Welcome, travelers. Our travels through the Otherworld today will take us not across some physical distance, but a dozen years into the future, and then many more, to a world where space travel and artificial intelligence and other aspects of technology coalesce into a concoction of literary entertainment that will have its hooks in you in just a few short pages. We’ll be looking at the work of Lucian Phillips, with his book Slow Space. Read on to learn more about this traditional sci-fi tale.
Tellest: Greetings Lucian! First up, I wanted to thank you for sparing some time for this interview. You’ve got a lot of heft to this book of yours, and I would imagine you’re still pursuing your other passions as hard as you did this one. I’m excited to get to know you a little better, and to discuss your story, how it came to be, and what comes next in your travels across the stars.
Lucian Phillips: Well, thanks so much for chatting to me! Much appreciated. I am a first-time author so I am very excited that after two years my story is finally out there!
T: All great journeys begin with the first step, and I’m sure yours was no different. To that end, we have a tradition in these interviews of asking what inspired that step. What was it that called on you to write your first words? Did you have an author who spoke to you who you read fervently? Did you have a family member or a community that you leaned on to absorb literature or other stories?
LP: This is not my first go at writing a novel. I have tried three or four times before and the most I ever got was a few opening pages. What’s different about Slow Space is I went back to basics. I had a few ideas which I wrote straight into a note book with a pen and I found that it freed me up to just let ideas flow. Unlike at a computer, I didn’t spend time on spelling or grammar and finally I had a story that I liked. So Slow Space was born. I describe it as classic science fiction and this is what I love to read. The tradition of Asimov and Clarke are where I come from. I am also a big fan of Phillip K Dick, John Wyndam and Douglas Adams. So, these are the influences in the book.
T: You mentioned a handful of books that you had tried your hand at before Slow Space that didn’t quite meet your expectations earlier on, but now that you’ve got the experience and the practice behind you, do you think that you would dive into one of those again? Also, have any of the material from those stories made it into Slow Space?
LP: There isn’t anything from them in Slow Space. I fiddled with a more comedy style…like Douglas Adams, but clearly not as good. I don’t think I will go back to that. I’m very happy with the tone of Slow Space and I think I’ve found my niche.
T: You’re a bit of a mystery online thus far, so I’m going to be trying to shed some light in the shadows as we discuss things. If I’m wrong in any of this, let me know!
When searching you on Amazon, the name Lucian Phillips doesn’t show up prominently (yet), and I suspect that might be because Slow Space is your debut feature-length story. What was it like bringing this to life, and how did you first get the concept for it?
LP: Well, as I said, this is my first go at publishing a book, and Lucian is my pen name so it won’t show up much. My friends and family know me as Phil. But Lucian has big plans! I am loving writing and have already several ideas in the works for new stories.
Once I discovered the best way for me to write was the way I had been taught as a child, the story was just like an explosion of ideas. I stopped worrying about chapters and spelling and anything except the idea. Time travel has always fascinated me so it was naturally where I went.
T: Slow Space doesn’t quite feel like stream of consciousness writing. Was putting that book together like the explosions you mentioned earlier, and then taking all the creativity and stitching it together into what felt more appropriate, or did things just land wonderfully right from the get go?
LP: Certainly, once I had the ideas there was a need to produce an internal logic. I needed the story to resonate with me so while the grand view of time and the hugeness of the universe are common sci-fi themes, I wanted the characters to have an emotional depth that drives their actions. So, things came together well once I knew what I wanted.
T: A lot of sci-fi hides behind the minutiae—systems, theories, scientific equation—and it sometimes leaves some of the human ethos behind, but you put a lot of the weight of your story on your cast. Was that something that happened naturally, or was it something you had the foresight to decide earlier?
LP: The attraction of sci-fi for me is the people. They are first and foremost in the story. While I love gadgets and spaceships the truth is that the best sci-fi talks about ourselves. It shines a light on who we are by giving us extraordinary situations to react to. The best sci-fi…and I suppose the best stories generally…are when the human reactions resonate with the reader.
T: When you knew that Slow Space had to be written, how did you determine who your cast of characters would be? Brax and Briggs start from different worlds, so to speak, and bringing them together is a fun exercise in crossing paths, a sort of predestined celestial road for these characters to walk along.
LP: You have to write from what you know so I guess there are bits of me in both Brax and Briggs, although I could never be either. But I greatly admire them both and I think that is the key to my characters. They are people I would love to spend time with.
I love the intertwining of people’s paths. We are not alone on this world, and we all affect each other. That two people from completely different sides of the world can have paths that finish with them standing next to each other an incredible distance from either of their homes blows my mind!
T: Writing a character that you like is a lot of fun, and it’s great to spend time with them and see what sort of things they get up to. But we also love our villains, and that is a whole other kind of challenge. What do you think makes a great villain, whether they’re the kind that walk among us, or a more nebulous idea that might be formless?
LP: The word ‘villain’ is loaded with images of monsters and James Bond characters, but the true villain is our own fear. Walking into the future with absolute confidence is something very few people can do. A great villain plays on those fears…tells you that your future will be destroyed and everything that you hold dear will change. In Slow Space, The Dark Angels are not only driven by fear but use fear to gain power.
T: Were the Dark Angels inspired by anything in particular? How did you manage to come up with them as this force of potential change?
LP: They are basically a group that evolves through fear. At first, they are scared of AI and the future it will bring. Their position is that it will destroy humankind. But as they become more convinced of the rightness of their position they reason that no action is unjustified if it works in their favour. It’s often the way we see political groups go and I think I wanted to describe that a bit.
