I was lucky enough to work with Lucy Mihajlich on her new novel Interface, which is released this month. You should check out the novel here, which was successfully funded Lucy’s great Kickstarter campaign.
Lucy was kind enough to do a Q&A with me for STP Editing, where she answers questions about the technological, sexual and satirical themes of the excellent Interface:
INTERFACE:
The future always seemed bright, but it turns out
that was just global warming. Meals don’t come in pills,
shoes don’t lace themselves, and there are flying cars,
but the gas mileage sucks. There is one difference.
People have always searched the internet for answers.
Now they actually worship it.
Pen Nowen’s father was the founder of Interface,
a computer company so big and powerful that people
began praying to it. Especially when his death almost
tanked the economy.
Seven years later, Pen’s just finished her junior year of
high school. For their summer vacations, all of her friends
are going to Disneyland, Tijuana, or Disneyland Tijuana,
but Pen’s going on a pilgrimage to pray for what’s left
of her family. She’s on her way to the Interface flagship store
when she gets kidnapped.
It’s the second time this year. She’s about to begin the
ransom negotiations when the kidnapper says that he
doesn’t want money. He wants something else from her.
Before Pen can text 911, he says something even creepier.
He knows the truth about her dad’s death.
INTERVIEW WITH LUCY MIHAJLICH
DB: Interface is set in the near future. How do you envisage the future – as it’s depicted in the novel, or something different?
LM: I sincerely hope the future isn’t like the one in Interface, although I did a lot of research on the future to write it. The scariest prediction I read: Chocolate decline by 2020. I’m not even touching that one. I don’t write horror.
DB: The novel is a satire, particularly of social media. How do you feel about the current online world?
LM: I’ll preface this by saying I love the internet and may have to marry it just to make it an honest network, considering how much time I spend on it. Interface is not a critique of social media or the people who use it. That said, Facebook scares the hell out of me.
Social media adds a level of performance to our lives, and there have been a lot of studies done on the psychological effects of celebrity. I read about a study about how often people like Kurt Cobain used the first-person pronoun before and after they became famous. Their use of the word “I” increased dramatically. So did their struggles with substance abuse and depression.
I don’t think social media is the only reason my generation is struggling with what some people are calling an anxiety epidemic (student loans and Donald Trump are definitely a factor for me), but I think it’s a contributing factor.
DB: You have described Penny as an asexual character. What does this mean, for you and for the novel?
LM: I made my main character asexual because I wanted a character that I could identify with. I’ve known I was ace ever since I learned about asexuality. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until I was in my twenties, because there’s very little asexual representation in the media.
When I started submitting Interface for publication, I received an offer from my first-choice literary agency. Ten months later, the agent changed her mind. She said that she believed romance was crucial to my book’s success. So I decided to try Kickstarter, where Interface was 122% funded. The response was overwhelming, especially from the asexual community. I wanted a character that I could identify with, but somehow it hadn’t occurred to me that other asexuals might want the same thing.
DB: I found the novel to be fun, fast-paced and original. What inspirations did you have, if any?
LM: I could never list all the writers who inspire me. There are some who write in completely different genres, like Oscar Wilde and Terry Pratchett. In my genres, my biggest inspirations are probably Ernest Cline, Cory Doctorow, and Andy Weir. I’m also inspired by fanfiction writers. Some of their work is better than the published fiction I’ve read. Plus where else are you going to find a Hannibal/Doctor Who crossover?
DB: Interface is the first part of a trilogy. Can you give us any (spoiler-free) hints as to what might be next?
LM: More drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (but still no sex.) If you want to know more, the first chapter of the sequel will be included with Interface!
DB: Your Kickstarter campaign got a lot of attention and there are a lot of excited people out there. Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
LM: Thank you so much! I literally could not have done it without you. I hope Interface doesn’t disappoint.
DB: What are you reading/playing/watching at the moment?
LM: My current obsession is The Martian by Andy Weir, but since you can only reread a book so many times, I just finished Stranger Things on Netflix. 10/10, would be freaked out again.
DB: What’s next for you?
LM: The sequel! Maybe a nap first.
Pre-order Interface on Amazon before its November 22 release: LINK
Check out Lucy’s website: LINK
—db
The STP Literary Service 