Fantastic Metropolis

Jeffrey Thomas: Forrest, how did it come about that you became attached to this project, collaborating with Jeff VanderMeer as did Luke O’Grady and Rose Secrest in the previous two volumes of the Ministry of Whimsy’s Leviathan series?

Forrest Aguirre: Jeff and I both belong to that mysterious cabal of writers known as Storyville. Through our interactions there and outside of that esoteric place’s hallowed grounds we came to the conclusion that our tastes in fiction, our opinions regarding “good” and “bad” fiction and our artistic sensibilities were rather similar. When our mutual respect met with my admission that I wished, at some future point, to edit an anthology of fiction, Jeff, in that decidedly VanderMeerian way of his, asked me(seemingly out of the blue) if I might like to assist him in editing the third volume in the Leviathan series. I am a great fan of previous Ministry projects (Stepan Chapman’s Danger Music and The Troika, and the previous two Leviathan anthos), so I jumped at the opportunity. I knew that Jeff knew how to write and how to edit and I wanted to learn all I could in the manner of the old medieval guilds—I wanted a true mentoring experience. When Jeff agreed to provide the best training he could (and he did) I assumed my place at the Ministry table—only a little lower than the angels, as they say.

Jeffrey Thomas: What was the actual process of collaboration/selection like? Did you each bring in and champion individual stories?

Forrest Aguirre: I was essentially first reader on the project, especially when it came to unsolicited submissions. Truth be told, we tried very hard to avoid having to take unsolicited subs, as it is a rather painful process trying to sort all that out. Plus, I had several writers whose work I just can’t get enough of, or whom I thought were promising up-and-coming writers. Those for whom I found contact information were the first to hear the faint voice from over the horizon declaring good tidings of great joy: The Ministry of Whimsy was back with a vengeance. The wonderful thing is that, while the editing team was a bit of a two-headed beast at times, by and large we came to the same conclusions. Jeff and I are both wildly opinionated, at least reasonably intelligent, and rather straightforward. We work together well because we1) respect each other’s opinion but 2) aren’t afraid to tell it like it is. I think this honesty and respect served us well. As for championing individual stories, yes, some of that went on as well.

Jeffrey Thomas: Were there stories that didn’t make it in, because one or the other of you wasn’t in agreement on it?

Forrest Aguirre: Absolutely. And some fine fiction, to boot—the type of stories you will see in very visible professional markets in the near future. As I said, Jeff and I are both rather opinionated, so, of course we disagreed on some pieces. There were four or five tales that I can remember quite well where Jeff and I spent much time and energy going around and around in circles, debating the merits or faults of the story in question. Jeff had more experience as an editor, to be sure, and, to be honest, I learned more about editing in these rounds than in any other manner, so I often deferred to his experience—after grinding it over in my mind, I must say. Really, this was the litmus test for my editorship—could I objectify in the face of my own blazing opinion and that of another self-admittedly opinionated author/editor—one of the best around? I admit, there are a couple of stories on which we still disagree—but only ones that didn’t make it into the anthology. I didn’t really want anything in there that we both couldn’t stand behind with conviction. Everything you see in Leviathan Three is stamped with the Forrest & Jeff good editing seal of approval. I think our extremely picky look at the tales has resulted in a very high quality collection. We set out to compile the best speculative fiction anthology of 2002. You don’t get the best without a degree of controversy and a bit of a tussle.