How did “The Archivist” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

R J: I backed a Kickstarter with a reward level that included working with Maurice on a short story. We’d both written airships, and I had friends who had lots of great things to say about Maurice as a person, so I thought that would be a fun experience. I was a little nervous, because a previous attempt to co-write a story didn’t go well. But that was a novel, and this would be a short story. I hoped that I’d have a better experience—and if not, at least it would only be a short story!

We had our initial brainstorming call, and we both threw up some ideas we had fluttering around our minds. Maurice connected with my phrase “ley lines in space” and we talked about what that might mean for a bit, while his cat circled the laptop.

With the concept chosen and some rough ideas going, we decided I would go first. I sent Maurice 500 words, and it rolled from there.

What is your writing process like?

R J: The way it often works for me is that an idea occurs to me, and (hopefully) I write it down to archive it until I can give it some attention—because usually I’m in the middle of another project and my brain is trying to procrastinate by distracting me with shiny new ideas. I’ll add any necessary research topics to my TBR pile in the meantime.

When it is time to work on something new, I pick the shiniest from those written-down ideas and spend some time mulling over what the story might be about, because often the prompt I’ve left myself is a general concept (such as “ley lines in space”).

For short stories, I try to pick a theme at the start, because I find it helps me find the story’s voice and plot. I don’t generally outline my short stories the way I will with a novel. I’ll know I’m ready when the opening (or ending!) lines start to form in my mind.

Then I sit down and bang out a first draft over a period of a few days. Often the story that I come up with will surprise me, so I keep myself very flexible and follow my inspiration. When I have a first draft, I consider if it’s achieving what I want, and decide how much revision it needs to make sure it does. Generally a short story is written and revised in the span of a week—sometimes less, if I’m not too busy with other projects at the same time.

Maurice: I do a lot of prep work so that I never have to face a blank page. I jot down any ideas for the story, any plot points or scenes that come to mind. I outline because I’m a control freak and I like to have an idea of where the story’s going before I start. Then I research. It’s what gives me the time to think through what I want to do with the story.

Next comes the character sketches. I try to “bio” my characters, especially in my longer works, trying to get their stories down. Not just their physical descriptions and names, but how they know the other characters.

While I’m still at the note stage of the game, I figure out the overall plot and arrange the scenes. I like the scattering of all my notes then, like a jigsaw puzzle, shape them into an outline of a plot and putting which notes with which scene. Only then, armed with a rough story, scattered bits of dialogue descriptions and turns of phrase, can I then sit down and write.

I’m always writing . . . sometimes I even put words on a page. Honestly, I’m typically juggling a half dozen projects/ideas at a time. I actively work on the one with the most pressing deadline, but as ideas pop up for the other projects (or even new ones), I toss them into the appropriate file until it’s time to work on that story. That way there’s a lot of notes and ideas already waiting on me. My process is messy, involves me throwing a bunch of ideas at a page and seeing what sticks. I wish my process was more organic, but it works for me.

So it’s fun (is it fun?) to bring someone into the mess. If nothing else, we get to see close up how another writer’s process works for them.

Did this story fit the pattern?

R J: Not at all for me, since we co-wrote across the internet! The story draft went back and forth over four months. We treated the process like an improv performance, proceeding forward in the “yes, and . . . ” style. This resulted in a story that neither of us would have written on our own, with a combined voice that grew from what we each uniquely brought to the story.

Maurice: Absolutely! Co-writing is even better: I can pop in, write my piece, and then toss it back over and get to another story. Whenever I’d receive RJ’s latest work, I’d drop everything, read it, and begin formulating my “comeback.”

Did you get stuck at any point while writing this? How did you get past that?

R J: Speaking for myself, I didn’t feel stuck at any time. The first 500 words were inspired by the kickoff discussion and I was excited to get started. Each time Maurice sent back another section, it was like an intriguing creative prompt all over again. I’d write until I came to a natural break, then send it back to him.

Maurice: The great thing about working with another writer is if I ever get stuck, I just write something ridiculous and make the story their problem to figure out!

What is your writing space like? What do you like to have around for optimal creativity?

Maurice: I have two main writing spaces. The first is my office, where I’m surrounded by my comic books (all 20,000+ of them) and Funko figures (the entire cast of Black Panther). Also, a huge action figure of Captain Sisko from Deep Space Nine looms over my desk. The second is my front porch. During the pandemic lockdown, since I could no longer write in coffee shops, I declared my front porch my coffee shop and designated my neighbors my regulars. After a while, neighbors stopped by, including many of the artists that live in my community. And it has become a regular hang out spot for writers and artists.

R J: I do most of my writing in my home office. I have lots of movie posters and book cover prints on my walls, plus hanging plants, action figures, and my collection of minerals and crystals spread among witchy things and dinosaur plushes. Pre-pandemic, I also wrote at coffee shops (something I sorely miss), because I find the white noise of a busy shop to be very helpful for my focus. Now I rely on absolute silence (my office is very well insulated), or lofi hip hop radio on YouTube.

