Tobias S. Buckell is a Caribbean-born speculative fiction writer who grew up in Grenada, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has written six novels, including the New York Times Bestseller Halo: The Cole Protocol and Arctic Rising, due out from Tor Books in February. He currently lives in Ohio with his wife and twin daughters.

The Xenowealth novels are awesome examples of your work, and I know a lot of fans are really excited that you’re going to be picking up where you left off with Sly Mongoose. Care to tell us how much time has passed between Sly Mongoose and the new project, The Apocalypse Ocean?

Roughly fifteen years. Just enough time for everyone to relax, and for some of our characters to have some bitter memories about the conflicts that were winding down and being sorted out at the close of Sly Mongoose.

As a fan of your universe, and especially of intriguing characters like Nashara, I thought the short story “Placa del Fuego” was a great taste of what the Xenowealth still had to offer readers. Part of me even feared that I was getting a peak at what might have been, rather than what is coming. Will that story be contained in the new book to some degree, or is that the end of Tiago’s story?

“Placa del Fuego” is a great taste of what is coming! It was originally the opening chapters of the book, formed into a short story for Clarkesworld after my editor at Tor and I decided to go in a whole new direction. I really want to use Tiago and Kay as important parts of The Apocalypse Ocean, and their points of view will feature heavily in the book. I’ve actually got parts of Kay’s chapters written already that come right after “Placa del Fuego” takes place, where she flashes back to her own life, and how she came to power at Placa del Fuego. Kay’s got these alien-bred abilities to manipulate people and read micro-expressions, and she’s had such a brutal life, she wants retribution for all that. And she has the tools to make everyone around her miserable.

While there were plenty of incredible ideas in Ragamuffin and Mongoose, one of the most interesting things I’ve seen you do in a story was the alien creature called the Doacq, the mouth of which is actually a wormhole. Was there any particular tidbit of scientific speculation that led you to dream up such a character, or did it come as something that was just artistically inspiring?

I’ve always loved the science of wormholes (what science there is; they’re  somewhat more on the fantastic side of it all). The Doacq is a bit on the way-out-there side of things: an alien creature with a wormhole for a mouth. I imagine one would die of radiation from that. But the Doacq is an artificial biological construct, so I’m looking forward to revealing a lot more about it as the book goes along. The idea is mostly a horror image for me, a creature with an impossibly large mouth that can swallow you off to…somewhere, haunting the streets for purposes unknown…

You’ve written a lot of really fun blog posts about your writing process, especially back when you were working on Sly Mongoose and The Cole Protocol. Has drafting a novel changed much since you started to work on Arctic Rising?

Not really, to be honest. I’m still a huge fan of the software Scrivener for organizing myself and making a complex book understandable. I still prefer to write at night. From January to last month I’d actually been working at a morning shift writing and editing some copy for a company. It was a good contract, but the morning hours really hit the fiction productivity hard, I realized. The contract changed right as I was considering quitting to a different time, and I’m now back to writing late at night, and that means more fiction. That led me to feel that I could promise doing something like Apocalypse Ocean and not be over-reaching.

What are you looking forward to the most in returning to the Xenowealth books? Any particular character, or just the scope of your unique universe?

I find Pepper so much fun to write, but I’m honestly looking forward to bringing Nashara back into the mix. She’s really the only personality that’s going to work to balance Kay out.

You’re prefunding the fourth installment of the series through Kickstarter. Do you mind telling us about your motivation to go that route? How does it feel to see the amount of support you’ve been getting in such a short amount of time?

Well, there’s always a dilemma about what to do with a book that’s part of a series. I could shop it around and try to get someone to pick it up. After all, Sly Mongoose is about to come out in paperback around April. The previous books did really well in pre-orders, but hit that awkward bookstore spiral where they kept ordering fewer copies. So overall, people ordering directly compensated, and the core readership of those books grew, but I was getting fewer bookstore sales. Growth stayed flat, or just slightly up in sales for Sly Mongoose.

So I knew finding another publisher for it would be a long haul. Worth it, but a long shot as well, mainly due to the declining bookstore sales.

Then there’s the fact that I like to experiment. I have a short story collection up for sale with Wyrm Publishing, and then I did the eBook myself. I’ve written about how I experimented with the price and sales data. I also published a book about writing with some of my failed stories called Nascence. Again, I was experimenting with eBook sales.

So to me, I decided to use this as a way to test Kickstarter. I’ve seen a number of fascinating projects by people happen via Kickstarter. And Tim Pratt and Mur Lafferty’s successful projects convinced me that it might be a great way to continue the series faster than normal.

