An Interview With Ian Benke
To be a good writer, you can’t just hole up in a room in pajamas and pound away at a keyboard or scribble in a notebook (as attractive as that may sound to me and my fellow introverts); you have to go out into the world and listen to conversations, observe people, learn about others’ stories, pursue other dreams, and so on.
Science Fiction and Fantasy are hugely popular genres. What does it take for a writer today, to write compelling and successful Science Fiction and Fantasy stories? Authority Magazine started a new series called “How To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories”. In this series we are talking to anyone who is a Science Fiction or Fantasy author, or an authority or expert on how to write compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy .
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie C. Dao.
Julie C. Dao is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York and now lives in New England. She is the author of several acclaimed fantasy novels for teens and children, including the Rise of the Empress series, a fairy tale retelling set in a mystical world inspired by the Far East. Dao is also the author of BROKEN WISH, published by Disney Books. Her upcoming novel, TEAM CHU AND THE BATTLE OF BLACKWOOD ARENA, is the first book in a commercial middle grade fantasy series with an action-packed adventure of laser tag and fierce sibling rivalries.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share a story about what first drew you to writing over other forms of storytelling?
I’ve always loved writing and was drawn naturally to it, thanks to my love of reading fantasy stories and fairy tales. I wrote and illustrated my first “novel” at the age of nine. It was called ‘The Hidden Kingdom’ and it was about my two best friends and me going through a portal in my living room TV to a magical, unicorn-filled world, and you better believe I printed and tried to pawn it off on my wary classmates for money! Nobody bought it (their loss), even though it got rave reviews from my mother and my English teacher. I kept writing all through school, but stopped in my late teens because my parents didn’t think it was a viable or stable career. I couldn’t stay away, though! I started writing again in my early twenties and have never looked back.
You are a successful author. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I certainly consider myself very fortunate to be published after a years-long and arduous attempt! I believe the three most important traits that got me published were passion, stubbornness, and perseverance. There isn’t a single specific story I can share for each because these were all integral to getting me through almost a decade of writing manuscripts that will never see the light of day and collecting endless kind yet firm rejections. My passion for writing, my stubbornness in the face of people telling me “no” to my biggest dream, and my constant need to pick myself back up and try again all helped!
Can you tell us a bit about the interesting or exciting projects you are working on or wish to create? What are your goals for these projects?
After starting my career in young adult fantasy, I’m so excited to be branching out into the middle-grade realm. My first book for younger readers is called TEAM CHU AND THE BATTLE OF BLACKWOOD ARENA, and it’s fun, zany, adventurous — everything I wanted to read as a kid. I’m what they refer to as a “geriatric millennial,” apparently, and I grew up in the age of mid-90s Nickelodeon with shows like ‘Legends of the Hidden Temple’ and ‘Guts’ that have definitely inspired and informed this book. There will be two more books in this series and I’m looking forward to writing for this age group! Someday, I would love to write for adults as well. My goal for any project is always to find readers who will love it as much as I do.
Wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define sci-fi or fantasy? How is it different from speculative fiction?
I think of sci-fi and fantasy as branches of speculative fiction, which is fiction that often has fantastical or magical elements and plays with concepts, themes, and settings that aren’t fully rooted in the real world. Fantasy, in my opinion, presents real-world topics in the guise of a different universe or place and time.
It seems that despite countless changes in media and communication technologies, novels and written fiction always survive, and as the rate of change increases with technology, written sci-fi becomes more popular. Why do you think that is?
Any art form made for consumption, whether it’s books or media, offers the gift of escapism. With everything that is going on in our world and the stress and pressure of everyday life, it’s natural to want to turn to stories for some relief — which makes it all the more ironic that these stories often present the very issues we’re trying to escape, except in a more palatable format. Especially in the case of sci-fi or fantasy books, these stories introduce familiar elements from our lives and our world in the trappings of magic, for example, where we can delve into heavy topics and the darkest corners of human nature while enjoying a narrative and being entertained. Stories and storytellers will always be needed, no matter what else changes in the world.
