Welcome to this Author Spotlight interview, in which I chat to Thomas Parrott about his writing for Black Library, including his new Blackstone Fortress novella Isha’s Lament which, at the time of writing, has just gone up for pre-order. Having had a few stories published now, with plenty more still to come out, Tom’s name is becoming increasingly familiar to BL fans, so this is a great time to get to know him a bit more. Here he talks about his early inspirations and how he ended up working with Black Library, and gives us the lowdown on the new novella.
Without further ado, let’s get straight into the interview.
Track of Words: Tell us a little about yourself as an author – who you are, where you’re from, what you like to write.
TP: Well, my name is Thomas Parrott. I live in a city called Macon, with my wife who is an intensive care nurse at a local hospital. It’s in the middle of the state of Georgia in the United States. I’m originally from a rural town in the same state called Monticello. It’s pretty much every stereotype about small town living made real.
I like to write speculative fiction. Science fiction, fantasy, or anything in between.
ToW: Can you remember a defining moment when you were growing up, or a particular book or author, that steered you towards science fiction?
TP: It was always there, really. I could read by the time I was three, and even before that my parents read to me every night. My parents both love science fiction, especially my dad, so I was immersed in it from the start. They would also have me read to them once I could — I remember doing Jurassic Park in particular.
I definitely loved certain books, though. The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card come to mind. Sadly, both authors disappoint me as an adult. Never meet your heroes, as they say…
Both excellent novels, but as Tom says…yeah. Never meet your heroes.
ToW: What would you say your strengths are as a writer? Alternatively, what do you enjoy writing the most?
TP: Anyone will tell you I have a problem with self-deprecation. With that said, I am told by people that I admire and trust that I am good at creating relatable characters, and making grand stakes feel personal for them. Also my editors really enjoy my fight scenes, I think because I don’t even try to make it graceful or pretty.
My favorite kind of story is where someone realizes they’re in over their head, but they persevere anyway. Maybe they win, maybe they don’t, but that determination to continue in spite of the odds really speaks to me. I guess that has its roots in my own struggle with depression.
ToW: You started writing for Black Library via the 2018 open submissions window. We’ve previously talked about that process in another interview, but could you summarise what the steps were, how long that took, how you found the process?
TP: Sure! Let’s see, the steps in short were initial submission, second round submission, commissioning, then writing and editing the actual story.
Initial to second round took about two months. Then it was another three or four months to find out they wanted to commission the story. Another month or two to get it written and edited into a final draft shape. Then a wait of four months to see it published.
I enjoyed all of it but the waiting. It kickstarted my writing career and has been a wonderful opportunity to learn.
Tom’s first Black Library short story was published in the pages of Inferno! Volume 2
ToW: Can you share any insight into what you’ve learned since then, whether in terms of pitching, writing or generally just working with editors, as advice for anyone wanting to write professionally?
TP: I’ve learned a ton, honestly. It would be an essay unto itself to get into all the details. So I’ll do a kind of ‘cream off the top’ approach to each category.
Pitching: don’t recite details of grand events, show how the conflict is personal to the characters.
Writing: don’t slow the pace of your writing by using passive voice or too many qualifiers, especially when writing an action scene.
Working with editors: listen to them, but bring your own creative vision to the table too. Collaboration produces the best results.
ToW: Can you talk a little bit about your first couple of Black Library stories and what readers can expect from them?
TP: I’d love to.
Spiritus in Machina (featured in Inferno! Vol. 2): a Skitarii awakens to find the Ark he serves on in ruins, and himself the only hope of saving it. It’s a story of loyalty, faith, and the price those things demand.
Salvage Rites (Inferno! Vol. 4): a group of hive-world orbital salvagers finds a damaged ship that could make them for life. Yet this find may destroy them rather than make them. The price of greed in a universe of horrors plays out in grim detail.
Fates and Fortunes (Vaults of Obsidian): a master thief is hired to steal an artifact on Precipice, said to lead to a treasure beyond reckoning within the Fortress. His destiny awaits him, but is it an end he would choose? A dark story of people looking for a place to belong, and finding nightmares made real instead.
ToW: Your biggest release to date for Black Library is your first novella, Isha’s Lament. How would you describe this story?
TP: Brakus Andradus is a deserter, but rather than hide from the horrors of the galaxy he hunts them down. His strange quest has brought him to the Blackstone Fortress, where he will become entangled in an ancient mystery that threatens to bring ruin to Precipice itself — and the worlds beyond. It’s an exploration of trauma and how you cope with it, against a backdrop of ageless enigmas and deadly adventures.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
TP: Well, I talked about Brakus. Otherwise:
Danira: an irreverent weapons dealer and friend to Brakus, who seeks through the Fortress for relics that will fetch high prices.
Janus Draik: Rogue Trader and expert swordsman, Draik has now been at the Fortress long enough that he is becoming an old hand.
Exactius-Z94: a mysterious cyborg dispatched by unknown powers, seemingly an agent of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Amallyn Shadowguide: an Aeldari ranger from Biel’tan. She knows more than she reveals.
Maugra: a Hekatrix Bloodbride, hiding from her Drukhari kindred on Precipice. She becomes involved for her own reasons – possibly just because she thinks it sounds fun.
ToW: Where and when is it set?
TP: Blackstone Fortress, and after the novel of the same name. I couldn’t give you an exact Imperial date, haha
ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend readers check out before reading this?
TP: The novel Blackstone Fortress by Darius Hinks. Not necessary, but I worked hard to maintain continuity with that work, so I think they go well together. Also, read all of my stories. Everything I ever write. Just because. Don’t question it.
ToW: Why this story? Of all the possible stories you could have written about these characters, what made you go for this one?
TP: There is a scope to Blackstone Fortress that is vast and galactic, but there’s also this immediacy of desperate people doing what they have to to survive. I saw a chance to bring those two things together; this is at once a story that invokes Aeldari mythology and a soldier struggling to cope with what he’s seen and done. It satisfied both the lore nerd and the character writer in me.
ToW: What do you hope 40k and/or Blackstone Fortress fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
TP: I’m not out to change lives, haha. If someone puts Isha’s Lament down and goes “that was a fun, satisfying story” then I will be delighted.
ToW: Is it a standalone story, or can we expect more from these characters in future?
TP: No plans for continuation at this point. I would love the opportunity to revisit this setting and these characters though.
ToW: What else can you tell us about what you’re working on, or what you’ve got coming out over the coming months?
TP: I can tell you there is more coming, definitely. I am working both long-form and short-form projects that are yet to be announced.
And I suppose Masters of Shadow is out of the bag! I got to do the Raven Guard entry in the Space Marine Conquests series, just a crazy cool opportunity. They let me pick which chapter I wanted to work with. It will be my debut novel, and I really hope people enjoy it. It’s definitely the hardest I’ve worked on any paid project yet.
ToW: When you’re not writing, what might we find you getting up to?
TP: Video games are my big escape. Plus reading. Gawking at cat pictures on the internet. Snuggling with my actual cats in the real world. I’m honestly not a very interesting person.
ToW: If someone wants to keep up with what you’re doing, how’s best to do that?
TP: Twitter, definitely. I can be found at @parrotttd and that is where you will hear everything the moment I can talk about it. And I do talk. Endlessly. Lore discussions, work chatter, cat pics. Good times.
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Thanks so much to Tom for chatting to me for this interview! If you haven’t already, do check out some of Tom’s Black Library stories, and if you’re on Twitter head over there and follow him to keep up to date with all his writing news! Make sure you have a read of my review of Spiritus in Machina, and keep an eye out for reviews of more of Tom’s stories coming soon.
