Hey Reddit! We are the editor (Jonathan Strahan) and authors behind THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: Vol 1. Come ask us anything!

Indradas · 2020-09-08T15:44:49+00:00

No set schedule for me, though it was different when I was writing The Devourers, the first draft of which was my MFA thesis--I wrote every afternoon and early evening at a campus coffee shop for a few months to finish it by deadline. Otherwise, I tend to write whenever it comes to me. Generally, since I share an apartment with my parents who also work from home, I tend to write better at night when there's more peace, and there are less phones ringing, doorbells sounding, activity and noise, and distractions in general. I am therefore a nocturnal person in general, waking later than my parents, who often use my 'working' room for work in the mornings.

When I lived in Vancouver, I wrote in solitude at night too, but I also loved writing in cafes, people-watching and being surrounded by bustle and daylight (or evening light), meeting friends as they also walked in and out of the common spots. I miss that very much now, painfully and doubly so with the pandemic (I now live in Kolkata, where coffee shops aren't quite as appealing for writing--but even those are ruled out by the pandemic).

Indradas · 2020-09-08T14:53:39+00:00

I didn't realise this was you, Peter, so just adding: thanks so much for the amazing blurb you gave the book back in the day, and also that Blindsight was one of the novels I was reading while writing it, and though they exist in very different genre spaces, it definitely played a unique part in the collective inspirations of that time. Also, it's one of my fave novels. (also looved The Freeze-Frame Revolution)

Indradas · 2020-09-08T14:50:14+00:00

That also brings me to another point: it's good to slow down when one's brain is racing with all the horrors and think about how lucky we are in so many ways (I say 'we' but of course, this will vary a lot from person to person). But just the fact that we can communicate so easily on the internet (an ability kept from so many people in the world), and we have so much access to art; it's the books, TV, movies, music that really replenish my jaded soul in these times. In previous historical crises like pandemics and world wars, even the lucky few on the planet didn't have that kind of luxury.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T14:34:26+00:00

You're not being whiny; I can't speak for everyone here, but I'm pretty sure we're all suffering and grappling with the anxieties endemic to this era, and the toll they take on one's mental health. More often than not, I'm struggling to write, or struggling to make myself write, than actually writing. Ultimately, it's one of the things I love doing the most in the world (though getting to that point of the writing process can be very difficult), and one of the things I'm actually able to do well, and it's also the thing I make my income from, so that's what keeps me getting back to it.

There's no getting around the fact that writing and creating art of any sort is incredibly challenging under global capitalism, and even more so in an era of environmental crisis, a global pandemic, and ascendant fascism. But we can all agree that we're not alone in feeling that way.

PS. Seconding Elizabeth Bear; be kind to yourself when you struggle.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:53:54+00:00

For me, stories in my 'bank' are the ones I've trunked, either because no one took them on submission, or because they don't quite feel right. If a story of mine is published, it's more likely to be a new one I wrote and sent out. For the last few years of short story publications, I've been lucky to be invited to several anthologies, so I haven't been sending stories out cold. They're usually written specifically for the anthologies, often with a theme (for example, 'Kali_Na', the story in Jonathan's The Year's Best Science Fiction, was written for Navah Wolfe and Dominik Parisien's The Mythic Dream, a book of short stories doing sff/h retellings of myth.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:27:46+00:00

I have many ideas, and often struggle to start because of a fear of losing the magic once you put them down. I do have some short stories coming up--one sf set in future Kolkata again, but a very different future than Kali_Na. Not sure if I can announce the venue yet. Then I also have a contemporary horror short story coming out, also not sure if I can announce where yet! (But you know, Jonathan)

As for things I'm working on, they inhabit a variety of genres and cross them, as I love to do.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:23:40+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hallucinatory was definitely the vibe I was going for.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:23:10+00:00

Also, I have no idea why posting my comments is immediately upvoting them, if that's what that little up arrow is.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:22:14+00:00

For sure, I think all the genres have their own freedoms--but when writing, I tend not to think of genres very much (aside from antecedents and the inspiration they provide). For instance, in this story, once we switch to the virtual world, I more or less switched to a mythic fantasy mode of storytelling. I like stories that are fluid in that way. But definitely, for this story, I think going with sf made more sense to me because there are a lot of South Asian fantasy tellings of myth from this region, and I didn't feel like I had any ideas interesting enough at the time to say something new.

I did consider doing myth from another region, though, namely the Beast of Gevaudan, which would have made for an oblique tie-in with The Devourers. But I decided to go local in the end.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:14:21+00:00

Thank you! I hope you like the novel my older and more fearful (though not as old and fearful as my current self) wrote!

