MAN ON THE SIDE

'Red Rising' author Pierce Brown develops characters based on songs

In Pierce Brown’s sci-fi young adult (YA) novel "Red Rising", the inhabitants of planet Mars and the entire solar system are divided by a color-based class.

At the very top are the so-called Golds, followed by mid-colors like Blues, Yellows and Violets, classified based on their skills and the roles they play in society.

At the bottom end are the Reds, who are basically indentured servants forced to do hard labor.

Darrow, a Red who lives and works deep underground in the planet’s mines, is our hero. How Darrow’s eyes are opened and how he eventually leads a rebellion against the Golds is the subject of the gripping, New York Times bestselling three-book series.

Brown was in the Philippines as one of the special guests of National Book Store’s Readers and Writers Festival. During a brief chat, he talked about his beginnings as a writer, how music helps in his writing, what fans can expect from Iron Gold, the follow-up book in the series, and who he thinks would be the perfect actors to play the characters in the movie adaptation of his books.

Do you enjoy this part of being a writer? 
You mean getting to meet wonderful human beings with great smiles and amazing fashion sense? Yeah I enjoy it!

I think it’s a different aspect of it that I haven’t thought exists. While I was writing my book above my parent’s garage, I thought that I would basically be writing books for my family, and they’d read it, and they’d be like, um, this is cute. And so, it’s fun to see how it evolves because I get to meet different people, and get to see their perspectives.

I guess I asked that because you know how some writers are introverts. They prefer solitude.
Sure, sure. I’m not very good at putting on airs. I’ve had enough solitude in my life. So any integration with human beings is a happy relief. And it also give me the excuse to procrastinate.

When did you start writing professionally?
I started writing seriously when I was 18. But I didn’t think it was practical. I mean I wrote a book a year until I was 23, which was when I wrote "Red Rising". And even then I thought it was kind of a pipe dream. I think the real moment came when I finished "Red Rising".

I was able to quit my day job; I was able to get an advance large enough to cover my living costs. That was a striking thing for a first-time writer. I was fortunate enough to get an advance that big. I could move out of my political science professor’s blow-up mattress in his garage, which was where I was living at the time.

Your background is political science and economics. Are there any aspects of what you studied that are helping you with writing?
There are a few. My favorite thing is using science fiction to assess politics of our time. Not necessarily politicians because it’s so easy to point fingers and say, ‘This guy’s a fool.’ We have people that have been doing that forever.

I’m interested in looking at trend lines and seeing how we got where we are, what we did to deserve certain things and what future patterns are going to be followed, because you read history, you learn a lot about the future.

I think you should read books in order to learn about humans. And that’s the point—you learn stories to be entertained, but you also learn. And so it’s fun to use political theory and some anthropology and sociology and economics to help create the world that I’m creating in "Red Rising". 

Also to use it to explore various political thought. Certain characters are libertarians, certain characters are socialists, some are straight-up communists. And getting to show how their various theories can affect this fake world that I created is the ultimate high for me. It’s like playing in a sandcastle.

On your Reddit AMA, you said you experienced crippling self-doubt. How did you get past that?
You hope you do. JK Rowling didn’t get past that until her second book. She said that she felt like an impostor every time she woke up. If she feels like an impostor, it’s okay for everyone else to feel that way.

For me, I still feel self doubt, but it has to be met by, to a degree, just a pissed-off stubornness, to refuse to let other people shape what you want to [do]. It comes down to you having the guts to just sit down and write a thousand hours. To create or whatever your goal is, whatever skyscraper you’re trying to build. Whatever book you’re trying to write. It comes down to a thousand hours of unglamorous toil.

There are some very lucky individuals who don’t have to toil that much. They just stumble into it. An actor can just stumble onto a role. But not every profession is like that, particularly writing.

Writing is, you beat the bushes, you lay the foundation. I wrote six books before I wrote "Red Rising". And I got rejected by over 150 agents. And that was basically because I was copying other people’s voices. I would read a Neil Gaiman book and I’d think, boy I would love to write something like that. So I’d write a Neil Gaiman copy, but not as good. So "Red Rising" was the first time I was like, I’m going to write what I want to write, not what I think the market wants. Just write about things that I liked as a kid.

