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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 shed 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 Lungbarrow; 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 are 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 through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with paperbacks being made available April 23rd.
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Editor Hunter O’Connell interviews author James Hornby about the first instalment of Cwej: Hidden Truths, The Midas Touch.
What can you tell us about the book?
The core of the story is a race against time to save Larles from a parasite that has given her powerful telekinetic abilities, but is also killing her. The rest is a fast-paced adventure across time and space.
How did you find the writing process?
A: An absolute blast. Hunter gave me the initial concept of Larles and the parasite, beyond that I was free to do anything I wanted with the story. At the time I thought The Midas Touch might be my only shot at writing something in the universe of Doctor Who, so I pulled upon everything I’d wanted to see in a Doctor Who book whilst growing up: fun, mystery, and above all, adventure. Funnily enough, I finished writing The Midas Touch back in 2020, the day the UK lockdowns started. The book has been pushed back quite a bit due to scheduling reasons, but I hope it’s been worth the wait!
What should readers expect from The Midas Touch?
In the past I’ve called The Midas Touch my love letter to the Eighth Doctor Adventures. That’s certainly true in a lot of ways: it features some characters I really wish we’d have seen more of during that series. It’s also the story I created Dionus for, who has since gone on to appear in lots of other stories.
What are you most proud of about your story?
Using characters created by Lance Parkin. When I became a fan of Doctor Who, his books were some of the first I read, and most definitely shaped the Whovian I am today. I was nervous at first about getting in touch with Lance to use his concepts, but I shouldn’t have been. Lance was so kind and generous; I remember jumping up and down with excitement on my break at the day job when I received his reply. I guess sometimes you should meet your heroes!
Is there anything else we should know about The Midas Touch?
There is, and it’s something you won’t find in the book: at one stage during the writing process I, very temporarily, was allowed a Fitz Kreiner cameo by BBC Books. A draft did exist of this version, before someone higher up decided it wasn’t to be.
Where else can we find your work?
I’ve done a lot of work for Arcbeatle Press, some other stories for Cwej that take place before this one, and I’m also the range editor for the SIGNET series. Beyond Arcbeatle, I’ve written some Doctor Who charity stories for Altrix Books, Pencil Tip Publishing, and a UNIT short story for Candy Jar Books.
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We decided to celebrate a few of our favorite stories and their writers from 2024, so we asked our friend Plum to do some interviews! And Plum had some fun with it.
Today Plum is talking to Lowri Llewellyn about her story Snowfall from our holiday book, A Christmas Codex. Enjoy!
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.
I am Lowri Llewellyn, author of the short story Snowfall, the third story within The Christmas Codex.
What drew you to this series or project initially?
Genuinely, the fictional worlds depicted within Arcbeatle Press’s books are extraordinarily compelling to me, as through an array of voices, new and old, tell complex and interesting stories — genuine page-turners — which include rich and nuanced characters and ideas. I don’t say this as if I’ve a biased motive; my respect and appreciation is truly that of a fan.
I’ve been keeping up with Arcbeatle for a while — having been here since the days of the Cyberon novelisation — and have licensed out some of my own characters and concepts for use in published stories. Now, I’ve always been on the look-out for any opportunities to contribute fully to the projects, and between A Christmas Codex and something else I’m probably not at liberty to discuss, have been perfect for me.
What makes your story different or special? I know that’s a broad question, but work with me here.
I would consider what makes Snowfall different from the rest of Arcbeatle’s output is that, while it is in continuity with Arcbeatle’s Doctor Who spin-offs (specifically SIGNET), it isn’t meant to truly be part of any ongoing range so I had the freedom to create an all-new character, Luna Montgomerie, through whom you see the world. I wanted to make Snowfall a character-driven piece, so I explored her bottled trauma and her isolation with her grandfather, Pierre.
I also felt a strong desire for well-written transgender representation. There is barely any in the media as a whole and surprisingly for the worlds of even Doctor Who, there are less than a few dozen. Luna is transfeminine, and I specifically sought to showcase the intricacies of her identity in modern and accurate terms. As someone who is having a lot of introspective thoughts on identity, I’ve tried to pull from my own experiences and ideas, to really give Luna humanity. She’s more than a character to me, really.
I would linger on the fact that this story is also set in Birmingham, a city which despite being the UK’s second largest, is rarely seen in fiction — but you see, Birmingham is still Birmingham and I don’t think anyone deserves to have to suffer going there, let alone having to learn about it. (I jest a bit, as admittedly its history is interesting; Sheffield has its steel, Birmingham has cars and jewellery.)
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?
