Aaron J.
Lawler has taught for fifteen years and has published peer-reviewed studies in
humanities, technology, game theory and education. His mother taught him to
tell stories, his father taught him to think independently, his wife pushed him
to try. Aaron is a classically trained painter and holds advanced degrees in
the humanities, education, and technology. He is in love with his wife, his two
kids, and his two dogs; and always will be.
Interview
1. What
made you want to become a writer?
It is simple really - storytelling.
It is an age old art that extends back to our most prehistoric ancestors and is
how we became who we are today. I love stories. I love to read anything and
everything. Neil Gaiman once said in an interview (and I am paraphrasing here)
that “as a writer it is important to read good works, bad works, and everything
in between” (or something to that affect). I think this is true. We are
hardwired to tell stories. It is how we learn about the world, about one
another, about everything.
My mother told me stories and read
me stories when I was very young. She helped me write down the stories I would
create – crazy worlds where spacemen kept pet chinchillas, or a group of boys
(very similar to the kids in Sandlot)
navigated an underground world after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, and
dragons had birthday parties (both actual stories I wrote as a child!). My
father taught me to challenge everything. Every idea that every grown-up or
peer said, I was taught to critically analyze. And he taught me to learn about
everything – science, history, culture, people, politics, economics.
So together it made sense – stories
and knowledge. I am a college professor now and was a teacher for over a
decade. I use storytelling as my delivery method, so for me, writing is like
teaching, I just share ideas with an audience.
2. What
are your biggest literary influences? Favorite authors and why?
So when I originally started this
list I thought I would break it up into sections: contemporary fiction,
literary fiction and nonfiction. And then it just became a list of my favorite
books in each of these categories. I decided I was going to narrow it down to
best answer the question (“biggest” instead of “all of your” literary
influences). My favorite contemporary works are Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, which is just
so lush and whimsical and philosophical; and Michael Crichton’s Prey which not only moves at the pace of
an action movie but changed my entire perception of reality in terms of holism,
emergence, and interconnectedness. My favorite literary works include Gabriel
García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of
Solitude, Arundhati Roy’s The God of
Small Things, Miguel de Cervantes’ Don
Quixote, and TH White’s The Once and
Future King. My list goes on from there, but these four books have such
texture, such opulent and sumptuous pages, they create a space for magical
realism to inhabit. I love magical realism as a foundation, and think that all
speculative fiction would be enriched by its principles: the mundane being
supernatural and the miraculous being natural.
3. What are you reading at the moment? Would you
recommend it to readers of this blog? Why?
So at any given time I am reading a
number of things; I am a sponge and love to draw in as much as I can whenever I
can.
I am actually re-reading my own
novel, The Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz
Faraday and the Shapers of the Id, not because I am so egotistical that I
love reading the words from my own pen, but I am plotting a sequel and do not
want to make the mistake George Lucas made when writing his prequels: he forgot
to watch his own movies (and there are number of plot holes and conflicts
because of it!).
I just finished Fred Hoyle’s Black Cloud which is an excruciating
novel. I came across Black Cloud when reading through Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials: Great
Aliens from Science Fiction Literature, which is a ravenously illustrated
collection by Wayne Douglas Barlowe (that sadly has gone out of print)
showcasing the best aliens in science fiction (he also completed one for
fantasy races/species!). Barlowe’s work is always a great resource for up-and-coming
writers; he offers dazzling visuals for creating new worlds. Sir Fred Hoyle was
an English astronomer credited for the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis, and
his novel Black Cloud reads more like
a technical piece, with pages upon pages of unbearable detail concerning
theories and processes, and yet will gloss over the deaths of millions of
people in less than a phrase. With all of that said, Black Cloud has moments of genius and filled with some of the most
beautiful descriptions of what it means to be human.
I
am also an avid graphic novel fan and am currently reading Saga written by Brian K. Vaughan and
illustrated by Fiona Staples. Opulent color both in imagery and tone, an
amazing journey that somehow blends surrealism, the Jungle Book, Tolkein and Star
Wars, and a serious commentary on life and humanity while remaining
wonderfully quirky!