T: Though the story is condensed, and we see wisps of characters’ earlier lives, we do get to experience a good deal of their existence. What led you to choose that manner of telling their story instead of, say, flashbacks or dreams or the like?
LP: In fact, the first formal draft was a bit all over the place. I thought it would be great to have it like a jigsaw puzzle that only went together right at the end. But that didn’t test well with my wife! I also worked with an experienced, published author, JM Hart, and I eventually came to see that a chronological telling is more gripping and the most common way of telling a story for a reason. Brains just like it better!
T: Right, a jigsaw can be a bit of a challenge to convey, and you never want your readers to struggle to see the pieces once they’re set in place. That said, you still have plenty of fun with mysteries as they unfold in your book. How did you determine how they were going to be revealed, and did any cause you any issues as you began to unravel all the knots?
LP: The balance of keeping surprises till the right moment and revealing answers is tough so yes…there were issues! But I think all good stories invite readers to experience a moment of having their mind blown with the unexpected. The twist, right? Hiding that goes down to including making sure there are no hints in the chapter titles. With a timeline like in Slow Space I really tried to give nothing away until it was needed. Also, a bit like a murder mystery, I threw out some red herrings as the characters discuss what they think is happening.
T: And I suppose in keeping up with that line of thinking, did you have anything within your story that surprised you while you were writing it? Did your characters do or say anything that you only learned about as you committed words to the page, anything like that?
LP: Oh yes. They surprised me with their resilience. Through the worst of times they found ways to cope and to become their best selves. They also surprised me with their theories. I knew, obviously what was happening but the characters themselves seemed to come up with their own theories which related to their own characters. That was interesting.
T: While Slow Space might be your debut literary fiction tale, but you’re no stranger to the arts. At the end of the book, you shed some light on Frequency77, an Aussie band that forms in the future. But I suspect that you might somehow know the musicians even now. What can you tell us about Frequency77, and how they appeared in the world of Slow Space’s future?
LP: Wow! Good question! Yes, that’s a little Easter Egg I popped in there. I am a musician and teacher by trade so it was only natural that I would somehow work music into it! I actually lived in Canberra for a time and still have family there so young students heading out to a gig was a picture I had in my head. Once I had a band name it was probably inevitable I would flesh it out with some actual music to go on the Spotify playlist that accompanies the book. Then the band needed a bio, so it kind of just got out of hand.
T: That is definitely a fun concept that adds a layer of richness to your world. A good deal of Slow Space leans on fundamental storytelling, but the fact that you dive deep into other pieces of this grand puzzle shows that you have a passion for building a foundation beneath everything else as well. In future projects, do you imagine you would do similar things to help enrich what your fans would be experiencing?
LP: Yes. I want to include music with my next book. I don’t have the skills or the money to make visual presentation of a story but there is no reason why readers can’t have a soundtrack. And it does bring a new dimension to the writing so I will definitely include music in the future, maybe make it more of a theme in the story.
T: While art isn’t necessarily in your wheelhouse, that’s not to say that you’re not an appreciator of it. You and I briefly talked outside of this interview about the interesting cover art. How did you get your hands on that, and who did you work with to bring that to life?
LP: I asked one of my oldest friends, Brian Blackwell, to do the cover art. We have known each other since high school. He was excited to be involved and sent me some ideas almost straight away. I really liked one and he painted it. Then he messaged me a month or two later and said he didn’t like it and was redoing. I just said ‘I trust your judgement’…and the current art is what he came back with. He actually painted it on an old cupboard door which is very Brian. The original is now hanging in my lounge. He’s on insta @i.am.brunitski_art
T: With Slow Space, there isn’t a subtitle, or a series attached to it. It reads well enough to be a standalone, like some classic, traditional sci-fi fare. A good deal of today’s sci-fi is presented serially, though, and it begs the question, is this it for Brax and Briggs and Jess? Or could we see more from them, either in their future, or in their past?
LP: Well, it was not intended to have a sequel but I have had some thoughts so we’ll see. But for now, I am happy with their future being in the reader’s mind.
T: So, with that in mind, if you’re giving the cast of Slow Space some time to breathe, are you interested in telling other stories? If you are, are they going to be part of the same genre, or would you be taking readers in a different direction?
LP: As I said, I think I have found my niche. I seem to write best when I’m just being me, so any future stories will almost certainly be in the same genre.
T: Have you started anything yet, or are you just waiting to let the dust settle on Slow Space at the moment?
LP: Yep. I have started something. We’ll just have to see where it goes but I really like the concept and I’ve had a lot of positive feedback for Slow Space so I’m keen to get going.
T: With your first story committed to the page now, there are bound to be many fans who enjoy your work. What would you say is the best way for readers to follow up with you? Do you have a website or a social media platform that you would point them out to?
LP: I have an Instagram page @lucianphillipsauthor, so any messages can go there or my email lucian.phillips@mail.com but nothing else at this point.
T: I wanted to thank you again for sharing some of your time in discussing your new book, and to give me and your readers some insight on how your process works. It’s always wonderful to meet new creative types, and to see what they bring to the table. I’m interested in seeing what you’ve got coming out down the line, so don’t be a stranger!
LP: Thank you so much! I have really enjoyed this and would love to do it again in the future! All the best.
Folks, I wanted to give it up one more time for Lucian Phillips. As someone who just released their first novel, you can see the passion and the excitement in everything they’re doing. That enthusiasm is something we should reward, so do yourself a favor and support new budding authors. Check out Slow Space on Amazon today!
Michael DeAngelo
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