In general, I’ve been fascinated by Kickstarter since I contributed to Stacy Whitman’s project to create a new publishing company for multiracial science fiction and fantasy young adult novels. To me, the use of Kickstarter for creative projects was more of a real revolution than eBooks. To me eBooks are an evolution — we are changing some of the middlemen and royalty structures — but ultimately it’s very recognizable. But getting people to prefund a project solves a very real dilemma authors have about how successful the project is before you start it. Knowing that you have a hit in hand before going forward, to be capitalized for your project from the get go, is going to be incredibly empowering.

One thing that seems very exciting is how much more creative control this project is going to allow you. Can you tell us a bit about the design aspects, the editing process, your plans for marketing and so forth?

Pablo Defendini has been a friend of mine forever. He’s a fantastic graphic design guy I met back when he was doing all sorts of cool stuff at Tor. I’ve dug his graphic design ever since I saw a test poster he did for Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. He did the existing art you see at Kickstarter for The Apocalypse Ocean, and if we’re successful, at certain higher backing levels, we’re going to do even more, like create a custom map of the Xenowealth, and do some interior illustrations for the book! This is the sort of stuff I don’t find myself being able to do on a normal novel project, and that is so cool!

I recall reading somewhere that you’re under contract to write at least one more novel for Tor following the release of Arctic Rising. Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next?

I’m working on a novel called Infringement, based on a short story called “A Jar of Goodwill,” also published in Clarkesworld. It’s going to be a compact, near-future space opera about the nature of intelligence, humanity, and conquest.

Since most of us reading this are writers, is there any advice you’d like to offer emerging authors of science fiction?

Read lots of stuff outside the genre; don’t get too caught up in everything. Focus on the writing. Write as much as you can without breaking anything.

Given the current state of the industry — with everything from crowdsourcing to electronic publishing to print-on-demand and online magazines — do you think there’s any “best” or “safe” route to take, or is a career in writing fiction something that can only happen through happy accidents and persistence?

It’s a lot of persistence. No matter what route you take, there’s going to be that need for persistence. All overnight successes are over a decade in the making, or more. I’d say, pay attention to the authors who have the literary life you want, and see how they did it and what it took and is taking to be like them. Don’t buy hype from people telling you how to do anything. Go look at a career you like and see about what that platform is under it.

And in the course of learning about it, you’ll probably forge your own route.

I did the classic thing: I sold short stories to break in and get my name out there, but also to learn a lot of the fundamentals of writing. I sold to various professional magazines (online and print) and anthologies. That, and the fact I kept a frequent blog for many years, got me the notice of voters and an award nomination. That got me the notice of an agent. After writing and polishing a novel many times, we got many rejections, but finally sold that novel. That’s my approach from 1996-2006. It’s the old school way, and it worked nicely for me with a little bit of boost from the blogging.

I still work with Tor/Macmillan for my books, I’ve just added new channels to where my stuff goes. I’m always keeping an eye on how lots of people make a living at fiction! I tend to be platform-agnostic. As long as I get to keep writing fiction, I’m happy.

Any writers or books besides your own you’d like to recommend, especially to science fiction fans?

The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge is out soon, and I’m reading an early review copy of it.

Of all the fun technology you get to play around with in your work, which would you love to use in your own everyday life the most, if you could?

Back in the day, when I was writing Ragamuffin, I was obsessed with augmented reality devices and technologies. Now they’re here, but I live in an area where the data hasn’t spread really. I can’t wait to get out to NYC and use the Layar app on my iPhone soon!

Rhiannon, thanks for dropping by to answer a few questions. A lot of emerging writers out there, whether in the horror, fantasy, or science fiction genre, have been looking at the pros and cons of the self-publishing route as an alternative to traditional New York and small-press publication. Your story is an interesting and inspiring one, which shows you can ultimately find success by doing all three.

Can you start by telling us a little bit about your background, and your writing in particular?

I’m an author living in Texas, and I’ve been writing since I was a little girl. I’ve always had stories churning about in my head and once I learned how to write, I began to dream of being a published author. I tend to write about what I fear, so I would classify myself as a horror author.

What made you decide to go the self-publishing route with your As the World Dies series, initially?

I had written the tale online and had a fanbase clamoring for it to be published. They wanted a physical copy they could have on their shelves and carry with them. At that time there was no interest by the big publishers in zombie stories, especially one with two female protagonists. The only publishing house I knew that may have interest, Permuted Press, was closed to submissions at the time I was trying to pitch the story. My husband suggested that we self-publish. By that time, the new media had created the perfect environment for self-publication. I had a waiting fan base and it seemed like a perfect solution.

Is there anything you’d like to tell us about the book’s plot?

