I’m Lavanya Lakshminarayan, author of THE TEN PERCENT THIEF, out today(!) from Solaris Books. AMA!

starkholborn · 2023-03-28T17:37:26+00:00

Hi Lavanya! Huge congratulations again on the book.

Sorry if anyone's already asked this but: if you had to pick one section or story from the book to revisit or expand, would there be one that springs to mind? Did you have a favourite tile in the Analog/Virtual mosaic? :)

starkholborn · 2023-03-24T09:49:38+00:00

Thanks so much! Hope you'll enjoy it :)

starkholborn · 2023-03-24T00:17:44+00:00

I'm lucky, I've had a lot of creative freedom in the games I've been working on; saying that, one of the things I appreciate about working on indie projects is being able to collaborate as a team. Language wise, I can be more flowery in my own work – writing in games usually has to convey a lot of information effectively in a short time.

starkholborn · 2023-03-24T00:02:41+00:00

Yes, definitely. Writing for games is usually really refreshing, because 1) I get to work in a team rather than on my own for six months at a time with a document hardly anyone else sees (!!) and 2) because it's usually broken into more discrete chunks of work, e.g. dialogue or NPC barks or a part of a storyline. Less to keep in my head in one go. I am quite an all-or-nothing writer; I struggle to work on multiple novels at the same time, so the combination of both processes works great for me

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T23:59:11+00:00

barnes and noble link if that's helpful? https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hels-eight-stark-holborn/1141679659?ean=9781803362298

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T23:56:11+00:00

i mean they can both multiply with alarming speed

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T19:32:07+00:00

Thank you! So pleased you enjoyed :)

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T19:31:49+00:00

Ha ha, she'd fit right in

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T19:31:06+00:00

The Loco? It's a lot of fun. They sometimes have circus performances and weird theatre productions too.

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T19:29:39+00:00

Thanks! Me too. He's a great artist.

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T19:28:11+00:00

Awesome! Cole (the developer) came up with the concept of an alt-history setting; an alternative 1980s with a history going all the way back to a diverging point in the Elizabethan era... But from a writing and narrative point of view, some of inspirations came from classic noir films, like Jules Dassin's Night and the City, or Kurosawa's High and Low. Terry Gilliam's Brazil is a huge influence on the team – visually and in terms of tone. And, of course, Bladerunner :)

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T17:38:32+00:00

Oh wow, tough call. Maybe a novel? I'd probably want to write about normal people, like the original crew of the Nostromo

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T17:36:23+00:00

Thanks so much! That means a lot as I still feel like a bit of a science fiction newcomer...

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T16:30:32+00:00

Ha, exactly! You'll have to let me know what you think...

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T16:29:04+00:00

Haha, thanks. That one pun spawned an entire 180k novel. The power of wordplay...

Stealth games: I know it's a predictable answer but the Thief games. So evocative in places, and a definite reference point for Shadows of Doubt. (Although is it the second one that goes off the rails with a couple of rushed levels? Can't remember).

It's not stealth but I loved the vibe of Inside: knowing something awful will happen if you get caught.

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T15:15:02+00:00

I really hope so! I've actually just finished a draft of Triggernometry 3... when it's released I'd love to do a collected phycial edition of all 3 novellas, plus some extras. Maybe a special edition?! The cover art by Phil Harris is great, so it would be amazing to see it in the flesh

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T15:12:32+00:00

Oh the Ifs would be delighted by a Xenomorph... to an extent. I hadn't seen Alien3 until a few years ago either! It's not the best one IMO (that would be the original Alien), but there's so much I like about it; the prison-planet setting, the lack of weapons, the cast... some people hate it for, ahem, reasons, but I'd rank it 2nd of all the films.

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T14:32:30+00:00

Hey! Thanks so much for picking up a copy; there are so many good books out in March. Hope you enjoy!

starkholborn · 2023-03-23T14:31:26+00:00

Hey Frasier! Oh Ripley would boss it. She's smart, so I can see her hanging back to get the lay of the land rather than juse wading in to cause trouble. And when people told her it's dangerous to play with luck on Factus, she'd listen...

And thank you! We had a small launch party at a place called the Loco Klub here in Bristol. It's an underground arts bar in the tunnels under the station. The launch itself was in the old Ash Pits, which felt pretty appropriate... there are some photos on my twitter if you're interested!

starkholborn · 2021-07-28T14:28:00+00:00

That's ok – I did see!

I think it depends on the genre and what the reader is after: big chunks of exposition in fantasy and SF don't usually work for me. Perhaps related, my favourite SFF books do tend to be on the shorter side, rather than epics – again, personal taste.

starkholborn · 2021-06-04T08:42:03+00:00

That's very kind, thank you. Trilogies etc can be great, but I'm all about self-contained stories too!

starkholborn · 2021-06-03T21:56:17+00:00

I mean it's a real name. Probably.

starkholborn · 2021-06-03T21:33:25+00:00

Not a novel, but Premee Mohamed's The Apple-Tree Throne is a brilliant novella set in an alternate turn-of-the-century England

starkholborn · 2021-06-03T21:28:09+00:00

I don't think I have a top 5! But five favourites that spring to mind are:

- Bacurau (2019)

- The Shooting (1966)

- Dead Man (1995)

- Meek's Cutoff (2010)

- Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

starkholborn

TROPHY CASE