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| photo: Can Etrogan | |
Mary G. Thompson is the author of The Word, Flicker, Mist, and other novels for children and young adults, and the contemporary adult thriller Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee. Her short fiction has appeared in Dark Matter magazine, Apex magazine, and others. Thompson attended the University of Oregon School of Law and practiced law for seven years, including five years in the U.S. Navy JAGC, and now works as a law librarian. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children from the New School and completed the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television's Professional Program in Screenwriting. She lives in Washington, D.C. Her sci-fi novella One Level Down (Tachyon Publications, April 1) explores identity autonomy in a story about a resourceful woman who risks death from a simulated word.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
Have you ever felt like you're in a terrible simulated universe that you want to escape? Then this book is for you!
On your nightstand now:
We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler. I'm only halfway through, but I love the choice of characters who are the entrance point for the story.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. My favorite part about the Oz books is that unlike in the movie, the fantasy world is 100% real and taken seriously. Dorothy eventually moves to Oz permanently! That was my dream!
Your top five authors:
Greg Bear because he was probably my introduction to sci-fi as a kid. I'll never forget reading Eon and Eternity--they changed my life! Greg Egan because he's not afraid to challenge his readers. I never understand everything, but it's always worth trying. Diana Wynne Jones because Archer's Goon and Witch Week absolutely blew my mind when I was in middle school. And her work still holds up as original and unique. Frances Hardinge, who is one of the most original YA writers working today. Terry Pratchett has to make the list for sheer number of his books I've read!
Book you've faked reading:
Not a thing! I would never do this.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow. This is the book the animated movie The Boxtrolls was based on. Read the book instead! And its sequel, Worse Things Happen at Sea! The humor in these books is right up my alley.
Book you've bought for the cover:
I'm not sure about this, but I'll take the opportunity to plug one of my favorite graphic novels, Elmer by Gerry Alanguilan. This book is about a world where the chickens suddenly become sentient. Seriously, you just have to read it.
Book you hid from your parents:
I never had to hide books from my parents, but my grandmother once tried to convince my dad to take Horses of Heaven by Gillian Bradshaw away from me. I guess she thought that based on the title, it must have sex in it. I don't remember whether it did or didn't! Fortunately, my dad thought that was a dumb idea.
Book that changed your life:
Outrun the Dark by Cecilia Bartholomew. It was a thriller about a young woman who was just released from an institution she'd been confined in because of a murder she allegedly committed as a child. I read this book as a kid and have taken it with me everywhere. It probably helped inspire me to write my contemporary thrillers.
Favorite line from a book:
"The universe is the way it is, whether we like it or not." --from the preface to A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. This is one of those seminal popular science books that everyone should read.
Five books you'll never part with:
In addition to Horses of Heaven (1991)--just because it makes me giggle that my grandma wanted to ban it--and Outrun the Dark (1977): Waverly Place by Susan Brownmiller (1989) was another one that stuck with me as a kid that I take with me everywhere. It's about domestic abuse, and if you want to know what kind of kid likes this stuff, I don't know--I can't help you! Making Half Whole is a YA book by Terry Wolfe Phelan (1985), which is about a girl who befriends a pair of twins, one of whom needs a kidney transplant. I recently dug it out of my storage unit and said, "I have to take this home with me." I'll add in Gnomon by Nick Harkaway (2017) as a modern selection because when you spend so much time reading something, you have to keep it!
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones. It has a message that really blew me away at the time.
What are a few other books you've recently read and loved?
Unity by Elly Bangs. This is a really well-constructed post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that blew me away. Grey Dog by Elliott Gish, a historical horror novel with a distinct perspective. Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt, a fun sci-fi adventure. Life and Death on Mars by Edward M. Lerner, a realistic near-future story. And I can't leave without mentioning The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad, which is an alternate history in which the U.S. has a modern version of slavery. These are just a few of the books I've read recently--there are too many to name!