Basically, it is about a group of people in the Texas Hill Country trying to create a new life for themselves after the zombies rise. It is about the strength and difficulties of community during times of tragedy and how all the different characters react to the death of the world. The two main characters are Jenni and Katie and their friendship is the core of the story.

There seem to be a lot of important themes about contemporary society showing up in the notable zombie stories of today, be it in novels like yours, Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead, or Frank Darabont’s The Walking Dead on television. What do you think makes the zombie archetype so compelling?

Well, it probably depends on what kind of zombie story you enjoy. Some fans of the genre have the desire to see society fall and all the people who piss them off get what’s coming to them. They’re unhappy with the way of the world and want a reset. Of course, they believe they would be one of the few survivors.

I think other fans of the genre are drawn to the zombie genre because it is so unrealistic and far removed from their normal lives, they can indulge in that fear. A zombocalypse is much more unlikely to happen than say an earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, or tornado. They get to experience a post-apocalyptic world without seeing it reflecting real life events.

Of course, other people have suggested it’s a reflection of politics, the daily deluge of bad news on the TV stations, and world events.

Honestly, I think it is all of the above. People read horror to be frightened.

What’s your favorite horror novel?

I would have to say Bram Stoker’s Dracula, followed by Stephen King’s The Shining. Both gave me sleepless nights.

Horror film?

The ones that come to mind are movies that affected my behavior: Psycho, Jaws, and Night of the Living Dead. I had trouble taking showers for years, I’m still afraid of the ocean, and zombies scare me to death.

Care to share your novel-writing process? Is there any specific framework you give yourself, or is it a matter of discovering the characters and their desires that drives your stories?

A lot of times my stories come in dreams. They’re like mini-movies that run through my slumber. Also, I’ve had moments where it felt like the entire story was just dumped into my head all at once. When I do write my novels, I try to write every day when I’m not doing research and I try to write a complete scene. I use yWriter (a free program at spacejack.com) to keep track of all my character biographies as they reveal themselves to me during the writing process. I don’t do a lot of plotting. I basically write what I see on the movie screen in my head and flesh it out in the rewrite.

Tell us about the moment you found out that your self-published trilogy was going to be picked up for release by Tor. How did they contact you, and what was your immediate reaction?

Well, my agent had told me that there was a good chance that Tor was going to make an offer about two weeks after she pitched. I was in shock and ecstatic. They have always been my dream publisher. But when she called and read their actual offer to me, I went into shock. I was so quiet she asked if I was still on the line. I was just overwhelmed. I’m not sure if I have completely absorbed the reality that Tor is publishing my novels. I think it sinks in bit by bit as each milestone to publication is reached.

I had sold the film/TV rights a few months before, and my entertainment lawyer suggested that I start to search for an agent. I was fairly happy with being self-published, but then I realized a large publisher could reach a much larger audience than I could. Of course, the deal had to be a really solid one, or I would have walked away. My lawyer used his contacts and it took about a month before I signed with the Foundry Literary + Media agency in New York City. I really liked my agent, Hannah Brown Gordon, and felt her passion for the story would be to my benefit. I had an agent by the end of November, the book pitched in January, and the book series sold to Tor the first week of March.

Was a lot of rewriting required on The First Days to meet the editors’ demands?

I have to clarify that I wrote the story online for fun. It wasn’t my “real” writing. I would just post the rough draft after running spellcheck. We did try to edit it ourselves for self-publication, but I realized later that it is really hard to get a good solid edit from your friends. My editor at Tor, Melissa Singer, is amazing. She really challenged me to expand the story and add depth. The plot remains unchanged, but it is streamlined. The characterization is richer now. I had the opportunity to write new scenes and flesh out some plot points I missed when I originally wrote the tale. Compared to what I have heard other authors go through during revisions, I think I had a very positive experience. I’m very happy and excited with the new revised books. This is my story, my characters, and my words. My editor always tells me that in the end I have final say on the revisions and edits, though she may argue a point or two with me if she feels it’s necessary.

When can folks find your book available from Tor? Are they taking pre-orders yet?

All the major online booksellers are taking pre-orders for The First Days. On July 5, 2011 the book should be available at all the major book stores. I’m sure people could probably pre-order at their local bookstore.

Thanks again, Rhiannon. I look forward to the novel’s release. Best of luck!

Thank you.

Rhiannon Frater is the author of The First Days: As the World Dies and two sequels, Fighting to Survive and Siege, all originally self-published and soon to be published by Tor. She and her husband live in Austin, Texas.

Tor is releasing all three of the As the World Dies novels in consecutive seasons. The first book will be out on July 5, 2011.

For more information on Rhiannon and As the World Dies, visit www.rhiannonfrater.com and www.astheworlddies.com.