From Wool To Dust And Beyond: An Interview With Hugh Howey
It seems Science Fiction continues to struggle with a lack of strong female characters and Wool featured two strong female leads in Mayor Jahns and especially in the main character Jules. Was it a conscious choice on your part to have strong female leads? What was the inspiration for these characters?
"My other popular series features a strong female character in Molly Fyde. I think I'm just more comfortable living in the fairer sex's skin. "The heroes in my life have been my mother, my wife, and my sister. I don't spend a lot of time hanging out with men or doing boy stuff. "It could also be similar to my choice in protagonist for Half Way Home; I feel like the swashbuckling hero who solves problems with violence has been done over and over. There are so many fascinating characters and perspectives to explore. Maybe it's precisely because there haven't been enough stories like this for me to enjoy that I find myself crafting them on my own."You have been able to write some very compelling stories starring non-traditional main characters including several female leads and a homosexual lead character in Halfway Home. You manage to incorporate them without making the story solely about their differences from the norm. They feel just like any other main character would. Was that a conscious decision on your part? How do you go about crafting these characters?
"Absolutely it was. I read a lot, and transitioning into writing has given me the opportunity to do things that I wish I had seen from the other side. "I really grew tired of stories where the female protagonist's sex is the driving force behind the plot. Or gay characters who suffer everything revolving around their sexuality. "It appears that 5-10% of every population is gay, which means that percentage of our protagonists should be, and not to drive anything home, but just because they are. "I look forward to the day when the discovery of a protagonist's gender or sexuality is as exciting and meaningful as the color of their hair. We'll just incorporate this fact and keep reading, but we aren't there yet. "Half Way Home has some 1-star reviews that express dismay at discovering they've been reading a book with a homosexual in it. But, as a sign of the times we live in and the progress being made, it has many more 5-star reviews. And I received a piece of fan mail two years ago from an LGBT reader that moved me and my wife to tears."Similar to Wool, Halfway Home was something of a dark social commentary featuring a non-traditional protagonist. What was the inspiration for that story?
"Half Way Home began while contemplating the best way to colonize distant planets. My wife and I were hiking in Virginia with our dog, and I began to describe the system I had in mind and the ways I thought it could go poorly. "We talked about how too few LGBT protagonists were out there, and when they are, how the story invariably revolves around their sexuality. I set out to write something different, and I hope I halfway succeeded.You mentioned that the typical swashbuckling hero has been overdone. What new types of protagonists would you like to see? Where can fiction, especially science fiction go from here?
"I like puzzle-solvers, I like people who can compromise, who can inspire others to action and I love the reluctant warrior trope, the person who resists fighting and looks for other avenues toward resolution. "And then there's the Bumbling Fool, who doesn't get half the love he or she deserves. Think Inspector Gadget or Magoo. What about the cripple who solves murders without ever leaving his apartment?"