Hello! I am Plum, I am going to be interviewing you via text. [ominous robot voice] Please State Your Name and Story for the Record. Aidan Mason, Cwej: The Judas Bargain What drew you to this series or project initially? Well, the fact that it was a Doctor Who spin-off! I’ve loved the series since I was a kid and the fact that it was a former companion made it all the more tempting. Plus I tried to pitch to Cwej before, but it didn’t work out, so when “Codex” was in development I had to jump on it. The fanboy inside of me was begging! What makes your story different or special? I know that’s a broad question, but work with me here. I think what makes The Judas Bargain so special is that it’s an allegory for fandom and their tendency to try and cut things into “canon”. The Slicers are sort of an allegory for people that are so obsessed with canon they miss out on some great stories. It’s a double edged sword really; it hurts the show because you get people saying, “you can’t do that because [insert story here] from 1965 already did it” OR people say, “well, that [insert story here] doesn’t matter, it’s not ‘canon’ and thus not worth remembering” and in the process degrade the hard work it took to make that book/comic/audio, etc. Both can coexist and that’s the point I’m trying to make in The Judas Bargain. There’s plenty of beautiful EU stories and there’s great TV stories that contradict the EU and vice versa. Let them all exist. It’s part of the beauty of this universe, the variations it provides. If anything, I’d say that Doctor Who isn’t just a series anymore; it’s a genre. A choose-your-own adventure story, if you will. I also like to think I have a different tone in some of my stories than you’d say the traditional Arcbeatle tone is. Not incompatible, but I like to think that I have an edge to mine that helps me stand out just a tiny bit. Maybe that’s me just being a silly college student, but hey, it works for me. Do you plan things out meticulously or write by the seat of your pants and let the characters guide you? Did your writing process surprise you? I tend to plan out the skeleton/backbone of a story, all the major plot beats and character arcs. That way when I’m adding the meat of the story, I have a general structure that keeps me from veering off into a tangled mess. It also gives me a lot of room to work in foreshadowing, that’s something I really like to do. But it also gives me room to improvise if I feel the need to. I can add tons of character moments, deaths for minor characters if I want to, etc, and keep it within the structure I have so it feels satisfying to the reader. Is there a writer or a creative artist that inspires you? A series? A part of life? Tons. Attack on Titan, Doctor Who and related spin-offs (obviously), RENT and Tick Tick Boom, Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, Phantom of the Opera and Star Wars. Oh and the stupid shit people do at my college (university for you Brits). Oddity keeps me going. What’s something strange and unusual about your work? I like bolding impactful words, especially if a character’s placing emphasis on it. I guess it’s kind of symbolic of how I like to do my stories; bold and impactful. When I do something I want it to stick, if that makes sense, I want to make it stand out from the crowd. Speaking of oddities, I have an exceedingly random question for you here. What’s your favorite colour? No, seriously. This used to be very important when we were young, I have to know. Black or green, depending on my mood. Both have a really good aesthetic. Writers are often described as having to kill their darlings. Is there anything you had to cut that you wish you didn’t? Anything that didn’t fit quite the way you wanted to? For Cwej, nothing much was cut. If anything, I’d say more was added between first draft and final draft than cut. That being said, I would’ve liked to perhaps make more mainstream references to the wider universe, but we don’t have the license so it’s a moot point regardless. Do you get writer’s block? All the time. It’s why I haven’t released a book in like two years at this point. College plus the drudgery of day jobs kinda sap the creativity out of me sometimes. Plus there’s just days that mentally I’m not up for it. What’s your dream job? Is it to write a particular thing or is it to do something else entirely? Just to keep on writing and actually have it be my full-time job. I guess showrunning Doctor Who would be amazing. There’s also a few novels/scripts on the pipeline. Stay tuned! Do your characters have secrets? Do we know those secrets? For The Judas Bargain specifically, I guess the secret is if Dasju survived or not. Like I said in the story, it’s all about what you think is true… Have you, or any of your characters, seen the 2007 animated feature film The Bee Movie? You’d have to ask Andy Lane or Hunter O’Connell about our main trio! (laughs) Dasju probably saw it as part of some Old Earth History Class. Maybe it’s enshrined in a future version of the Criterion Collection. TARDIS Wiki editors, this is absolute confirmation that Dasju watched Bee Movie, take note! (further laughs) When did you write your first story? Was it when you were young, or was it last year? What do you consider to be your first story? Are you proud of it? Well are we talking about published or written? Written would probably be a couple Star Wars fan fictions I wrote in first grade as part of a writing class. Published it’s Aesthetic from Arcbeatle’s very own 10,000 Dawns! And I’m very proud of it, though I think I’d give it another draft nowadays. How much do you redraft your work? It’s often said that writing is rewriting. How many iterations did you go through to bring us what we see now? It really depends on how much a client or story needs it. I think Judas Bargain went through two rounds of edits if I remember correctly. A27 / the Warsong and Cwej both have storied and detailed backgrounds. How familiar are you with their prior work? Is there another piece with these characters that you particularly enjoy? Cwej I was decently familiar with, I’ve read a few VNAs and I have the original print of Down the Middle. I actually reread a few of the stories in the anthology before I started writing. Flickering Flame I think is my favorite in the series (apart from mine). Can’t go wrong with an Iris Wildthyme team-up! Is your story exactly as you imagined it? Is it different? It’s pretty close to what I imagined. From the beginning this was intended to be in a shorter, “date” format. I think Hunter or Jim/Jeanne, I can’t remember who, said the limit was a certain number of pages. I tried to fit that originally, but then someone suggested it needed an extra scene or two, so I added that in. Can the main character of your story defeat seventeen rabid wolves? The wolves are hungry. Does Dasju or Cwej have a gun? Cwej probably. Dasju on the other hand would probably be wolf chow if he didn’t have a wandering traveler to save him. Which character do you have the hardest time understanding? The least? I don’t think I have much trouble understanding them if I’m being honest. I might not know them as deeply as some others here, but I get the general character archetypes. I guess ironically enough it’s one of my own, Kaiden. Him and the Slicers, what made them do this? Maybe I could explore that in another story, if I ever get the chance. Is there a message you’d like to tell the world? Read The Judas Bargain! Please, I crave validation 🥺
