle first taking place toward the beginning of the bigger story. Then the whole novel project evolved a lot, and the story changed accordingly. In the current state of the story, Cradle takes place closer to the end of the first act. That’s where my heroine Anita undergoes her first global crisis, when she faces her first very hard choice.

Why is science fiction your preferred genre?

Science fiction is a tremendous mirror, and also a microscope, to get a good look at ourselves through various lenses and to magnify many aspects of society. It allows us to experiment over an array of parameters, and see where it leads us. Ideally, the experiment will yield some insight and constructive criticism to help better fashion our future lives—and also present—if not in a perfect way, at least, different.

In my view, science fiction is imbued with hope and possibility. Projecting ourselves into a distant future—or not so distant—be it nice or dystopic, allows us to imagine what we may become and how we might act to overcome the challenges that are coming to us. This helps us see how we could endure, provided that we get a few things right. 

But I think what I find most fascinating about science fiction, besides the sheer vastness and epicness of all possible settings, time scales, alternative ways of living and, last but not least, scientific wonders… is that science fiction is an invitation to imagine things beyond everything we’ve ever known. And to me, nothing has ever come close to feeling better than having my imagination expanded—and my mind blown.

Tell us about Anita, the protagonist of Seven Drifts. Who is she and where do we find her at the start of the book? Who are her fellow citizens—or passengers?

While she tends to agree with her relatives’ view of her as having failed a lot in life, Anita is in fact curious, clever and resourceful. She likes to play detective—she’s a huge fan of the Rita Stalker Stories, which are detective novels written by author Blake Williams, who is also a character in the story.

In the beginning, we meet her as she goes about her day-to-day life, struggling to hold a low-pay job at the district gardens—she’s in charge of managing buckets of compost and her coworkers call her the shit lady. Then we watch her as she takes her friend Leona out to a local karaoke joint, hoping to get her in the best disposition possible when she asks her to take her on as a roommate in her cool house—from which she’s about to witness unsettling changes within the city.

In the end, what really makes the difference to the outcome of the story is her creative, quirky, monkey mind. Because her most special gift is that she is playful and therefore creative; she can “think outside the box”.

What about the other characters of the city/spaceship? Without giving too much away, is there an antagonist or villain—or several?

I won’t spoil who they are exactly, but let’s just say that Seven Drifts is really a rebellion story, so I would guess the Admin of the city has some darker elements, and Mayor Larocque—and his young interns—might or might not be involved in them.

There’s also this cunning inspector, David Duvic, who certainly gives Anita a hard time. There’s this new man Anita’s best friend Leona just met—tall dude with the hat—what’s his deal? Also, the drummer in Leona’s new band, Darius Ocar, with his shady deals and burly followers—especially Janet Grond, the impressive ex-athlete, and her renowned artist of a husband—certainly intriguing. And what about Felipe Crasotte, the infamous architect who died a century ago but left his mark on the city in ways that keep unravelling to this day… friend or foe?

After Leona’s heirloom treasure chest gets stolen, Anita follows whatever clues she can find. But after she stumbles upon a dying man at her workplace—a man afflicted in a way she’s never seen before—everything soon becomes entangled.

Anita becomes an amateur detective, and she has crimes to solve. How important is this thread of mystery and investigation to the plot?

The detective thread is secondary to the main plot but remains an integral part of it. Anita’s compulsion to unravel ugly truths puts her in a position to understand what is really going on with the city, and to shed light on the lies that most of the citizens believe. For unspeakable reasons, an antagonistic force wants to keep the city from ever moving again. When the time comes to confront it, she will have to rely on all the friends and allies she made along the way. But in the end, she can only rely on her true nature.

What did you read when you were growing up and why was reading important to you?

Practically from the get go, reading was to me like a virtual reality experience—only better. It was like a deep dive, a complete immersion into the reality of the story I was reading. I was the protagonist, living through the story. Nothing else has ever come close to that.

I remember spending a considerable amount of time at my school library between classes, rather than facing the violent excitement in the noisy hallways. Reading was with me at all times, and I kept it as close as possible ever since, through good times and bad times.

As a kid, I read classics of literature, of course. But also classics of YA literature of the time. Bob Morane is a great example. He was this French hero, roaming the world and beyond over hundreds of short books that touched on a wonderful variety of genres. They featured James-Bond-like spy action, jungle exploration, post-WWII Nazi hunting, spacetime travel, time travel with dinosaurs, time travel with knights and minstrels. The stories had a bit of fantasy sometimes and parallel worlds. The only constant was that Morane would never fail to get himself into the most impossible situation you can imagine.

