Fantastic Metropolis

But what I write more often falls into the “horror” or dark fantasy category. I’m not sure quite why I am so drawn to that area… doubtless there is some deep psychological need being fulfilled! I don’t actually like horror movies very much—I prefer being made uneasy or unsettled to being terrified, and I don’t care for “gross out” scenes at all. The so-called “splatterpunk” movement was definitely not my scene. When I write (or read) horror, it’s the emotional and psychological aspect that interests me. It’s a different way of representing reality, a way of examining character in extreme and dramatic circumstances. I like to read and write fantasy—but most of what is published and presented as “fantasy” does not interest me at all. I find it difficult to get interested in totally made-up worlds with (what seems to me to be) arbitrary use of magic. I think fantasy is most effective when it is connected with reality. That’s why I tend to prefer SF to genre fantasy, and near-future SF at that, which takes this world as its starting point, rather than a story set in an invented, self-contained other-world.

I am still very drawn to aspects of fantasy, science fiction and horror, but the more generic it is, the less interested I am. I like to make my own use of the material.

M.M. Hall: You’ve also been a critic and a judge for various awards. I recall seeing your many, many books in some of your apartments and homes. Do you have any favorite authors? Can you cull them down to, say, ten?

Lisa Tuttle: Ah, so seductive, this question, and so difficult! I still have far, far too many books. We live in a very small house, so, although we’ve got as many bookshelves as we can fit in everyroom, and there are books stacked on the floor in my office and in Colin’s, there are also lots of boxes of books in the attic. I have finally had to start “culling” some, and I know I should get rid of hundreds more—but it is so difficult! Some I keep for sensible reasons, knowing I might need it for background research for something I might write (can’t count on libraries anymore; they are all getting rid of books, too, and have no budgets to speak of) but I also hate giving up a book I have enjoyed reading even though I know the likelihood of my ever rereading it is small. I seem to be delaying answering your question. I have been giving it a lot of thought. I will have to leave out so many, but, keeping it to two lists of ten, I’ll start with some old favourites, writers I have loved for many years: E. Nesbit, Louisa May Alcott, Alan Garner, John Fowles, Joanna Russ, Ursula LeGuin, Willa Cather, George Orwell, Henry James, Elizabeth Taylor. And then, a few of the writers I’ve been reading with most pleasure and admiration in recent years: A.S. Byatt, Jonathan Carroll, John Crowley, Patricia Duncker, Michel Faber, Russell Hoban, A.L. Kennedy, James Sallis, W.G. Sebald, Sarah Waters.

At the moment, I am at a crucial point in rewriting my novel-in-progress, so am forcing myself to keep away from other people’s fiction, fearful that I’ll either be “infected” by their style (and wind up sounding like a second-rate imitation of a good writer) or so impressed by someone else’s novel that I’ll give up on my own in despair… so I have mostly been reading non-fiction. But, of course, I can’t resist buying new books, and they are stacking up to be read as soon as I am “free”—I’ve got a trip to London planned, and am looking forward to reading a really good book on the trip down. There are several vying for my attention, but the one I am most eager to read is The Separation by Christopher Priest. I was impressed by Chris’s work before I ever met him, and I still feel that he is one of the most interesting (and sadly under-rated) of all contemporary English novelists.

M.M. Hall: How has Chris’s work influenced your own work?

Lisa Tuttle: It probably has, but I couldn’t say how, or how much. When we first met we discovered we were on the same wave-length about many subjects, interested in the same kind of questions and literary problems in our own work, admired many of the same writers. Once I came to live over here, I gradually became more British and European in my outlook and my writing voice has come to sound less American—but again, how much of that was influenced by Chris, and how much by a lot of other factors, I don’t know. Just as when I was in Texas I spent a lot of time with other writers, so it was in London—not just Chris Priest, but Robert Holdstock, Christopher Evans, Garry Kilworth, R.M. Lamming, Gwyneth Jones, David Garnett, Sarah LeFanu… the list could go on. These writers became close personal friends, and I also attended writing workshops with them and others; in addition, of course, I’ve read their work with close attention, and we’ve shared ideas and criticism. So there’s been both personal and literary influences all around.