Prix Aurora Award Interview
Suzanne Church (canadiansuzanne) interviewed me over the course of last week on the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy group on Facebook, as part of the Aurora Nominees Interview series. The interview thread is reproduced below. I'd be happy to answer further questions in comments as well. Many thanks to Suzanne and Donna (the moderator) for doing this.
Donna Farley:
Suzanne Church has prepared her interview questions for group member and Aurora Nominee TONY PI. She will shortly be posting them one at a time on this thread, and Tony will reply. When Suzanne has done with her questions, please feel free to chime in with any questions of your own for Tony.
FYI, before we start the interview, here is Tony's post from the AURORA NOMINEE THREAD
Post #3
Tony Pi (University of Toronto) wrote
on Mar 28, 2008 at 1:27 PM.
Hi Everyone,
My nominated story for the 2008 Prix Aurora Award "Best Short Form in English" category is "Metamorphoses in Amber", a novelette published in the 4th Quarter 2007 issue of Abyss and Apex, #24. You may read the story for free online at
http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-amber.html
Reviews of this story (with links) are available on my website, at
http://www.eyrie.org/~pi/bibliography.html
Thank you very much for considering my story.
Sincerely,
Tony Pi
www.eyrie.org/~pi
& wistling.livejournal.com
Suzanne:
"Metamorphoses in Amber" by Tony Pi originally published in Abyss & Apex #24, is a novelette-length caper filled with external and internal conflict. From the start, the insectile players reveal themselves one by one. Art dealer, Felix Lea, otherwise known as Flea begins his journey by stealing a Fabergé egg from his nemesis, Mantis. Wounded during his escape, he heals himself using Lightning, the energy source emanating from pieces of amber inside which insects have been trapped. In his haste, he uses an unprimed piece and finds himself trading one injury for another, more insidious one. Infected by the Widowing, he slowly begins the metamorphoses from male to female, a one way operation he has no desire to endure.
What motivated you to explore the internal conflict of a male turning female against his will?
The idea behind "Metamorphoses in Amber" initially came to me from biology, after I read about a family of bacteria that could infect arthropods and change them from male to female. I began to wonder how a man might react if the same irreversible transformation were forced upon him, and realized that he would not only wrestle with how others reacted, but also with his own gender identity issues. And in Flea, I found the right man to squirm in this particular predicament.
Flea hops the globe from London to Saint Petersburg to Gdansk, for these near-immortal Elect have acquired enough wealth over the centuries to amass their own share of castles. Like Little John, one of Flea's first shapes, he has been stealing from the non-Elect and growing his own fortune.
This combination of Bond-style globe hopping and the history lessons emerging from your characters' past lives gives the story a larger-than-life scope. Have you traveled to all of the locations in the story? Were you more inspired by the historical stories or the exotic locations as you worked on the plot?
History over geography. I've been to London and remember it fondly, and the story does draw on that experience. Though I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Russia or Poland, those exotic locales suggested themselves as settings because of their connection to amber, and I relied on research to portray those places. But for me, it was always the immortals and who they once were that sparked my imagination and shaped the plot. Once I decided Flea had been Little John, that choice told me the identity of his nemesis (Mantis, the Sheriff of Nottingham), Flea's chosen profession throughout the ages, his quirky hang-ups, and so forth. I've always been a fan of secret histories, and it was a blast writing one.
Flea calls upon an old and wizened member of the Elect, Spider, hoping she will elicit a cure for the Widowing. But her only solution involves trading his prized possession, the stolen Amber Room, with Mantis for her fire egg, a piece of amber so dangerous it has killed the two Elect who tried to conquer it.
Who does Spider represent for you? Did you purposefully make the more powerful characters in the story female?
I meant for Spider to embody the female sex, the feminine mystique. She is the most beautiful woman in each generation not because she adapts herself to a preconceived notion of beauty in that era, but because she, by her self-reinvention, redefines beauty and womanhood. The years have taught Spider wisdom, but, as her ancient guises as Helen of Troy and Guinevere show, she is still flawed.
I did intentionally make the more powerful characters in this story female. Since the Widowing is irreversible and strikes without warning, the balance of power among the immortals would eventually tilt in favour of the female sex. Spider represents the matriarchy in its many incarnations throughout the ages. Mantis, on the other hand, is an example of the patriarchy learning to cope with irresistible change. There are powerful male Elect, of course, but they just haven't made it into this particular story.
Mantis's amber holds many secrets and their discoveries drive the plot towards the climax. What aspect of the "lightning" and its power appeals to you most as a writer?
Well, Lightning grants you the power to change shapes, and that gives a writer much to play with: fun with description, naturally, but also the freedom to take the plot in unexpected directions. I also enjoyed figuring out how Lightning magic related to its source, which is insects caught in amber. Each fact I learned about amber and fossil insects inspired a new twist to how Lightning works, variations of the magic I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. I love surprises like that, and I hope the readers do, too.
