Author Interview: Ann Vremont

by J. Blackmore

Ann Vremont has published her fantasy, science fiction, and cyberpunk erotica with Kindle, Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press, and Samhain Publishing. She is also a talented visual artist, specializing in computer generated 3D images. Visit her online at www.annvremont.com

How did you start writing erotica and/or how did you start writing sf/fantasy?

When I first started identifying as a “writer” (rather than as someone who’d written a short story here, a poem there, etc.), erotica was already present in my stories, undoubtedly fueled by one of my primary reading staples at the time, splatterpunk (as an aside, all the stories I write and still cannot sell seem to be firmly rooted in splatterpunk aesthetics). I think it’s also relevant that I grew up in a highly (and oft-times disturbingly) sexualized environment. Sf/f was another offshoot of what I grew up reading—plenty of the sf greats. With both sf/f, gender can be irrelevant to role—women are allowed more power and complexity, I think, than in conventional genres where they are not allowed to threaten the egos of, and the ideas of gender held by, both men and women. Since I was dissatisfied with the roles modern society still assigns women, I think it was natural that I turned to sf/f in crafting stories.

Is there something particularly compelling to you about combining sf/f with erotica?

It lets writers and readers step outside of conventional societal expectations—roles can be bent, rules can be broken. There are, [for example], very few matriarchal societies in recorded history.

How does your real life experience get translated into erotic sf?

I write in and across several genres and my real life experience gets translated into the erotic component of each in much the same manner. For me, erotica isn’t about the act (though I do render them quite graphically because it’s FUN!) but the attitude. Removing solitary masturbation from the discussion, sex (and the umbrella category of intimacy in general regardless of the presence of sex) is about allowing access to the “other.” There are many psychological roadblocks to allowing such access and I like to explore those roadblocks based on what I see or feel in the real world.

Is writing erotic sf different from writing other genres?

I would say it is not really different—every story, regardless of genre, at its base examines how and why an individual reacts (alone or in combination) with their own being, other individuals one-on-one, society, or their environment. One could easily take the I Am Legend theme, give it a Beowulf setting, and give it essentially the same values, character, and relationship points to examine.

What is your writing process like?

Process, what process? I am officially a “pantser”—I get an idea, I start drafting, sometimes from the middle, sometimes from the end; on occasion I have even been known to start at the beginning. I toss in some research, which fuels more ideas and drafting. I go back to parts already written and layer in some additional meaning/motivation I wasn’t aware of at the time I first drafted. I make “forward” notes, which regardless of what my cyber pals think, in no way resemble the dreaded “outline.”

How are “forward notes” different than an outline?

Difficult to say, as I’ve never taken any steps, outside of academic papers, to develop an outline. As I understand it, an outline provides a detailed map of character and story arcs broken down into the chapters they are dealt with. My stories are relatively organic, intuitively constructed, with usually no more than one, and frequently no, subplot. Forward notes (which also deal with modifying text already written) are simple laundry lists [which] I need to check [for] eye color consistency, maybe why I wanted a specific eye color, and how I can build on the symbolic significance of why I chose that color (or any other element in the story).

What about the standard writing outline tends to cramp your style?

One of the original motivations for writing stories instead of just reading them was that it seemed like [in] everything I was reading at the time I more or less knew eighty percent of what was coming next in the story. There were no surprises and I lost all interest in reading. I still just come up with a character’s voice, put him in a situation that seems interesting, start writing and listen to his character—or start with an interesting concept and decide what kind of cast is best to explore the concept. Character motivation is revealed as part of the process, not pre-selected.

Are/were there authors who influence your writing?

Yes, but not so much as to writing style, as to philosophy and the types of stories they write/wrote. I think Tanith Lee is the most phenomenal living writer and I am also particularly fond of Ursula K. Le Guin, Thomas Hardy, Robin McKinley, Clive Barker (particularly his Imajica and Weaveworld), Kim Stanley Robinson, Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick and Thomas Mann. On the screen writing front, I think Whedon’s Firefly was the most perfect series ever drafted and executed.