To say that I plan ahead wouldn’t be… entirely accurate. It’s not that I don’t have notes or a general idea of where I want to take the plot, but I often find that I have interesting premises for stories while having less ideas on how to wrap everything up into a satisfying conclusion. I find that redrafting large chunks does tend to help.
Is there a writer or a creative artist that inspires you? A series? A part of life?
I wouldn’t pin my inspirations on any one person or source. It’s an amalgamation of basically everything I’ve learnt, experienced and read about in my life.
That being said I fell in love with Paul Magrs’s stories years ago, and his holistic perspective that the lives of everyone crossover and intertwine, and how they were incorporated into his fiction, stuck with me. It informed how I write stories a lot.
Snowfall story has a reunion, it has first meetings, it has friendships and it has family. I would assert that there is a rich depth to the connections.
It’s not just Magrs though. I really want to portray characters who have true-to-life experiences, with loss, self doubt and issues, whilst also having the ability to understand something is wrong and want to do something about it. I want to incorporate even a fraction of the crap anyone who isn’t a cisgender white man has to put up with, such as transphobia and queerphobia (although these elements don’t play a significant role in the story they are still brought up). It’s not a good world we live in yet, in spite of its issues, we can move towards a better future.
As I’ve already said, Luna’s characterisation pulls from own experiences. While they only appear briefly, Epsilon is a character named after a young adult novel when I was a little kid when my school was insisting I had to read those Golden Key books, despite them being incredibly simplistic to my level of literacy. I picture Pierre being played by Ralph Fiennes. I could go on and on about the small things but I think I’d be here all day.
Oddity keeps me going. What’s something strange and unusual about your work?
Well, there is definitely something going on with that fizzy drink, Gevity. How on Earth does fruit pop give people the ability to see overwritten versions of time? And what’s with Epsilon? Are they responsible, or are they clearing up the mess someone else made?
Time will tell.
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.
I’ve no good answer. It used to be blue, but that is really linked to gender normativity and in a sense therefore I want to say pink, to rebel from it, but really the colours that I think actually suit me best are forest green, mustard yellow, charcoal black and burnt orange. An intersection of bright and subdued tones.
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?
Apart from the rewritten ending (I’ll get into details about this later), I was able to incorporate everything I wanted to except for one really small thing. The book Luna was reading at the dining room table was meant to be a true crime book about Walter White, the main character of Breaking Bad, to fit in with my overarching idea that that show shares a universe with this one. It didn’t really fit the tone of the story though, so I prevented its title from being revealed.
Still canonical that she was reading a book about Walter White though. Fight me.
Do you get writer’s block?
Sometimes. There’s one story I’m working on that, while I have an idea for its set up, have absolutely zero idea how to actually write the antagonist and how the protagonist defeats them. That story has been bugging me for well over a year.
A similar problem exists with a newer story idea I have, but I think with a bit of brainstorming and workshopping it can work.
Otherwise I mostly get writer’s procrastination. Projects build up and I put them off and I barely scrape by. There is a Jenny Everywhere story I’m working on that I had intended to release over a month ago and I need to rewrite it from the ground up. Whoops.
What’s your dream job? Is it to write a particular thing or is it to do something else entirely?
Really it would just be being an author. And then I’d like to write an equal amount of my own standalone works and tie-in media. Always loved reading and now I have the ability to actually write stories for other people! (If they’re any good remains to be seen, haha.)
I also would’ve liked to be involved in television and film production but alas, education is for the rich and I didn’t fancy going into life-long debt. (Thank you capitalism!)
Do your characters have secrets? Do we know those secrets?
Pierre definitely has secrets; this story made no secret of that. Pun intended. It makes sense that he does, given he worked for a French organisation that researched strange phenomena over the latter half of the 20th century.
Luna is more tricky. She certainly keeps things internalised, which compounds into her own self doubt, but the causes of this aren’t exactly hidden. Although it wasn't revealed in this story, Luna has gone through experiences she hasn’t confided in anyone else about.
Although Epsilon’s motivations aren’t diegetically secret, they are secrets to the readers currently. You might be able to piece together an idea of what those motivations are through the character’s other appearances, but I will say this: you are looking at an incomplete puzzle.
Basically there are a lot of things that have yet to be revealed. I hope they live up to expectations.
Have you, or any of your characters, seen the 2007 animated feature film The Bee Movie?
I have, multiple times. I, um, actually think the film has a surprisingly progressive environmental theme that showcases how humans abuse animals for industry and profit. Putting aside its façade of jokes, it's actually quite meaningful.