You make reference in the story to Arthur C. Clarke's third law of prediction, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Did the story evolve from the idea of the law, or did its necessary inclusion become evident as you wrote the piece?
Not originally, but it became clear that the story needed a nod to the interplay between science and magic. Because the Elect rarely die of old age or illness, they have to always look for an edge to keep themselves powerful. Advanced scientific knowledge is one such edge. Sometimes they passed off secret technology as magic to gain power. At the same time, their lives depend on an ancient magic that they strive to understand. For them, it's only a matter of time before someone deciphers the science behind Lightning, and what immortals have in abundance is time. Since Clarke's third law characterized their philosophy of power so well, I decided to include it.
Your characters are hybrids of insect and human. This idea spawns in my mind images of SF movie classics like the 1954 Gordon Douglas film "Them" and David Cronenberg's 1986 film The Fly. Did film play a role in the idea kernel of the story?
Not directly. A literary source had seeded that idea: Kafka's Metamorphosis. A first reader reminded me of another book I had read years ago, Virginia Woolf's Orlando, which fit well thematically with "Metamorphoses in Amber", so that played a role in the story. Film did contribute to the splash of Bond you picked up on earlier.
You explore the concept of personality and the role that gender plays in defining ourselves. This particular theme, in my opinion, brings a welcome depth to the story and turns an adventure into a thoughtful study of what it is to be an individual. Do you hope that the story will begin dialogue, in a sense, to challenge the reader's concept of who they are and where gender lands in that definition of self?
To some extent. The story is at heart an adventure, and if a reader enjoys it as such, that's great. However, if people read it and find themselves thinking about gender, body, or identity as you and I did, I'd like that, too.
Is this your first Aurora award nomination? Tell us about the thrill followed by the agony of the wait to hear the final result?
Yes, this is my first Aurora award nomination. I received the email notification about a week before the ballot was officially released, and it was very hard not saying anything! As for the final result, a month to wait isn't terribly long, so I try not to think about it. I'm not anxious now...but I likely will be, soon.
What are you working on now?
I'm currently revising THIEF OF SHAPES, a Flea novel that takes place before the events in "Metamorphoses in Amber" and reveals more secrets of the Elect shapeshifters. Expect more heists and magic in that one. In short-form, I'm working on "Manticore!", a sequel to my short story "Sphinx!" (forthcoming in the DAW anthology AGES OF WONDER). The setting is an alternate, magical Earth where colossal leonine monsters once roamed instead of dinosaurs.
Good luck with the award and congratulations on the nomination. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Thank you.
Donna Farley:
Suzanne Church has prepared her interview questions for group member and Aurora Nominee TONY PI. She will shortly be posting them one at a time on this thread, and Tony will reply. When Suzanne has done with her questions, please feel free to chime in with any questions of your own for Tony.
FYI, before we start the interview, here is Tony's post from the AURORA NOMINEE THREAD
Post #3
Tony Pi (University of Toronto) wrote
on Mar 28, 2008 at 1:27 PM.
Hi Everyone,
My nominated story for the 2008 Prix Aurora Award "Best Short Form in English" category is "Metamorphoses in Amber", a novelette published in the 4th Quarter 2007 issue of Abyss and Apex, #24. You may read the story for free online at
http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-amber.html
Reviews of this story (with links) are available on my website, at
http://www.eyrie.org/~pi/bibliography.html
Thank you very much for considering my story.
Sincerely,
Tony Pi
www.eyrie.org/~pi
& wistling.livejournal.com
Suzanne:
"Metamorphoses in Amber" by Tony Pi originally published in Abyss & Apex #24, is a novelette-length caper filled with external and internal conflict. From the start, the insectile players reveal themselves one by one. Art dealer, Felix Lea, otherwise known as Flea begins his journey by stealing a Fabergé egg from his nemesis, Mantis. Wounded during his escape, he heals himself using Lightning, the energy source emanating from pieces of amber inside which insects have been trapped. In his haste, he uses an unprimed piece and finds himself trading one injury for another, more insidious one. Infected by the Widowing, he slowly begins the metamorphoses from male to female, a one way operation he has no desire to endure.
What motivated you to explore the internal conflict of a male turning female against his will?
The idea behind "Metamorphoses in Amber" initially came to me from biology, after I read about a family of bacteria that could infect arthropods and change them from male to female. I began to wonder how a man might react if the same irreversible transformation were forced upon him, and realized that he would not only wrestle with how others reacted, but also with his own gender identity issues. And in Flea, I found the right man to squirm in this particular predicament.
Flea hops the globe from London to Saint Petersburg to Gdansk, for these near-immortal Elect have acquired enough wealth over the centuries to amass their own share of castles. Like Little John, one of Flea's first shapes, he has been stealing from the non-Elect and growing his own fortune.