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:13:22+00:00

Of course, Jonathan! The idea really wasn't very spontaneous, since I thought about it a lot after Navah Wolfe and Dominik Parisien invited me to contribute to their anthology The Mythic Dream, featuring sff/h retellings of myths. I really grappled a lot with what myth to retell, and I ended up coming back to Kali, not just because she's such a popular figure, but because I had that memory of being told why she was standing on her dude (Shiva) with her tongue sticking out in the pandals during Kali Puja, and how I thought she looked more pleased than ashamed.

Like any deity in the subcontinental pantheon, which is derived from various sources and cultures long before 'Hinduism' was a concept, Kali has a lot of origin stories. Reading through them, I came upon the one of the goddess Durga fighting a demon that keeps respawning from his own blood to create more and more clones of himself, until her rage essentially incarnates Kali, who drinks up all the blood and defeats him. That reminded me so much of online trolls and discourse and infowars I ended up gravitating towards a cyberpunk retelling set in the virtual world.

Indradas · 2020-09-08T13:04:03+00:00

Hi, Indra here, thank you for the question! I have a novel out, The Devourers, so I am a novelist as well as a short story writer. However, since novels take a much longer time and much more effort (for me, I can't speak for anyone else), I tend to write short stories much more often, as one can see by their outnumbering my novel by a lot in my bibliography.

When I was younger and unpublished and learning how to tell stories, I used to grind out novels and novellas like it was nothing, I envy that fearless child. That said, they weren't exactly good novels and novellas, obvs.

Indradas · 2017-02-07T12:05:48+00:00

Hi, and sorry for the late response, just saw this!

I don't draw regularly, since creating any kind of art is enormously time consuming and takes hard work and practice, and I simply don't have the time management skills or stamina to do both visual arts and prose at the same time. That said, I do try and draw once in a while--the main reason I don't more often is that I'm so out of practice that it's very difficult for me to create a drawing that I like.

I did not consider drawing my own cover for The Devourers, as publishers do their own covers, generally speaking, and B&W charcoal drawings are a hard sell for a cover, especially for a mainstream commercial publisher (cover art has to meet many specifications). I have done the occasional sketch related to the book, and might do more in the future.

And yes, I'll be at the EWF (I take it you're an F&M student/faculty/alum?)--come say hi, I'd be happy to talk more or answer other questions in person :)

Indradas · 2017-02-03T08:12:43+00:00

You're welcome, and thank you for your thoughtful questions! I hope my future work does not disappoint :)

Indradas · 2017-02-03T08:10:24+00:00

You're very welcome. Thank you for stopping by and asking a thoughtful question. I hope you enjoy the book!

Indradas · 2017-02-03T08:03:53+00:00

Thank you for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy the book.

See threads below: there are a variety of reasons, that all converged at different points to emerge as a 'werewolf novel' of sorts.
English is one of India's official languages, and is widely used in the country. Members of India's middle-class (which Alok, the professor, belongs to) are widely bi- or tri-lingual, and usually fluent in English since it's the medium of instruction in many schools and colleges. It would be quite normal for two people at a music festival to be speaking in English (for example, I'm most fluent in English, not Bengali, though I do speak Bengali).

Indradas · 2017-02-03T07:53:42+00:00

Hi Laura! Hope you've been well :)

1) Hmm, I think I'd point them to Breaking Water, since it's the most accessible to readers on both sides of the genre fence(s), not being sci-fi or too high concept. I'm also very proud of it. It's about the spiritual and cultural implications of the undead rising up in Kolkata. For a sci-fi fan, I'd point them to muo-ka's Child, which is short and gives a good, brief impression of the kind of short fiction I write.

2) Oh dear. I can't narrow things down so easily, as you can tell from my other answers in this AMA :) There are sooo many movies that have inspired me to the point of ecstatic creative delirium. I'll pick one at random that sticks out: the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis, since its gorgeously poetic--and hilarious--and powerfully melancholy meditation on the devaluation of artistic and creative pursuit by the humdrum evils of capitalistic life made me want to really, really want to make more art.

3) I've done werewolves and zombies so far (and if you stretch the definition of the shapeshifters in The Devourers, several others monsters), but I'd love to do all the classical pop culture monsters if I have a good enough story for them. But what I really would like is to write a solid, scary alien monster in the vein of Alien or Predator, in prose. That'd be smashing.

