Disarming Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth - A Guest Post By Andrez Bergen
Today I'm fortunate enough to have one of my favourite authors on my blog - Andrez Bergen.
I've been a huge fan of this guys work ever since I read Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat and 100 Years of Vicissitude - two of the most original Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories I've read. Both were a joy to read and review, in fact the latter I'm sure would be perfect as a Hayao Miyazaki film! His writing style is just so engaging and unique, mixing in Aussie humour with numerous references to Japanese culture - and even some video game references. He's an amazing author and it's a crime that he isn't getting more attention.
So when I heard that he had a new novel coming out Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth (best title ever!) I practically begged him to come on my blog. And lo and behold, he said yes! :D
Today I thought I'd let him talk a little bit about his forthcoming novel and a little about how the protagonist is very personal to him. Take it away Andrez1
DISARMING ‘DEPTH CHARGING ICE PLANET GOTH’
Truth to tell? There’s a lot of me in Mina Rapace.
There always is a fair share of myself in all the characters I’ve created, particularly central ones like Floyd Maquina in Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, Jack/Jacob in Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?, even the elderly, grouchy Wolram E. Deaps in One Hundred Years of Vicissitude.
While other people I know colour supporting characters, the protagonists like to plumb depths beneath my façade. This isn’t something I set out to do, but critics always go on about the subjectivity of writers and I think – in many situations – they’re often correct in this assumption. Who better to mine for personality quirks than ourselves?
In Mina’s case, aside from the fact we’re of opposite sex, we both went to single-sex public schools aspiring to be private ones (Melbourne High School for me, for Mina the fictional Mac.Duagh – based on Melbourne High’s sister school Mac.Rob). Like Mina I was a painfully shy teenager who existed on the outer of social circles, hid behind a fringe, and later went through a goth/post-punk phase via which I could truly ‘discover’ myself or at least dust the insecurities under a mental doormat. I adored the music Mina does in this novel, and I suffered from a physically abusive older brother who had a penchant for covering my face with saliva any given chance. As with Mina, my only recourse for revenge was to covertly spit upon this sibling’s toothbrush.
But Mina suffers even more than I did, and she’s a far stronger person by the end of the book. If I possess fifty percent of the personal strength Mina does by our story’s closure, I’d be happy with my lot in life – which I actually am, by the way. Lastly, I don’t have and never possessed an imaginary friend of the ‘Harvey/Animeid’ variety, and I didn’t have to play Sherlock in any kind of murder mystery or deal with conniving mates. Mad ones I actually like.
Mina is also a would-be writer, and the short stories and vignettes she creates are pieces I’ve actually done independently, cannibalized to sit pretty with particular situations.
For me as writer, Mina is a fascinating character, one I’m going to be mysterious here and say I’ve touched upon before – but cannot reveal how and why since this would inject spoilers. She’s a personality I’ve also explored and honed via another medium – comic books – and I’m sure people will see more of her beyond Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth.
I think she deserves the attention, but I’m biased.
Lastly, the novel is dedicated in its opening pages to “the nobodies of the world”, people like Mina and myself who try to give the challenge of life a go in spite of repressive circumstances. That’s a theme I’m keen to push, as much as anything else. Life can be a brilliant bauble once you’re able to glance past the crap to embrace the thing and hang onto its merry coattails.
ANDREZ BERGEN
Thanks for a very inspiring post, Andrez. I'll have an interview with him on this blog very soon. Until then, you can check out his author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Andrez-Bergen/e/B009I1QB2I
Thanks for reading guys. Have a grea weekend.
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PANDRAGON
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