My
audiobook (I always run one of these when driving or taking the train) is a
re-read of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods,
a beautiful classic that never tires! I read the print version years ago, and
there is something refreshing hearing the spawning, sprawling, spackled words
that Gaiman conjures. I have been a fan of his, since reading the Sandman series – an epic in its own
right – and of course lovely little morsels of mythical fun like Coraline and The Graveyard Book.
3. Tell
us something about how you write? i.e. are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you
have any weird or necessary writing habits or rituals?
I am a classically trained painter,
and one point in my life thought I would become a professional illustrator.
Trying my hand at the trade, I found myself stifled. With endless parallel and
extradimensional planetary worlds orbiting about in my imagination, I always
thought the vehicle to sharing these would be through illustration. But I found
that I much prefer the written word when it comes to world-building and
character crafting. Painting slows my process down too much. My mind wants to
invent, sprout up new places and sights and sounds with ludicrous speed. And
the brush, the canvas, the whole process limits me too much.
I have found that I prefer to paint
watercolor landscapes and mixed media portraits as a form of relaxation –
something that actually lets my mind quiet down. Whereas writing is the
opposite. Writing for me is painterly process but at superspeed. I can craft
entire gardens, or ocean floors, or mystical forests with rich and lurid detail
in mere moments and then continue my Aslan-like
painting process by filling the world with the sons and daughters of my
visualization.
My wife once compared my writing
process to the Robin Williams’ movie “What Dreams May Come.” In the movie, the
visuals are liquid paintings that shift and grow from scene to scene, always
lavishly textured, and in a perpetual motion. This is how I write, filling the
page with the symbols – in this case words – which represent full, technicolor
splashes of life. Painting does not allow me to communicate this way, it is so
arduous and would require hundreds of canvases to create the world I want to
bring to life.
It is a double-edged sword in some
ways. Because I want to create a specific visual in the mind of others – I want
to seed them with my thought in the pristine, perfect way I have shaped it. But
writing forces me to let go of this. I find myself relaxed at the release of
control, at first it was painstaking to simply be – to simply flow. But now, I
visualize the image, craft the words with poetry and rhythm instead of color
and brush, and that is how I manifest my ideas.
The
Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz Faraday and the Shapers of the Id
actually pays homage to this process. Although my first novel, this not my
first writing (I have even published nonfiction articles with the International
Journal of Art and Art History and the Erudite Journal of Educational Research).
Yet this novel is so personal because Fitz creates his world the same way I
created the world for Fitz and even Fitz himself. There is a meta-element to
this novel in that it in many ways explains how I created the “paracosm” – a
word here, meaning parallel world
sideways from our own.
4. Do
you think people have misconceptions about the speculative fiction? Why do you
think it is a worthwhile genre?
I am passionate about speculative
fiction and think somehow it has been relegated to pop culture tripe. So few
are able to break the stigma and create a truer persona of what speculative
fiction means. We can probably name all of the greats in a sentence of two:
Tolkein, Lewis, Rowling, Orwell, Bradbury, Wells, etc. There are so many more
beautiful writers whose work are just lovely, just wonderful to read. They are
known in the inner circles of speculative fiction, but outside are considered
no less worthy than the grocery store romance novel.
Why?
I think it is hard for our society
as a whole to respect the whimsical. It becomes somehow kitsch to be
imaginative – the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance,
and Robert E. Howard are often treated as garden gnomes when compared to
Tolkein’s or Lewis’ marble sculptures. And even then, there is a stigma
attached to the greats.
But I will say this, the
millennials and generation Y are changing this – they respect speculative
fiction. They have made it cool to read graphic novels like Saga, play fantasy games like Skyrim, and love movies from Harry Potter to Star Trek. And I love them for it! We are a creative crisis as we
continue to push our culture towards the meaningful fields such as economics,
technology, and business. We have lost the way to having fun, as we regiment
enjoyment and defame just a need to have a good time. And we have somehow
separated pleasure from learning.