When you write, do you have any rituals. Like, does the room have to be a certain way? 
It used to be cigarettes, but not anymore. I want to live past 55. Or 40. I think that the things that I need to have are coffee, and clean working environment.

I do not do well with clutter. Which is hilarious because I don’t take notes. I have no notes basically in any of my series. We’re talking about 200 characters…I should take f***ing notes. But yes, a clean working environment. If the room’s not clean, then I feel claustrophobic. 

I used to work in coffee shops, but not anymore. In LA, you hear the most inane conversations of all time.

Give me an example.
“My botox is just wearing off!” “I was gonna date him, but then I realized he only has 50,000 followers. Who does he think he is?” It’s gross! But I moved out there because I tried to do entertainment stuff as well.

Lightning round time. What’s your favorite city?
Ooh. Yeah. Favorite town is Heidelberg, Germany. I lived and studied there for a year. It's amazing. I used to live three houses down from the castle. It was incredible. We’d go over there with a liter of beer. Explore the town, Christmas markets there were heavenly. Everything about that town was amazing.

Favorite snack?
Cookie dough. I know that’s not really a snack. (Laughs). I’d say my favorite snack is beef jerky.

Favorite TV show?
Game of Thrones! Come on.

So where would you be on a typical Saturday night?
Probably meeting friends out for dinner, and then going to like, a music venue. Or at a friend’s house, in their backyard.

You were organizing an intimate dinner party…
As I’ve been known to do!

…and you had to invite 3 living authors. Who would be there?
Neil Gaiman, JK Rowling. And David Mitchell.

You’ve said you develop characters sometimes out of emotion, which comes from a song…
Almost always from a song. Or poetry. I’m all about impressions. Tonality. Not in my life. I’m not like a spiritual guru. But what I key in on, is the theme or emotion of a song, that can connect me to the character arc of a character. Or to their soul, kind of. So what I’m really finding is the tenor of what their impression is. You know the song Hallelujah?

Yeah. Leonard Cohen.
Yeah. That song was instrumental in helping me understand Darrow, who is my main character. So understanding the tragedy of the human, the joy in someone, the hopefulness in someone, the fantastical sadness in someone, those are all can be found in a song. And songs are, they can only carry a certain amount of emotions. A song is defined by the emotion of its hook. The chorus. It helps for me to find an anthem for someone. And it’s not even like, I’ll play it while I’m writing and form that perspective, but it’ll help me to kind of brainstorm a story, and understand who they are, if that makes sense. 

I think with Iron Gold, which is the follow-up with the "Red Rising" series, it’s different. It demands more from the reader. It demands more perspective. It has a different pace. But because of that, it’s a better book. It’s more nuanced. It’s bigger. But it is different. I didn’t want to write the same thing ‘cos I wanted to challenge myself. I think that’s more my duty as a writer, not just rehash the same formula that people liked, and it’s a proven commodity. But to continue to explore.

What’s happening with the movie adaptation of your book?
The movie thing is still in development. There’s not much more I can say for a little while now. We’ll probably have an announcement in a couple of months. We’re piecing something really cool together right now. So it would be too soon for me to say anything. Or to name names. Or I’d get in trouble.

Would you be involved in casting? 
To a degree, mostly for the older roles, not for the younger ones. Younger ones, I’d want it to be unknowns. To be honest, Disney or young adult channels teach people how to be bad actors. I feel like Disney teaches people how to be really cute and bubbly. A lot of younger actors are in it for all the wrong reasons. To be famous, particularly with our generation. So what I’d love is for some kid to be pulled off the stage in England or Ireland and to really be organic and natural for them to read the books. Not just some kid who wants to be famous.

And I think that’s why people read the books, there’s an emotional connection. In my head, I’ve cast the older characters, like I want Mickey The Carver to be Gary Oldman, or like, Paul Bettany to be Fitchner, or something like that. Ken Watanabe to be Romulus au Raa. Shoot for the stars. — LA, GMA News

Paul John Caña is a writer and live music geek. Check out his blog manontheotherside.blogspot.com. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana