An Interview with Tomoko M. Banks

In anticipation for the release of Cwej: Lungbarrow by Loomlight, Arcbeatle Press asked its visionary author, Tomoko M. Banks, for an interview. She graciously accepted, and below you will find her answers to often-asked questions. Enjoy!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Tomoko. I’m a Doctor Who fangirl and freelance writer. I'm of mixed heritage, British and Japanese. I’m disabled, and a full-time wheelchair user. Unfortunately chronic illness has occupied most of my time for the last half-a-decade, but working on Cwej has been a wonderful project to occupy my days with creativity. I adore the works of David Lynch, I’m also a bit of a sucker for prog rock. I live with a dear friend/ housemate (who often likes to suggest puns for my stories!), a flock of very cute cats, and a rather unruly and constantly expanding collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.

What was your first experience with Doctor Who?

My first exposure to Doctor Who was a few weeks before the 40th anniversary. I was given a copy of Starburst Magazine’s Doctor Who special. (I still own it, and treasure it.) My dad described the myth of Doctor Who—a time traveller who changes his face, a robot dog sidekick, evil slimy mutant blobs in roving dustbin armour, and showed me a bootleg copy of the Genesis of the Daleks Omnibus. From there, I was hooked. I hoovered up as much Doctor Who as I could get my hands on. But the first ‘brand new’ Doctor Who I witnessed first-hand was Scream of the Shalka. It was arduous having to wait and watch the spinning TARDIS buffering screen on dial-up. But I persevered, and I loved it. And when it came back properly in 2005, I was able to impress my school friends with my arcane knowledge!

When you read Lungbarrow for the first time, what were your initial impressions?

The Doctor Who website was my stomping ground in my youth, the photo-novels, the ebooks and webcasts, really captivated my imagination. This is where I first found Lungbarrow. At first, because of Daryl Joyce’s beautiful cover art of McCoy and Hartnell, I had assumed it was a traditional multi-Doctor affair, but as I read on, I was delighted to learn the secrets of the Doctor’s vast and tangled family. It was cerebral and was like falling into a dream. A feeling I much later got when watching Twin Peaks. The tragedy of the Doctor’s cursed people, the poetry of the Family-Looms and Houses, the themes of societal rejection, imposed expectations, and self actualisation. Some years after reading Lungbarrow for the first time, I was shipped off to boarding school, and it was like I was living the Doctor’s nightmare. Lungbarrow was a great comfort to me, and that first year as a boarder I managed to find a copy of the original novel for only £1! I luxuriated in Fred Gambino’s gorgeous cover painting, and revelled in the little differences between the printed text and the ebook I’d first discovered!

What does Lungbarrow mean to you today?

Lungbarrow is a story that I have grown up with; like all of the best art, it’s inspired me through the years, getting richer and deeper every time I read it. I feel quite protective over that novel in particular, it’s always had a very personal place to me in the pantheon of Doctor Who’s adventures. Characters like Innocet and Satthralope live in my head, the Doctor’s journey through that story, the old baggage she’d like a serpent sloughs its skin, the families found and fostered, it all means a lot to me. In retrospect, it can be read as a finale to the Doctor Who of Old, and a bridge towards the Shining New Future. It will always be, well, timeless. And there are so many narrative ancestors and descendants of Lungbarrows; the beautiful and claustrophobic nostalgia of Auld Mortality, the surreal and reflective domesticity of the original 1988 story, the epic and time shattering revelations of the Timeless Child, the stark and barren glimpses of Listen… I have so much to say, it could really fill another few novels! 

How did you first get involved in Cwej: The Series?

