Chuck Wendig recently released his book Under the Empyrean Sky, and we got to talk to him about his novel, writing, corn, and more. Check out his hilarious answers!
Under the Empyrean Sky follows Cael McAvoy as he lives life in the Heartland, scavenging for parts, sneaking off with his childhood sweeheart, and keeping the corn at bay. There are a slew of antagonists in this book, but the corn might just be the creepiest one. Read our review.
Wendig’s book is full of his tell-tale humor and way with words, and our interview with him did not disappoint.
Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
1. I was once stung 13 times by angry bumblebees.
2. Because of that I did not get to go to the circus that night.
3. I grew up on a farm where we raised whitetail deer and elk.
4. One of the first stories I remember writing when I was a child was a little book about this team of astronauts (?) who had to drill to the core of the Earth (??) to do something there to save the Earth (?!), though one time I also drew a comic book about Pac-Man against the Xenomorphs from the Alien Universe.
5. In junior high school I thought I was going to be a cartoonist, not a writer.
What was the initial idea that led you to begin this project?
It began as a joke, actually, conceiving of new something-punk sub-genres. I came up with cornpunk and described it on my blog and turns out, it sounded pretty cool. Throw in the fact I had a new son at the time and was thinking very hard about food and agriculture, well. Ta-da!
If you lived in the world of your book, would you rather be a Heartlander or an Empyrean?
I grew up as a Heartlander, I think, though one has to admit that living in the sky amongst the uber-wealthy Empyrean citizens sounds pretty nice. I mean, c’mon. Art Deco skyboat cities? The American dream — to be down in the dust and dream yourself up in the clouds.
So…why corn??
Because corn and the science around it is awesome in the truest sense of the word. It is both creepy and astonishing in equal measure. This country alone grows over 80 million acres of corn.
What was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?
Early on in the book I wrote a scene where the teenage protagonists discover a secret garden — and I got to describe the vegetables there in an almost lustful way, and it was incredibly fun to detail how these teens got a thrill from, well, eating their vegetables.
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
For this book? I don’t know that any criticism is tough, really, but anytime someone levels a criticism that you agree with, that’s always the hardest. :)
What has been the best compliment?
Someone today seemed really taken with my metaphors, and I put great love into all my very strange descriptions — drawing that sympathetic bond between two unlike things literarily speaking is one of the great boons of being a penmonkey like myself.
Do you have things you need in order to write (i.e. coffee, cupcakes, music)?
WHISKEY AND A PRETTY SUNDRESS. … no, really, just coffee and/or tea.
What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?
Last line. The last line almost writes itself. Everything is in motion. The dominos are falling. The end for me is as ineluctable and obvious as the tides. The beginning, boy, that’s the trick.
Can you tease us about the second book?
The second book, BLIGHTBORN, is twice as long and thrice as crazy. It involves a lot of time spent on one of the Empyrean flotillas and also focuses more on Gwennie and Wanda as POV characters. You might also find within: a pollen tornado, unexpected romance, an Empyrean outpost, the Sleeping Dogs, and a handful of Pegasuses (Pegasi?). It comes out next July!
You can find Wendig on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr, Amazon, and Goodreads.