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Jennifer Fallon's Baggage
Aug. 16th, 2010 04:35 pmWe're into countdown time for Baggage, so you need another interview.
Do I need to introduce Jennifer Fallon? Do I need to tell you that Sharyn Lilley - Eneit Press owner- interviewed her instead of me? (Why delegate downward when you can delegate upwards?) Or that Jenny bought sheep and then moved to New Zealand? Or that she's a writer and I love her books? Which is why, when I was offered a Jennifer Fallon short story for Baggage I pretended to um and ah (self-respect must be placated, after all), read it and all the time inside I was saying "I so needed this." I said 'yes.' How could I not. SF. Hilarious SF. With political undertones and overtones and medium tones. And sex dolls.
I don't think there are sex dolls in the interview. Sorry.
Sharyn Lilley interviews Jennifer Fallon
Jennifer, as an author of epic fantasy novels you are not noted for your short stories, but you have quite a few being released this year, including a superhero story. Now anyone who has read your movie reviews would be aware of your love for superhero stories, how cool was to see one of your own?
Very cool. Her name is the Violet Valet and her superpower is finding carparks. By day she’s a mild mannered parking attendant. By night, she’s... well, you know how it goes. Much fun to write. It’s currently being turned into a screenplay for an independent short film. Can't wait to see the results.
This also raises the question, did having your name in a superhero comic raise your coolness quotient with your grandson?
He remains blithely unaware of my work. In my grandson’s eyes, the coolest thing I’ve ever done is get Ben 10’s autograph. (Actually, it was Yuri Lowenthal’s autograph, the actor who voices Ben in Alien Invasion, but hey, I got brownie points for it.)
You are also in Baggage, edited by Gillian Polack, she whose blog we are co-opting, and whose drinks cabinet we'll be raiding once I work out how to pick the lock; an anthology of stories dealing with our cultural baggage. Now, when I read things about Australia in the 1970s there is a lot of talk about how the food of different cultures entered the everyday Aussie's lives, introducing us to an explosion of wonderful tastes and experiences. My own recollections of this time seem to involve a lot of tomato sauce to make my mother's recipe experiments edible, did you experience any of that wonderful taste explosion that food writers so fondly refer to?
Ha! You want me to reveal family secrets. That’s what I get for confiding in you under the influence of Cointreau. Very well, the story goes like this: My mother, whose culinary skills mostly involved the deft manipulation of a can-opener, was introduced to the strange foreign concept of Spaghetti Bolognaise circa 1970. Amazed and impressed by this culinary delight, she decided to make her own. She went down to the local market and bought pasta, and not knowing what the sauce was made of, assumed it was some sort of tomato sauce.
She came home, and after discovering the pasta didn't fit in the pot, she broke it into little pieces. She then cooked it, until it was al dente (natch) and served it up. With tomato sauce. Heinz tomato sauce, if I remember correctly. It was the foulest meal I ever ate, and that’s saying something for a woman who didn't believe steak was cooked until you could snap it in half.
As any regular reader of your blog would know, authors have very little control over the covers of their novels. From pole dancers to palm trees regarding your own covers, to magical creatures depicted in the art work, that aren't actually in the story, on the covers of authors you know, I guess you've seen it all over the years. But even knowing how the system works, do you ever find yourself being influenced in any way by the cover of a new novel by another author?
Only to get jealous, but I don't worry about it so much anymore. The trouble with a good covers is that by the following year, everybody has the same concept and you can't tell one author from another. I do prefer simple and minimalist these days, but nobody else agrees with me, so what would I know? I’ve learned the futility of arguing about it, although it irks me a little when fans email me telling me off about an inaccuracy on the cover, assuming it’s my fault.
I've got the drinks cabinet opened, what would you like a drink of?
Cointreau on crushed ice.
You've recently moved to New Zealand from the Northern Territory, has there been any cultural shocks with the move?
Not really. I've been here quite a few times, so we kinda knew what we were getting into.
You also used to talk about Dudley, the poltergeist, and his ability to strike at the worst moments. Has the move to New Zealand banished him?
Yes. We bought an amazing, 100 year old pub with a friendly ghost named Rose, who finds things for us. Best one so far was a diamond ring that’s been missing for 2 years. It appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of the floor of my daughter’s room late one night, about a month after we got here. Nobody has seen it since Dudley hid it in Alice Springs three moves and two years ago, despite several extensive searches looking for it. Creepy, but true.
While on the subject of guests, expected or not, can you tell us more about your plans for Reynox House?
The plan is to run casual workshops and residential writing retreats here with awesome guests, on a variety of subjects in addition to spec-fic writing, including screenplays, acting, art and comic books (if the people I’m currently schmoozing and bribing with holidays to NZ can be, well, schmoozed and/or bribed). The retreats will run for around a week and be the best time ever. Have a few infrastructure issues to deal with first, which are all on hold until I finish The Undivided.
And can you tell us if there is any truth to the rumour that you really relocated in order to slow down your grandson's future Overlordship ambitions?
Not at all. We brought him to Middle Earth to make it easier for him to become an evil overlord. Sauron’s defeat by Peter Jackson has left a big opening down here.
Your story in Baggage was written a considerable time ago, a recent news story showed one of the things you'd written as fiction, being made into current reality. How does that make you feel?
Very smug.
What are some of the highlights from your year thus far?
So far I’ve moved countries, almost written a complete novel and spent a spectacular amount of money. I am going to have to keep writing until I’m 130 to catch upJ
What can you tell us about your forthcoming series, and what has been the most fun thing in it to write?
Alternate realities, druids, twins, evil faeries... What’s not to love?
It’s all been fun, but right at this moment I have my heroes driving around our reality with a body in the boot of the car. I haven’t yet figured out what we’re going to do about that, yet.