It was at the start of 2020 when I first reached out to Hunter regarding Cwej. After chatting about writing opportunities for Cwej: The Series, I soon learnt they were looking to license characters and concepts from Marc Platt, and they weren’t sure how to reach him. I had Marc’s email, and helped put Hunter in touch with him. Originally ideas were bounced around about including the Other in ‘Rebel Rebel,’ but this didn’t come to be. Around early 2020, I pitched a couple of last minute ideas for Down the Middle, but the anthology was already full. Hunter suggested using one of the short story pitches as a novella for a prospective second Cwej anthology. I think I even suggested the title Hidden Truths for the project! After that, the story began its long path of evolution, growing from short story, to novella, to novel. In the interim I worked as an associate editor for Down the Middle. It was wonderful to experience the development of that anthology and witness the growth of so many brilliant stories from such talented pens. I was even able to pepper in a handful of worldbuilding and character details that I would later explore in my own Cwej stories.

What do you think draws people to Chris and Roz as characters? What separates them from other companions?

Chris and Roz draw on and evolve from a set of character archetypes that Doctor Who has played with from the beginning. The pair of professionals and peers, thrown into the adventure—as seen in Ian and Barbara, Sarah and Harry to name a couple of the most iconic examples. I also think they have similarities to some of the most memorable guest characters from Doctor Who’s latter seasons—Ancellyn and Bambera for example, a tiny smidgen of Glitz and Dibber even, and there’s a non-negliable amount of Pex in dear old Cwej. Which helps to bed them firmly within the oeuvre of the McCoy era as a whole. But Andy Lane also utilises the rich and complex quasi-cyberpunk 30th century setting (complete with 2000AD stylings) to introduce Cwej and Forrester as living breathing characters, consciously grounded in the genre trappings of that era, and of cult and pop-culture in a broader sense. They’re a 1990s love letter to pulpy genre fiction, from the americana-tinted fantasy of wise-cracking cop dramas to cynically down-to-earth British comic books, with a heavy dose of cinematic space opera. So on just a surface level, they’re already good fun, and a clever subversion of crime fiction tropes. Authors like Ben Aaronovitch and Lance Parkin seem to really take great relish in shaping Roz in particular: suspicious, cruel, noble—how she navigates between her aristocrat’s perspective and the cut-throat world of the Adjudicators, the lies and betrayals she has to live with and hide, and her alienation from all those aspects of her life. And of course, everything Kate Orman writes is drenched in human pathos, but never fails to be fun and moving and thought provoking. An utter unsung genius. Chris and Roz probably wouldn’t be the nicest of people; but that makes them all the more fascinating as characters. Both struggle with issues of memory, identity, and ultimately morality. Themes that pervade the lives of all the NA companions, come to think about it. Chris and Roz are really put through the wringer towards the end. And they’ve also had a fair amount of room to evolve a rich non-linear afterlife, from Decalogs to Big Finish; with Yasmin Bannerman and Travis Oliver bringing them to life, and to a whole new audience. And in the world of prose, they’ve been through such a journey, one that is still ongoing. Chris is very much a character of two halves, a man down the middle as it were. There’s the happy-go-lucky boyishly confident and occasionally bashful and out-of-his-depth Chris of the Doctor Who New Adventures, but there’s also the tortured multi-temporal war-criminal of Dead Romance, and the Faction Paradox series. Cwej: The Series is very much grappling with this dichotomy, and what it means for Chris on both a personal and cosmic scale. Of course, readers might one day discover how poor Roz would react to the devastating consequences of Chris’ universal prominence, and how she—and her allegiances—have been changed by the shifting tides of time. 

Tell us about the process of creating Lungbarrow by Loomlight. Any interesting behind-the-scenes details you’d like to share?

