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Q & A
How does it feel to have this story published for the first time?
A story like "Move Fast and Break Things" is hard to find a home for. I was aware of this even as I was writing it, and went into the submission process figuring rejection was a near-certainty. I'm so grateful Grendel Press exists, that they're open to stories like this, and that they decided my story was good enough to publish.
What inspired the idea for your story?
"Move Fast and Break Things" is the result of several things percolating in my head at the same time.
I'd just read Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book On Killing. Grossman proposes that the overwhelming majority of human beings have an innate psychological resistance to killing other humans, and that taking another human life is a traumatic experience. I'd also recently learned about the U.S. Army Ranger School, a training program whose students experience such grueling deprivation that any one of them could tell you their own "I vividly hallucinated in Ranger School" story.
And then there was the 2021 Facebook outage. It turns out the security system at Facebook HQ was dependent on the same networks as the Facebook website itself, meaning none of the electronic locks would open during the outage. The people who had physical keys to all these doors couldn't be contacted, because Facebook's internal communications were also down. This is, of course, so astoundingly stupid that I couldn't help but wonder how well your average Silicon Valley security system would hold up against any qualified operator with a vested interest in getting past it.
I'd just read Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book On Killing. Grossman proposes that the overwhelming majority of human beings have an innate psychological resistance to killing other humans, and that taking another human life is a traumatic experience. I'd also recently learned about the U.S. Army Ranger School, a training program whose students experience such grueling deprivation that any one of them could tell you their own "I vividly hallucinated in Ranger School" story.
And then there was the 2021 Facebook outage. It turns out the security system at Facebook HQ was dependent on the same networks as the Facebook website itself, meaning none of the electronic locks would open during the outage. The people who had physical keys to all these doors couldn't be contacted, because Facebook's internal communications were also down. This is, of course, so astoundingly stupid that I couldn't help but wonder how well your average Silicon Valley security system would hold up against any qualified operator with a vested interest in getting past it.
We know that writing can be a tumultuous journey with a lot of obstacles, what is your kryptonite as a writer?
I have zero ability to assess the quality of my own work. By the time I've finished a story, I'm so deep into the guts of the material that I have no idea whether it's any good or not--it's all word soup to me. I usually have to send it to somebody else and wait for their feedback before I find out if it's readable.
Clearly, you’ve succeeded at writing a captivating story for GrendelPress, but we all start somewhere. What advice would you give yourself as a young writer?
It's less important for a story to be perfect and more important for it to be finished. Make sure all the pieces are in place, then worry about making it pretty.
We’d like to argue that every good story makes both the author and the readers feel something. What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged with your story?
The mechanisms of power in our world operate under the belief that human life has no intrinsic value. That everyone is fundamentally alone and if you can't protect yourself, then you deserve whatever happens to you. "Move Fast and Break Things" is a glimpse into the world these mechanisms, left unchecked, would create. Nobody should want to live there.
What do you love most about your story’s genre?
The thing I love most about horror is its ability to find beauty in the ugliest parts of the human experience. Fear and violence and death are fundamental realities of who we are, and it's no use trying to shove them under the bed and ignore them.
Tell us about your favorite author. What about their book(s) call to you and how do they inspire your own writing?
Harlan Ellison is a controversial figure, and rightly so, but in terms of sheer dedication to the craft of writing I'd be hard-pressed to name anyone better. You can read an Ellison story in 15 minutes and end up thinking about it for the rest of your life.
There was a lot of Ellison in my head while I was writing "Move Fast and Break Things."
There was a lot of Ellison in my head while I was writing "Move Fast and Break Things."
What are some other genres you’d like to break into and why?
Honestly, I'm quite content where I am. I've always loved darker stories, but was told throughout my life that people like me don't write things like that. Not even "shouldn't"--"don't". It took a long time for me to start ignoring those voices and write the horrible little things that make me happy.
Once upon a time I wanted to write comics, but the comics market of today is fundamentally hostile to human life. I grew up reading 2000-page serialized graphic novels that ran for years, but these days you're lucky to get 10 issues before the cancellation hammer comes down. No thanks.
Once upon a time I wanted to write comics, but the comics market of today is fundamentally hostile to human life. I grew up reading 2000-page serialized graphic novels that ran for years, but these days you're lucky to get 10 issues before the cancellation hammer comes down. No thanks.
If you had to pick another story of yours to share with your readers, what would it be?
My novelette "The Scent of Blood" is about giving in to the monstrosity you were supposed to spend the rest of your life fighting. It's also a werewolf romance that never once uses the words "pack," "alpha," or "mate." If that appeals, you can find the relevant links on my website.
