One of the best things about reading is the escape it brings from whatever is going on in our world. We all need a break sometimes, and with the science fiction and fantasy anthology, Fantastic Hope, Laurell K. Hamilton and William McCaskey are giving readers a chance for a little escape and a lot of hope. I recently got the chance to interview them both and gain some insight into their process for creating this anthology, what advice they have for writers looking to break into short fiction, and what brings them hope in dark times!
Hi Laurell and William! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves and the anthology, Fantastic Hope?
William: I am a US Army veteran, currently living and working in central Florida with my family. I published my first novel, Dragon Two-Zero, in September of 2019. This anthology has been an eye-opening, incredible experience for me. I am so excited to see it completed and for others to read it.
Laurell: I’m a #1 New York Times bestselling author. I’m best known for my Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series. The latest Anita Blake novel, Sucker Punch, comes out in August 2020. I’ve written thirty-nine novels to date. My short stories appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, before I published a story collection, Strange Candy. I’ve published a few other stories since then, but Fantastic Hope is my first time being both editor and contributor in an anthology.
Where did the idea to make a collection of hopeful SF/F short stories come from and how did Fantastic Hope come to be?
Laurell: Will and I had been talking about how tired we both were of Dystopian literature and movies. I was totally done with depressing books, I wanted to read something more hopeful. It was Will who sat down and wrote a story that would turn out to be “Ronin,” his contribution to the collection. When I read the story, it made me cry, in a good way. I think I may even have punched him in the arm because he made me cry. Then I said the words that started the ball rolling, “This is the kind of story I want to read. Something with hope, a happy ending.” I wanted to do an Anti-Dystopian anthology. That was actually what we called it until we came up with the title, Fantastic Hope.
William: Yes, She did punch me.
How does your writing process change for a short story vs a full-length novel?
Laurell: Short stories can come in one muse-driven rush from inspiration to complete story. Novels can start out that way, but the muse doesn’t show up that strongly every day for hundreds of days in a row. I’ve got to show up for work on the days when the muse isn’t whispering sweet nothings in my ear, or a novel doesn’t get written. Short stories need one idea, or character to the primary focus, but a novel needs far more. In fact that’s one way I know if something’s a short story, a novelette, novela, or a novel by how many ideas collect around a character, or how many extra characters come to talk in the first draft. Some ideas just won’t fit in a short story and some characters demand a novel.
William: I had an idea for what I wanted Dragon Two-Zero to be but I didn’t storyboard because I was still learning my process. I just let my characters take the lead, which ended up derailing the entire story idea that I had in my head. I’ve done much more planning working on books 2 and 3 of that series. “Ronin” came from inspiration and I wrote it in a day, I think about six hours or so. There was absolutely no planning.
Were there challenges or lessons learned during the editing process of this anthology?
Laurell: I learned that editing is a lot harder than I thought. I mean I edit my own work, I average between three and seven drafts of any given novel. I thought somehow that made me an editor. Nope. I knew how to edit, but that’s not the same thing as being an editor of not just my own story, but other people’s stories. Keeping other writers on track, being the schedule keeper instead of just the artist was an eye-opening experience. I would not have wanted to edit this anthology without a co-editor, Will helped me focus and keep it all moving forward. I was also writing my latest novel while we were editing the anthology, and I found going from creator to editor jarring. Having my co-editor to call up helped it be a smoother hat trick; writer to editor and back.
William: Plenty, when Laurell and I started working on this there were days where I felt like I had jumped off a cliff and was building my wings as I fell. The biggest challenge for me was compiling the stories and getting them to the Publisher. We were working with so many authors from around the country and on so many schedules, making sure that we got everything in on time was my biggest concern and we succeeded.
There is a great blend of science fiction and fantasy stories from writers, new and established, in Fantastic Hope. What was the author/story selection process like for this anthology?
L&W: Once we got the green-light for the anthology we began to talk about what we wanted to accomplish with it. We knew we wanted happy-ever-after endings or at least hopeful ones, but what else? We wanted to include new voices like Will, and veteran writers like me, we wanted heavy-hitters and novice writers. We wanted to show the wide range of possibilities in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. Our genres encompass so much more than most people realize and with Fantastic Hope we had a chance to show that.
Is there any advice you can share for writers trying to create short stories and get published in an anthology?
Laurell: Write, write everyday if you can. The more you write the better you get at your craft. Keep a writer’s notebook either electronically, or in a paper notebook so that when an idea comes you can record it. Trust me, you will not remember it later. Short stories are especially idea dependent so make a note. Read short stories so that you know the rhythm of them and how they are different from books. And buy anthologies, because if no one buys short story collections then publishers think that they don’t sell, if it doesn’t sell then publishers won’t put money and effort into them.
William: What’s the worst that someone can say? No. Don’t be afraid of rejection. If you don’t try then you won’t be rejected but you won’t succeed either.
As a reader, do you prefer happily ever afters or brutal and/or tragic endings? Which type of ending is your favorite to write?
Laurell: I prefer a happy ending. I like the villain punished and the main character to succeed. If it’s a good enough story I’ll read it regardless, but I like my literature to be full of justice and fairplay, because life so seldom is. I write some pretty brutal stuff in my novels, terrible things can happen to my characters, things that scar and shape my protagonists, but I never do it just for kicks. If terrible things happen in my stories they have to justify themselves, just like the happy ones.
William: If an author writes characters that I fall in love with and then kills them for no reason, I almost consider it offensive. On the same token, I don’t want a story to have a happy ending just for the sake of a happy ending. I want a good story. In the same vein, I want to tell a good story, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t allow bad things to happen to my characters.
When the world is feeling a bit dark and difficult, what things give you hope?
Laurell: Reading someone else’s books and getting lost in their world. Writing my own worlds and getting lost in them. My husband’s arms around me at the end of a long day. Watching my daughter chase down her own dreams and succeed. My pets, sometimes when every other human being on the planet gets too complicated cuddling with one of my dogs or cats just helps reset me. Nature, I’m never comfortable in cities for long.
William: My faith has been a constant source of strength, it has carried me through some very dark times. My sons laughing always fans that flame for me, and watching my wife cuddle the boys is a very close second.
If readers take away one feeling or thought from Fantastic Hope, what would you want it to be?
Laurell: Joy, I want them to enjoy the stories and come away thinking about hope, happiness, love, devotion, sacrifice, bravery, and all the things that make us the best we can be.
William: Never give up. It may sound cliche, but giving up is the ultimate defeat and as long as you are still trying, still driving then you are still in the fight and you aren’t beaten.
Lastly, can you tell us about any upcoming projects you are working on?
Laurell: Sucker Punch, my newest Anita Blake novel comes out in August 2020. I have the first novel of a brand new paranormal thriller series coming in 2021. It’s my first time doing a male viewpoint for an entire novel, which has been fascinating, both harder and easier than I expected. I’m terrible at giving hints without giving too much away, so I won’t try and tell you more.
William: I just wrapped up a short story for another anthology. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the sequel to Dragon Two-Zero, and I am editing a third short story to prep for submission.
Will you be picking up Fantastic Hope? Tell us in the comments below!
Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction. A #1 New York Times bestselling author with more than 20 million books sold, she is the writer of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry series. She is a fulltime writer and lives in a suburb of St. Louis with her family. You can find Laurell on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, along with at her website.
William McCaskey is a veteran of the United States Army who traded in the hot and sandy for central Florida with his family, dogs, and a very demanding feline overlord. In his free time, he enjoys honing his martial arts skills while imparting a few of them, traveling, and scuba diving. William made his debut with the science-fiction novel Dragon Two-Zero. You can find William on Twitter.
