How did “The Blade and the Bloodwright” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

I drew on Hawaiian history, specifically the story of Kamehameha and how he unified the islands with an armada of war canoes and soldiers. I haven’t read many stories that draw inspiration from my culture and wanted to try my hand at expanding it out into a whole world; a planet with no continents, just remote islands and archipelagos. The economy in ancient Hawaii was also fascinatingly complex with extended families (‘ohana) working cooperatively on an ahupua’a or pieces of land running from the mountains to the sea. I liked the idea of having a global culture where each island specializes in one craft that they then use to trade for other resources which is the underlying issue in this story. Another point of inspiration was simply dissatisfaction with depictions of fictional native characters in works I’ve read; whenever I see any sort of fictional culture derived from real native cultures, I’m always struck by how simplistic and barebones they’re portrayed. In Hawaii, the maka’ainana or people of the land lived well above subsistence levels and had lots of time for cultural activities, sports, and games. I wanted to illustrate how rich and interconnected an entire world would be if I drew on this single culture.

What is your writing process like? Did this story fit the pattern?

I’m usually drawn into an idea for a story by strong imagery, a particular emotion or theme. For this, the imagery of the bloodwright wreaking grisly havoc on these island-cities came to me first. I could picture the cities made of bone, a throbbing arterial capital, and a giant billowing sheet of skin in the sky over an empty metropolis and had to commit it to the page. Each act of destruction also changes the bloodwright further into something else which laid out an endpoint for me.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

I’m always thinking of this quote from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o who says, in reference to Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”: “I believe that universality is the child of particularity. Remember that grain of sand? It contains the world. A writer has to be faithful to that grain in order to envision the universe.” I think a lot of writers are worried about being unrelatable or that they’ll reveal some secret darkness that only they contain and will be lambasted for. But that loyalty to the self and the specificity of one’s experience is what makes a story timeless, universal, and deeply human.

What are you reading lately? What writers inspire you?

Some recent reads I enjoyed were Serious Weakness by Porpentine Charity Heartscape (which I was lucky enough to do the cover for), Architectures of Possibility: After Innovative Writing by Lance Olsen, and Twins: Dead Ringers by Bari Wood. My last book club read was Villette which was also amazing! Some authors I regularly return to to reinvigorate my sense of language are Sonya Taaffe, Gary J. Shipley, Catherynne Valente, Brian Evenson, and Mary Doria Russell.

Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?

I’m a cartoonist and illustrator by trade so I draw every day. I also write a lot of comic scripts and just finished a TV writing fellowship to become a TV writer (great timing, I know). To relax . . . I also draw, haha. But I also love basking in the sun by the river when the weather allows, playing with my dogs, watching movies, and playing the occasional video game.

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

I’m currently writing a novel that’s a dark fantasy epic set in an analog of Hawaii that’s been cast into Hell. I’m also writing and drawing two different graphic novels with two different collaborators! My newest graphic novel Prism Stalker: The Weeping Star came out July 25th and is the second in my indigenous psychedelic science fiction trilogy. I’m also running a campaign this month for the next volume in my illustrated BIPOC horror anthology Death in the Mouth: Original Horror from the Margins Volume 2. You can also find more of my work on my website sloanesloane.com/index.