This was my first brush with sci-fi, but over the years, I discovered many other authors and stories. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Asimov’s Foundation and Robots series. A. E. van Vogt, Philip Jose Farmer, Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke… Not to forget, of course, some classics of French graphic literature, like Valerian or Corto Maltese.

Who are your favourite authors, past and present—and why?

I like things out of this world. I love seeing new colours I didn’t even know existed. I enjoy quirky, touching and sometimes even cute, grand, poetic, beautiful. I appreciate challenging, astonishing, true, imaginative, and thought-provoking. But what I revel in the most is to have my mind blown.

In no particular order: Elisabeth Vonarburg. Stefan Wul. John Irving. Isaac Asimov. Philip K. Dick. Philip Jose Farmer. Arthur C. Clarke. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Michel Tournier. Umberto Eco. J. K. Rowling. J. R. R. Tolkien. Alexander McCall Smith. Diana Gabaldon. George R. R. Martin. Kim Stanley Robinson. Larry Niven. Gregory Benford. Alastair Reynolds. Neal Stephenson, James S. A. Corey, K.M. Weiland, Tim Grahl, V.R. Friesen, Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli, Elisabeth Sims, Lynda Williams, Frances Evelyn, E. J. Wenstrom…

On your website, you describe the plot of Seven Drifts as “an epic space opera story featuring a drifting city spaceship, a wannabe sleuth and some murders, a brewing rebellion and an antique wooden treasure chest.” What can you tell us about the design and structure of the spaceship?

Two centuries ago, the population of Seven made a call to reconfigure the city in order to make it comfortable—very comfortable: the best place to live!—but also to condemn it to drift forever in the middle of nowhere. Seven’s main MAHAL drive was beyond repair; useless except as a reliable source of energy to sustain the city. The alternative was to drift forever anyway, but with everyone placed back in longsleep with very little to no hope of finding help in the long run and of ever waking up again.

They made this choice some turbulent years after the Awakening—which is when Seven’s people emerged from their centuries-long journey, following the siege, attack and evacuation of their home world.

The reconfiguration years lasted two decades, during which up to 80% of the population partook in the effort. The city underwent a complete transformation, a drastic metamorphosis—from a Blooms-era MAHAL hovering city-starship… to its current configuration.

In its current configuration (since after the Awakening and the Reconfig years), Seven is now a long stack of O’Neill cylinders, each revolving upon itself for simulated gravity. At the one-gee level—citizens call it legitgee—people live the best, most comfortable and fulfilling kind of life there ever was; or so they were led to believe by the long-in-place administration of the city. After all, since Seven’s main drive was as good as dead after the Awakening—except for energy production purposes—Mayor Larocque saved the citizens from spending their endless drift in long-term preservation… at the mere cost of reconfiguring the city for comfort rather than for travel.

All was well for one hundred years… until one man, a well-known architect named Felipe Crasotte, challenged the validity of the Admin’s Driftist paradigm. Crasotte’s untimely death prevented him from putting his ideas forward…

How far are the spaceship and its crew a reflection on our world and its dilemmas?

I am tempted to draw a parallel with how we can so easily bury our heads in the proverbial sand and not listen, refusing to see our reality for what it truly is and single-mindedly going on as we always have as if nothing was amiss, without changing a single thing, while insisting on believing the lies fed to us by those who have only their own benefit in mind; those who feed on our compliance—and more often than not, our inertia…

So, one facet of the story is about inertia and the heaviness of changing things.

This goes hand in hand with disinformation—whom to trust—and should we keep on living as we are, confined to our isolated belief silos, or should we embrace a more open way of living, and choose to value different ways of thinking? 

It’s also about the dilemma of how to fit in while remaining original as an individual. It’s a universal theme: how to reconcile self-realisation of the one with well-being and thriving of the many? Are they fully exclusive, and if not, can they act together, as a team?

Why are the science fiction and fantasy genres so important and popular at the moment? What do you think about that and how do you see the future?

I think it’s a sign of the times. We’re fascinated by change.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s dig up a few quotes; see what the great have to say about it.

Frederik Pohl: “That’s really what SF is all about, you know: the big reality that pervades the real world we live in: the reality of change. Science fiction is the very literature of change. In fact, it is the only such literature we have.”

He says also: “A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” (I don’t know that it’s related to your question, but I kind of like it.)

Isaac Asimov, in his Book of Science and Nature Quotations: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” That’s interesting. Lots of potential.

Robert Heinlein goes: “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” That would be another angle. Quite relevant.

Then closer to home, Elisabeth Vonarburg says: “Stories are there to remind us that there is more, and beyond, to reality; or how else would we change reality?” (Free translation).

Okay. Let’s spin on it.

The world is changing around us. Fast. And then faster.