When writing Loomlight, I consciously decided to go back and revisit some non-Doctor Who novels that I loved, and wanted to use as inspiration. I already knew the basics of where Chris’ journey would take him, but there was a lot of world building that I was itching to explore through Chris’ eyes. I went back through The ‘Gormenghast’ Trilogy (Titus Alone is greatly underrated in my estimation,) Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘The City and the Stars’ (which very much influences my personal conception of how the Looms work, and the great secret of Reincarnation the Superiors would rather hide). I read Thomas M. Disch’s ‘On the Wings of Song,’ so vivid and cerebral. Some of the imagery from the end of the novel came to me after watching Jordan Peele’s “Nope.” Anno’s “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series also provided fertile ground for inspiration for the inner workings of the Neo-Technologists. “Twin Peaks” as always was in the back of my mind somewhere. I also drew on the literary, graphic, auditory, and televisual ‘canon’ of Doctor Who to inform the project. I revisited some of my favourite New Adventures, and listened to a vast array of music. The story has been like a garden, some bits grew wild, and had to be tidied and pruned as I refined each version of the manuscript. Certain strands were drawn from moments in my life. (The sea of memories is probably from the time I was swept out to sea, through the arches of Durdledoor, and had to be airlifted via helicopter to hospital! There are themes of identity, and institutionalisation that refer back to my school days and the months I spent in hospital, under the bureaucratic wings of an austerity-riddled NHS.)

Marc, and my editors, were very supportive when it came to redrafting, and through the collaborative process by which all stories are built, it has evolved into something that I really hope you’ll all enjoy. I’m very proud of it. (Fun fact, my housemate came up with a brilliant pun on lettuce: “He was the noblest Romaine Lettuce of them all…”, but I couldn’t make it work in context. My apologies to you all!) Much like Lungbarrow, there have been many Loomlights on its path to publication, even recently I was grappling with the story’s final line of dialogue. I even considered changing it! Readers may feel it is somewhat out of character for the speaker, but know that it is indeed a conscious teaser for future adventures that truly explore this person’s drastic change of heart! 

What is your future involvement with Cwej looking like? Any other future creative endeavors outside of Doctor Who?

I have another story coming out very soon in “Seasons: Springs Eternal.” It’s called “The First Spring” and I’m very proud of it. It features another family reunion, dark secrets from an old enemy’s past, friends and foes clashing at the threshold of creation. Time and Relatives indeed. There’s another story I still need to finish that is due for a future Seasons anthology. As for other creative projects, I have ideas for a fair few novels, and short stories, even some anthologies. With some luck, I’ll get on with those once I’ve caught all the idea-fishes swimming around in my head, and assembled them into the right story. 

If there’s one thing you want people to take away from Lungbarrow by Loomlight, what would it be?

I’d like readers to know that Loomlight is just one of the infinite aspects that make up the Myth of Doctor Who. It may speak to my view of the Whoniverse, but there are many other stories, and many more Ages of Time. The world of the Superiors, and the universe beyond is full of twists and turns, and stories building upon each other. It’s my love-letter to the various disparate pasts of my favourite fictional hero, and the world that wove them. It’s my salute to the corners of history that once seemed forgotten. And I hope it presents a twist on a time travel narrative that I’m surprised hasn’t been explored more often in Who, especially when pertaining to a central character. I loved my time growing Lungbarrow by Loomlight, but this wonderful Secondary World that we all love is made all the more exciting and textured by the many differing stories that came before, and will no doubt come after. The Canvas of Time is big enough for all the legends and adventures, and the Doctor and their Friends, the worlds they step into and the journeys they go on—those are the ties that bind it all. I hope Loomlight is an enjoyable Yarn, and provides possible threads to stitch parts of the tapestry together, whilst leaving room for the mysteries that can never be known. (I know that’s not quite one thing, but I have a lot of thoughts!)

Where can we find you on social media?

I’m afraid I don’t really use social media these days. Terrible for an author in the modern age, I know, but life’s oh-so-peaceful without it!

How would you like to leave this interview off? Any final thoughts?

I’d like to thank Marc, my friends and family, my colleagues, all the authors who’ve inspired me, all the future-readers to be. (And of course, Doctor Who for sparking my curiosity, and inspiring me, since the dying days of the Wilderness years.) 

Thank you for your time!

Ebook preorders for Cwej: Lungbarrow by Loomlight are available Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with paperbacks being made available April 23rd.