James Fadeley is a software engineer by day and a writer by night. While this sounds hectic, he has recently become a father and thus no longer sleeps. When not feeding the milk vampire his daughter, he can be found researching topics for his next story. James is a huge fan of Mansions of Madness and both board and video games in general. I got the chance to chat with him about his story, 'In Art, Truth' in the new Arkham Horror anthology collection Secrets in Scarlet.
Were you a fan of Lovecraft or the Arkham Horror games before coming to work on the books, and if so how did you get into it?
Very much so! I randomly picked up a copy of the Necronomicon more than a decade ago and got my introduction that way. Money was tight after college and books were relatively cheap. Since then, I usually reread one of Lovecraft’s novelettes annually, and my friends and I enjoy Mansions of Madness every few months.
That’s not all though. In video games, I enjoyed both Call of Cthulhu by Saber Interactive and The Sinking City by Frogwares. Recently I tried Arkham Horror: The Card Game and its mechanics are very clever. I’m looking forward to more games of that.
Finally, I’m about to be game keeper for my first session of Call of Cthulhu: 7th Edition… oh boy.
This is first time writing an Arkham Horror title, and your first thing for Aconyte. Before this you’ve written for The Banner Saga, and have contributed to a few anthologies. What was it like coming to work with Aconyte for the first time, and stepping into this franchise?
Believe it or not, I originally hesitated in applying to Aconyte.
Banner Saga’s developer, Stoic, gave me carte blanche time to write. “However long it takes, as long as it’s good” became our unspoken agreement. Sounds cushy, but self-discipline becomes a problem. For every Banner Saga story published, three others remained as synopses or first drafts for various reasons. Eventually, the rights to Banner Saga were tied up, and we had to stop publishing.
“A professional gets paid,” is what everyone says, and I was. What they don’t say is, “a professional needs a clock.”
Applying to Aconyte was my “let’s get serious, James,” moment. It’s easier to focus with hard deadlines. FFG was forthright about their needs and concerns – I truly appreciated their notes. Plus, Editor Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells’ feedback was invaluable for improving my writing skills (and not just my manuscript).
I wish I had applied sooner. Bonus? It’s remarkably humbling to see my name alongside Lisa Smedman, Josh Reynolds, and David Annandale. Novelists whom I admire, whose work I’ve enjoyed.
Your story has a lot of info in it when it comes to academic research, art history, and political events and changes in Turkey. Were these topics that you knew about before coming to write this story, or did you have to do special research into these areas?
A little of column A and a little of column B.
Before joining the anthology, I researched both the Ottoman empire and Turkish fairy tales for another story. That helped, but there were still knowledge gaps that needed exploration. President Atatürk made significant changes by 1925 and more were coming, political events which were almost impossible to ignore.
There were other historical references as well. Most of the books mentioned are real. A handful of names too, such as Art Historian Mehmet Ağaoğlu and Safiye Ali, the first woman doctor of Turkey.
Finally, if protagonist Ece was an art historian, wouldn’t she have an interest in contemporary art as well? After pondering this, I decided to bring real-life illustrator Aubrey Beardsley into the mythos as well.
Your story seems to show that there are some decent people in the Red Coterie, and that they’re not as villainous as they first appeared earlier in the book. Where do you think the group sits on a scale of good or evil, and do you think the more morally ambiguous characters are more interesting to write?
After reading Secrets in Scarlet from cover to cover, I can’t help but view the Red Coterie as a set of individuals over a group. In my opinion, the faction succeeds because they are separate and distant. If the good-natured souls knew everything their counterparts were doing, it would have fallen apart long ago. Their alliances strike me as volatile.
Your question about moral ambiguity is a great one. It depends because sometimes it’s about…
• Discovering moral limits that make people rebound.
• Reaching for the bottom and instead falling through. Thank you, Tyler Durden.
• Breaking our limits because we value something else more…
• Or discovering true integrity, no matter the cost.
Morality is the theme that transcends themes. These are questions I ask myself when I GM games of Degenesis. My approach there is less about trying to kill my players’ characters as it is about eroding their moral stances. Using the game’s devices and setting to tempt them. Transforming moral absolutism into relativism, and relativism into nihilism. Every time the characters survive, I congratulate them but secretly ponder… what if I squeezed them just a little more?
So yeah, I suppose discovering the limits of morality is the most interesting part of storytelling. Guess I’m the devil…
There’s a lot of pre-existing lore in the Arkham Horror series, and your story definitely adds to that in new and interesting ways. Is it ever daunting to go into an established property like this to create new stories and new characters?
It really, really is because of the catch up involved.
When I visited the Black Library Weekender years ago, Dan Abnett admitted that he reads everything the company publishes. For good reason. As a franchise grows, there’s more and more material and canon to track. What characters and factions have been used? What plot devices have been visited? Pitching familiar stories risks wasting everyone’s time.
I’ve got a few Arkham Horror books in my finished pile but I’m still catching up. I lucked out this once, however. Because Secrets in Scarlet takes place away from Arkham and involves a new cast of characters, there were fewer circles to worry about during this go. Still, luck favors the prepared, and I intend to be reading in the meantime.
I really loved to read about Ece and found her passion for art and history to be really endearing, and was a little sad that our time with her was as short as it was. Is she a character that you’d be willing to come back to in the future? And can you tell us about any upcoming projects of yours we should keep an eye out for?
I’d consider it. We got a sense of who Ece Şahin is, yet there’s more depth to explore.
However, I’m often down for a writing challenge. If Aconyte said, “Hey, we have a character with an esoteric background. Possibly a circus animal trainer or a sailor on the USS Arizona. Any takers?” I’d be their first volunteer.
As for new projects, nothing now. Unless Lottie brings up an assignment, I’ll be reading more Arkham Horror, working on the original novel, or plotting out the next RPG session.
Make sure to check back all this week as I chat with more of the authors from Secrets in Scarlet.
No comments:
Post a Comment