Q&A with Josh Blockwell

We caught up with Josh Blockwell, creator of the Memories of Green series.

 

1) Where did the inspiration come from for Memories of Green?

Memories of Green actually began to take shape a long time ago, it started as a bunch of MySpace blogs from way back in 2008. Of course it’s been redrafted since then but at the time I’d been reading a lot of dystopia: 1984, Handmaids Tale, Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’d always been fascinated by the worlds the authors created, they always seemed so vast and so vibrant. I wanted to create a world like that.

My initial intent was to create a dystopic world in which I could write from more than one point of view, to give the reader a real sense of scope. That this was a living breathing world they were looking into. Most dystopian novels use their characters as a quasi political mouthpiece, the narrative usually just denotes why the oppressing power is bad, drawing obvious parallels to modern politics. Dystopian protagonists are usually just avatars for the author. I didn’t want to look at that, I just wanted to see how normal people would live within a dystopian world.

Originally there was going to be no cohesive narrative at all, just a collection of short stories from different points of view. A detective story in Seattle, a romance in New York, but i think as I wrote, I got too attached to my characters. In it’s finished form I’ve had to thin Memories out to essentially three main characters, with snippets from minor characters along the way. emories would have focused on over ten people, all over America, it was a hard process slimming that down, keeping focus.

 

2. It’s quite the saga. Was there a point where you thought about quitting the whole thing?

I actually did stop writing for almost two years. After I started university in 2009 the whole thing fell by the wayside. I always meant to pick it back up, but it was largely forgotten about. It was only when I showed it to an ex girlfriend years later that I was encouraged to pick it back up again. I’ve pretty much redrafted the whole thing since I originally wrote it in 2008, a lot of plotlines have been fleshed out, I’ve given more depth to the world than I did was seventeen. I’m a lot more happy with this version of Memories than the original.

I realise that sounds like a total George Lucas line. I’m actually currently working on filling Washington with Civil Protection riding Banthas, and editing Hayden Christensen into the ending. Watch this space.

 

3. What’s some of the best feedback you’ve had about the world of Galen so far?

I’ve had somebody say that it should be made into a TV series, that was pretty flattering. The fact that I’ve had people genuinely interested in what’s going to happen next is a new one to me too, and it’s really cool that people are that engaged.

 

4. What does the future hold for Memories of Green?

The second season gets particularly dark. We move away from Galen for a bit and onto different characters. The first Season was really heavy on the exposition, setting tones and atmosphere. Now that’s over we can really get into the drama of the people of Administration America. There’ll be a few new faces for Season 2, and it’s a bit of a personal story, a bit more emotional.

 

5. How’s it been working with Cultured Vultures?

It’s been great, and it’s really given Memories a new lease of life. The opportunity to publish regularly and get consistent feedback has been fantastic. It’s always a big creative boost to read other stuff from the other exceptional writers we’ve got on board too. For a site that’s been around for such a short time, it’s grown incredibly quickly, both in quality of writing and quantity of readers. It’s been a blast.

 

6. And finally, who would win in a bare knuckle boxing match between Postman Pat and Fireman Sam?

I’m going to go with Fireman Sam on this one. There’s something behind those empty eyes of his. He’s got a dark past I think. Every episode he’s trying to put out the fire that burns in his soul, but he can’t stop those flames. Also, Postman Pat’s nose is too large a targetb – he’d go down like a sack of shit.

Now a vehicular death match, Mad Max style? That’s a different question. I’d pay to see that Royal Mail van face down Jupiter the Fire Engine  on the field of battle.