Luna? Yes, she can recite quotes from the film in French. “‘Travailler à travers elle comme toute émotion: La colère, la jalousie… la convoitise.’ Oh, and! ‘Que diriez-vous d'un pacte de suicide?’”
Pierre? Nope, he has no idea it exists. “Have I watched a b-movie? I suppose so, I’ve watched late-night television before…”
Gérard? When Luna was little. “The Bee Movie? I remember that. Wasn’t that the film with the guy from Seinfeld?”
Charles Zoltan? I’d like to imagine he saw it recently when Olivia binged Earth cinema. “You know, bees aren’t the only animals that are actually capable of speaking English. Cats, for example…”
Epsilon? I can’t imagine how you’d even ask the question. If you did however… “You have, against all odds and my best efforts, managed to locate and seek an audience with myself to have the imprudence to ask… if I’ve watched a film from that one planet that continues to irritate me? What do you mean, that’s ‘not an answer’? If you know what is good for you, leave this damned place and have the sense to never be in my line of sight again.”
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?
I can’t remember my first; I’ve been writing for fun for years. I’ve many old things I wrote for college and for fun, in varying states of completeness. I also told stories through other means — y’know the Alien Wars cards in my story? They’re my new take on these homemade trading cards I created when I was a little kid. They were just called Alien back then, and I made all sorts of things like a Monopoly clone, a magazine, a card binder, drawings of themed cafes and of in-universe scenes such as the aliens incompetently attacking a building full of Wall-E-like robots.
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?
Here we go, I've got a fun answer.
I’ll let you in on a secret: it had a completely different ending.. Originally the story was less than half of its current length, and ended after Pierre left Luna to go to York and she was left in Birmingham, while it snowed. This… wasn’t very good. It didn’t fit with how I had characterised Pierre, and really it was terribly anti-climatic and fast, and didn’t even begin to resolve the emotional arc that I set up with Pierre and Luna.
So I basically rewrote it so much the story doubled in length, and — putting myself in the shoes of a reader — thought about what I would find actually enjoyable to read. That’s how the story came to include Luna taking Pierre to her home, where the uncomfortable truth that neither Luna or Gérard (Luna’s Dad) were not handling the death of Luna’s Mum healthily at all, leading to Pierre’s resolve to help however he could. I am far prouder of this ending and I hope that Arcbeatle’s readers prefer it too.
I don’t regret it at all.
Otherwise the first half of the story remained, in broad strokes, the same as the original draft, but refined and pruned to ensure it was “up to snuff”.
The characters of A27 /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?
Admittedly the Arcbeatle works I am most familiar with belonged to the P.R.O.B.E. and Cyberon ranges. Cyberon was honestly really damn good and I remember how hard it was to put down, one time, when I was on a train leaving Birmingham, coincidentally enough. Bit unfortunate about this post-BBV, but my enjoyment of those remains unmitigated.
As for A27, I’m about 3/5s of the way through And Today, You and Sang Mi is someone that needs to be protected at all costs. And I don’t like the fact that the book is set some years before a major war, if I’m not mistaken. Nothing bad can happen to her, right?
I’ve read more stories with Chris Cwej. I’ve entered the series in probably not the best way, as I have actually never read any of the Virgin New Adventures nor listened to any of the Big Finish Productions audio dramas that feature the character; my first story with Chris was Arcbeatle’s A Bright White Crack. Felt a bit like I had jumped in at the deep end but I ended up enjoying the story regardless. Since then, I’ve read an odd assortment of stories with the character, although I have still yet to attempt any main entries in Cwej: The Series.
Is your story exactly as you imagined it? Is it different?
Well, as I said before, I rewrote the ending after technically finishing Snowfall so I would say it's a safe bet that it wasn’t as anticipated.
Can the main character of your story defeat seventeen rabid wolves? The wolves are hungry.
Not sure how exactly it would go down, but considering that werewolf fiction is very queer coded (wolves, werewolves, tomato tomato) Luna would distract a pack of seventeen rabid, hungry wolves with oestrogen supplements. She’d figure something out. Besides, there are no wild wolves in the United Kingdom.
She’d be fine.
Which character do you have the hardest time understanding? The least?
I feel writing Charles Zoltan was the hardest. As he is a character I haven’t created, I had to work with James Hornby to ensure his characterisation was consistent with his vision. Then there is Pierre, who I wouldn’t necessarily say I struggled with — I have a clear idea of what he is like, personality wise — but as he worked for C.R.U.X., a creation of Aristide Twain, I’ve comparable feelings to Zoltan. I just want to make sure I don’t muddle things up.
