Fans of science fiction will have undoubtedly been keeping an eye out for the upcoming A Fractured Infinity, a universe-hopping action-packed book. Well, the (North American) day has very nearly arrived! This time next week the book will be in your hands. And to get you even more excited, we have an interview with Nathan Tavares for you to read today! If you’re in the USA, there’s still time to get your preorder in for this one. If you’re in the UK, you can actually get your hands on it right now!
And don’t forget: you can follow Nathan on instagram too!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
I’ve definitely always known that I wanted to be a writer as far back as I can remember. Which is mostly a blessing, but it also made working in non-writing jobs (and I’ve had a million) difficult sometimes. In an impatient “I’m wasting time” kind of way, which isn’t necessarily true or helpful. I started really writing these superhero stories on my family’s way-old first computer when I was about seven.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I just love speculative fiction, or scifi, whichever you’d like to call it. There’s something so cool about exploring a near-future timeline or diving into how a technology or event has changed the world. I’m a pretty wide reader in that I’ll happily read just about everything—I dig thrillers and general fiction as much as the next person. I’d say the “coming out panic” genre or trope is one I don’t want to write about. Like, “what if everyone finds out I’m gay” or “this bully is threatening to out me” or whatever. Queer people have their own lived coming-out trauma, so I think it’s important that we don’t read about just that aspect of the queer experience all the time.
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I see an actual apple hanging off the tree in an orchard that I’m reaching to pick. Which now has me thinking, how did I get there and who am I with? I think this definitely impacts my writing process because I often start with an image, or an event, or a scene, and then mull it over for a while until a story takes shape.
If you wanted to learn about craft, which three authors would you suggest reading?
Oooo good question. I would say Margaret Atwood for world building, especially Oryx and Crake, which is my favorite book ever. And N. K. Jemisin for voice, especially The City We Became. And Kurt Vonnegut…because he’s Kurt Vonnegut, and everyone should read Cat’s Cradle, and then anything else he’s written, especially for the pacing.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
I try to focus on what people do in real life every day. Like, how do they get where they need to go, how do they buy things, what are their local and national governments like, what do they eat? Then I try to make it come to life with sensory details and describe their everyday actions as they go about life.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
I’m working on another queer scifi standalone novel that will be out hopefully in 2023, though I can’t jump in about that yet. I’m pretty superstitious to not talk about projects as I’m working on them.
Three images that capture the aesthetic of your book?
A big mess of film reels. A cracked disco ball. The desert at night.
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
Oooo, another good question. First answer is very easy: The song “Wolf Run” by Brendan Maclean from his album And the Boyfriends. I discovered it early on in writing A Fractured Infinity and it really impacted the book, especially one big section. Next up, I peppered a few Tori Amos references throughout, so I’d say her song “Bliss.” There’s a neat line: “Lately, I’m into circuitry / What it means to be made of you but not enough for you,” which feels spot-on for a book about self-doubt. And the beautiful song “All Over Again” by Vincint, who’s a queer artist I love.
What would be your dream project?
A Fractured Infinity is literally my dream project. Before I even started writing it I thought, “What’s the book that I’d be so happy I wrote in case I, like, get hit by a bus and die?” It’s my dream project because it’s based on things I love the most: think-y scifi films, a dash of mysticism, pop science books, queer love stories. The absolute dream would be working on a movie or TV limited series version with the Wachowskis.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
Hands down it would be Kaori. She’s got a level head and the genius to survive just about anything.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
Ah, only three! Sam J. Miller’s Boys, Beasts & Men, because I love his short stories. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. And Naked by David Sedaris.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
I’m a big Ryan Murphy fan, even more so lately because I’ve loved his last few projects and how queer, bonkers, or big-idea-y they’ve been. I’m loving season 11 of American Horror Story, which takes places in the queer community in New York City in the 1980s, and season 10, which took place in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which is a queer town really close to my heart. I love that he swings big with unusual concepts. I’d love to work with him on a time-piece scifi story about the gay community in the 1970s or 1980s.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born and grew up in southeastern Massachusetts (my family having landed there by way of São Miguel Island). I started writing as a kid on an old Apple IIe desktop that, at the end of its life, made clanking noises when we turned it on, until we released it on a farm to roam free with other ancient devices. I went to college and majored in English. I waited tables (poorly) for a while. I went to grad school. Etc., etc. (I also say etc., etc., a lot).
I write fiction. Sometimes things I write about include benevolent frauds, young immortals, the terrible and/or wonderful things people do for/to each other, and time travel. I don’t get too hung up on categorizing things: speculative fiction/fantasy/literary fiction/etc.
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