What led you into writing genre fiction?

Maurice: The first time I was kicked out of Sunday School class was due to me attempting to come to terms with the story I’d just heard. This grandmotherly Sunday School teacher had just read us the story of Noah and the flood. On the wall hung a flannel-graph on which she had a fabric Ark and a fabric Noah bobbing on fabric flood waters. She invited each of the students to place an animal onto the Ark. You know, so the pastor’s son put a lion on it. His buddy put on a giraffe. And when it was my turn, I took a couple of the other fabric people and laid them on top of the water. She asked me what I was doing. I said “that is the story we just heard, right?” And out I went. I didn’t realize at the time that this was the beginning of me wrestling with a postapocalyptic narrative and trying to reconcile it with my faith. And probably stirred my interest in dark stories.

Now I didn’t truly realize how pivotal a moment this would be in my life. Another Sunday School teacher heard about this incident and invited me to hang out with him. He introduced me to Dr. Who and Star Trek episodes on VHS. All kinds of memorabilia. And rows upon rows of comic books. He turned to me and said “I think you’re one of us.”

R J: Maurice has a way better story than I do. I just was drawn to fantasy and science fiction, so that’s what I wrote. I don’t think I had a pivotal moment. If I did, and forgot it, I guess it wasn’t very pivotal.

What would be your advice for other writers?

Maurice: PERSEVERANCE. You have to develop a thick skin (to handle rejection and the vagaries of this career). A big part of getting published involves simply hanging in there. Each rejection is just another brick in your path to success. The best advice I received in light of that: keep sending your stories out. They aren’t going to get published while languishing in your desk drawer. I have often said that the only thing separating me and the folks that I came up with is that I’m still around doing it.

WRITE. Write for yourself, publish to be read. All stories I write are for me, either stories that amuse me, stories I wish I could have read coming up, or stories that present an interesting writing challenge. A lot of my novels and stories end up in my “trunk” unpublished because publishing wasn’t the point. When I choose to publish, I aim for the largest publisher, opportunity, or visibility that I can, because the point is to be seen by as many eyes as possible.

GRIND. The other thing is work hard and smart. There are folks who are much better writers than me, but few work harder than me. I am always reading, writing, challenging myself. I’m always looking for opportunities.

NETWORK. You can never have too many friends. I wouldn’t be where I am without the friends I’ve made along the way. We support each other, cheer each other on, provide opportunities to one another.

R J: The only thing I’d add to Maurice’s great advice is that your writing process and your writing career doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Don’t stress about what the “right way” is and just do it “your way.” Everyone is different, and while there may be advice out there that does work for you, not everything will. Writing will be a lot more enjoyable if you can identify and honor the way it works for you, your ideas, and your well-being.

What trends in speculative fiction would you like to see gain popularity in the next few years?

Maurice: More utopian fiction, especially from marginalized cultures. I want to see more stories, worldbuilding, and visions from non-Western paradigms.

R J: More stories where characters who are friends lift each other up. I don’t need the story’s conflicts to include angst between people who ostensibly care for each other.

I want more stories to defy the three-act structure and the “Hero’s Journey” plot, ideally published by non-Western storytellers and marginalized identities.

I also love the blending of SF and F and H. They get grouped together in the bookstore but I really get into stories where the peanut butter gets in the chocolate. I think trad publishing is afraid of trying to market it, but I really see people enjoying it when it’s given a chance (e.g., The Locked Tomb trilogy).

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

Maurice: Working on book two of the Astra Black series, Breath of Oblivion. Book one, Sweep of Stars, just came out. My second middle grade detective novel, Unfadeable, is about to drop. I just had stories come out in Aliens vs Predator: Ultimate Prey (“Night Doctors”), Weird War IV (“The Door of Return”), Classic Monsters Unleashed (“The Invisible Man: The Fire Next Time”), Weird Tales (“Dreams in the Cypher House”), and Uncanny Magazine (“Spirit Folks”). I’m currently working on a half dozen short stories while trying to talk myself out of starting a British cozy mystery no one has asked me for (but I keep tossing ideas into a file so . . .).

R J: I just got the rights back to my unfinished Peridot Shift series, so I’ve been re-editing those. Flotsam’s second edition just came out, with book two, Salvage, re-issuing July 5. Cast Off, book three, will come out (for the first time) late 2022 to finish off the trilogy. I have short pieces in a few of the Neon Hemlock anthologies (“A Future in Color” and “The Coven of TAOS-9”), plus MetaStellar (“A Ship With No Parrot”) and Fireside Magazine (“Oversharing”). There’s another piece of mine (“Treatment for a Chronic Condition”) coming in a future issue of Lightspeed, and ”Gort, Cinder, and Sphinx” will be in the Bridge to Elsewhere anthology coming out from Outland Publications.