Luna was much easier, as she is my own creation, and similarly with Epsilon, although there are still parts of their backstory I’ve yet to quite pin down.
Is there a message you’d like to tell the world?
Many, really. But I’m not sure whether going into a tirade about the state of global politics and the harm that is being committed against everyone by the powerful, is entirely appropriate or wanted here. I’ll just say “be empathetic, the rights of minorities do matter and don’t stand for oppression. Don’t give up and don’t give them what they want”.
Otherwise, I really hope everyone enjoyed Snowfall and the rest of A Christmas Codex. I’m really proud of how everyone came together to make this book possible and, frankly, it's a soulful and fun collection.
Also, drink Gevity.
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Today Plum is talking to Aidan Mason about his story "The Judas Bargain" from our holiday book "A Christmas Codex", featuring the legendary Christopher Cwej. Enjoy!
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 🥺
- Published on
We decided to celebrate a few of our favorite stories and their writers from 2024, so we asked our friend Plum to do some interviews! And Plum had some fun with it. We're starting with Elizabeth Tock, and her contribution to our Academy 27 series. Enjoy!
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.
Elizabeth Tock, writer of "Stage Blocking".
What drew you to this series or project initially?
Jim and I have been friends for years. I was part of the original “10,000 Dawns” project, and when they reached out asking if I wanted to write for this it was a no-brainer.
What makes your story different or special? I know that’s a broad question, but work with me here.
I guess the level of angst in my story is a lot lower than other works in the Academy 27 verse? Like, in certain ways, mine could fall into any story about high schoolers. The drama (no pun intended) Amelia deals with in “Stage Blocking” is mostly relegated to the A27 high school; unlike the main arc of Sang Mi’s adventures in the series.
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 kind of do both? Sometimes I plan down to what I imagine the character’s are wearing during the course of the story. Sometimes I write different scenes as they come to me and then figure out what order they go in afterwards.
I guess what surprised me in this writing “Stage Blocking” was how easy it came to me, as I didn’t have to edit much after the first draft was done.
Is there a writer or a creative artist that inspires you? A series? A part of life?
Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted author), Tolkien and everyone in the “10,000 Dawns” project honestly.
Oddity keeps me going. What’s something strange and unusual about your work?
I think I get ideas for stories from the weirdest places sometimes? One of my current personal projects I got from watching a band I like’s movie they made based on one of their albums.
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.
I like a lot of colors, but if the color of my responses is too subtle, my favorite color is Purple.
With Turquoise being a close second.
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?
Not in “Stage Blocking”, but I’ve definitely had to do so in other projects.
Do you get writer’s block?
ALL.THE. TIME. One story I’ve been working on since 2020 and it’s still nowhere close to being done.
What’s your dream job? Is it to write a particular thing or is it to do something else entirely?
I mean, I wouldn’t hate being able to write something that got as popular as “The Lord of The Rings” series. But one of my other passions is live theater and I wouldn’t mind working backstage professionally.
Do your characters have secrets? Do we know those secrets?
As of now, Amelia in “Stage Blocking” doesn’t have any secrets. In other projects of mine, I’m not at liberty to say ;)
Have you, or any of your characters, seen the 2007 animated feature film The Bee Movie?
I’ve seen the memes, but have not brought myself to watch the whole movie. So my characters haven’t either.
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?
Pffft, um, I think the first thing I would call my first story was written in 7th grade? I don’t even remember the plot, but I imagine my mom has it in the box of school stuff of mine she’s kept over the years. I remember being proud of it at the time, it was for a school assignment and got a good grade and was liked by the elementary kids I read it to.
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?
Like I said, for “Stage Blocking” I didn’t really do much editing, at least content-wise. Grammatically that is a Jim question haha! I’ve always struggled a little in that department.
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?
I’m probably most familiar with A27/ the Warsong. I like the journey Sang Mi has been on so far. I’m just getting into Cwej.
Is your story exactly as you imagined it? Is it different?
For “Stage Blocking” pretty much. A very solid plan came to me pretty quick when Jim approached me to write for A27.
Can the main character of your story defeat seventeen rabid wolves? The wolves are hungry.
I highly doubt it, as far as I know Amelia has not experienced many wolves in space. She knows enough about tech that if the rabid wolves were a computer virus she could at least keep them at bay though.
Which character do you have the hardest time understanding? The least?
I have a hard time with the villains in that I have to wrap my brain around their thought processes. The high schoolers are pretty easy, since I’ve been a high schooler before haha!
Is there a message you’d like to tell the world?
Live well, and do no harm, but take no shit.
- Published on
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!