Interview with Alex James

1. What do you write?

I generally write in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. Some of the subgenres I write are speculative, adventure, military, apocalyptic, spy, high-tech, space-opera, heroic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, epic fantasy, supernatural, dark fantasy.

All my novels tend to revolve on the themes of alienation and empowerment. My characters are alienated, and they must become empowered. In The Antpod Faction the start of the story sees Mase, the protagonist, as the embodiment of being alienated in antpod society. Her alienation takes on the form of isolation and separation from antpod kind. In Roc Isle: The Descent Ankah’s alienation is initially due to his lack of experience, but it takes on an aggressive nature that befits the world he lives in. In Roc Isle: Tempest the alienation is between Lord Azure and his son on the campaign against the enemy, and takes on the form of distrust and paranoia.

As for empowerment, I’ll leave that to the reader...

2. When did you first start writing?

I wrote short stories when I was young but none that were memorable. When told to write, I never enjoyed doing it.

The first short stories I remember writing were early drafts of The Antpod Faction, back in 2010. The stories were about humans and not androids, but the setting was still on a different planet. Just as in The Antpod Faction, even then I had a strong female protagonist. I think this was because this was the easiest way for me to imagine the vulnerabilities and insecurities I wanted to express.

The first full story I wrote was a very rough copy of The Antpod Faction. I remember the feeling of accomplishment at having completed it. It was 120, 000 words long. It had a very similar plot and progression, and was what I used to develop The Antpod Faction.

3. What is your writing process?

My writing process often changes. I tend to use different strategies for different stories. For The Antpod Faction I wrote short drafts to try and explore where I wanted to go with it. I then proceeded to write the facts about my story: what are antpods, how have they lived at the time my story starts, and what events change antpod society etc.

For Roc Isle: The Descent I didn’t actually write many preliminary drafts because the main idea of the story was already in my head. I wrote facts about the factions and cultures I wanted in the story and then I jumped straight into it. I did something very similar with Roc Isle: Tempest.

For later stories I have written I have tried writing drafts of character-focused scenes and by planning new worlds. Hopefully I’ll be able to build on these to create more stories!

4. Why do you write?

For me writing is a way to express my most powerful feelings and thoughts in the form of messages.

The creation and process of writing itself is a release, a soothing exercise where I can put my soul into something.

The editing is fun as well because when I look over my own work I can fully appraise what I have written, and edit it as necessary. As I read back my own work I can understand myself and enjoy the story at the same time.

5. Who or what are your inspirations/influences?

I was inspired a lot by Asperger Syndrome, which I was diagnosed with when I was 20 years old. Asperger Syndrome explained much of my earlier life regarding social difficulties, obsessive behaviours, and some eccentricities. The Antpod Faction was my attempt to convert my experiences of Asperger Syndrome into a novel. Mase, the protagonist in The Antpod Faction, possesses traits of Asperger Syndrome in abundance.

I was inspired to write the Roc Isle books by R Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing trilogy. I liked the idea of a war between two large armies, and I wanted to develop that aspect of his great work.

6. What are you working on next?

My next project will be a science-fiction space opera/military story and will join the general themes of alienation and empowerment together, into a single individual; a galactic superhero. I hope to include a range of aliens with different characteristics to give the story a dark and cynical setting.

7. What motivated you to become an indie author?

I tried the traditional route, but I’m not a very social person. Being a young writer, I didn’t have much life experience; and I wasn’t very enthusiastic to enter writing competitions or join groups; doing the very things that can give you a better chance to get noticed by literary agents. After having sent a roster of submissions and not having had a reply from most of them I decided I wasn’t going to get the consideration I wanted unless I tried to go the indie route.

I think it was a very good decision. I have a lot of control over how I want my final product to appear to readers.

8. Who are your favourite authors?

My favourite fantasy authors are Robert E Howard, R Scott Bakker, George R R Martin, and Mark Charan Newton. I tend to like sword-and-sorcery and adventure in fantasy. For science fiction I like Philip K Dick, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, and Alastair Reynolds.