This week we get a special treat as J. Scott Coatsworth agreed to take a little time out of his busy schedule to gab with us. He is A Rainbow Award winning author, he also runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, Liminal Fiction and Other Worlds Ink sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality.
Q) What inspired your latest book Office of the Lost: Chaos and Order Book 1?
Kim Fielding and I had wanted to write something together for a long time. When we finally decided to go ahead and do it, we compared story ideas. She had this cool one called Office of the Lost, about a place that collects things that may be needed later. I had a character named Budulla Kronk I wanted to use somewhere. So Bidulla became Crispin the Desk Fae’s boss, and history was made. 🙂
Q) On Office of the Lost: you worked with fellow writer Kim Fielding, what challenges and advantages did you find with having a co-author?
I’ve written with others before, and it can often be a difficult process. But with Kim, it was effortless. Our styles are really complimentary, and it became a game between us to finish off each chapter with a cliffhanger. “Here you go. Crispin is about to be eaten by carnivorous moths. Your turn!” It was a lot of fun, and I think that came through in the writing.
Q) What was the first book that put you on the road to being an author?
Oooh, so many ways to answer that. For fiction I read, it was probably Anne McCaffrey. I adored her Pern series, and wanted to do that. As far as books about writing, Writing Down the Bones was always inspiring and made me want to write. And my own first book was Homecoming, asort of sci-fi-werewolf mash up that stil exemplifies the kind of story like to write (and read).
Q) You wrote Suck a Little Happy Juice: An Irreverent, By-the-Skin-of-Your-Teeth Guide to Being an Indie Author, If you had to pull one piece of advice from the book what do you think is the most important tip for writers?
Generic advice – writing is hard. We do it because we have all these stories we need to tell, but don’t expect it to be easy. But because it’s hard, it’s also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
Specific advice – from the title – save up the good things that happen – selling your book, a good review, a boom award – and keep them in a metaphorical bottle up on a shelf. When the bad things happen, and they will, grab that bottle down and – say it with me – “Suck a Little Happy Juice!”
Q) You started Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with your husband Mark, did you see a need for a site that promoted writers in the community?
I started QSF when I first began actively writing again. At the time there were a few other Facebook groups in this niche, but no websites that were actively trying to bring together the queer spec fic community. QRI started much later, and was a direct response to the fall of ARe – All Romance eBooks. ARe was a general romance site that sold books for authors, but collapsed rather quickly and spectacularly. Mark and I saw an opening, and again created a niche site. Unlike ARe, we decided not to sell books directly, but to make them easier to find. Working with a queer friendly web developer friend and basing the site on her books plugin, we had the site up and running in two weeks, and it’s been bringing queer readers and writers together ever since.
Q) You have been writing for more than ten years what changes have you seen in the publishing field? Are there any trends that have you worried or hopeful about the future?
A lot has changed. Several of the smaller presses I worked with initially have closed or changed significantly. Many authors who came up in “my class” are no longer writing. And the gatekeepers have made it ever harder to “break through” into the big publishers and into bookstores.
While indie publishing democratized publishing and made it accessible to everyone, that has been a mixed blessing. It has allowed people like me to do fairly well without having a publisher, but it has also meant a flood of lower quality work. And now the rise of Gen AI threatens to turn that flood into… I don’t know. A global inundation? Narrators and artists are losing work, and it’s getting even harder to stand out amidst the onslaught.
I am hopeful that Made By a Human will become a thing.
The problem with AI is that it’s soulless. Even if its art looks pretty, there’s no intention there. No meaning. Same with the written word. So maybe there will be a renaissance for work that’s actually made by human hands. We will see.
Q) What is your next project you are working on?
Next project? Surely you jest. I’m working on about five at the moment.
I just turned in Black Cat, a River City novella for a gay own voices anthology this fall. And my short “Do Over” – another River City tie-in – is at my proofer.
My River City blog serial sequel will finish its run in September, and I’m prepping the manuscript for a novel release in the Winter.
Then it’s back to Coredivers, the sequel to Dropnauts. And finally, I’m working on my “Middle trilogy” – the three books between the “Ariadne Cycle” and the “Oberon Cycle.”
Oh, and Kim and I are going to start on the sequel to Office of the Lost next month!
Q) If people want more information about your or your projects, where should they go?
To my website and blog – https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com. I post there regularly.
Final four questions –we ask everybody.
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
In a little town in Montana in my cozy cabin. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Read Wonderland for more info why. 😉
Q ) What is your favorite Fandom (could be sports, pop culture, favorite director or author)
Hmmm… prolly The Wheel of Time? I snagged the first book in galley form and have been hooked ever since. But Star Trek would be a close second… I’m old enough to remember when there was just one series, one Captain, and no movies. Oh and I saw Leonard Nimoy in person once at a movie screening… he’s much shorter than you would think!
Q) What piece of art, be it in the form of music, a book, a film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
David, in Rome. The original. It’s truly breathtaking.
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
I am fluent in Italian, as is my husband Mark. No, we’re not Italian ourselves – we started learning it for a trip there in 2005. But we have been studying it steadily for 17 years! Ciao a tutti!
Paper Phoenix ink 