r/books • u/TomDoyle2 AMA Author • Sep 24 '20
ama 12pm Hi, I’m science fiction and fantasy writer Tom Doyle, and my new book, BORDER CROSSER, is a twisted psychological space opera--AMA!
Hey, r/books, it’s Tom Doyle, award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. My previous work includes the American Craftsmen trilogy from Tor Books, a contemporary fantasy about magician-soldiers and psychic spies in the modern world.
My new tale, Border Crosser, is far-future science fiction. The narrator, Eris, is a charismatic spy with a violent borderline personality and emotional amnesia—she doesn’t remember her loyalties. This allows her to pass from world to world without mental scanners detecting her long-term intentions, making her a “border crosser.” The Asylum cabal has artificially amplified Eris’s condition so that she’ll cause interstellar chaos for the limited time she survives. When Eris discovers the Asylum’s manipulation of her, she sets out to find its hidden leaders and destroy them.
I’ll be checking in all day, so ask me anything. I’ve had my six-year cancer anniversary checkup, and all remains well, so I’d be happy to discuss the interaction of cancer and my writing. I was writing Border Crosser on and off for the sixteen years from when I attended the Clarion Writing Workshop, if you’d like to hear about any part of that experience. Or we could talk about my band’s twentieth anniversary show before Covid-19 shut everything down, or about my future projects. See ya later!
ADDENDUM: About to turn in for the night. I'll check once more in the morning tomorrow for any other quesions, but otherwise, I think we're done. Thank you very much for a great AMA!
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tom.doyle
- Twitter: @tmdoyle2
Proof: /img/qbazpniy5jo51.jpg
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u/mariecroke Sep 24 '20
Congrats on Border Crosser! :) Love that you named her after the goddess of discord!
About how many projects do you juggle at one time? And what are some of your suggestions in keeping so many things going at once?
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Hey, good to hear from you, and hope you're doing well! Yeah, the protagonist has a thing about names, and it takes her a bit to find one she can live with. "Eris" is what she does.
I'm not actually a good juggler at all, so my advice isn't going to be very helpful. It used to be that I could write full time, so that helped. Now, I have a day job for at least part of the year. It's much easier for concerted novel writing to have it be full time. But even with the day job going, I'm able to keep projects moving incrementally forward.
Assuming all goes well with the contract, I have a series I'll be doing for an audio production that I'll be doing which should keep me very busy indeed for a while. That's the result of a proposal that I was able to write up despite being on the day job. And we'll see if anyone wants something more from Eris.
Also, right now I was hoping to do more politically--instead, just giving bits of time and money where I can.
Please let me know what you've been up to. Enjoy!
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u/Hiiro2000 Sep 24 '20
How did you learn about Borderline Personality Disorder to write Eris? and if the asylum cabal wouldn't control it, would she be ok?
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Good questions, thanks! First, Eris's BPD isn't so much controlled by the Asylum as amplified by it. Her condition would be milder without their interference, and even in her version of the future (which has a very hands off approach to mental illness due to the Singularity going horribly wrong), she'd probably do OK over time (to the extent any of us do). I learned about BPD from reading, from meeting people with it, and from friends who've met people with it. I also had a psychology prof in my Clarion Workshop class who gave helpful feedback. For me, the most important aspect was how decentering the disorder is, in the same way that clinical depression is decentering--there often isn't a point in the psyche that remains unshifted by it. This is something that a Hollywood narrative often misses. What are your thoughts about BPD?
