A Few Words with Cherie Priest
One of our favorite new writers, Cherie Priest, has a brand new novel out, Wings to the Kingdom, the second to feature her ghost-seeing protagonist from last year’s Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Don’t forget, Cherie also have a novel coming out from us, Dreadful Skin, a large part of which we’re running as a serial that has just a few chapters left.
1. Did you originally plan this to be a trilogy?
Nope. It started out with Four and Twenty Blackbirds - which began as little more than a dream fragment and an idea picked up on a playground one day. I was never going to bother with even a sequel, but when Tor bought the rights and wanted to re-release it — they wanted to see the story expand into a trilogy. And since they’re the ones paying the bills, they got it. Now, of course, I’m glad I got the chance to ride along with the characters for another couple of books. Eden is great fun to write.
2. Do you plan on writing any stories that use the Pacific Northwest/Seattle as a backdrop?
Almost certainly. I’m very detail oriented, and when I’m working on a book I feel a downright aggravating need to know absolutely everything about my setting. Thus, I tend to write books/stories set in places that I know very well and can recall/recreate accurately; so yes, I think it’s safe to say that it won’t be long before you start seeing Seattle turning up in a story or two. Though for what it’s worth - that won’t be for awhile. The next Eden book is still set in Tennessee, and the following Tor project in the queue is set primarily in Florida.
3. Have you ever been to Chickamauga? If so, what was your impression?
Many times, yes. I tried to recreate it more or less fairly in Wings to the Kingdom - but you can see the author’s afterward for a disclaimer or two about that. It’s a beautiful, weird place with an aura of stillness that sometimes shocks me. Especially up on Snodgrass Hill, you get out of your car and it’s like you’ve stepped into a vacuum. There’s no sound, no motion. And of course, there’s the fog. When you talk about the fog at Chickamauga people don’t believe you; it’s one of those things you just have to see for yourself. It’s astonishing for its density, and it’ll scare you to death if you get lost in it - which is easy to do, especially at night.
4. What was your favorite chapter [of Wings to the Kingdom] to write?
Probably the first big scene on the battlefield at night. Technically the park is closed after sundown, but since it backs up to a big subdivision, that doesn’t really keep anybody out (at least not anybody who’s determined enough to get his or her respective pants scared off). I’ve been there after dark before, out by the Wilder Tower and the Snodgrass monuments - and it’s a thing of beauty and terror, under the right circumstances. Once when I went out there, the fog rolled in behind us and we quite literally couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. We got lost in thigh-deep grass at one in the morning; and eventually we came across a set of tall statues. We climbed up on the statues and from there, we could actually see above the fog — it was draped across the field, and it looked like it was boiling. It was one of the most amazing, creepy things I’ve ever seen. So I say all that to say this: It was fun for me to write about a bunch of people being lost and hunted on the battlefield in the middle of the night. That scene was definitely my favorite.
5. Any chance of ever seeing it as a graphic novel/movie/audio book/etc.?
I can’t answer this one. That will all be up to the gods of the marketplace, I’m afraid - and I don’t have much say-so over it. For that matter, if it ever did become a movie I wouldn’t have any input on it whatsoever … so you can save all casting suggestions and the like. I’m afraid they’re useless to me. However, since I get asked some variation of this question at least once or twice a week, I figured I’d answer it here. The answer: I have no idea. But really, “your lips to God’s ears,” as they say. I’d love to see someone buy up the movie rights or something. That’d be pretty sweet.