Hey, all! Thanks for joining us here on The Novel Approach Reviews. Today, Genre Talk is pleased to bring you DSP Publications author August (Gus) Li who’s come to chat about current events, diversity, and his brand-new Fantasy release Incubus Honeymoon. So buckle up, because Gus has never been one to pull punches. ;)
Incubus Honeymoon
As the so-called magical creatures go, I’m low on the hierarchy, and my powers aren’t much good to human mages. I’m a lover, not a fighter, through and through. I’m also selfish, lazy, and easily bored. But I’m damned good at what I do.
Too bad that won’t get my arse out of this sling.
Do one—granted, uncharacteristic—good deed, and now I’m held hostage to an arrogant faerie prince, trying to track down the one who summoned him while dodging gangbangers, gun runners, and Nazis. Add the powerful mage guilds scrambling to gather firepower for some doomsday event they’re sure is around the corner, and my cushy life of leisure might be nothing but a memory. On top of that, something’s compelling me to change on my most fundamental level. I’m not sure what I’ve got myself mixed up in, but nothing will ever be the same.
Bloody hell.
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Featuring a new twist on urban fantasy combined with fast-paced action and intrigue, the Arcana Imperii series books are standalone adventures, each completely accessible to new readers.
Available now from: DSP Publications, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
Carole: Hi, Gus! Welcome, and thank you for stopping by. We usually start with an individual definition to ease our Awesome Readers in. So tell us about your genre.
Gus: I write across a variety of genres, but this book is the bastard child of urban fantasy and cyberpunk. Urban fantasy is pretty self-explanatory: a story that involves magic set in a city, in this case, Philadelphia. Cyberpunk is a favorite of mine for a few reasons. For one, there’s a distinct parallel between what can be done with technology and magic. Perhaps even more importantly, I’m pretty enamored with anything that involves sticking it to the man, now more than ever. I can admit with absolutely no shame that I’ve always admired hackers and their ability to sometimes get justice when no one else can. There’s a big difference between justice and law, but that’s a whole other really long post. I even admire them when they’re exacting petty revenge. Some people deserve to be on the wrong end of petty revenge.
Carole: Too true. So how does that apply to Incubus Honeymoon?
Gus: I set out to construct a universe in which I could set a variety of standalone adventures. The seed of it came from simply watching events unfold in disbelief and thinking, No one can really believe this is the right thing to do/a good idea. There must be some underlying goal. Somebody is trying to destroy civilization as we know it. In this universe, that is quite literally the case. A series of ancient and powerful organizations—some allies and some enemies—are orchestrating societal collapse and have been for centuries. They need it to be global and absolute so they can emerge as the new powers. Their attempts correspond with celestial and cosmic events that I don’t want to reference too much.
Upon this framework are built individual stories of characters who are sometimes part of or actively fighting these schemes, as well as those who have only cursory contact with those involved or know nothing about them. Incubus Honeymoon is a little bit of both, and it explores the concepts of loyalty, self-preservation, and the moral consequences of neutrality.
Carole: Sounds quite timely and pertinent to today’s rather chaotic norm. We imagine diversity must have played a notable part in the telling of this story.
Gus: It would be pretty impossible to write a believable story set in a city like Philadelphia without diversity, so of course there are many nationalities represented. This book goes a little further, though, since one of the main groups of antagonists are white supremacists—they are being used and duped, but their presence means addressing some of the issues they represent. I’ve tried to do so in a way that’s subtle and not preachy, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t pretty fun to kill them.
This book also represents the first time I’ve taken the leap and used my #OwnVoice as a trans person to create the character of Jet, a nonbinary hacker, anarchist, and techno-mage. It was both daunting and satisfying to take that step, and I went back and forth on the character of Jet, because while I wanted to represent trans and nonbinary people well, Jet is also complex and a bundle of contradictions—see “petty revenge” above. I couldn’t make them into a white knight, and some of their actions will be divisive, I suspect.