I think those who read, view or
play in the speculative fiction genres also like to learn. They like to invest
in new ideas and innovative premises. They explore the “What ifs?”, play the
mental games of strategy and prediction, and they consider multiple views. When
we promote speculative fiction we are promoting those problem solving skills,
those levels of engagement, that thirst for discovery, that exploration of the
internal and external worlds. (Jamie's note: You've put my thoughts into words here in ways that I have struggled to do.)
5. Of
all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
Fitz Faraday from my debut novel, The Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz Faraday and
the Shapers of the Id, is by far the most challenging and most enjoying to
write. I have created characters and storylines since I was a small child, and
each holds a special place, but Fitz is by far the most fun to “talk to.” This
may sound a bit strange, but I talk to my characters.
Donatello (not the TMNT!) is
rumored to have yelled at his statue, Lo Zuccone ("Pumpkinhead") and
said, "I know you are alive, get down from that pedestal!" Perhaps an
urban legend, but the truth is when you create something from nothing it can
take on a life of its own. There are times I will finish writing and am not
sure where the surge of creative energy came from. So when I get stuck or write
myself into a corner, I shout at my characters, "What do you want?"
"Where are we going next?" "How did we get here?" Then,
having that dialogue is useful - it gives me something to work with. It is far
less existential or schizophrenic than it sounds and probably more like a
improv sessions based on Calvin and
Hobbes.
Fitz is so interesting to me
because he does not serve some adolescent cliché or nostalgia. I often find
that in novels, particularly speculative fiction novels, adult writers create
adolescents for disingenuous reasons. What I mean here, is that adults see
adolescents as two-dimensional personifications of a talent, a trait, or an
emotion. These characters are typified by being sporty, or artsy, or social. Or
they are characterized as being full of angst and rebellion.
Fitz has no special gifts. He has
no talents or interests. He is really just an average, everyday adolescent. He
is not defined by his angst or his gifts. Sometimes he is full of angst and
sometimes he is whimsical. Sometimes he is brooding and has good reason to be
so, and other times he is a romantic. He is not defined by some manipulated
ideas by a narrator with a purpose, but is rather defined by his circumstance
and events. When he begins to discover a phenomenal ability, he is still him.
He is still just trying to be a good friend, do the right thing, and win the
girl. Aren’t these the things that we all worry about, no matter what our
circumstances may be? So that is why I like Fitz, because even though he
stumbles into this godly power, he handles it the way I think we would all
handle it – we would look for help from our closest friends, and we would
second guess what we should and shouldn’t do!
6. Tell
us a little about your plans for the future.
Do you have any other books in the works?
The
Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz Faraday and the Shapers of
Id was written with series potential in mind (Even the title was structured
that way so that it would always be The
Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz Faraday and the…). So my plan is to put Fitz in
new challenges and new landscapes, refining his abilities to turn thoughts into
reality. But I also want to chart the progress of his internal growth as well
as his supernatural growth. The debut novel was as much a discussion of
morality and truth as it was “what would it be like to have superpowers?” Both
are fun to write about, but for vastly different reasons.
I also plan to
incorporate a more diverse pantheon. The first novel offered a perspective of
small town America which was populated by predominantly white, working class or
middle class people. I would like to broaden the scope and add characters who
bring different perspectives to Fitz’s world. For instance I am working on a
character that has background in Eastern philosophy, who will bring some
ancient ideas into what Fitz is doing. The groundwork for this was laid out
with Josey’s parents (they are academics) but I think I can dig this even
further with a character that has a far more personal connection. She is also a
female character, adding another powerful woman to the cast (Josey is of course
a pretty substantial character already!).
As for the plot, it is
going to be a journey – a quest of sorts – but one that is both real and
paralleled by the unreal. The trick will be making sense of both, as I plan to
pull from my magical realism background and make the everyday parts of life
seem magical, whereas the supernatural parts of the novel seem normal.
