By Natalie Dean ||
Refractions is Glass Mountain’s monthly interview series. This month, Natalie Dean speaks with Fonda Lee, Canadian-American award-winning speculative fiction writer and author of The Green Bone Saga.
What is your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Monica Hughes was a Canadian author who seems relatively unknown in the United States and deserves much more recognition. She wrote wonderful science fiction novels for young adults long before Young Adult was the marketing category that it is now. Growing up in Canada, I was first introduced to her books in school. I believe Devil on My Back was one of the first science fiction novels I read, and one of my gateway books into a lifetime of reading and writing speculative fiction.
What does literary success look like to you?
I wish I knew! Like many authors, I often find myself wondering what it means to have “made it” and if and when I’ll ever feel “successful.” When I step back from it all, however, success for me means being proud of my work. I’d like to look upon a bookshelf full of my published novels and feel satisfied that I gave it my all.
"Success for me means being proud of my work. I’d like to look upon a bookshelf full of my published novels and feel satisfied that I gave it my all."
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Perfectionism.
What writers/mentors have had the biggest impact on your life and writing? How have they helped you become a better writer?
Having a writing community has been very important at every stage of my career. Before I was published, I attended the Viable Paradise Writers Workshop, a week-long residential workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers. The experience of working with established novelists, in a cohort of other students with similar writing ambitions, unequivocally cemented for me the certainty that yes, this was what I wanted to do with my life.
Have you read anything that made you think differently about your genre?
When I was in college, working toward a degree in finance of all things, I took an elective class on science fiction literature. I wrote my final paper on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It’s arguably the first modern science fiction novel, and it’s one of my favorite novels of all time. I credit it with truly opening my eyes to the fact that speculative fiction—science fiction, fantasy, horror—far from being mere escapism, has always been a profound way for us to understand our world and to examine the human condition.
"Speculative fiction—science fiction, fantasy, horror—far from being mere escapism, has always been a profound way for us to understand our world and to examine the human condition."
What does your creative process look like? Was it the same or different for The Green Bone Saga?
I tend to be a slow and deliberate writer. I do a lot of research and think about my ideas for a long time before I commit them to paper. The first book of the Green Bone Saga, Jade City, started out as a couple of lines in my notebook back in 2013. I developed the concept, layer by layer, over the course of four years, while also working on other novels that were already on contract. Every book has its own process. I wrote Jade City linearly. The sequel, Jade War, required me to juggle events and characters in different locales, so at times I wrote it out of order and stitched them together afterward. The third book, Jade Legacy, I wrote in segments, covering different time periods in the story.
What was the hardest part of this series to write?
The scope and narrative complexity of the trilogy made this the most ambitious creative project I’ve tackled so far in my career. The Green Bone Saga has a large cast of characters, with several main protagonists. The narrative spans over twenty-five years and takes place across several countries and cultures. At times, I felt as if I was playing four-dimensional chess trying to handle all the interconnected story threads. Through it all, I hewed very strongly to my vision that this be a deeply intimate story focused on the characters. It is, foremost, a family saga.
Natalie Dean is a junior English student at the University of Houston. She is the Upper Art Editor and Co-Managing Editor at Glass Mountain, and in her free time, she reads, paints, and writes. Her favorite genres are gothic fiction, surrealist, and fantasy.
