Interview: Tamara Siler Jones (part 1)

Don’t forget the contest to win a signed copy of Valley.

Halloween brings us the release of Tamara Siler Jones‘ third forensic fantasy, Valley of the Soul (available from Amazon, or — buy blue! — Barnes and Noble). For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Tam’s stories focus on Dubric Byerly, the Castellan (think Chief of Police) of Faldorrah. Dubric’s task is to keep the people safe. For Dubric, failure carries a special sting: he’s haunted by the ghosts of murder victims whose killers have not been brought to justice.

In the first novel, Ghosts in the Snow (reviewed here), Dubric and his staff face a killer of young women. In Jones’ second novel, Threads of Malice (reviewed here), sexual abuse and murder pose an even more twisted threat to the Castellan’s team.This time around, ritualistically slaughtered animals begin appearing in Faldorrah. Prank or something far more ominous? I’ll give you one guess.

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the neat things about Jones’ novels is that each is self-contained. You needn’t read them in sequence (and I didn’t).

On to the interview!

DH: I’d like you to think back to the origins of this series. Which came first — Dubric, or Dubric’s world? Do you remember what stimulus spawned the trilogy?

TSJ: Definitely the world. Not long before I started dating my husband, I got an idea for a story that centered around a princess in a tower, trapped and waiting for her lover who never came. I still have that book somewhere in the attic, and Dubric was a VERY minor character, I think he was in one, maybe two scenes. I hadn’t thought about him for years until I got an idea totally out of the blue: Dubric solves a serial crime. That single idea became Ghosts in the Snow which hit bookshelves worldwide in October/November, 2004. One little idea changed my life forever.

DH: Do you see Dubric’s world as an extension of our own world — a post-apocalyptic future — or a pure fantasy world?

TSJ: It’s sort of a combination of the two. Sort of. In Dubric’s world, things progressed more-or-less along what we’d consider normal lines until the mid 1860’s when Magic rose up and took control. The world was dragged forcibly backward, all technology destroyed, other than on the island of Waterford which kept some knowledge and skill alive, but many things were lost. In time, the people of Waterford struck against the mages and fought to retake the mainland. That’s the Mage War/War of Shadows that Dubric refers to from time to time.

So, it is post-apocalyptic, only the apocalypse happened around 1867 and the books are about 50 years after the start of rebuilding.

DH: Have you ever considered writing a “flashback novel” focusing on the Mage War?

TSJ: Actually, no, even though I get asked fairly often. I can’t see how it would be an interesting read. We already know who lived, who died, and what some of the more pivotal events were. I’d think to re-hash all that as a continuous narrative would be boring, for me and the readers, because it’s all backstory. Maybe I’m wrong, since so many seem to want to know about it, but I think it’s better to show how the war has impacted the people and the world. The little bits that come out in the books are plenty.

DH: Tell us about some of the hate mail you have received for your work. Any idea why some folks have such strong feelings about these stories?

TSJ: Probably 90-95% of the comments I receive are very positive and wonderful, but I found hate mail to be a strange experience, especially for Ghosts in the Snow. It tended to fall into one of two camps. The most common were those who wrote angry letters about my illiteracy, idiocy, and overall suckage as a writer. The main problem there seemed to be that my characters (and I) don’t speak perfect Queen’s English so, therefore, I’m too stupid to breathe, let alone write. For my part, I can’t imagine writing to someone simply to inform them I think they’re an idiot. The rudeness of it just blows my mind. It did, however, make me a bit paranoid about some aspects of my writing voice. I don’t like to anger anyone, especially if I’ve made a technical mistake. After much deliberation, I decided that I talk how I talk, and I write how I write. Don’t like it? There are a zillion other books to read. I did, however, always thank them for their comments and wish them well.

