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Interview with a Junkee: TRIUMVIRATE
By The Host
Howdy, folks; Host here. Below I've transcribed an interview conducted by JPJunkee about my story Triumvirate. I wanna thank Junkee again for all of his support and for his willingness to talk with me about Triumvirate! This interview will also be featured in the Special Edition of Triumvirate, which is to be released on April 11 2003. Be sure to check it out!
JPJunkee: Firstly, what inspired you to write Triumvirate?
The Host: Good question. It's kind of an interesting story, actually. I've been developing Triumvirate in some form or another for about nine years now. The original inspiration actually came from a video game review I read in the sixth grade. I've never played the game -- don't evern remember what it was called -- but the premise dealt with a starfighter pilot who uncovers a government conspiracy of sorts and then launches a rebellion. Needless to say, the idea has changed substantially since then!
JPJunkee: When editing Triumvirate for the SE, was there any single scene or sequence that you had a particularly painful time cutting from the story?
The Host: Several of them, but one in particular. It's a lengthy action sequence near the end of the story involving an elevator lift gone haywire. It was a good scene, but really added nothing to the story vis a vis character or plot and, ultimately, I was forced to scrap it due to time considerations. It was especially disappointing because it was one of the few scenes that showed up in just about every version of this story I've penned in the last several years. I think that was really the only reason I stuck it in there in the first place.
JPJunkee: Was there any particular part of the story that you enjoyed writing the most?
The Host: Probably the chase through Magnapolis before the characters assemble at the Corporate Tower. I've always really enjoyed writing action scenes. Dialogue scenes I generally go over in my head until I've worked them completely out and memorized them, and so actually writing them is more like transcription than actual creative writing. Not so with action scenes. I usually get a rough idea of where I'm going with them and then just let it happen. Sometimes they whisk me away somewhere totally unexpected. There's something especially visceral and satisfying about that.
JPJunkee: Did you do any researching before you began writing the story?
The Host: Not much, to be honest. I had once thought about incorporating a lot of science and technocratic mumbo-jumbo into it, and to that end I did invest considerable time in research. But ultimately I decided the story would be better served if not laden down with such scientific jargon. Instead, the story focused upon my own knowledge and my insights, as well as those of some authors and professors and philosophers that have gone before me. I make some allusions to works of literature here and there, but that's all stuff I picked up in the course of life, and not specifically research for the purposes of this story.
JPJunkee: Some of the characters are portrayed with such realism, they seem like they could be real people. By any chance, were any of the characters actually inspired by real people?
The Host: To some degree, yes. I think that's often inevitable. There are some elements of myself in both Davies and Johnson, and perhaps even in Dawson. Johnson, more specifcally, shares some traits with certain friends of mine past and present; and I think Davies's feelings toward both Johnson and Dawson are feelings I've held for others myself. What's perhaps more interesting is the fact that I intended to base a few of the more minor characters (notably Macy, Willem, and Steve) on people that I know, but the characters ended up completely different from what I'd envisioned. Oh, and Holden Getty, the poor slob who dies before he says a thing -- that's me. He's in virtually all of my stories. Sort of like a Hitchcockian cameo. (Now I've gotta figure out a way to work him into Second Triumvirate when he's already dead!)
JPJunkee: How do you think TRIUMVIRATE compares to your other work? Do you think it’s the best fiction you’ve written?
The Host: Wow. That's a tough question. It's always hard for me to judge my own work. Triumvirate is certainly the largest piece of fiction I've written, with the exception of a couple of adaptations I've made of other people's work. Best? Maybe. By the time I've finished editing, it could very well be. But I've got lots of other ideas, many better ideas, I think, and I plan to keep improving. Triumvirate, as I've mentioned, is an idea I've worked on for years. I think I had to finish it in an acceptable form before I could lose this albatross around my neck and move on to bigger and better things.
JPJunkee: Triumvirate is based off of an old story of yours named, Gemini’s Redemption. The story has changed a lot since it's original creation. In your eyes, where do you think it has changed the most? In what areas has it been improved the most?
The Host: I think the biggest change -- which is also the greatest improvement -- is that the plot has been considerably simplified. Gemini's Redemption dealt not only with a secret weapons program, but also with a revolutionary new starship design, aliens pretending to be human, and several other factions vying for control of the United Star Systems. It juggled two different timelines and about a dozen main characters. While Triumvirate is still pretty bloated, I've cut back considerably on the complexities of plot and spent more time developing characters and themes. I think Triumvirate is a smarter story, and more cynical. It's better-paced, but perhaps has a more disappointing ending, for better or for worse.
JPJunkee: In the beginning, Triumvirate had received a few excellent reviews, and all who had read it, had given it very high marks. Even so, not many people were reading it. Were you -- or are you -- disappointed by the lack of readers for the story?
The Host: A little bit, to be completely honest. Ultimately all authors write primarily for themselves. But, as Stephen King has pointed out in his book 'On Writing', the best authors write with an audience in mind. I suppose, to some extent, I wrote this story with the denizens of Dan's JP3 Page in mind. I've never really showed any of my writing to anyone else before. And recognition certainly helps, and criticism definitely makes a writer better. Nonetheless, I am incredibly happy with the amount of praise I've recveived. I honestly appreciate it; and I feel that what might be lacking in quantity of comments is certainly made up for in quality. I've recevied a lot of insightful remarks.
JPJunkee: Looking back at Triumvirate; are you satisfied with how it all turned out? Is there anything you would like to be able to change?
The Host: Right now I'm pretty satisfied; there's not much I would change. The version now online has considerable flaws -- the ending, especially, is far too abrupt. I think (hope) I'm correcting that in my current reediting. The things is, however, that it's very difficult to judge your own work, and even more difficult to judge it so soon after it's written. I did not read Triumvirate a single time after I'd written it until a few days ago -- and that distance in time really cast some of the flaws I wouldn't have noticed before into clear relief. So while I might say that right now I think it's about as good as I could have hoped, in a year's time I might feel it's frankly pretty bad.
JPJunkee: What can fans of Triumvirate be looking forward to in the upcoming sequel?
The Host: Well, Second Triumvirate isn't a sequel so much as a continuation and conclusion to the first story. Without being too specific, I'll say that it begins twelve years after the first story ends; Dawson is ruling emperor over a peaceful realm. The story will focus on a struggle for power within the United Star Systems, but will then take a perhaps unexpected turn about a third of the way in. That's as much as I'll say about the plot. As for characters, Jack Davies will be returning, along with Dawson and many other characters from the first. The protagonist, however, will be a new character, as will the main villain. And the third major character (after Davies and our new protagonist) will be someone who had a very small role in the first story . . . Prepare to be surprised. Finally, I'll just say that this story will be a little darker than the first, and will be much more action-oriented and epic in feel.
JPJunkee: Other than Second Triumvirate, what other stories of yours can readers be looking forward to in the near future?
The Host: Right now I'm debating whether or not I should post my adaptation of Fellowship of the Ring. It's the first screenplay I wrote, and so not particularly good, but it might interest a few. Other than that I'm working on a media satire/comedy called 'Bigger Than Jesus,' a disaster movie called 'Cocytus,' screenplay and novel versions of a semi-autobiographical comedy/drama called 'In Support of the Academy,' and adaptations of Kurt Vonnegut's 'The Sirens of Titan' and Robert Cormier's 'I am the cheese.' I was offered the opportunity to write an installment in the JP: TE series way back in November, but I haven't heard anything about it since, so I don't know if that will materialize or not. If it doesn't, I do have a few ideas floating around for a potential JP fanfic. We'll see what develops. . .
So . . . That's that! Thanks again, JPJunkee! Look for the SE of Triumvirate, with this interview and a whole lot more, on April 11th. And don't forget to read TRIUMVIRATE, now available in original recipe.
-The Host
3/31/2003 1:28:24 AM
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