That is what tomorrow is for.
Do I need to introduce Jennifer Fallon? Do I need to tell you that Sharyn Lilley - Eneit Press owner- interviewed her instead of me? (Why delegate downward when you can delegate upwards?) Or that Jenny bought sheep and then moved to New Zealand? Or that she's a writer and I love her books? Which is why, when I was offered a Jennifer Fallon short story for Baggage I pretended to um and ah (self-respect must be placated, after all), read it and all the time inside I was saying "I so needed this." I said 'yes.' How could I not. SF. Hilarious SF. With political undertones and overtones and medium tones. And sex dolls.
I don't think there are sex dolls in the interview. Sorry.
Sharyn Lilley interviews Jennifer Fallon
Jennifer, as an author of epic fantasy novels you are not noted for your short stories, but you have quite a few being released this year, including a superhero story. Now anyone who has read your movie reviews would be aware of your love for superhero stories, how cool was to see one of your own?
Very cool. Her name is the Violet Valet and her superpower is finding carparks. By day she’s a mild mannered parking attendant. By night, she’s... well, you know how it goes. Much fun to write. It’s currently being turned into a screenplay for an independent short film. Can't wait to see the results.
This also raises the question, did having your name in a superhero comic raise your coolness quotient with your grandson?
He remains blithely unaware of my work. In my grandson’s eyes, the coolest thing I’ve ever done is get Ben 10’s autograph. (Actually, it was Yuri Lowenthal’s autograph, the actor who voices Ben in Alien Invasion, but hey, I got brownie points for it.)
You are also in Baggage, edited by Gillian Polack, she whose blog we are co-opting, and whose drinks cabinet we'll be raiding once I work out how to pick the lock; an anthology of stories dealing with our cultural baggage. Now, when I read things about Australia in the 1970s there is a lot of talk about how the food of different cultures entered the everyday Aussie's lives, introducing us to an explosion of wonderful tastes and experiences. My own recollections of this time seem to involve a lot of tomato sauce to make my mother's recipe experiments edible, did you experience any of that wonderful taste explosion that food writers so fondly refer to?
Ha! You want me to reveal family secrets. That’s what I get for confiding in you under the influence of Cointreau. Very well, the story goes like this: My mother, whose culinary skills mostly involved the deft manipulation of a can-opener, was introduced to the strange foreign concept of Spaghetti Bolognaise circa 1970. Amazed and impressed by this culinary delight, she decided to make her own. She went down to the local market and bought pasta, and not knowing what the sauce was made of, assumed it was some sort of tomato sauce.
She came home, and after discovering the pasta didn't fit in the pot, she broke it into little pieces. She then cooked it, until it was al dente (natch) and served it up. With tomato sauce. Heinz tomato sauce, if I remember correctly. It was the foulest meal I ever ate, and that’s saying something for a woman who didn't believe steak was cooked until you could snap it in half.
As any regular reader of your blog would know, authors have very little control over the covers of their novels. From pole dancers to palm trees regarding your own covers, to magical creatures depicted in the art work, that aren't actually in the story, on the covers of authors you know, I guess you've seen it all over the years. But even knowing how the system works, do you ever find yourself being influenced in any way by the cover of a new novel by another author?
Only to get jealous, but I don't worry about it so much anymore. The trouble with a good covers is that by the following year, everybody has the same concept and you can't tell one author from another. I do prefer simple and minimalist these days, but nobody else agrees with me, so what would I know? I’ve learned the futility of arguing about it, although it irks me a little when fans email me telling me off about an inaccuracy on the cover, assuming it’s my fault.
I've got the drinks cabinet opened, what would you like a drink of?
Cointreau on crushed ice.
You've recently moved to New Zealand from the Northern Territory, has there been any cultural shocks with the move?
Not really. I've been here quite a few times, so we kinda knew what we were getting into.
You also used to talk about Dudley, the poltergeist, and his ability to strike at the worst moments. Has the move to New Zealand banished him?
Yes. We bought an amazing, 100 year old pub with a friendly ghost named Rose, who finds things for us. Best one so far was a diamond ring that’s been missing for 2 years. It appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of the floor of my daughter’s room late one night, about a month after we got here. Nobody has seen it since Dudley hid it in Alice Springs three moves and two years ago, despite several extensive searches looking for it. Creepy, but true.
While on the subject of guests, expected or not, can you tell us more about your plans for Reynox House?
The plan is to run casual workshops and residential writing retreats here with awesome guests, on a variety of subjects in addition to spec-fic writing, including screenplays, acting, art and comic books (if the people I’m currently schmoozing and bribing with holidays to NZ can be, well, schmoozed and/or bribed). The retreats will run for around a week and be the best time ever. Have a few infrastructure issues to deal with first, which are all on hold until I finish The Undivided.
And can you tell us if there is any truth to the rumour that you really relocated in order to slow down your grandson's future Overlordship ambitions?
Not at all. We brought him to Middle Earth to make it easier for him to become an evil overlord. Sauron’s defeat by Peter Jackson has left a big opening down here.
Your story in Baggage was written a considerable time ago, a recent news story showed one of the things you'd written as fiction, being made into current reality. How does that make you feel?
Very smug.
What are some of the highlights from your year thus far?
So far I’ve moved countries, almost written a complete novel and spent a spectacular amount of money. I am going to have to keep writing until I’m 130 to catch upJ
What can you tell us about your forthcoming series, and what has been the most fun thing in it to write?
Alternate realities, druids, twins, evil faeries... What’s not to love?
It’s all been fun, but right at this moment I have my heroes driving around our reality with a body in the boot of the car. I haven’t yet figured out what we’re going to do about that, yet.
That is what tomorrow is for.