The other letters, not as common but much more interesting, tended to concern my mental state or the status of my soul. I received several letters, comments, blog posts and such about how I wrote garbage, that I was mentally disturbed, sick, was going to burn for eternity… You get the idea. These letters and comments, some with offers to pray for me, I mostly ignored. There’s really not much else to be done. I didn’t want to start a dialog with any of these people, and I was afraid to wish them a nice day for fear they’d explode or something.

The really odd thing was that while I’ve received plenty of hate mail about my literary retardation for both Ghosts in the Snow and Threads of Malice, I’ve only received the religious/garbage/sick letters for Ghosts. As twisted and depraved and dark and violent as Threads was – so much so that it made Ghosts look like a springtime parade in comparison – I have yet to receive a single ‘You’re a sick, demented bitch!’ comment for it. Not a one even though I expected to get a deluge. Makes me wonder if torturing and sodomizing teenage boys is more acceptable than eviscerating and eating teenage girls.

We live in a strange world.

As for why my work seems to offend so many, I truly don’t know. I wonder if the grammarians are ticked because they haven’t had luck selling their work, so how can I, a country-bumpkin housewife from the land of pigs and cornfields, dare to do so? Or maybe they’re just really picky and can’t stand to let any blemish pass without pointing it out.

As for the other type… That’s tougher. On the one hand, I know that I write about very gruesome and disgusting subjects; I feel that it’s important for someone to look at the hard things from time to time and report what they see. These things happen – heck, lots WORSE things than I could ever dream up happen – and to deny that they exist is just putting your head in the sand. Which, in my opinion, just makes them happen all the more often. It’s the people who stand up and say “No! I won’t allow this!” who, like Dubric and his team, stop horrendous acts, not the people who change the channel to Seinfeld or close their eyes and turn away. I write about the people who say no.

On the other hand, the people who comment about my depravity always seem a bit shocked, offended, and surprised at the content of the books. I wonder if they ever bothered to read the jacket copy or even look at the cover art. Dubric’s stories are obviously not fluffy romances or heroic sword and sorcery epics. They’re marketed as gruesome forensic murders. I can’t understand why someone would think for a moment that they’re anything else.

I believe that I tell the truth of the story at hand, to the best of my ability. Sometimes taking a frank look at unpleasant things makes people uncomfortable. While I have had my fair share of nasty letters and comments and things, the lion’s share of what I receive is very positive. My fans are the best!

DH: Before you got the idea for Ghosts, had you ever thought to yourself, I want to write about depraved murderers!

TSJ: Of course. Every day. It’s always been my dream! 😉

Lol. No, it never really occurred to me, to be honest. I’ve always written scary things, but I planned for Ghosts to be the first book in a seven-book epic fantasy/horror focused around the Romlin Family. Dubric, his ghosts, and the murders were just the catalyst to start the tale and not at all important to the whole. My editor, though, had other ideas. I’ve since learned more about serial killers, murders, decaying corpses, and autopsies than I ever thought I’d want to know. It’s been a blast though, especially learning about decay. I really want to write a story about a 2-week old corpse at some point. They’re awfully juicy, stinky, and incredibly gross then, about the nastiest they can be, I think. Lars needs to carry one over rough terrain. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.

DH: What kind of feedback have you received from friends and family?

TSJ: Most of my friends seem to enjoy the books a great deal, some with giddy abandon which is pretty fun. My family (with the exception of my sister and a few out of state relatives) not so much. My mother dutifully reads each book after release and often asks me how I became so depraved, as if it was something she did or can maybe repair. Most of my family (including aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc) bought a copy of Ghosts. A few had me sign their copies. Fewer still read it, the rest deeming it too long, too weird, or too full of too many big words. I give my mother a copy of every book, but only my sister, father-in-law, one uncle, and one cousin bought Threads and read it as far as I know – they’re the only ones who have ever mentioned it to me or my husband. That’s it, out of more than a hundred relatives in Iowa. I think that’s pretty definite feedback. I try not to let it bother me.

More tomorrow.

D.