Author Interview: Midori
By JKB. Filed in Writers On Writing |
by J. Blackmore
Midori is an artist and educator as well as a writer. She published her first collection of science fiction erotica, Master Han’s Daughter with Circlet Press in 2006, and is also well-known for her non-fiction work, such as The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage. You can find her online at PlanetMidori.com. (This interview was conducted via IM and uses that medium’s writing conventions.)
How did you start writing erotica and/or how did you start writing sf/fantasy?
I usually write non-fiction. I’ve told plenty of erotic stories to my lovers—as well as non-erotic stories to friends—simply to entertain them. I had not written any until a few years ago, I think. I can’t really remember. I think I wrote a few for On Our Backs magazine. The sf came as a commission from Flint publishing for Asian Fever magazine. [I started writing erotic fiction] when publishers asked me to. I’d already had non-fiction writing relationships with them, so they must have had a sense of what they’d get.
Is there something particularly compelling to you about combining sf/f with erotica?
It’s fun to be able to speculate on sexual situations, gender possibilities, and equipment that’s not available today. Sometimes I write just for good wank material, but I like to use the sexual situation as a way to illustrate the relationships and emotional needs of the characters. In Master Han’s Daughter it was all about the different ways in which people use or approach sex, as commodity, for blackmail, for validation, for spiritual quest, for belonging, for revenge, etc.
How does your real life experience get translated into erotic sf?
I’ll use traits (personality and/or physical appearance) of my friends [and] stories of their bad relationships for the basis of inspiration. I’ll use strong emotions from sex and relationships that I’ve experienced to imagine how a character feels. My travels give me the visual feeds.
Is writing erotic sf different from writing other genres?
Since I mostly write non-fiction advice and technique, it’s fun to write about totally irresponsible and sometimes reprehensible actions, or about characters entirely unlike me.
What is your writing process like?
Fiction can take forever for the idea to come, then I can sit down and write the whole thing in a sitting ([as in the case of] “Love” [from Master Han’s Daughter), or I'll write most of it and then let it sit while I try out different endings ([like] “Mantra” [from the same book]).
Are/were there authors who influence your writing?
[My work has been influenced by Neal] Stephenson, Roger Zelazny, Phillip Jose Farmer, and a bunch of movies like Blade Runner, Blind Beast, and Fifth Element. Oh, I also really love some mid-century Japanese sf writers, except I can’t remember their names. I [them] found [in] a short story anthology called Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories.
Do you have a favorite story or work of yours, and why that one?
The ones that I’ve told my lovers [are my favorites], but nothing that’s made it into print. They do come from a fully evolved landscape in my mind.
What’s different about those stories, as opposed to the ones you publish?
The narrative arc can be all over the place. There may not be a clear beginning and end, or it may be a moment within a yet-to-be-told story. I can paint pictures without the whole scroll being outlines.
Have you ever thought about trying to publish something along those lines? Or is the method too difficult to tie down to the page?
I suppose I could. I hadn’t thought about it before to be honest. They’re quite fantastical.
ShinEdo feels like a living breathing city. How much world-building did you have to do to make that work? How closely is it based on today’s Tokyo?
Parts of it, the piss-soaked streets and business towers, is the real Tokyo that I know. The alley of Miu is pre-Giuliani New York and Brooklyn. The religious tower is fully from my imagination. I do have a mental map of ShinEdo, though.
Do you think you would ever re-visit the world of Master Han’s Daughter for another book?
Oh, I’d love to! I have one story already written. I’d like to delve into the “minor” characters from Master Han, such as Ari, Lady Blue…
If you could take only one of your characters home to keep forever, who would it be?
Hmmm…. They’re all really flawed and some are really scary…. Chin, I suppose [from Master Han's Daughter]. He’s likely to be the most stable and he gardens. We have a lovely garden. (Remember, you asked who I’d take home.)
Do you have anything new coming up that you want to tell people about?
I’ve been doing a lot of teaching and I’ll be doing more of that for the rest of the year. I’m hoping to take some time in August to work on my photography. You can see some, just a bit, in the Purchase section of www.Ranshin.com, as well as in the Memories section of my Livejournal. My main site is: www.PlanetMidori.com, and for folks who want to stay in the loop with my adventures, I have an eNewsletter that goes out monthly from there.
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To coincide with this interview, Circlet Press is offering free shipping on any order of Master Han’s Daughter (or any order up to 5 books that includes Master Han’s Daughter) placed by end of the day August 12th! US/Canada only please. That’s the equivalent of $5 off the usual price! Click here to order.