7. Where can we find you online?:
Blog: http://writeraaronjlawler.strikingly.com/#aaron-s-blog ; https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16038137.Aaron_J_Lawler/blog
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Paracosm-Fitz-Faraday-Shapers/dp/1612967825/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-marvelous-paracosm-of-fitz-faraday-and-the-shapers-of-the-id-aaron-j-lawler/1125010276?ean=9781612967820
The Marvelous Paracosm of Fitz Faraday and the Shapers of Id
Fitz
Faraday, his best friend Hollis, who comes from the wrong-side-of-the-tracks,
and his hoped-to-be-girlfriend Josey, the new girl in town, are taken through
harrowing events and thrilling misadventures, as they learn about life, love,
death, the inner workings of the psyche, and the flimsiness of reality. After
witnessing the murder of Professor Oliver Crowley, who has invented a way of
bringing thoughts into physical reality, Fitz and his friends must exonerate
the town bully, who is being framed for the murder. Using Professor Crowley's
inventions, Fitz soon learns he can bend the field of Id, a sea of golden
dreamsands and wishes. Fitz finds himself drawn inside a new world he never
knew existed. He hopes he will be able to use use that world to help his
friends and even his enemies. But to do so, he must master Crowley’s technique
of “Thought becomes light and light becomes physical.”Excerpt
From Chapter Four:
Fitz Faraday's head goes
in and out of fogginess. He drops into his seat, knocking over his books. He
nervously scoops them up as the students nearby laugh at him. His face turns
hot and fills with a rush of blood. He keeps opening and closing his jaw,
popping his ears and ridding the pressure from his eyes.
The lecture goes on,
just like it does every day, whether Fitz Faraday is present in class or not.
He hears only bits and pieces, and his notes are a scattered collection of
one-word phrases and half-heard definitions, which make little sense.
"Electromagnetic
energy can manifest as radio waves and light. We now have the ability to
transmit data, like radio waves, but using light instead. That light can blink
faster than a human eye can see, and with that we transmit even more data and
at faster speeds."
Ribbons of color wind
its way through the classroom. Fitz follows the streams, his eyes darting from
one corner of the room to the other. His mind seems to act as an antenna,
absorbing and visualizing so many different frequencies. Narrow lines,
repeating pulses, luminous shapes, colors, and waves all float in his retinas.
His teacher asks,
"FitzGerald?"
He looks at her blankly.
"Can you explain
why light would be a safe alternative to higher frequencies?"
He cannot answer her.
His mind is locked on the word "light" and the pulses of
electromagnetism. He stares at her, but rather than looking at her, he stares
through her. He doesn't really see her form, but rather sees her voice.
Another student blurts
out the answer and the teacher moves on.
Next period, he has the
same issue. He cannot concentrate. The tardy bell's toll invades his bones,
vibrating its way through calcified shrieks and cracking chimes. His hair is
all sweaty as if he had just come from gym class, and he can't seem to balance
his feet. He clumsily plops into another desk and desperately tries to focus
his eyes on the chalkboard.
Some time passes, but
Fitz hears his teacher's voice for the first time. "The radio began as
wireless telegraphy. By 1902, Marconi sent the first transatlantic message.
Transmitters at this time were spark-gap machines."
Just like chemistry
class, Fitz scrawls incoherent notes on his page. He lists dates and people but
doesn't connect any of the information. Sweat drips in his eyes and his
heartbeat thunders so tremendously that his entire field of vision pulses with
blurry ripples on each count.
"Fitz...Fitz!"
a classmate whispers.
"FitzGerald!"
the history teacher shouts.
Fitz comes to for a
moment, and full of lost confusion he says, "What?"
"Electric currents
can be transmitted through space and behave like heat and light," the
history teacher says angrily.
"Wha...yeah...like
heat and what?" Fitz mumbles.
"And light! It was
a modern technological wonder. Did you even read chapter seven,
FitzGerald?" the teacher demands.
"Light?" Fitz
mumbles the word, as if it wasn't real, as if he had never heard it before.
The tardy bell again —
and again it rattles inside Fitz. The noise makes his vision go black and then
explode with blurriness. The sweat runs from his messy hair down his back and
under his T-shirt. The tweed jacket is stifling and he flings it off as if it
were a straitjacket trying to suffocate him.
If you like what you've read, tell me so in the comments. The book can be purchased below:
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