Interview with Steven Brust

Recently, I had the opportunity to conduct an email interview with Steven Brust, one of my favorite authors. Ok, opportunity isn't the right word. I asked him, and he said yes, and I am grateful. This being my first interview, ever, I might've screwed the pooch on a couple of questions but I hope he, and you, gentle reader, forgive me.

If you don't know, Steven Brust is the bestselling author of somewhere around twenty-five novels, give or take a few. His Dragaera series is, in my humble opinion, required reading for anyone who loves fantasy, and should be required for those of you who love crime. Brust is a writer, a musician, a gambler, and Trotskyist - that last bit I had to Google. I probably should've asked him about it but, honestly, if I did, I'd just come off looking like an idiot. Ok, more of an idiot. In my defense, I did surprise a Harvard educated doctor of medieval literature with an actual familiarity with Rabelais. So I've got that going for me.

Er, where was I?

Oh, right. Interview. Talk pretty.

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JHJ: The fictive genre mash-up has almost become ubiquitous. But, in 1983 (or earlier) when you wrote JHEREG, I don't think anyone was really blending genres like you were. I was in high-school and I picked up a copy of JHEREG because of the cover – that wonderful rendering of Loiosh - but when I opened it and started reading, it blew my mind. It was like the THE GODFATHER had mated with THE LORD OF THE RINGS and spawned this totally badass mutant baby. But the fantasy element didn't lessen the crime element and the crime didn't lessen the fantasy. Did you consciously set out to blend genres or was it happy chance? Could you speak a little about the germination of the hardscrabble, noir aspects of Dragaera?


SB: What you said, THE GODFATHER mating with THE LORD OF THE RINGS, is pretty much it. It was suggested by Robert Sloan, who was running the RPG that eventually became Dragaera. What I was given was: "Think of a sword and sorcery mafia." Now, of course, I was familiar with the Thieves Guild of Lankhmar in Fritz Leiber's work, but it seemed to me that having the Thieves Guild legal and accepted took some of the charm out of it. So I hit the books, studying how organized crime actually operates, and then translated it into a fantasy setting. What I wanted to do was capture the sort New Jersey or Brooklyn mob feel and throw in magic. So I guess the strict answer to your question is no. That is, I didn't start out saying, "How can I blend genres?" I started out saying, "In a world where magic is ubiquitous, how would organized crime operate?"

JHJ: I'm from the south where society has calcified into a near caste system. So, I was struck powerfully by the themes of racism in the Dragaera Cycle. Was it on purpose – or just a happy (or unhappy) by-blow - and was it spawned from any personal experience?

SB: My character needed to have the cards stacked against him from the beginning, and making him an Other, and one considered inferior, was a pretty easy call. Certainly I'm aware that this gives me the chance to make observations about racism and power; but I don't really think I have any profound observations to make on the subject. And let's remember that the analogy can easily be pushed too far: on my world, humans really are inferior in many significant ways.

JHJ: How does it feel to have the toughest name in fiction. I mean, Zoltan? Hell yes. And why don't you just go by The Great Zoltan?

SB: Zoltan was my father's middle name, and my grandfather's given name. If anyone would be The Great Zoltan, it would be my grandfather.

JHJ: I've been following your blog entries on THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. Does this inform your fiction writing or do you just have trouble going to sleep? Or are you just a perennial student?

SB: Mostly the latter. Of course, everything is grist for the cliche, and this one may tie into a project that's been simmering in the back of my head for several years now. We'll see.


JHJ: I'd have to say that AGYAR is quite possibly my favorite vampire novel, probably because of its iceberg narrative -nine tenths of Agyar's nature are beneath the surface. I've read, in previous interviews, that you wrote that in a very short amount of time. Do you normally try to write a quick first draft and then come back and rewrite? Do you write from synopses or outlines?

SB: I have written from very detailed plot outlines, and I've written where I had no idea what was going to happen the paragraph before I wrote it. Usually it's somewhere in the middle, but closer to the latter because it's more fun. No, I don't especially try to write fast; the story takes as long as it takes. AGYAR took six weeks. I have no idea how I did that.

JHJ: I've read you like to cook, and I'd kill to have a meal at Valabar's. You got a favorite meal you make?

SB: Paprikas csirke (chicken paprikash) based on the recipe from Louis Szathmary's The Chef's New Secret Cookbook. I also do a decent stir-fry, and make a fair fra diavlo sauce. But I'm a better eater than I am a cook.

