KA: The way you have described your newest project, makes me think of the serials that were once so popular in literary history. How will using this type of format affect how you develop and write Demimonde, your newest novel?Follow the link to read the whole thing!MM: Demimonde is sort of like a serial, in the sense that each story will hopefully whet your appetite for what comes next, and also that each new story adds to the overall world. But it's also different -- the serials often ended on a cliffhanger, to entice you to keep reading, and while I'm planning to have some mysteries running through the book, I also want each individual story to stand and work on its own. Each story will have a real ending. It's the same model I used in my last book, which was a mainstream immigrant novel-in-stories, published by HarperCollins, titled Bodies in Motion. It got some pretty glowing reviews, and people seemed to really enjoy the unusual format, so I'm hoping that'll continue with the new book.
KA: Can you give us a synopsis of the new novel, Demimonde?
MM: Hmm...not really! In part because I'm still writing it, and in part because synopses tend to drain the life out of the book, I think. I can tell you the premise and setting, though! We're at the University of All Worlds, on a planet settled by South Asian Earth immigrants many generations ago. The universe is full of life -- humans, genetically modified humans, humanoid aliens and some really weird folks. All of that life has been rubbing up against each other, and some serious tensions have developed -- in fact, at the start of the book, interstellar war has just broken out. People are panicking, taking to their beds, dragging the covers up over their heads -- and then, well, some of them get busy. That's the fun part. There's a lot of sexy bits, but also the whole gamut of human emotions -- love, anger, pain, terror. It's not your typical erotica book.
KA: You are returning to the world you created in a previous story, "Jump Space." The four characters from the previous story were very intriguing. I was especially curious to learn more of the back story of Cho. Will you be bringing any of the four back in this new project?
MM: I won't swear to it -- but I think so. I'm actually working separately on a novel that picks up from the end of "Jump Space," in which you learn a lot about Cho's backstory -- how he and his siblings came to be genetically-engineered sex slaves. I'm going to have to see as the project evolves how much of Cho and the other "Jump Space" characters end up in the book!
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