As technologies evolve, societies adapt and change, and so do the ways we act and interact, and how we live and look at the world. It’s an accelerating rate of change that is pushing us to seek, if not simple, clear answers, at least new leads and ideas as per how to cope.

Things are bound to change, no matter what. It’s not like we have a say in this. But too much change is unsettling. It brings up a lot of doubts, questions and anxieties–potential benefits and potential calamities. Whatever the case, we’re curious beings. We can’t get our eyes off it.

I think—or maybe I’m being overly hopeful—that science fiction and fantasy somewhat work toward easing some of this anxiety, maybe by showing us ways to cope and adapt, or by allowing us a glimpse into hopeful, open possibilities, instead of just doom scenarios. By showing us that some of these changes to come aren’t necessarily only all that bad. (And by the way, I would throw into the mix post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, along with science fiction and fantasy in that regard, because by showing how dark the world can become, post-apoc and dystopia force us to peek into how to make it better again—or aim to.)

Exploring the depths of human life, touching on heroism, going on out-of-the-ordinary adventures and feats; projecting ourselves far away, into a different skin, a different life, a different culture, a different planet or a different time; dreaming up and exploring exotic worlds and universes, all with their own intrinsic rules and values… (Ah! World building… Don’t we love it?)

I think this all ties up nicely to how our contemporary lives evolve and morph, getting better and degrading at the same time.

You have talked about your many competing interests: not only classical music and working as a professional singer, but your fascination with science, physics and technology. How far does writing help you reconcile the creative and scientific aspects of yourself?

After reading Patience dans l’azur over my highschool years (Atoms of Silence: An Exploration of Cosmic Evolution, by Hubert Reeves), I wanted to be a physicist, because I felt it was the science that stood behind everything else. While I knew I would never understand it all, I wanted to touch on the very roots of our universe, and by inclusion, the roots of our existence.

I enrolled in a physics degree. But I had a competing passion: music and singing. I started singing in a little choir in highschool and it was a transformative experience for me. By the time I was a physics student, I was in two choirs and taking private voice lessons.

At some point, I had to make a choice: physics or music? Music won, so I changed course and enrolled in music.

I’d like to say I never questioned my choice over the years, but I did. Over my two decades as a professional singer, I missed the nerdy, passionate discussions about cosmology and relativity, and the laws of thermodynamics, and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle—and so on. As it turned out, my bit of a career in music was very much more about scraping by and taking on whatever gig was going to pay the rent, than about exploring unbridled, exuberant creativity—Okay, okay. Many times it was just that, I’ll give you this, and I have awesome memories to illustrate it. But some other times, it wasn’t.

So one day, the notion struck me that writing had the potential to touch on pretty much all the things I loved. In writing, I could reunite sciences and music, for instance. (A spectacular example of that is Orson Scott Card’s Songmaster.) I came to expect it would work, not only with physics and astronomy, but also with singing and acting, biology, philosophy, archeology, anthropology and evolution, history and geography, the visual arts… and pretty much everything in-between too—all things equally fascinating to me.

Reading had always been a good provider, allowing me to visit all the things I liked. Now, with the simple act of writing, I’d actually get to hang out with them all over again, and to work with them; and combine them in astonishing ways.

How important is music to your writing process and do you have a soundtrack to your work, or favourite pieces to listen to while you write?

Weird fact: I can’t write while listening to the music I used to live by in the past. Whenever any of that music plays, be it a Bach cantata, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s B-minor, Mozart’s Magic Flute, Richard Strauss’ operas, or any of the Mahler symphonies—and I’m skipping many, many other wonderful things here… whenever any of these plays, I have to sit back and listen. They command my full attention. I can’t do anything else. No more writing.

But still. Music is often what gets me going. It’s like coffee to my brain. I listen to pretty much anything I can find on my phone.

So, what can I find on my phone?

Again, in no particular order: Pink Floyd. Patti Smith. Joni Mitchell. Metallica. The Beatles. Yes. Genesis. Björk. Bob Dylan. Buddy Guy. David Bowie. Dead Can Dance. Dominique Fils-Aimé. Mister Drê-D. Dutch Nuggets. Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Evanescence. Fleetwood Mac. Florence + the Machine. Garbage. Iron Maiden. John Lennon. Jorane. Led Zeppelin. Massive Attack. The Moody Blues. Morcheeba. Muse. Nine Inch Nails. Otis Redding. Paul Williams. Peter Gabriel. Portishead. Public Image Ltd. Radiohead. Robert Plant. The Scorpions. Sigur Rós. Sting. Tracy Chapman. The Rolling Stones. I’ll bet now you can almost guess my age.

