Interview with Fantasy Spotlight Writer: Michael Thomas Ford
I am very excited and proud to have a chance to interview on of my new favorite authors, Michael Thomas Ford here at BestFantasyStories. If you read my bio on him, you know that he is a gifted writer who has been writing for years and continues to evolve as a writer. His latest series, about Jane Austen as a vampire is a pleasure and we are so glad he found time out of a very busy schedule to answer our questions.
BFS: You began as primarily a non-fiction writer and journalist, and certainly from many people’s point of view, including mine initially, primarily as someone who was observing and reporting on gay life in America. You shifted into novels with the publication of Last Summer, although that novel I felt built on your gay audience because it still kept to a primarily gay protagonist. But then you began writing about vampires in 2003 with the novella Sting in Masters of Midnight and then followed that with Carnival in 2004 in the book Midnight Thirsts. Yes, there is still a predominantly gay tone in these stories, but it is still a big shift to go into gay vampire erotica after being seen as the inheritor of Armistead Maupin’s role as chronicler of American Gay Life. The Jane Bites series is an even bigger shift away from a predominantly gay themed writing style to books that frankly are almost mainstream in their approach. Why the shift over the last few years?
MTF: I’ve never really planned out my career in any deliberate way, although looking back over the past twenty-something years I can see how it has evolved organically. Most people don’t realize that although I’m probably most well-known for the gay-themed novels for adult readers, I’ve written far more mainstream novels for a young adult audience. I’ve written (under various names) thirty or so novels for that audience, many of them with supernatural or horror themes. So this isn’t as big a shift as it might seem. As far as taking my work for adult readers in a more mainstream direction, I did very much see the Jane books as an opportunity to expand my audience. You can be a best-selling author of gay-themed fiction, but even if every single person interested in gay-themed fiction buys your books, that’s still a relatively small audience. So you look for ways to grow your readership. Also, I have varied interests when it comes to writing. I’ve never wanted to be or thought of myself as one type of writer. Different genres work best for different stories, and I’ve always enjoyed moving back and forth between worlds.
BFS: One of my favorite characters in the Jane books is Beverly Shrop, the book review blogger that turns from a minor annoyance to a very scary character later on. Where did the idea for her character come from?
MTF: Thanks to the ease of blogging, there’s been a proliferation of people whose opinions on popular culture–for reasons that are often completely inexplicable–have become recognized as having value. The reviews on bookselling sites are a prime example of this. At the time I was coming up with a foil for Jane, there happened to be a particularly vigorous and nasty flame war going on involving a handful of online reviewers whose legitimacy was in question. It seems fairly ridiculous that anyone would even care who has the most reviews on a book review site, or whether or not so-and-so is writing actual opinions or simply regurgitating promotional copy. Yet people do seem to care. This is exactly the kind of thing Jane Austen would find appalling, so I thought, who better to be the villain than someone whose sole claim to fame is writing thousands of reviews for books she probably never even read? I love Beverly, and every time I got to write lines for her it was a good day.
BFS: In the first book, Jane Bites Back, we see Jane struggling to have her two hundred year old manuscript published. This is a struggle every author can relate to, and like many she just doesn’t give up. Harrison Ford once said he became an actor because of all those in his group of actor-friends, when the others gave up he kept on trying. As he puts it- he was the last one left. Is Jane the same way-persistent to the point of impossible? How important is being a writer to her? How does this relate to your own view of the importance of being a writer?
MTF: Being a writer is everything to Jane, at least at the beginning of the series. That’s her identity. She doesn’t really think of herself as a vampire, or a girlfriend, or even a friend. She’s Jane Austen, the most beloved writer in all of literature. And she’s been holding on to that identity for hundreds of years, which is largely why she’s so unhappy. She can’t see herself as anything other than that, and because she hasn’t published she feels as if she’s failed. I can relate to that. At this point I’ve been a writer for more than half my life. It’s all I’ve ever done, and at my age it’s unlikely I’ll become an astronaut or a biochemist or really anything else unless it’s writing-related. But being a writer is a perilous thing. You’re constantly at the mercy of the market and a million other things that are out of your control, including, sometimes, your own brain. So I often think, if this were taken away from me, what would I be? Who would I be? At what point does what you do define who you are, or become more important than anything else you are? It’s an interesting question, and one that really is the center of Jane’s issues.
BFS: Lucy, Jane’s assistant at the bookstore, is a wonderfully balanced (punk band origins included) character. She seems to embody the characteristics most of us wish we could find in ourselves, including her ability to accept Jane for who she is. Is she based on anyone in particular and how did the character evolve?