In your opinion, what are the benefits to reading sci-fi, and how do they compare to watching sci-fi on film and television?
Speaking for myself, I prefer reading because I’m given the freedom to imagine what the book’s world might look like or how a character might sound, and give my brain full rein with the experience. Reading is much more immersive and engaging to me because I’m doing all the work of reconciling the author’s words on the page with all of my other senses, whereas film and television fill in those gaps and inform me with someone else’s vision of the story. They are all worthy forms of media, of course, but my natural preference is always for books!
What authors and artists, dead or alive, inspired you to write?
I started reading voraciously at a young age and I devoured books by Tamora Pierce, Lloyd Alexander, Monica Furlong, Avi, and Robin McKinley, to name a few of the authors who really got me interested in writing. When I was eleven years old, my sixth-grade teacher gave me a copy of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s ‘The Mists of Avalon’ and said, tentatively, “I think you’re ready for this.” I absolutely loved that book! An Arthurian legend based on the women behind the throne? Yes, please. Although, when I reread it later as an adult, I started to realize why my teacher was tentative about giving it to me. There were some interesting scenes (such as, uh, a threesome between Lancelot, Arthur, and Guinevere) that fortunately went way over my eleven-year-old head!
If you could ask your favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy author a question, what would it be?
I think I would ask for their advice on how to survive and perpetuate this career. It is so very different to be a writer and to be an author, and the latter — with all of the business and financial matters and dealing with readers and the public, it’s not something a lot of us are prepared for when we first start writing, quiet and alone, in a room!
We’d like to learn more about your writing. How would you describe yourself as an author? Can you please share a specific passage that you think exemplifies your style?
I would describe myself as an author who’s always interested in exploring the depth of characters’ hunger. Not physical hunger, but hunger for any number of other things: a place in the world, a home, a family, a dream. All of my characters seem to yearn desperately for something, and that very personal need tends to drive my plot before anything else. There is no one specific passage I can point to, but all of FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS (my debut novel) is about one woman’s desperate desire for control over her own life, and for the ultimate power at all costs.
Based on your own experience and success, what are the “Five Things You Need To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories?” If you can, please share a story or example for each.
I would include the three traits I listed above: 1) passion, because you need to love your craft and your story above all, 2) stubbornness, because writing isn’t easy for anyone, and 3) perseverance, because rejections are just par for the course and you can’t let setbacks take you down. To these, I would add 4) the consumption of all different forms of media, whether it’s books or music or going to see shows and plays, in all genres and age categories, because you come to understand how other creators convey a story and what is effective or not. And also 5) living your life. To be a good writer, you can’t just hole up in a room in pajamas and pound away at a keyboard or scribble in a notebook (as attractive as that may sound to me and my fellow introverts); you have to go out into the world and listen to conversations, observe people, learn about others’ stories, pursue other dreams, and so on.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Entertainment, Business, VC funding, and Sports read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
This is an incredibly tough question because there are so many people whose genius I would like to absorb through osmosis and just being in the same room with them. We don’t even need to talk or eat lunch! One of them is the great David Henry Hwang, with whom I was fortunate enough to have a phone call but have never met in person! I look up to him and other Asian-American creators who are paving the way for newer voices like my own, and making it seem ever more possible that our stories and our viewpoints are not only wanted, but necessary.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me at juliedao.com, and I am also on Twitter as @jules_writes as well as on Instagram as @juliecdao.
Thank you for these excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent. We wish you continued success.
About The Interviewer: Ian Benke is a multi-talented artist with a passion for written storytelling and static visual art — anything that can be printed on a page. Inspired by Mega Man, John Steinbeck, and commercials, I.B.’s science fiction writing and art explore the growing bond between technology and culture, imagining where it will lead and the people it will shape. He is the author of Future Fables and Strange Stories, the upcoming It’s Dangerous to Go Alone trilogy, and contributes to Pulp Kings. The CEO and Co-Founder of Stray Books, and an origami enthusiast, Ian is an advocate of independent, collaborative, and Canadian art. https://ibwordsandart.ca
Author Julie C. Dao On How To Write Compelling Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.