What movies or TV dramas do you watch and enjoy? How do you cope with the abundance of interesting material on all the different channels?

I know I watch too much TV. There’s just too many good things out there. If you know a way to cope with that, please tell me!

Last year, my wife and I got kinda current on our Star Wars and Marvel movies and series. A year later, we find ourselves behind again, and “Hey, look, there’s also this one we overlooked: Agents of Shield. Sounds fun, only...—only?—seven seasons… twenty-two episodes per season over the first five, only thirteen over the last two…”

Things accelerate. Keeping up is a work in—ever accelerating—progress, with no end in sight. Help!

It’s not only science fiction either, nor is it all serious stuff. Between The Expanse, Foundation, Dune, Carnival Row and the Agents of Shield series, we’ve been elbows deep into Lord of The Rings (of course!), Game Of Thrones (of course!), Outlander, Big Little Lies, Sharp Objects, Our Flag Means Death, The White Lotus, Mister Robot, Escape to the Country, The Mandalorian, The Great Pottery Throwdown… and also in French: Munch, Les petits meurtres d’Agatha Christie, Benoît à la plage.

(I couldn’t help it up there, I had to slip in a few that have nothing to do with fiction at all, but that I still enjoy a lot. I’ll leave it to you to find out which ones they are.)

To what extent has the internet played a part in the beginnings of your writing career and how has it helped you?

The Internet has been important in more ways than one, throughout the entire journey.

In my learning process, for finding resources and ultimately coaching, with instant access to all the right books, with incredibly awesome, useful podcasts, blogs and courses, right at the tips of my fingers. 

In the doors it had opened for me, to work and collaborate with other professionals in the field. After meeting them through various online communities and social media, I’ve enjoyed a few opportunities to both interview and be interviewed, on various platforms, and I am looking forward to more blog, newsletter, podcast and YouTube appearances. 

And finally, in all the new-ish ways of doing all things related to reaching out and helping in order to build a solid platform—all things marketing and self-publishing. Of course, many of them are still to come in my case, or in the making at least.

I’d like to mention a few titles, persons, blogs and podcasts I have found to be no less than life-changing so far:

- K.M. Weiland’s website and podcast (It’s so good I binged from the top!) at Helping Writers Become Authors. (Get her books too, they’re so worth it!)

- Shawn Coyne’s book The Story Grid, and The Story Grid Podcast (It’s so good I binged from the top!) (plus an array of unique, extensive online courses).

- Story, Robert McKee. The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell. The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler. You’ve Got A Book In You, Elizabeth Sims. Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott. Write Away, Elizabeth George. Comment écrire des histoires, Elisabeth Vonarburg.

- The Creative Penn Podcast, along with several books on writing and marketing by Joanna Penn.

- Your First 1000 Copies, by Tim Grahl (plus his podcast and fantastic online courses: Author Platform 101, Writer Website in a Weekend, Launch a Bestseller).

- The Writer’s Well, a fun, useful podcast by Rachael Herron and J. Thorne.

- The Artist’s Way, a most inspiring book on creativity (and online platform) by Julia Cameron (Also: The Right To Write and The Vein of Gold).

- The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. A must.

- And not to forget, my favourite developmental editor, Courtney Harrell (thedarkrainbow.com).

Most of them found and met through the Internet.

When will the book be finished, and when can we hope to see it published? And what are your plans for the future?

The official release date for Seven Drifts is September 7, 2023. There is still a ton of hard work to do on my end, like finalising this draft I am working on, and then rebalancing some of the major structural points, fixing whatever plot holes I can find, and rewriting the scenes and sequences that need it. Then it’s off to do a lot more polishing, editing, etc. And all the rest: book cover design and book design, line editing, proof-reading, preparing the launch.

When all is done, I plan to promote the living beauty out of it. I enjoy the process. Learning as I go, on all levels, I expect to get better and better. More so as I work on the second book, and then on the next. There are a whole series of stories waiting in line back there, begging to be written—or rewritten.

About Nicolas Lemieux:

Nicolas Lemieux lives in Montreal with his wife Marie-Claude in a third-storey apartment that overlooks an interesting, green back-alley. 

Although French is his first language, he likes to write in English primarily. His chosen genre is science fiction, principally space opera. 

He gets his kicks out of dreaming up astonishing worlds packed with a sharp palette of badass, quirky characters who get tangled up in all manners of meaningful trouble. Often funny, sometimes disquieting, always exciting. 

His current work in progress Seven Drifts is an epic space opera story featuring a drifting city spaceship, a wannabe sleuth and some murders, a brewing rebellion... and an antique wooden treasure chest.

Curious yet?

Find out about his free sample story CRADLE at www.nicolaslemieux.xyz