Carole: Those are sometimes the best, most provocative kind. Those are also the kind that are sometimes hard to categorize. Incubus Honeymoon is being published through DSP Publications, Dreamspinner Press’s imprint for genre novels that don’t necessarily focus on or even contain romance. Tell us about the relationship in Incubus Honeymoon and why it doesn’t fit the accepted definition of Romance in the M/M genre.
Gus: This is an easy one. There is no romance, at least in the sense that two or more people trying to form a romantic relationship has any bearing on the plot. However, a variety of other kinds of relationships are explored. One of the most important is between a brother and sister and the obligations and sacrifices there. Others involve loyalty—and how loyalty to a nationality, a cause, or an individual can either overlap or conflict. The love of cats (don’t get the wrong idea) is integral to the story. Really.
Carole: Ah, see, you’ve walked right into one of our Awesome Readers’ favorite questions: Do you have a pet who supervises your writing?
Gus: Anyone who buys the book will see that while writing it, my cat, Merlin, passed away at eighteen years old. He represents the longest relationship I’ve had with another living thing outside of my family, so it was… rough. The two other cats mentioned, Spooky Mulder and Charles, who graces the cover of Incubus Honeymoon as Charlene, have moved to on to a wonderful life in Seattle with my daughter. The good news is that by the end of this month, I will welcome two big black kitties, Fuji and Mochi, when my girlfriend moves here to South Carolina. So lots to look forward to!
Carole: Aww! Now we’re sorry we didn’t make you give us pictures. :( It sounds like you have a lot going on right now, so let us be a tad more nosy about it. What do you do for fun?
Gus: Go to the beach, play video games, make things. I like to experiment artistically with a variety of mediums, and lately I’ve been drawn to sewing and cloth sculpture.
Carole: (*mental note: seriously—make authors send us pictures of the cool things they talk about getting up to*) Ahem. So, then. What sort of research did you need to do for Incubus Honeymoon?
Gus: I had to do a lot of cultural research since there are so many diverse groups represented. I did that by, whenever possible, going to the source and talking to people who are members of the culture. I also had to research secret societies, several historical events, law enforcement procedures, British insults, and neo-Nazis. Languages. I discovered that while I can pronounce a good bit of Mandarin, when it comes to writing it in Roman, I have no idea where to put the accent marks. Dominican slang can be… quite scathing. I owe a debt to editor Erika Orrick for her help with the tech and computer aspects.
Carole: A good editor, as the cliché goes, is worth their weight in gold, so shout-out to Erika! Okay, before we go, give us one small thing in this book we won’t find in any blurbs or descriptions, but that you like knowing is there.
Gus: I made fun of Kanye West in this book even before he went all crazy racist and fascist. See if you can spot it. :)
Carole: Ooh, a challenge! Get to it, Awesome Readers! Er, right after you read the rest of the post, of course. :D
About the Author
August Li plays every game as a mage. He thinks the closest thing to magic outside of games and fantasy is to bring things into existence from nothing, which he does in words and images. As a proud trans man, he hopes to bring diversity and representation to all those who want to see themselves in the art and stories they enjoy. He’s a perfectionist, travel enthusiast, and caffeine addict.
Gus makes his home on the coast of South Carolina, where he spends his days in search of merpeople, friendly cats, and interesting pieces of driftwood. He collects ball-jointed dolls, tattoos, and languages. He believes in faeries and thinks they’re terrifying… but still wants to meet one.
Where to Find August Li: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Fox-Hat’s Den on Facebook
Where to buy Incubus Honeymoon: DSP Publications, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
And that will do it for us this week. Thanks for joining us, everyone! If you’d like to keep tabs on Genre Talk and never miss a post, hop on over and like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group, and check out our web page.
On behalf of me and Co-pilot Extraordinaire Elizabeth Noble, thanks for spending some time with us, and have a great week!
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