Friday has rolled back around, but I’m not out of interviews at all (far from it!). Today’s great answers come from a veteran of solarpunk, Danny Mitchell. Thanks for taking the time to answer! 🙂
1. What inspired your short story? Where did the idea come from?
The inspiration actually came from a response I gave to a post you made about solarpunk dragons [Claudie: hey, your answer absolutely helped me create my first solarpunk dragon short, too!], where I thought that dragon scales could form the basis of solar panels. The idea stuck with me and I let it germinate for a while before I found out about the anthology. Rashida decided to turn up later on while I started building the world and the story I was going to tell.
2. Had you heard of solarpunk before this call for submission? What do you like about the genre?
I’ve been involved in solarpunk since the first Tumblr post from missolivialouise came about. I’ve thrown in a few of my own ideas from time to time (I think my idea about bees was the one that got the most traction) and supported others.
I really appreciate how hopeful it is – it’s something we could actually and realistically build towards. Sure, it’ll be a lot of work, but I think the end result is going to be worth it. Actually building inclusiveness into it is absolutely brilliant as well, since you see so few stories with disabled, LGBT or neuroatypical characters that aren’t solely about that trait. Solarpunk is about improving all aspects of our society, not just the technology profile.
3. What genre do you usually write in? Talk about your projects!
I usually write fantasy of some sort or another, usually high fantasy or urban fantasy. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not very good at the “following through” part of a project, so it’s something I need to work on. Right now I’ve got an urban fantasy idea brewing so I might be able to write that out in time for the next NaNoWriMo.
4. What do you love the most about dragons?
Hmm… well, the first word that always comes to my mind when I think of dragons is “majestic.” They’re always powerful figures, formidable no matter where they turn up.
5. What do you do when you’re not writing? Any day jobs or passion?
I’ve been a nurse for the past few months and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I work at a hospital on a ward that’s sort-of rehabilitation-based (lots of patients with broken limbs), kind of on the edge between Acute and actual Rehabilitation.
I’ve been a gamer for a long time now as well – I’ve been playing a lot of stealth-based games recently (Thief, Invisible Inc., Republique) though I should probably get back to finishing off Baldur’s Gate at some point.
I also enjoy roleplaying games, board games, making cheesecakes, my partner and our three cats – Ruri, Toby and Pippin. Ruri’s on my desk at the moment, and for once she’s not occupying 90% of my mousepad. Seriously, this is where she usually sits:
See what I have to work with here?
6. What’s your favorite book or TV show? Why?
Tricky. I don’t know about absolute favourite, but I do have a few good shows I like. My partner introduced me to Leverage not that long ago and that’s been great, and I also loved Castle when that was on. Both of them are fun shows that have really good interaction between the characters and I find myself getting into them really easily because of it. Book-wise, I’ve almost gotten all of the Brother Cadfael books and I’ve started picking up the Judge Dee books too – I seem to have a thing for exotic detectives.
7. Where can we find more of your work?
Nowhere yet. This will be my very first published story.
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Thanks for the interview Danny, and I hope Ruri will stop hogging all the mousepad. 😉