A New Face in Town

 

1889 Labs is proud to welcome Tim Sevenhuysen into the family.

[image error]Tim debuted with his new series "Losing Freight", an interactive serial that allows readers to determine certain elements of the story's progression each week via a poll. But what kind of welcome would it be without a proper hazing?

So I forced Tim at gunpoint to do an interview, which was pretty difficult considering he lives in Canada. Good thing I'm so skilled at teleportation. Trufax.

Well, without any further delay, meet Tim Sevenhuysen!

 

TW: It's pretty exciting to have a new face around 1889 Labs. How has your experience been so far?

TS: It's great to be part of the team! I've really enjoyed getting some glimpses of the inner workings of 1889′s creative group, and I'm excited to see all of the fun new stuff that's going to be coming out in the future.

TW: Tell us a little about yourself, Tim. How did you come about this gig? What have you written in the past? What do you do in your spare time?

TS: I live in Victoria, BC, with my 7-month-pregnant wife. I met MCM here in Victoria a couple of years ago at a local "tweet-up" (remember when those were a thing?) and somehow got wrangled into being the "antagonist" for his book Fission Chips. My job was to throw him curve-balls every now and then by deciding what the villain's next move would be.

MCM has contributed a couple of stories to my 50-word story site too, and we've kept in touch a bit. When he put out a call for some "crazy writers" to take on a new 1889 project I put my hat in the ring and he picked me to work on the first "Flashback" project, which led me to start working on Losing Freight.

As an author, I'm best known for my 50-word stories. I've written almost three years' worth of them (that's 600+, but who's counting?). In my spare time I tweet a lot (@TimSevenhuysen), obsess over my Google Analytics stats, and watch hockey.

TW: Losing Freight is 1889 Labs' very first interactive serial. Can you tell the readers about it? Have you been enjoying it?

TS: Losing Freight is the first example of a concept that MCM came up with called the "Flashback," where one page of the story is posted each weekday and there's a poll attached that influences the next day's page.

Working on this project has been a lot of fun so far. It's very different from anything I've ever written before. Incorporating feedback from the readers after every single posted page means I have to take a whole new approach to my writing process. I can't just let the story go where I want it to go: I have to write every single page in an open-ended kind of way, to allow the readers to have as much influence on what happens as possible.

I'm still getting the hang of it, to be honest. I can say for sure that the next few weeks of the story are going to get a lot more interactive, because I'm starting to wrap my head around how to best utilize the polls. Over the next couple of weeks I'm planning to really start pushing the pace of the story, so I hope everyone's ready to keep up with the action!

TW: Who are some authors that inspire you?

TS: I've been a reader ever since… Well, ever since I first learned to read, I guess. Some of the authors who have inspired or influenced me the most are JRR Tolkien, Victor Hugo, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams, and Jonathan Swift, but I could easily extend that list with dozens more names.

TW: Do you have any other current projects that you're working on? Any future projects?

TS: I write a lot of short stories right now. I've challenged myself to self-publish a new short story every week of 2012, and I'm releasing those through my blog. I also have another web fiction project called Special People which is about everyday people with unique powers and abilities. That one updates with two chapters each week.

When I'm able to find the time, I have a half-written novel that I intend to complete this year, and a couple of other ideas for novels and novellas that I'd like to explore. So many ideas, so little time!

 

I'd like to thank Tim for both his time and not calling the police on me for shoving a gun in his face! Be sure to check out Losing Freight, featured on 1889 from February to March!