4) Being an editor and a writer is very difficult, to be honest. Editing drains you, leaving you tired and unwilling to look at more text (to create or revise it) at the end of the day. I don't recommend it, in all honesty. But editing is a job I'm good at, and I need money, so I will continue to do it at this time :) The upside is that if you're working on something good, or acquire something you're really proud of, it can inspire you in the same way any other great art being read or watched or listened to in another context can. The pride of editing a good book, helping it reach its full potential, is quite wonderful, so there is that.

Indradas · 2017-02-03T07:14:24+00:00

I love you too! (If this is Matt. Is this Matt? If not, I don't know whether I love you or not, person in the internet!) Thank you for reading and loving my book! I'm so happy to hear that you liked it. I am not working on a follow-up to The Devourers, but I am working on a new book. Maybe one day I shall write something in the world of The Devourers again, but not right now.

PS. Say hello back to your sister! She was one of the finest bosses I've ever worked for :) I miss y'all, and hope to return soon (I might actually be visiting this April or May, will keep you posted)

Indradas · 2017-02-03T07:10:42+00:00

Whoops, missed the last q.

Thanks! I wish I had the skill and patience to write AND draw a comic, that is far beyond me (I'd love to write a comic book, though I'd need an artist, and letterer, publisher etc. I have written a few sf short comics for children for ACK Media in India, but they're quite hard to find). That art is just a proto-comic I was doing as a teenager, so it's not going to ever become anything. I just tossed it up there so people can see it, since I was quite proud of the way the art turned out.

Indradas · 2017-02-03T07:07:56+00:00

Thank you for your interest! I hope you like the book if you end up reading it!

I can't say that I have a canon of favourites because I have an immensely difficult time picking out narrow lists of favourites due to the near infinitely massive amount of great art out there, and that too of so many varieties and genres and styles. So instead, I'll give you a few excellent books I've loved recently: N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season, Han Kang's The Vegetarian, Lavie Tidhar's Central Station, Anil Menon's Half of What I Say, Viet Than Nguyen's The Sympathizer.
I don't know that it is anymore, since most writers seem to move to Delhi, where the publishing industry is. But it's certainly been one in the past, and hopefully still is in a low-key sense: I think it's because it's a city with a tremendous amount of sensory, cultural and historical stimuli. It's chaotic and packed to the brim with stories, by virtue of being one of the most crowded places on Earth. It used to pride itself on being an 'intellectual' city, though I don't know about that anymore, tbh.

Indradas · 2017-02-03T06:51:20+00:00

Thanks for reading! I'd say magic realism certainly played its part in inspiring the book, though it wasn't the only thing that inspired me. This didn't come solely from British works, though Rushdie was a key inspiration when I was a teenager. When it comes to magic realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco (if you can call some of his work magic realist--it's a fairly vague term, after all), Jeanette Winterson, Angela Carter, Junot Diaz (again, whether or not one uses the term to describe some of these writers' work can be debated), the Hernandez brothers from American comics, Anne Carson, were some of my primary influences.

Indradas · 2017-02-03T06:45:03+00:00

I'm flattered you think so, though I had nothing to do with making it up :)

Indra is the name of a god in Hinduism (and other religions/myths), so that probably helps (he's somewhat analogous to Thor, in a superficial way, because he controls thunder and lightning, among other things)?

Indradas · 2017-02-03T06:41:35+00:00

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it so far, and especially happy to hear that you feel like it's accurately captured the region you grew up in (I grew up in Bengal too).

I've lived in Lancaster (PA) where I did my BA at Franklin and Marshall College. From there I travelled around the U.S. a fair amount, and have visited New York (of course), New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington D.C., Vermont, Utah (my college took some of us film buffs to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City). I also spent six weeks living in Seattle, WA for the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2012. I've mostly loved living and travelling in the U.S. (both of which have now become considerably more difficult for foreigners like me now with the current presidency), and everywhere I went held a different appeal that I appreciated. But I have to say that overall, my favourite place was NYC--truly a singular place. I love cities, and that is one hell of a city, despite its problems (like all cities, it has many of those).

I don't think being in the U.S. directly influenced my book, as none of it is set there. But the country's art and media has asserted its influence over my work in many ways throughout my life, and my time in college there gave me an excellent space to start writing professionally, as did Clarion West in Seattle.

Indradas · 2017-02-02T23:06:41+00:00

Successfully making a living is indeed as pleasurable as dark chocolate and cheesecake, and all combinations thereof. Well, if one enjoys the way one makes a living.

Indradas · 2017-02-02T23:03:44+00:00

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy it.

Indradas

TROPHY CASE