JQM PRESENTS A BLOG POST INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR Steven Dutch & Chris Masterton
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF:
We are two mates who met in high school, where we discovered we had a common interest in sci fi and the same weird sense of humour. Together, we started working on History of Sol. Which has been a massive project that has consumed a lot of our spare time over the course of ten years! It all started out as a bit of fun, really. One day we started making a Futurama/Red Dwarf inspired film in Chris’ dad’s garage with a bunch of friends. We made a dodgy set and everything. After about a day of filming and two and a half minutes of footage; the filming ceased but the writing continued. Then it kind of evolved into this massive story and changed from a TV series into novellas. We took some story and writing courses and reworked our stories until we had something we wanted to share with the world.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?
For the most part, we are both inspired by science fiction in general. Movies and television series are what drew us into the genre and constantly push us to want to tell interesting and thought provoking stores. But we also have a range of other sources, such as music, coffee, and other authors.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS? WHY?
Steven – Ironically, most of my favourite authors are outside of our genre. And oftentimes, outside of our medium. I am a huge fan of TV and film, and although ideas are conveyed differently between the visual medium and books, there are a lot of similarities. One of my all time favourite authors is Robin Hobb because her fantasy is full of feeling and substance. I love her epic trilogies, but especially the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy. The character development is phenomenal, the story is sad, uplifting, exciting and satisfying. The use of ‘Skill’ and ‘Wit’ instead of conventional ‘Magic’ is inspired. Chris – I’d have to say my favourite authors are James S.A. Corey because their space opera novel series ‘The Expanse’ is both exciting and grounded by believable characters and realistic setting. Isaac Asimov, because his vision of the future was both ground breaking and inspired. Way ahead of its time. Also, like Steve, I can’t go past Robin Hobb, whose incredible works about Fitz-Chivalry Farseer in the Realm of the Elderlings is one of the main reasons I started reading books in the first place.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS? WHY?
There are just too many to list, but between us, series such as; The Realm of the Elderlings (Robin Hobb), The Expanse (James S. A. Corey), A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin), and The Foundation Series (Isaac Asimov). Chris also quite likes Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan) and even named one of his sons after a character in it.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE LITERARY CHARACTERS? WHY?
Nighteyes (The Realm of the Elderlings) because he is wise, loyal, fierce and a very good boy. All of our own characters in the History of Sol series; they’re a bit like having imaginary grown-up children.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR FELLOW AUTHORS AND/OR ASPIRING AUTHORS?
Start Writing. Keep Writing. Write for yourself; what you enjoy and want to read. Get a really good editor! Never give up.
IMAGINE ONE OF YOUR BOOKS IS ABOUT TO BECOME A FILM OR TV SHOW. WHO IS YOUR “DREAM CAST?” AND WHO DO YOU ASK TO CREATE THE SOUNDTRACK?
While we would love for History of Sol to become the next big sci-fi television (or streaming service) series, we haven’t put a lot of thought into who would play our characters. So, we have literally come up with these on the spot; Lisa could be played by Olivia Wilde, thinking about her role in Cowboys and Aliens. Raynor might be played by someone like Brian Tee, who has a bit of a dark side. For Jake, it would have to be Joseph Gordon-Levitt, because, why not? Diputs would have to be played by Ryan Reynolds with his cheeky sense of humour. Swift was a hard one to cast, but we’re going to go with Jake Gyllenhaal. For the soundtrack, we’d get Mick Gordon (who did the soundtrack for Doom Eternal) in collaboration with Infected Mushroom (their song Heavyweight, which always gives us a very History of Sol vibe).
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH POTENTIAL READERS?
The only way to know the history of the future is to read this series! Now!
WHERE CAN WE GO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LITERARY WORKS?
Our website; http://www.historyofsol.com but we also hang out on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/history.of.sol) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/historyofsol/).
James Quinlan Meservy - Author 