Interviewing Jeremy Szal
Hellloooo!!!
Last week I thoroughly enjoyed my return to outer space and the universe of The Common by reading the excellent Blindspace by Jeremy Szal this part of the series was an action packed, character filled and emotional rollercoaster. I thoroughly recommend it and I caught up again with Jeremy to ask a few questions on the book and where we head next
How do you like to booktempt Blindspace?
It’s a character-driven, frenetic space opera that mashes up Mass Effect 2 with Blade Runner 2049 and Red Rising, with a dash of alien drugs and found families for good measure. And gin.
How do you approach your action and battle scenes? What do you want the reader to feel in them?
I’m going for a feral, up-close, feel to them, not dissimilar to that of a first-person shooter (or first-person action game). Everything’s meant to feel in your face and uncomfortably close. Sharp edges flashing, the air filled with screams and shouts, dirt under your nails and in your teeth, as if you were really there, right in the middle of the carnage, raw and bloody as you like. I’m a character writer, emulating the emotional responses of the protagonist in any given scene, and warfare is no different. It’s not about what a battle looks like from a bird eye view, it’s about what it feels like. The experience. It’s why the battle itself can be more important than the end result for me, and I try to make things as visceral and raw as possible.
One thing that really impressed me was the tone change towards action in the second book. Was it deliberate and do you see this changing again in the next instalment?
Do you mean Vakov’s shift towards action? Instead of charging in like a wounded bull, he’d stop and think and process and include his fireteam? If so, yes, it was absolutely deliberate. Even before the outlining stage, I knew we’d have to see Vakov changing his approach towards action and combat. It’s all well and good to be the lone wolf, but as a character says to him, those times are over, and he needs to approach things differently.
This meant writing more briefing scenes, and more conversations between the characters as they planned what to do. It was a challenge, since I started writing the first book with zero notion that I’d be heading in this direction – I wanted to write something feral and wild and unhinged, so pulling back and taking a breather to plan ahead was as much a character arc for Vakov as it was for me!
And yes, absolutely, we’ll be seeing this adapt and evolve further in the next installment. Possibly more than once.
I loved the quiet moments in between the battles where we got to see characters talk and interact when they’re not fighting the good fight?
Those were some of my favourite scenes to write! It’s important to me that we see our characters at rest, see them learn and grow and adapt and bond together before heading out on the next adventure. And I learned a lot of new things about them that wasn’t pre-planned, either. The character bonding scenes in Chapter 22, on the alien cruise-liner, almost wrote themselves, they demanded to be written so badly. And I’m a big believer in telling stories the way they demand to be told, especially in regards to character relationships.
After the debut novel how did the second book feel? Any key lessons you learned?
The second book was harder. Much, much harder. Great chunks of it were chopped out and totally rewritten. But the outcome has resulted in a book that is completely and utterly my vision, and I’m very happy with it. I suppose I learned that sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and interrogate your own writing. Is this really want you want to do? Is this really the way the story needs to be told, or are you forcing it down the wrong path? In the end, if I go with my gut, I’ve made the right decision.
Three words to describe the next book?
I’ll break you.
What have your reading highlights been this year?
I’m a very big fan of the manga series BEASTARS by Paru Itagaki; there’s some fantastic character work and beautifully-drawn artwork to be found in those pages. I really enjoyed THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by Scott Lynch, a book that’s been on my TBR since its release! THE WISDOM OF CROWDS by the one and only Joe Abercrombie is, of course, amazing (but don’t tell him I said so. His head is big enough already). And I just finished listening to DEAD MAN IN A DITCH by Luke Arnold, which is some of the most fun I’ve ever had reading about a character, and world, in a constant state of crippling depression.