MTF: Lucy is one of my favorite characters as well. I didn’t have anyone particular in mind when I wrote her. I think I just wanted to create the ultimate best friend for Jane. She desperately needs someone who accepts her as she is, and that’s Lucy. As far as her development, she’s probably been the easiest character to write. Possibly this is because she doesn’t have any major faults, and therefore has the luxury of being the consistently-reliable supporting player. She doesn’t get much personal drama heaped on her, which frees her up to be funny. She and Byron are the characters I depended on for comic relief when Jane got too angsty.
BFS: In the first book, Walter is a bit of a quiet bore, someone who is so nice you almost don’t notice him. But he develops into so much more by the end of the second book, and of course he and Jane get married in the third. Does Walter have some kind of inner life we are not seeing? Yes, as Jane says, he is so much more than just a carpenter, but who is Walter really?
MTF: Walter really is kind of boring in the first book. I wanted him to be the complete opposite of what you would think Jane Austen would go for, the antithesis of Byron. He’s a foil for Jane’s constant state of near-hysteria. But I wasn’t entirely fair to him in that first book, so I gave him room to grow in the subsequent books. He remains loyal and dependable, but he develops more fully as a character. You discover that he’s more than just the nice guy. His strength is what holds Jane up, even when she doesn’t always realize it. He’s a bit like the nice-but-dorky guy in a romantic comedy, the one who waits patiently for the girl to recognize how perfect he is for her. Because Jane is such a dramatic character, Walter is usually trying to calm her down, so he doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to have his own big dramatic moments. But in the end he’s the one who understands what she really needs to be happy.
BFS: Vampires can turn invisible? Lord Byron teaching Jane to be a vampire? Your rules for vampires are a bit different from what our readership generally reads. Is there a vampire series or even individual books that you used as inspiration for these parts or did you just plow forward and decided to take no prisoners on what you felt vampires can or should be.
MTF: I decided at the start of the series that I was going to make up my own rules. I know that makes many vampire fans crazy, but Jane and the other vampires in the books aren’t meant to be examples of classic vampires. My vampires are more inconvenienced by their undead state than anything, and I wanted to play up those aspects. Allowing them to eat, or become invisible, or walk around during the day, might not fit in with the “rules” of writing about vampires, but these aren’t books about the vampire mythos. They’re light, funny novels. Not that I don’t appreciate adhering to tradition. I do. And in my more horror-oriented fiction I’ve stuck to the usual rules. But when you’re writing about Jane Austen as a vampire, you’ve already pretty much thrown the rule book out the window, so making up new rules here and there is all part of the fun.
BFS: I know this isn’t your first hand at vampires, and I will admit I have not read the short stories that came before this series, though I know of them. Did you carry over much from that writing experience or did you come to Jane with a fresh start, so to speak?
MTF: The Jane books are essentially comic novels, where my previous vampire fiction has been almost exclusively horror-oriented. The vampire elements in the series are used as opportunities for Jane and her friends to get into trouble, not for scares. My previous vampire fiction was much more about the vampire as a tragic or horrific figure. There are elements of that in the Jane books, mostly with minor characters, but for the most part I wanted these books to be fun. The vampires in my other work are not people Jane would invite for tea. She would be appalled by their behavior.
BFS: So- Jane and Walter get married in the third book, and although I haven’t seen it yet it sounds like there could be an end point in it. Are there plans to do more with this character and if so, where do you see her going?
A: There aren’t currently any plans to keep going with this character. However, the ending of the third book does leave open the possibility for more books if at some point I have the opportunity to return to the story. I try not to think too much about where characters’ lives go once a book ends, so I haven’t looked much into Jane’s future. But given her penchant for getting into trouble, I imagine that things will not be happily-ever-after for very long.
BFS: Outside of Jane, do you have any plans to write more in the “paranormal” sub-genre? What are your plans, vampires or no vampires for the next book?
MTF: I love writing paranormal and horror fiction. My Wicca-themed young adult series, “Circle of Three,” which I wrote a decade ago under the name Isobel Bird, was enormously fun to do, and I would love to do more in that genre, especially for older readers. I do have a supernatural-themed novel I’ve outlined, and I think it’s a great story. At the moment, though, I’m working on a book for young readers, and when that’s done I have a couple of other commitments to fulfill. But then I just might find some time to devote to this book, which has been waiting patiently for its time to shine.
