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This article introduces a new series of blog entries, which I refer to as “Authors Talk”. You can think of it as an author interview and, indeed, that is the name of the blog category. However, I prefer to see it as a friendly chat between fellow authors. Today I’m having this virtual chat with Davyne DeSye, author of Carapace. If you’re a science fiction fan (and even if you aren’t), this novel is a must-read. Easily one of the best science fiction works I’ve read lately (you can read my review of Carapace here). A detailed list of useful links to Davyne DeSye’s work can be found at the end of this article.

A Discussion with Davyne DeSye: General

Chris Angelis: Let’s first hear a couple of words about you as an author. Give us some background information: what kind of books do you write, for how long have you been a writer, and anything else you think readers would find interesting.

Davyne DeSye: At the risk of sounding cliché, I’ve been a “story creator” all my life. This actually has two meanings: First, I wrote my first book at an extremely young age – in crayon, with illustrations, on a roll of butcher paper that my parents kept handy for me to color on. I still have it, although it’s looking worse for the wear. (For what it’s worth, I’m the world’s worst illustrator and I quickly gave it up.) Secondly, I’ve spent my whole life with “stories” in my head that are triggered by the stupidest little things.

Stories Begin with “What if…”

I’ll see a billboard or hear a snippet of dialog, and begin with “What if…” I’ll hear a song (especially one without lyrics) in which I’ll hear a story, and off I go into my own private wonderland. I even got halfway through a degree in fine art photography because a picture, in my case, really is worth a thousand words.

Chris: I can totally relate to this. I think an author should ask questions of this nature. I also think a good author should also be a good experiencer, as I’ve mentioned in this article.

Davyne: As an example, when one of my children was graduating high school, everyone kept asking the inevitable “What do you want to do now that you’re grown up…?” I found myself wondering: What if, instead of choosing what you wanted to do for a living, you had to choose how you wanted to die? This led to a quirky short story called “Choosing Day”. If you are asking the more unromantic question, I first published for money in 1995.

Writing what Comes to Mind

Regarding what I write, I write what comes to mind. Because most of the short stories I’ve written fall into the speculative fiction genre, I’ve considered myself a sci-fi author for most of my writing life, but – to be honest – I’ve had excellent success with my historical romance sequels to Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, and have had requests from readers to write historical romance sequels to other classics. I’ll probably do that because I loved writing For Love of the Phantom and its follow-ons.

Chris: We’ll talk more about science fiction later. But as my academic background revolves around it, I feel I have the experience to say this: speculative fiction can and does function as a medium of highly complex and abstract human experiences. In other words, speculative fiction can often reveal things about one’s self that more realistic fictions cannot.

Davyne: Regardless of the genre I write in, I write to evoke an emotional response. If I’ve made someone swoon, or cry, or get angry or feel what it would be to truly be in love, that means everything to me. It means I’ve expressed myself well enough to reach across time and space to touch another person. It means I’ve made a connection. I love when that happens to me through reading and I remain amazed that words alone can have that power over us.

Writing is Bleeding onto Paper

Chris: Evoking an emotional response is critical in writing. I have stressed it myself, that writers should be focusing on affect, not facts. What does writing mean to you, on a personal level? For instance, is writing something you do when you are stressed?

Davyne: Writing, for me, is the single most fulfilling thing I do. My husband can always tell when I’ve written during the day because I’m bubbly, filled with excitement, “sparkly.” I am invested in my characters and I love my stories – even the ones that are never published. In fact, my all-time favorite short story has never been published! Writing, for me, is bleeding onto paper. I put all my emotions, mind, and heart into it.

For that reason, my writing, many times, reflects my “head space” at that particular moment. If I’m hurting, that pain goes into the story. If I’m head over heels in love, that euphoria goes into my writing. Thankfully, I have had a very full life and have a good emotional memory, so if I need to call on past pain or past euphoria (or anything in between) it’s on tap.

Works in Progress

Chris: Any recent or upcoming books you’d like to talk about?

Davyne: I’m super excited to be making good progress on the third book in my Phantom Rising series. While the first two books in the series were sequels to Phantom of the Opera, the third is a prequel, explaining how the Phantom became the famous Opera Ghost.

I’m loving how it’s going so far, and hopefully my readers will too. When I’m finished with that, I’ll be working on a sequel to my science fiction novel, Carapace. That book has been niggling loudest at the back of my mind lately, so it’s probably the next on the list, although there are several others clamoring for attention as well.

A Discussion with Davyne DeSye: Carapace 

Chris: Speaking of Carapace, is there any background in regard to the inspiration for the story? Perhaps any other works or characters that inspired you?

Davyne: To be perfectly honest, Carapace started as an especially vivid dream in which I was Khara. I literally rolled over in bed and started writing as fast as I could – pages and pages and pages worth. Then, while watching Casa Blanca, and pondering the romantic tensions as well as the certainties/uncertainties of the various characters about whether to be involved in the war efforts and to what extent, Carapace rolled over in my head and became a story about how my characters would respond in war and revolution.

Balancing between Action and Inaction

Chris: Great background story! I’ve had similar experiences too – that is, an idea spawning from a vivid dream. It all goes back to experiencing. About the character of Khara, I found her fascinating in many aspects. But perhaps the most intriguing was her balancing between action and inaction, surrender and fighting back, nihilism and meaning. In your opinion, is this a point of struggle for modern humans in general? Do we struggle to make sense in an increasingly less sense-making world?

Davyne: As I said earlier, many of my stories are reflections of my personal “head space” at any given time. At the time of writing Carapace, I was teetering between believing I had the strength to endure a situation that might extinguish my “soul” (for want of a better word) and the knowledge that I had the strength to overcome it. There were many, many days that giving in seemed the easier option, but, in the end, surrender just wasn’t in me. Khara’s struggle (and ultimate victory) was my own.

