David Wellington

David Wellington was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Syracuse University and received an MFA in creative writing from Penn State. In 2004 he began serializing his novel Monster Island online. The book rapidly gained a following, and was acquired for print publication by Thunder’s Mouth Press. Since then, Wellington has published more than 20 novels, and has been featured in The New York Times, Boing Boing and the Los Angeles Times.

Wellington's new novel is Erebus 13, the third title in his Red Space trilogy.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I ended up not picking the titles for the Red Space trilogy books; in fact this book was just called “Red Space Volume Three” until I’d already finished the first draft! I had to retcon the title back into the book but fortunately I had the perfect place to use it. Now Erebus 13 is where the most important scenes in the book take place. I think it works pretty well, though—it’s certainly dark and mysterious and it references my (much) earlier book, 13 Bullets.

What's in a name?

Another interesting question, since I didn’t choose the character names either! This book was a real collaboration between me and my editor, James Long. He came up with the original crew of the Artemis: Petrova, Zhang, and Parker, to represent different cultures though in the end not the cultures you might think. Zhang and Parker both were born in the outer solar system, in places only loosely connected back to the Earth of their ancestors. Petrova is the only real earthling in the books, and that’s important for this volume where she ends up going home—or back, anyway, to what used to be her home, though it’s drastically changed now. Rapscallion, the robot, was entirely James’s invention, which I freely admit even though he’s my favorite character in the series.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Not all that much, actually! My twenty-year-old self would have been blown away, but when I was a teenager I never doubted I would be working as a science fiction author at this age. It was all I wanted to do from when I was six (when I first saw Star Wars). I am so grateful to my readers and everyone I’ve had a chance to work with over the years, that I’ve been able to make that real.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings, definitely. I always start a book with the ending clearly in mind, and then I work backwards. What happened to put the characters in this particular predicament? There’s your plot. Who is there at the ending, and who isn’t? It’s all about finding my way back to the moment when it really all began, when the action starts.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

There’s some of me in all my characters. It’s one of my flaws as a horror writer, honestly, that I tend to only write smart, logical characters, people who can think through a problem and solve it little by little. Horror often works better with characters who are strongly passionate about things, who fly by the seat of their pants… of course, those kinds of characters die off pretty fast! I always want the character who’s going to make it through, or at least survive the longest.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

The Red Space trilogy was inspired by a lot of classic space horror movies, from Alien to Event Horizon to Pandorum. We wanted to create a good old-fashioned thrill ride of a story, with lots of action and suspense but also rich, relatable characters. I think I feel that the most in the way the series feels like you’re in freefall the whole time, with each new horror, each new terrible event coming out of seemingly nowhere. The characters are left desperately scrambling, just trying to stay alive—while simultaneously trying with everything they’ve got to solve the central mystery of the series, and maybe even get ahead of their ancient enemies.

t David Wellington's website.

The Page 69 Test: Chimera.

The Page 69 Test: The Hydra Protocol.

The Page 69 Test: Positive.

My Book, The Movie: The Cyclops Initiative.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Astronaut.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rachel León

Rachel León is a writer, editor, and social worker, who has worked in child welfare for nearly two decades. She serves as Managing Director for Chicago Review of Books, and is the author of the novel, How We See the Gray.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I think my title does quite a bit of work: it brings in the Greek chorus so before even opening the novel, the “we’ is immediately present for the reader. And while the novel deals with the foster care system, it’s more about seeing the gray. What does it mean to see the gray?, you might be wondering. Well, to me, it’s understanding that we can only know so much about another person (and yet as a society, we’re so prone to judge). How We See the Gray is about how we’re all complicated and messy, so we should show each other grace and kindness.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self would be very surprised by my novel! I honestly didn’t even know about foster care when I was in high school, so to learn adult me wrote an entire novel about that system would be mind blowing. But also, the novel takes a lot of risks in terms of form and narrative, which would be surprising. Plus, as a teenager I was convinced I’d be a visual artist, so my teenage self would also be confused why I wasn’t painting and wrote a novel instead!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I rewrote the beginning multiple times, but the ending has more or less stayed the same, so I’d have to say beginnings are harder. Finding the best way into the story was difficult, even (especially?) after knowing the ending.

I knew from the start I wanted the ending to carry the heart and hope that (to me) defines my experience working in foster care. People hear “foster care” and assume it’s all depressing, but what characterizes my experience more is this feeling of my heart expanding as I see how much love exists in this world, how strong and good people can be. That’s what I wanted to leave readers with. Getting them there was tougher.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

On the surface, Meredith, the novel’s main character (a young foster care caseworker who is a single parent) and I have the most in common, or at least did: I too began working in child welfare as a single parent of a preschooler and also drank to cope with the stress of the job. Like Meredith, I’ve always felt the weight of this work and have had a strong desire to do my best for the families I serve. And like Meredith, I also have the common traits found in adult children of alcoholics. However, our personalities are very different. I don’t see myself in the character at all, though we share similar circumstances.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Music for sure. I included the lyrics to La Historia’s album Low Mimetic throughout the book because that album feels to me like the soundtrack to the novel. A few readers have seen parallels to The Wire, which I’ve admittedly only seen one season of, yet I understand the comparison.

More than anything, my work in child welfare and my coworkers have influenced my writing. Both the work and the people I do it with have helped shape me into who I am and shape how I see the world, which is what I brought to the page.

Visit Rachel León's website.

--Marshal Zeringue