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Re: Questions for Gavin Grant on Monstrous Affections
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From: Gavin J. Grant <gjgrant_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:41:23 -0400
Hi Megan,
thanks for letting me temporarily join the list! And thanks for reading the book so closely and for letting me write more about monsters. We have a tumblr for the book here: http://monstrousaffections.tumblr.com — it’s been a bit quiet since we were off in Boston for a reading on Wednesday, which somehoe took up yesterday, too.
I’m writing this on a Friday afternoon where I am hoping to squeeze a visit with our 5-year-old daughter to the library in between the end of kindergarten (3 pm) and closing time (5 pm — http://forbeslibrary.org/about/hours.shtml [how many times can a man look at library hours in one week? At least 2-3!]). Should be doable, yet, yet, she is five, so all things are mutable. So before three rolls around, to the questions:
We had a great time putting this book together. To look at the second question first, there are some of the same commercial concerns that need to be looked at for any book: if we put out an anthology with fourteen new writers, no one will order it, so we needed recognizable names for librarians, booksellers, and readers. With Monstrous Affections we were lucky enough to get some of the writers from our first anthology, Steampunk! (sorry, I do overuse exclamation marks in email, but that’s really part of the title), to return. Once we had Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and M. T. Anderson signed up, we went wider afield and brought in new writers (Alice Sola Kim, “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying,” G. Carl Purcell, "The Mercurials”) and asked favorite writers in different genres to see if they could write a YA story (Nathan Ballingrud, "The Diabolist”). We received stories from many writers on our dream list of contributors (Paolo Bacigalupi, Sarah Rees Brennan, etc.) and were lucky to get a couple of last minute great stories when two writers had to drop out. In every project Kelly and I work on, either anthologies, our zine, LCRW, or with Small Beer Press books, we’re often trying to meld together disparate parts of the world in ways that we hope other people will enjoy, too.
As for the Origin Story of the book: Kelly, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare were talking about vampires and Cassie said she thought hundred-year-old vampires might prefer to spend their time with hundred-year-old humans rather than teenagers. Kelly pounced on the idea and the anthology basically sprang full formed from there. Given the extremely brief brief — we sent the authors this very minimalist query (April 12, 2012): "The short pitch is: stories that examine relationships (kinship, friendship, love) between humans and monsters.” — I realize we were very lucky not to receive a dozen vampire stories. Instead we have krakens, a hill(!), harpies, ghosts, and many more. There is nothing quite like seeing that an email has come in, realizing it’s from a favorite writer, and seeing that a story is attached. (And if this happens before deadline, even better.)
Gavin
On Oct 22, 2014, at 2:27 PM, Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Gavin J. Grant, coeditor of the short story anthology "Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales" with Kelly Link, has graciously offered to join us in the next couple of days to answer questions. (Although he is working around travel commitments--thank you, Gavin!)
> So, here are two things I"m wondering about.:
> First, I am a huge fan of thematic anthologies in any genre for young adults because I think there is an instant point of connection for readers beyond the one of self to story as they consider how each individual piece fits into the overall theme. I'm wondering if you can share how the idea for the collection originated. The concept of what's monstrous is explored in such a wonderful range of ways as each writer takes it in a unique direction, but where did it begin? What did you share with contributors as they were invited to write about the idea?
> I also appreciated that you drew on writers from within and beyond the world of young adult literature--I feel like I've been given the opportunity to discover new writers--new to me at least. Was this something you knew you wanted to do from the outset--bring together the world of young adult literature and the world of science fiction and fantasy that sometimes but not always intersects with it, or is it simply a happy outcome of seeking out a range of stories?
> Megan
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Received on Fri 24 Oct 2014 12:41:19 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:41:23 -0400
Hi Megan,
thanks for letting me temporarily join the list! And thanks for reading the book so closely and for letting me write more about monsters. We have a tumblr for the book here: http://monstrousaffections.tumblr.com — it’s been a bit quiet since we were off in Boston for a reading on Wednesday, which somehoe took up yesterday, too.
I’m writing this on a Friday afternoon where I am hoping to squeeze a visit with our 5-year-old daughter to the library in between the end of kindergarten (3 pm) and closing time (5 pm — http://forbeslibrary.org/about/hours.shtml [how many times can a man look at library hours in one week? At least 2-3!]). Should be doable, yet, yet, she is five, so all things are mutable. So before three rolls around, to the questions:
We had a great time putting this book together. To look at the second question first, there are some of the same commercial concerns that need to be looked at for any book: if we put out an anthology with fourteen new writers, no one will order it, so we needed recognizable names for librarians, booksellers, and readers. With Monstrous Affections we were lucky enough to get some of the writers from our first anthology, Steampunk! (sorry, I do overuse exclamation marks in email, but that’s really part of the title), to return. Once we had Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and M. T. Anderson signed up, we went wider afield and brought in new writers (Alice Sola Kim, “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying,” G. Carl Purcell, "The Mercurials”) and asked favorite writers in different genres to see if they could write a YA story (Nathan Ballingrud, "The Diabolist”). We received stories from many writers on our dream list of contributors (Paolo Bacigalupi, Sarah Rees Brennan, etc.) and were lucky to get a couple of last minute great stories when two writers had to drop out. In every project Kelly and I work on, either anthologies, our zine, LCRW, or with Small Beer Press books, we’re often trying to meld together disparate parts of the world in ways that we hope other people will enjoy, too.
As for the Origin Story of the book: Kelly, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare were talking about vampires and Cassie said she thought hundred-year-old vampires might prefer to spend their time with hundred-year-old humans rather than teenagers. Kelly pounced on the idea and the anthology basically sprang full formed from there. Given the extremely brief brief — we sent the authors this very minimalist query (April 12, 2012): "The short pitch is: stories that examine relationships (kinship, friendship, love) between humans and monsters.” — I realize we were very lucky not to receive a dozen vampire stories. Instead we have krakens, a hill(!), harpies, ghosts, and many more. There is nothing quite like seeing that an email has come in, realizing it’s from a favorite writer, and seeing that a story is attached. (And if this happens before deadline, even better.)
Gavin
On Oct 22, 2014, at 2:27 PM, Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Gavin J. Grant, coeditor of the short story anthology "Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales" with Kelly Link, has graciously offered to join us in the next couple of days to answer questions. (Although he is working around travel commitments--thank you, Gavin!)
> So, here are two things I"m wondering about.:
> First, I am a huge fan of thematic anthologies in any genre for young adults because I think there is an instant point of connection for readers beyond the one of self to story as they consider how each individual piece fits into the overall theme. I'm wondering if you can share how the idea for the collection originated. The concept of what's monstrous is explored in such a wonderful range of ways as each writer takes it in a unique direction, but where did it begin? What did you share with contributors as they were invited to write about the idea?
> I also appreciated that you drew on writers from within and beyond the world of young adult literature--I feel like I've been given the opportunity to discover new writers--new to me at least. Was this something you knew you wanted to do from the outset--bring together the world of young adult literature and the world of science fiction and fantasy that sometimes but not always intersects with it, or is it simply a happy outcome of seeking out a range of stories?
> Megan
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Received on Fri 24 Oct 2014 12:41:19 PM CDT