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u/Hiiro2000 Sep 24 '20
it would be really cool to read a book from the perspective of someone with bpd! Well my thoughts about it are, for what I know, it's really expensive to treat (hopefully you get it with free healthcare though) and it requires so much commitment to treat, because you have to spend so much time either in therapy, group therapy, at first inpatient treatment, treat all the comorbid conditions, family therapy, meds etc. I know they have highs and lows that can look like bipolar but happen much quicker like in an hour not days. They usually have terrible fear of abandonment and would do anything to stop it including manic anger or half-attempted suicide that is sadly often successful. They don't have a sense of self the same way, which is why they feel empty and depressed and they keep changing all sorts of things about themselves, even their name. they're very sensitive and for example one of the first things family should do is control their tone of voice. No more annoyed/judgy/loud voice for no reason. Also if they mistreat you and you walk away, highlight that you're not leaving and that you're there for them, not abandoning them. they can split, like babies, feeling like a person is split in two, one the good person who does the good things who they adore, and one he bad one that does the bad things who they hate. Most, but not all, come from a traumatic, caotic childhood, like being raised by drug addicts for example. I know it's very stigmatised and people often just see them as abusers online and it can be very toxic for them to google it. That's really unfair but at the same time it's true that if a person with untreated bpd has kids, it may not really be their fault for abusing them sometimes but even less is it the kid's fault, so it's important to understand mental health and have free healthcare. I also think the name is an old psychology term and they should make one that hints at what it is instead. I wonder how it would be like to have a protagonist without a strong sense of self, that would be cool. Maybe someone a bit like that is todd in the knife of never letting go by patrick ness (everyone can read minds and it's horrible, you keep being disturbed by people's thoughts and try not to think, which does feel like he doesn't have a strong sense of self and he doesn't know what he's doing, with terribile consequences). it's really exciting to see psychology in books this way! Thank you :D
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u/chroyane Sep 24 '20
Hi Tom. I don’t usually read a lot of sci-fi, more of a historical fiction gal, but this is intriguing and I’m going to read it! Congratulations on beating cancer, and fulfilling your dreams as an author. I’m a freaking accountant but I wish I was an author instead. No question, just a warm wish to you. Be well, and keep the pen on paper. xX
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Thank you very much! I infuse a lot of historical stuff into my science fiction and fantasy, so I hope you'll check out some of that as well (a lot of my short fiction is now free on my website). Right now, I'm listening to Herodotus for research (again). Thanks again!
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u/downvote-me-cuz Sep 24 '20
What's it like being a NERD!
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Well, I'm seldom bored even when alone. I live in a world full of meaning and stories everywhere I look. And I'm very comfortable in my own skin. So it's not a bad thing to be, given some of the alternatives. Though I may not actually fit very well into the usual definition of nerd.
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u/Writeman2244 Sep 24 '20
How do you create and structure plots, specifically for science fiction? Do you follow a certain structure? And what advice would you give for someone looking to write sci-fi?
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Good question. Plot structures seem to work well for a lot of authors, and perhaps I'd be wiser to follow one, but I'm not much for such structures. Some of them strike me as intrusions of screenplay formulas into novels. I'm concerned that each part be entertaining, that the overall narrative spine is strong, and that the character development works, so there's probably some implicit structures in there that I'm avoiding thinking about. Border Crosser started as a picaresque, because initially I was much more concerned about the character and certain set pieces than the overall story, but I rewrote it with a much stronger narrative spine. So, I wouldn't want to dissuade you from using structures, as they're a successful approach, but I don't have any good advice on which ones to use in SF/F. Have you been using certain structures in your writing? How are they working for you?
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u/Writeman2244 Sep 24 '20
Well structures aren't really working for me. I tried to use them because a lot of writers say to use them and I am not against the idea, but they just kill my flow and it prevents progression for me (personally). It basically has killed a lot of my old ideas for stuff I wanted to write.
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u/Poorly-Drawn-Beagle Sep 24 '20
Get to meet any other writers you like since you started?
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u/TomDoyle2 Sep 24 '20
Yes, so many, and in science fiction and fantasy they're usually the nicest people! They often have a pay-it-forward attitude--since other authors helped them, they help other authors. Sometimes when I meet them, it's just a quick fannish hello, like meeting Terry Pratchett at one of his last appearances. And sometimes, it's the start of a professional friendship. One author that I met right before I started writing was Jacqueline Carey, and her work was a big influence. Anyone in particular you're wondering about?
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u/HowardAJones Sep 24 '20
Hi Tom. How do you go about your story plotting? Are you a detailed outliner? A pantser? A combination thereof? Do you start with character first or plot first?
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u/iBeachSamurai Sep 24 '20
Hey man could you shed some light on how you go about editing ? Btw do you publish online or with publishing house?
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u/LordGimp Sep 24 '20
What do you think of Tor as a publisher? What do you think of publishers in general?
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u/Dilworthbtd727 Sep 24 '20
Congrats on your latest book, Tommy! Do you draw any personality elements of your characters from individuals from your childhood?
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u/legoslost Sep 24 '20
How much does your book cost or where could I read it? The idea of it looks extremely interesting.
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u/Chtorrr Sep 24 '20
What were some of your favorite things to read as a kid?