JHJ: TIASSA, the next book in the Dragearan Cycle, is coming out very soon. And Vlad is back in his old stomping grounds in Adrilankha. Will this be a return to the earlier, more Chandler-esque Vlad novels like JHEREG and YENDI? Anything you want to say about it?

SB: Yes. No. It will be Vlad's viewpoint. It will be other viewpoints. It will be early. It will be later.

JHJ: I've noticed a few narrative devices in your books that I really liked. In one, it's a laundry list – and notes to the launderer - that begins each chapter. In another, a description of each course at Valabar's. Do you set out to include these details from the outset or do you write a draft and then come back and use something like the laundry list to tie each chapter together?

SB: Those things emerge in the first draft. They form part of the structure, the shape; and I have a lot of fun playing with shape. Also, they provide a way to help me figure out what happens next when I'm stuck--that is, if I didn't know what happened next in, say, Dzur, I could look at the meal and see if that suggested some action.

JHJ: I used to play in a Grateful Dead cover band. We did tunes like “Jack Straw” and “Scarlet Begonias → Fire on the Mountain.” I've read that you're a Deadhead – BROKEDOWN PALACE was a hint and half for my ass - and recorded your own album, Boiled in Lead. Do you listen to music when you write? Does music inform your writing?

SB: Um, let's be clear. Boiled in Lead is a band--worldbeat celtodelic rock n' reel. I was never in the band, though they recorded some songs I wrote. My own solo album is politically incorrect folk music, with lots of very good musicians backing me up. I was in a band called Cats Laughing that was a wonderful, joyous experience and I miss it brutally. Yes, I am very, very much a Deadhead. No, I don't listen to music while I write. When I listen to music, that's all I'm doing. In fact, I hate background music. To me, music is either irritating or immersive. Does music inform my writing? Now that is a question to which I can give a straightforward and unambiguous answer: I have no idea. So, what do you play? Want to move to Austin?

JHJ: I've got a novel out in submission at various major publishers. I know you've had a long relationship with Teresa Nielsen Hayden as your editor. What kind of direction does she give you? I'm curious as to the process beyond just submissions. Would you take a moment to talk about the collaborative process in working with the folks at TOR? You ever balk at changes?

SB: I've had two editors, Terry Windling and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. They are both wonderful. They are able to see what I'm trying to do, and point out places where I didn't make it work, and show me how to fix it. I can't ask for more than that. I take about 80% of my editors' suggestions, which is pretty high. I've heard a lot of writers complain about bad editors, so I think I just got lucky.

JHJ: It's been six years since SETHRA LAVODE. Will you return to the Khaavren Romances?

SB: Sort of.

JHJ: You ever think about starting some other series? Are there pressures from your publisher to stick with Vlad and the Khaavren Romances?

SB: No, my publisher has never put any pressure on me to write one thing or another. I do have another book, that could become a series, bubbling around in the back of my head. We'll see.

JHJ: What are you doing to keep Austin weird?

SB: Living in Round Rock.

JHJ: Are you reading anything, other than THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, that you're excited about?

SB: Well, at this point I've finished THE WEALTH OF NATIONS and am reading Volume I of CAPITAL. I was also given the chance to read an advance copy of a new book called Desert of Souls by Howard Jones. It blew me away. I don't know when it's coming out, but look for it.

JHJ: Because I'm curious about the story behind it, why release MY OWN KIND OF FREEDOM, your Firefly novel, under creative commons?

SB: Um, because I don't own the rights to it? How was I going to ask people to pay me for something that isn't mine? I did use a particular form of the CC license that, as I understand it (I know nothing about this stuff), prevents people from actually changing my words. Also, in general, I like the whole CC concept. It's a good thing.

JHJ: From my pal Steve Weddle: When did you know you were creating a universe and not just writing books?

SB: I'm not sure if this answers the question, but it was while I was writing TECKLA that I either knew or admitted to myself that I was writing a series.

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You can check out Steven's blog at WORDS WORDS WORDS. He has a "web page" called The Dream Cafe, where you can get all the info I garbled about his music. You can buy his books at Amazon.com. He's got oodles. Here's a link to the Steven Brust author's page there. Make clicky and buy something. Don't be an asshole.

There's a little girl that appears intermittently in Mr. Brust's works, usually in dreams, if my memory serves, named Devera. She's a mystery. If you've read his work, and are curious, you can learn more about her here.

Steven's signature reads, MENTES INDIGNORVM FRANGERE. I think that's a Latin insult or something.

My thanks to Steven Brust for answering my questions, as scattershot as they were. I will hone my interviewing skills to a fine point, harden said point with fire, and then stab Polyphemus in the eye.