This combination of Bond-style globe hopping and the history lessons emerging from your characters' past lives gives the story a larger-than-life scope. Have you traveled to all of the locations in the story? Were you more inspired by the historical stories or the exotic locations as you worked on the plot?
History over geography. I've been to London and remember it fondly, and the story does draw on that experience. Though I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Russia or Poland, those exotic locales suggested themselves as settings because of their connection to amber, and I relied on research to portray those places. But for me, it was always the immortals and who they once were that sparked my imagination and shaped the plot. Once I decided Flea had been Little John, that choice told me the identity of his nemesis (Mantis, the Sheriff of Nottingham), Flea's chosen profession throughout the ages, his quirky hang-ups, and so forth. I've always been a fan of secret histories, and it was a blast writing one.
Flea calls upon an old and wizened member of the Elect, Spider, hoping she will elicit a cure for the Widowing. But her only solution involves trading his prized possession, the stolen Amber Room, with Mantis for her fire egg, a piece of amber so dangerous it has killed the two Elect who tried to conquer it.
Who does Spider represent for you? Did you purposefully make the more powerful characters in the story female?
I meant for Spider to embody the female sex, the feminine mystique. She is the most beautiful woman in each generation not because she adapts herself to a preconceived notion of beauty in that era, but because she, by her self-reinvention, redefines beauty and womanhood. The years have taught Spider wisdom, but, as her ancient guises as Helen of Troy and Guinevere show, she is still flawed.
I did intentionally make the more powerful characters in this story female. Since the Widowing is irreversible and strikes without warning, the balance of power among the immortals would eventually tilt in favour of the female sex. Spider represents the matriarchy in its many incarnations throughout the ages. Mantis, on the other hand, is an example of the patriarchy learning to cope with irresistible change. There are powerful male Elect, of course, but they just haven't made it into this particular story.
Mantis's amber holds many secrets and their discoveries drive the plot towards the climax. What aspect of the "lightning" and its power appeals to you most as a writer?
Well, Lightning grants you the power to change shapes, and that gives a writer much to play with: fun with description, naturally, but also the freedom to take the plot in unexpected directions. I also enjoyed figuring out how Lightning magic related to its source, which is insects caught in amber. Each fact I learned about amber and fossil insects inspired a new twist to how Lightning works, variations of the magic I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. I love surprises like that, and I hope the readers do, too.
You make reference in the story to Arthur C. Clarke's third law of prediction, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Did the story evolve from the idea of the law, or did its necessary inclusion become evident as you wrote the piece?
Not originally, but it became clear that the story needed a nod to the interplay between science and magic. Because the Elect rarely die of old age or illness, they have to always look for an edge to keep themselves powerful. Advanced scientific knowledge is one such edge. Sometimes they passed off secret technology as magic to gain power. At the same time, their lives depend on an ancient magic that they strive to understand. For them, it's only a matter of time before someone deciphers the science behind Lightning, and what immortals have in abundance is time. Since Clarke's third law characterized their philosophy of power so well, I decided to include it.
Your characters are hybrids of insect and human. This idea spawns in my mind images of SF movie classics like the 1954 Gordon Douglas film "Them" and David Cronenberg's 1986 film The Fly. Did film play a role in the idea kernel of the story?
Not directly. A literary source had seeded that idea: Kafka's Metamorphosis. A first reader reminded me of another book I had read years ago, Virginia Woolf's Orlando, which fit well thematically with "Metamorphoses in Amber", so that played a role in the story. Film did contribute to the splash of Bond you picked up on earlier.
You explore the concept of personality and the role that gender plays in defining ourselves. This particular theme, in my opinion, brings a welcome depth to the story and turns an adventure into a thoughtful study of what it is to be an individual. Do you hope that the story will begin dialogue, in a sense, to challenge the reader's concept of who they are and where gender lands in that definition of self?
To some extent. The story is at heart an adventure, and if a reader enjoys it as such, that's great. However, if people read it and find themselves thinking about gender, body, or identity as you and I did, I'd like that, too.
Is this your first Aurora award nomination? Tell us about the thrill followed by the agony of the wait to hear the final result?
Yes, this is my first Aurora award nomination. I received the email notification about a week before the ballot was officially released, and it was very hard not saying anything! As for the final result, a month to wait isn't terribly long, so I try not to think about it. I'm not anxious now...but I likely will be, soon.
What are you working on now?
I'm currently revising THIEF OF SHAPES, a Flea novel that takes place before the events in "Metamorphoses in Amber" and reveals more secrets of the Elect shapeshifters. Expect more heists and magic in that one. In short-form, I'm working on "Manticore!", a sequel to my short story "Sphinx!" (forthcoming in the DAW anthology AGES OF WONDER). The setting is an alternate, magical Earth where colossal leonine monsters once roamed instead of dinosaurs.
Good luck with the award and congratulations on the nomination. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Thank you.