Do you have a favorite story or work of yours, and why that one?

The materialistic side wants to pop in and say, “Yeah, the one that made me the most money!” But there is no strong front runner for favorite.

Was there one piece of your writing that was more successful than any others?

There have been some that made more money, of course. Saturn Unbound (a contemporary astrology-themed story) will release as part of a Pocket Anthology under one of my publisher’s distribution deals with Pocket. Sacred Heart Diaries (historical) was named the best erotic title of 2007 (and is on the complete opposite end of the earning spectrum from Saturn Unbound). And the otherwise best-reviewed is Reluctant Muse. But my favorites—the ones I think of as most successfully executed, are the ones people like despite their better judgment, that have a dark element, or delivers a gut-punch the reader is pleased to receive.

Why do you think these particular books were more successful?

I think for Saturn Unbound and Reluctant Muse, the heroes were more the typical romance staple, affluent, pretty flawless.

How did you come up with the idea for the Code in Tokyo Ink? Did you study Nu Shu, the style of writing you say it’s based on?

I have a computer program (Poser, and now Vue as well) that I love a little more than I should. It’s used for generating CG images from 3D meshes and material files (think of the electronic version of papier mache that you paint over and shape to suit). At the same time that I was playing with some futuristic CG models and a tattooed character, I saw several reviews of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan popping up. That is, for me, a large part of how story ideas are generated—two or more seemingly unrelated topics coming into awareness at the same time. Of course, once I decided I was interested in writing a story about a modern use of similar writing, I did more research on Nu Shu.

What about cyberpunk as a sub-genre appeals to you as a writer?

There are so many reasons why cyberpunk is an awesome genre to write (and read), but I think the primary ones are the following.

(1) It is the most relevant sf sub-genre in time to the present. That is, much of what is fiction today for the youngest cyberpunk readers will be reality within their lifespan. Already, we are passing from human to transhuman with the wider availability of (and advances in) prostheses, reconstructive surgery, and “mediated reproduction”; and the way we now “interface” with the world around us through an ever expanding use of gadgetry. Wet wiring is being used on an experimental basis in surgery for the blind, deaf, and paralyzed with amazing results and I believe it will only be a few decades before we move from the “repair” phase of such use to the “improve” phase.

(2) Like every good fairytale, there is a strong, and soon to be attainable, transformative element embedded within cyberpunk. Readers don’t have to dream of discovering they are a princess, that they have superpowers, etc. Nor do they have to turn over pumpkins and kiss frogs looking for their fairy godmother or Prince Charming. Metamorphosis is within reach to any human willing to work to obtain it (after all, even butterflies have to spin their own cocoons).

(3) Given (1) and (2) above, it gives me a unique opportunity as a writer to help people explore their attitudes toward where we are headed as a society and as individuals.

What unique opportunities does cyberpunk offer for erotic storytelling?

The transformative element, although it can be found in other genres, has a special appeal in cyberpunk because it is increasingly attainable. I have an upcoming Kindle release, Wolf’s Den, that explores this in part—a man who, as a nanomage, can be almost anything his lover desires and can, via nanocells, touch her in ways no other lover can approach. An impression like this could also be created through completely submersive virtual reality environments. On the cusp of a more transhuman society, there also are class issues between those who are still “Human 1.0″ and those who have upgraded (e.g., Megan Hart’s Passion Model) and the ultimate issue of what does it mean (and take) to be “human” (e.g., William Gibson’s Idoru, where a rock star falls in love with an AI construct; AI, about a woman’s parental love for an android child and the child’s quest to return to her; and who can forget the Tyrell Corporation’s (Bladerunner) motto of “More Human Than Human.”

Do you have anything new coming up that you want to tell people about?

For erotic sf/f, I am doing several Kindle self-releases over the course of this year. The primary focus of the sf titles will be nanotechnology, from both a cyberpunk time frame in some of them and a post-apocalyptic society that is still rampant with nanotechnology, but does not recognize it as such, attributing the special powers of some instead to magic. More information on these is or will soon be available on my website.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 11:41 am and is filed under Writers On Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.