Faith in Humanity

In a much broader sense, I know my struggle was not unique. We all struggle with something. I have great faith in humanity (although not always in individual humans) and believe that humanity, even when faced with horrendous situations, can endure and show the spark within them that makes us worthy of ourselves.

I don’t know if this concept is as easy to believe for a person today when there is so much being thrown at us to confuse us into taking up either fall-on-your-sword issues or complacency. Ultimately, I believe the battle toward decency, honor, love, friendship, and all the other lovely ideals, is worth the struggle. If Carapace gives even one person the strength – for even a moment – to fight toward those ideals against the overwhelming inertia to give in, I’ll be ecstatic.

Science Fiction: A Misunderstood Genre?

Chris: Is science fiction a misunderstood genre, in your opinion? What should good science fiction be like?

Davyne: Science fiction probably is a misunderstood genre, but only because it has come so far. In the past, science fiction equaled the pulp magazines where stories were told that were not based in contemporary life. It was an exploration of ideas of possible futures, sometimes the crazier, the better, and most with a wide-eyed wonder.

When it started to grow up just a bit, science fiction graduated to an even broader exploration of ideas, questioning many things about science, society, human nature, life (here and on other planets), governments, and, of course, still speculating about the future.

Genre Saturation

Today, there are so many subgenres of science fiction – dystopian, cyberpunk, steampunk, time travel, space opera, alien invasion, biopunk, transrealism, etc. – that I think it is difficult to really classify or understand it as a genre. As an example, when I asked someone if they liked science fiction, their answer was “Ew, I hate science fiction – it’s all about aliens or robots,” but they went on to tell me one of their favorite stories was about time travel!

Chris: From personal experience (also academically speaking), I think you are absolutely right. I also think that people encounter difficulties trying to grasp the concept of continuum or mode, in terms of genre. For example, I often see people misunderstanding the differences and similarities between Gothic, horror, and science fiction.

Davyne: To really add confusion to the understanding of the genre, many things that are being introduced into the market today were “science fiction” fifty, or thirty, or even five years ago. This doesn’t invalidate what science fiction should strive to be. To maintain its validity, science fiction must continue to explore possible futures, and question what happens today.

A Discussion with Davyne DeSye: Writer’s Life

Chris: How do you feel when you read a book that has received a lot of attention but which you personally find to be mediocre?

Davyne: Sorry that I fell for the hype and slogged through something other than a stellar read – since I love reading and being swept away. Then again, to each their own, right? Looking at the opposite situation, I’m often baffled when a book that was brilliant doesn’t receive (what I believe to be) much-deserved attention. I suppose it’s part of the magic of art of whatever kind. Each of us reacts on a visceral level to a piece of art, so I shouldn’t expect a book to be any different.

Chris: Bad books that receive attention while good ones do not… I must admit, this kind of injustice is something that frustrates me a lot. By the way, do you think an author can make a living from her/his writing? Should s/he?

Writing as a Career Choice

Davyne: Definitely… depending on your definition of “a living.” Pay for the big house in the Adirondacks, a condo on the French Riviera, and the ski lodge in Switzerland? A few. A very, very, very few. Cover the rent on a modest apartment and the grocery bills? Far more likely, but still pretty unusual. And even those writers are “working” to get it done. Far, far more writers – especially today – cannot make a living on their writing alone. In short, if anyone asked me if writing was a good career choice (and was hoping to make a living), I’d suggest they look at other options.

With regard to whether an author should make a living from their writing… if they can, sure! Really good authors enter their readers’ lives and change them – even if in the smallest way. Sometimes they entertain us, but even better if they teach us a different perspective, a new way to think and leave us with a story that enriches us. That is certainly worth payment in return.

(Under)Appreciating Knowledge and Literature

Chris: Would you say literature (and perhaps knowledge in general) is under-appreciated? Why do you think that is?

Davyne: I think knowledge in general is under-appreciated. I would guess that it is because knowledge is far more accessible today than it ever has been. It’s akin to asking if ice in your fridge or oranges are under-appreciated. Fifty to a hundred years ago, neither ice in your “fridge” nor oranges were readily available… nowadays, who doesn’t have ice or oranges on hand if you want them?

Likewise, fifty to a hundred years ago, to gain knowledge about a particular building in Milan and the family who once lived there meant making an arduous trip to Milan, personally studying the building and searching public records and private family diaries to even have a hope of becoming knowledgeable on the subject. Today, you hold up your smart phone and say “Okay Google,” and ask your question. (Yes, to gain better than a one-line description you have to search further, but generally, you don’t have to go to Milan.)

Information versus Knowledge

Also, while readily available information does not equate to “knowledge,” I’m not sure that the distinction is appreciated. Having access to information that tells you how to crochet or solder a copper pipe is not the same as having the knowledge to be able to do those things, but with the abundance of easy information, it’s not as hard to gain the knowledge.

With regard to whether literature is under-appreciated, I’m less certain. Yes, our attention spans are being truncated by information flying at us from all sides and we have all become far more susceptible to following the biggest, brightest, loudest, most entertaining bit of information flashing before us. Even I – a reader and writer – have to admit that things are more easily consumed in “snippets.”

I think this is the reason writers are advised to have great covers, terrific blurbs and an attention-grabbing opening paragraph/scene – to seize attention in a generation quickly becoming accustomed to making choices in seconds rather than minutes or hours. But, I know more readers now than at any time in my life, so perhaps literature is becoming the quiet island to which someone can escape when the noise becomes too much? I’d like to think so!

Davyne DeSye: Important Links

Below you can find links to Davyne DeSye’s work.

Personal Website
Goodreads Author Page
Amazon Page