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Today with the second day of WARSONG week, we have an interview with WARSONG Range Editor James Wylder. James has had a long history with the property, and has been passionate about bringing the universe to life at Arcbeatle Press. If you're curious about what WARSONG is, he'll be glad to share! WARSONG Q&A Q: Can you give a bit of background for those unfamiliar with WARSONG? A: WARSONG is a science fiction setting about a future where humanity has fractured in to three factions: earth has become a corporatocracy, Mars has declared its independence, renamed itself Gongen, and is now a communist government run by an Artificial Intelligence, and people who don’t want to be a part of either of those two powers have become Mavericks–people who live in the lawless reaches of space waking out an independent living. Earth wants Gongen back, the Mavericks want to be left alone, and everybody is starting to get in each other’s business as a complicated situation starts reaching a breaking point… In the real world, WARSONG is a series of fiction based on the universe that was created by writers like New York Times Bestseller Michael A. Stackpole (Star Wars: X-Wing), Chuck Kallenbach, and Tim Ellington, with art for the series done by folks like John Howe (the Lord of the Rings films) and Kieran Yanner (Magic the Gathering) for the WARS Trading Card Game by Decipher, Inc. back in 2004. The game itself didn’t last long, but the universe, the game, and the stories have had a hold on myself and other devoted fans for nearly two decades now, and I’m beyond excited to be able to bring this universe to a whole new audience of readers. Q: What can the audience expect from WARSONG: Preludes? A: Three novellas by some really talented writers, and one short story by a mook–sorry I’ve been told I should be nicer about myself! I mean, one story by another writer some people have called pretty-okay (me). Nathan P. Butler wrote the first novella, and he’d written for Star Wars Tales comics, so he was a great find for this series. The guy is really smart too, he understands history and politics on a deep level that you’ll really get to see play out as his story continues. Sean E. Williams wrote the second one, he’s had a wild career, writing Wonder Woman comics and Fairest. He’s great at character work, and you’ll get some great stuff as the characters in his novella are built up and torn down. Finally, Jim Perry wrote the capstone to it all, which is a legitimately riveting and funny book that’s going to take you on an adventure that I think is fair to call “cinematic” in a good way! Q: Do you have a favourite scene in the book? A: Oh how to pick… There’s a reveal in the first novella, Healers and Hunters, that I think first time readers are going to have an absolute ball with and just eat up, and folks familiar with the lore already will be grinning when they realise what’s about to show up. Q: How did you find the editing process? A: It was unique. After all, the three novellas had already been released before! They started with Grail Quest Books, who I worked for in the past, but they didn’t manage to finish releasing the series sadly. I’d been part of the series as a proofreader and setting advisor–as well as writing an unreleased novella for it!--so when my old bosses Josh and Kas Radke, offered to let Arcbeatle Press finish releasing the series they’d started for it, I was ecstatic. I’m honored Decipher gave us this chance, and we’ve taken it very seriously. But we had a few things we knew we could improve going in. One of the writers wanted a chance to improve some elements of their novella they weren’t satisfied with, so I did a new editing job on one of the novellas, and added a new epilogue to the book to help lead readers into the next book better. I think this is the best release this book has gotten, and I can’t wait for new readers to see it for the first time, and old readers to see it in its new form. Q: Does the book connect to the WARS Roleplaying Game? A: If you’re a fan of the WARS Roleplaying Game you’ll find some of your favorite places and characters from the game in this book, not to mention a lot of valuable lore about the universe you’ll uncover along the way you can use in your games. In making the Battle of Phobos series, when it started at Grail Quest Books, there were a lot of things we had to figure out and expand about the setting to make the series happen. All the writers, and the series first editor Josh Radke, made a lot of wonderful additions, and I think we at Arcbeatle Press are doing our best to add our own! Q: Could you list a few reasons readers should check out WARSONG? A: Do you like character driven stories? Adventure? Sci-Fi? Factions maneuvering against each other in the shadows? Giant robots? Jetpacks? Heartbreaking separations? Mad science? Cool spaceships? You might be into WARSONG. Give it a shot! Q: What can we expect to see in future WARSONG releases? A: In the next trio of novellas, Stretti, you’ll get to see the ramifications of everything that happened in the Preludes will play out. Things will have consequences, characters will be faced with tough choices, and things are going to get real dramatic in all the best ways. Not to mention how wild the finale of the Phobos series, Stretti, is going to be… We also have our continuing serial series Academy 27, which follows kids at a school on Gongen that’s had a surprising amount of success lately and we’re very proud of. WARSONG has been resting awhile, but there’s a lot in the works and on the way. We can’t wait to show it to you! Check out WARSONG: Preludes HERE, and start your journey in the solar system! |
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