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Urban Fantasy Interview: Anton Strout

November 3, 2009 Anton Strout's debut novel, Dead to Me, pits hero Simon Canderous against a sorcerous cult on one side, and the dysfunctionality of his job situation on the other. Bracketed on by evil and his job, Simon can't even have a nice relationship because of his "gift" of psychometry. There's a lot of joy in underdog heroes saving the day, and Anton's protagonist is a classic example.

Genreville: What's been the most fun about putting a contemporary setting into your book?

Anton Strout: It all comes down to how I like to unfold a story. I'm all about my characters and plot, tending to go rather light when it comes to description of locations.  I don't forsake it, but it's something I don't like doing.  If I did, I'd probably write travelogues.  When I read, I tend to get bored by too much description of places.  It slows things down for me.  It's why I love writing a series set in contemporary Manhattan.  I can anticipate an average knowledge level of my readership given the modern setting.  I don't have to spend a long time telling the reader about the Empire State Building as a locale.  Everyone has an idea in their head of what that is.  I can go light by simply mentioning its name and letting the reader's mind fill in the rest.   Instead, I get to point out the more interesting things going on there... like those zombies streaming out of that revolving door on Fifth Avenue, perhaps.

AS: That's easy.  Trying to balance the fantastical elements of my stories against the reality of modern day New York City.  I hate reading stories where you don't know the limitations of the world.  When everything is possible, there's no tension for me.  I can't get invested in the characters because they're not realistic enough to me, not grounded.  I need the core of their world to feel real, limiting them in a way.  For instance, my main hero, Simon Canderous, is a quasi-average guy who has bills to pay.  Habitating in Manhattan don't come cheap.  To that end, he works for a fringe government office that is bogged down in the same red tape and bureaucracy that all office jobs have.  Yet at the same time, I am mindful to write about the ghosts and ghoulies he encounters more than submitting a requisition form filled out in triplicate for blue ball point pens.  We might see him planning out his remaining vacation days for the year, especially during the heavy zombie infestation months.

I think getting through a day at the office is something a lot of readers can relate to.  I don't think they are strangers to tedium.  It makes the moments where Simon is fighting things that shuffle and shamble in the night have greater value in comparison.

AS: (Disclosure:  My day job is with Penguin Group in their paperback sales department and some of the authors below are Penguin, but they are included because I love them as a reader/writer.)

I'm all over the place on this one.  I think Christopher Moore lays down some awesome work with his vampire books.  He cracks me up pretty regularly when I read him, and I can only strive to reach the humorous benchmark he sets.

About a decade ago, I cut my teeth for modern UF with the first eight books of Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series.  Fascinating characters, swift moving plots... they had a real noir detective feel to them at times that I thought was great.  I love me some noir detectiving and that's evident in my books.

For about two years, when I was working on Dead To Me, the first book in my series, I resisted reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.  I knew Jim also had a paranormal detective with a noir flair and I steered clear of
much reading in urban fantasy at the time. Since my publication, however, I've gone back and started following the adventures of Harry Dresden and man, we're playing in the same sandbox at times.  Good stuff.

Let's see... oh!  I'm a huge fan of the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola, which is more of a graphic novel, really, but I still think it should count here.  Outside of the stunning visual appeal, Mike tells this really rich Lovecraftian-style horror that blends well with a wicked sense of humor and a modern sensibility.

And lastly, I adore Charlaine Harris, who was gracious enough to give me a cover quote for my series.  Her Sookie Stackhouse series is phenomenal, almost like cozy mysteries with paranormal elements that have turned into a great HBO series on top of that. It also helps that she's super sweet.
AS: It depends on a lot of variables.  I've been on a lot of panels talking about what urban fantasy is and isn't.  It always changes when I'm in those discussions.  Defining it as a genre changes when you ask people who are editors, sales, ad/promo, buyers, and writers.  It becomes semantical.  Personally, I run with a pretty loose definition.  Modern world, not necessarily a city, with paranormal things happening.

In the eighties you had Glen Cook, Charles de Lint and a few others paving the way for a sorta modern definition of what we consider UF today, but I think at its heart, urban fantasy is just a mix of subgenres.  It's fantasy and mystery and romance all rolled up into one big ball.  It's why I love to write in it- I get to dabble in a little bit of everything.
AS: I miss two things in this world.  Ghostbusters and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I like my paranormal with a little bit of funny and quirk mixed in.  I see a lot of wanna-buffy-be's out there in other books, but they don't tend to embrace the funny as much as Joss Whedon does (he's my Master now).  When I started the Simon Canderous urban fantasy series, I took a cue from those two things as well as one of the earliest books I remember reading in my teens: Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.  His level of funny and odd and clever writing has always had a profound influence on everything I do.  When I started to get serious about writing around 2000, I realized that shows like Buffy and Angel had that same sensibility.  I like the idea of normal people fighting para-normal things.  I hadn't realized the influence Ghostbusters had on me until I was rewatching it recently.  There were a lot of "Oh, that's why I write what I write!" moments.

And yes, the movie still holds up.
AS: I hear a lot of things out in the publishing world.  For years, I've heard that vampire books are over.  Part of my day job is with Penguin Group, and I simply don't see that as the case.  Just look at Charlaine Harris and Stephenie Meyer!

What I do see, though, are authors exploring what other paranormal creatures are out there.  Shapeshifters are big right now, werewolves, weretigers, were-whatevers... but vampires still lead the pack.  There's no end in sight as far as the genre drying up.  There's so many great mythical creatures and monsters from Norse mythology and other cultures... as authors pick up on them, you'll see more books coming about that delve into those dark shadows.  I mean, how many people really knew what a selkie was a few years ago?  Seals that can change into human form?  Yet there are books out there doing well in urban fantasy on them.  I think we as writers are still just hitting the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what's out there.  I think you'll still see plenty of the more classical monsters around.  Vamps are still a tried and true go-to.  They don't die... get it?  GET IT?  Is this thing on...?

Posted by Josh Jasper on November 3, 2009 | Comments (11)