Capes
& Clockwork 2 Author Interview: Jeremy Hicks.
As
a way of celebrating the release of Capes & Clockwork: Superheroes in the
Age of Steam, Volume 2, I’m interviewing some of the contributing authors.
Today, we talk with Jeremy Hicks.
1. Tell
us about yourself and how you got started writing.
Born and raised in the country, books became a refuge from boredom
early on in life. Writing followed soon after, and thanks to people like my
Uncle Danny, I had a lot of encouragement. He used to pay me a quarter per page
for short stories, which is the best money I’ve made writing professionally. My
first publication came in 5th grade when a short story I’d written about a
mummy and an archaeologist appeared in my school newspaper. In high school, I
worked on the school newspaper and yearbook and submitted stories to our
literary magazine. After high school, college dominated my life, so I didn’t
write for pleasure for a number of years. Finally, as an archaeologist bouncing
around on the road, I found myself writing cooperative Star Trek fanfiction
with a number of people in our fleet. Fanfiction helped me sharpen my dialogue
and learn to work with co-writers from around the globe, from active collaboration
to back-end editing.
My career as a professional writer evolved from there.
In 2008, when my job evaporated and our industry—heavily tied to
infrastructure—collapsed, I talked my friend Barry Hayes into pairing his
imagination with my own to produce faraway Faltyr and the Cycle of Ages Saga.
We started a production company, wrote a few screenplays, shopped them
unsuccessfully due to their budget requirements, and then tried to build a fan
base for our property. The biggest blow happened when our attempt to have our
franchise licensed as an official Dungeons & Dragons product failed because
of our representation at the time. But we persevered. As a result, we wrote our
first novel, the Cycle of Ages Saga: Finders Keepers, and Dark Oak Press
published it in 2013. Since then, we’ve published a sequel novel, and I’ve had
a number of short stories published in anthologies or through KDP.
2. What
genres do you prefer writing and why?
Professionally, I’ve written fantasy, horror, and
steampunk. My space opera and science fiction tales have been limited to
fanfiction for now, but I have a Star Trek novel I’d really like to pitch.
Regardless of what I’m writing, I feel like I’m drawn to darker, horrific storylines
with good imagery and lots of action. However, I find that my dark, twisted
sense of humor works its way into whatever I write, but I doubt most people
will ever find all of my weird Easter eggs, paraphrases of writers and works
that have influenced us, and private jokes shared among geeks, nerds, or even
my friends and family. Like musicians and artists, I tend to imbed my
influences within my work works.
3. What
drew you to Capes & Clockwork?
I owe my involvement in Capes & Clockwork to one
man, our tireless editor and friend, Alan Lewis. He has worked his ass off
making sure that these two anthologies made it to publication despite all of
the odds. Few people outside of the industry realize the challenges to
publishing a single story, much less pulling together a pool of creative talent
to submit enough stories appropriate for a themed anthology. It’s been said that
herding writers is much like herding cats. Having arranged several dinners for
us at conventions and literary events, I believe that to be true. Alan has
displayed patience and determination in realizing these anthologies and helped
me to grow as a writer in the process. Thanks to him, my catalog contains
steampunk stories now. Without him, I may never have taken the plunge into this
genre, or injected that element into our fantasy world of Faltyr. For those who
have not read my story in the first Capes & Clockwork, it’s called “Deep
Diving Death Defying Dwarves of the Deep.” I crafted that story after Alan
asked me to submit a story for the first anthology. It really revolutionized my
ideas for how to handle our world’s Underworld and Hollow World aspects.
4. Give
us a quick blurb about your story?
My story for Capes & Clockwork 2 is my first
“proper” steampunk story, although it contains a fair bit of Teslapunk elements
too. It’s called “The Fluff and the Fury”, and it’s a simple story about love,
loyalty, and the lengths we go to for those we hold close to our heart. My tale
takes place in the early 20th century, in the uncertain years before the U.S.
is pulled into World War I. When unsavory agents want to lay hands on advanced
technologies being squandered on a travelling circus, but they underestimate
the determination of one of its smallest performers.
5. Tell
us about your hero and what drives them to be a good guy or gal?
I wrote this story as a tribute, to enshrine some of
those I love in fiction, so the hero of my story is Ginger, a smart, savvy
circus poodle based on our family dog. She is owned by Madame Technique,
co-owner and operator of the Carnivale Fantastique, a woman who rescued her and
trained her to participate in the extravaganza. The Madame and her primary
technical assistant are based loosely on my parents too, though Dad is the
mechanical whiz in the family. Mom, like Ginger, is the little spitfire,
though. She engenders such love and loyalty from Ginger that the poodle does
not hesitate to do whatever it can for her Madame, whether it involves suffering
lightning bolts arcing over its fluffy head or hounding those who seek to ruin
and steal from her.
6. Were
there challenges for you in writing a cross-over genre (steampunk and
superhero)?
Enough that I cheated last time and used the closest
thing to a superhero on Faltyr, the elven war-mage Yax’Kaqix (Blue Macaw) as a
point-of-view character. I figured the story would have more impact if someone
as badass as him recognized the courage and sacrifice of the dwarven
submariners. For this story, I relied on a lot of research, mainly reading
about canine senses, perception, and cognition. For inspiration, I drew
primarily on the eccentric behaviors of our tiny dog. But I did rely on every
canine hero and ally from fiction, from Benji and Lassie to Scooby-Doo and
Krypto, too. Ultimately, I ignored the four-color comic aspect and embraced a
more heartfelt, intimate hero whose primary strengths include keen senses and
intellect, bravery, unconditional love, and unshakeable loyalty.
7. Who
do you prefer writing? The heroes or the villains.
For this story, it was all about the hero. Writing it became an
emotional rollercoaster for me, so I hope that effect comes across in the story
itself. In my other stories, though, I prefer darker, more flawed characters,
whether they are anti-heroes, scoundrels, rogues, or outright villains. It is
even more fun to write those character types once you realize most of those
baddies or selfish types do not realize those truths about themselves. They
tend to be the heroes of their own stories. I find it makes for complicated
characters which I feel is much more realistic.
Check out Jeremy’s story, The Fluff and
the Fury in Capes & Clockwork, Vol. 2
And
his story, Deep
Diving Death Defying Dwarves of the Deep in the original Capes &
Clockwork.
