We chat with author Ray Nayler about his latest release The Tusks of Extinction, which is told through the eyes of a murdered scientist whose consciousness has been implanted in a resurrected wooly mammoth and this story speaks to the folly of forcing nature down an unnatural path.
Hi, Ray! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Sure! The briefest summary: I’m a Foreign Service Officer and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. I lived outside the United States from 2003-2022, in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, and Kosovo. I was born in Quebec, but grew up in Northern California. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, but started taking it seriously when I was sixteen. I published my first short story at 19, and I’ve been at it ever since. I started writing science fiction late. My first story was “Mutability”, published by Asimov’s in 2015. My first novel was The Mountain in the Sea, which came out in 2022.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I think it was my mother’s influence – she taught me to read early, and gave me a love for Shakespeare that has been a lifelong well of inspirtion. I spent summers as a kid either at the library, or sailing a little rented sailboat around our local lake, or at the local second-run movie theater, an old art deco cave where you could watch a triple feature fot two dollars and listen to the rats fighting over dropped Milk Duds in the balcony. My friends and I walked all over town role-playing in our own little half-game, our world formed out of bits of the X-Men and whatever we had seen latest at the theater. Storytelling grew out of walking and talking, reading and watching and trying to make sense of the world.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Probably Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It must have been an abridged or simplified version, but it’s the first I remember clearly. I mean, I remember things like The Cat in the Hat before that, but that’s probably not what we’re talking about.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Maybe also Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I think it all started there.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I swear I’m not trying to cheat, but the text I can’t stop thinking about is Alien – nothing was probably more formative than that. My father took me to see it when I was 3. A huge mistake, of course. But I’m thankful for it.
Your latest book, The Tusks of Extinction, is out January 16th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Elephants, Mammoths, Poachers, Memory, Revenge
What can readers expect?
A book that packs more ideas into 30,000 words than they are probably ready for. Certainly more than I was ready for. Readers should expect, as usual from me, to be dropped into a very different world. I hope they have some faith in me to lead them somewhere interesting. As people who have read me know, I don’t talk down to readers. I expect them to bring all their experience and intelligence to the book. A book is a conversation between writer and reader, and I think Tusks fits that description well.
Where did the inspiration for The Tusks of Extinction come from?
While I was the Environment, Science, Technology, and Health officer in Ho Chi Minh City, I worked on ivory and rhino horn smuggling issues. I was deeply affected by the tragedy of what people were doing to these huge, wonderful creatures in Africa for the sake of useless trinkets and spurious medicinal practices. I saw pictures of slaughtered elephants and rhinos that made me furious at us as a species. Later, while researching de-extinction for another idea, it all collided. The result was Tusks.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I think Damira is one of the best characters I’ve written. In general, I feel like the characters in Tusks are some of my best work – they seemed, to me, to have lives of their own, and they largely wrote their own scenes. I felt as if I was living alongside them. Not to give too much away, but an idea I really enjoyed exploring is the way the physical body and its sensory apparatus determine the shapes our thoughts can take.
What’s next for you?
I am well on my way to finishing the next book, and shaping ideas for two more. Lately I’ve been writing short stories as well. I’m just – continuing. I don’t know how else to put it. Finished books and stories feel like ice cores of a longer process.
With it being the new year, are you setting any goals or resolutions for 2024?
I’d like to say I set a goal to go easier on myself – not to constantly expect more from myself, not to feel guily for needing a bit of rest – but I’d be lying. I don’t set that goal anymore, because I always break it almost immediately. I do try to set aside time to do something physical evey day – take a long walk, swim, go to the gym. The world feels like one big sucker punch lately, and it helps to stay fit.
Lastly, are there any 2024 book releases that you’re looking forward to?
Yes – there is a new edition of Emile Benveniste’s Problems in General Linguistics coming out in May that I am looking forward to. I think it will help with an idea I have for a future book.
Seriously — the truth is, I’m too much of an eternal graduate student to be looking forward to new books: I have so much research to do for my writing that I hardly ever have time to read for pleasure. And I’m currently taking classes at George Washington University’s Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, where I am Diplomat in Residence, so that takes up much of my extra time. I mean, the time my four- year-old daughter isn’t already taking up.
You can find Ray on Instagram and at his website.
