Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, in which I’m talking to Tristan Palmgren about their new novel for Aconyte Books, Domino: Strays. It’s the first volume of a new series of novels labelled as Marvel Heroines (being released at the same time as the first instalment of Marvel Legends of Asgard), and promises to bring this well-loved comic book character to life in a different way to what we’ve seen before. It’s available to order now in ebook and paperback editions!
Without further ado, let’s get straight on with the interview.
Track of Words: How would you describe your new novel Domino: Strays?
Tristan Palmgren: Forgive me for reworking some of the back cover copy into this answer.
Cults are bad news. Domino knows this better than other people. She still has nightmares about the fanatics of Project Armageddon, the secret program that created and raised her in a botched attempt to create a living superweapon. So when she gets a job offer to rescue a pair of siblings from a Chicago conman’s cult, her instincts are to turn it down. If only she’d had someone to help her back then, though… someone like her. It’s a total pain in the ass, but maybe it is time to finally face those demons.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
TP: Domino, aka Neena Thurman – Domino is a merc’s merc. Even the toughest mercenaries in the business look up to her, whether in fear or awe. She’s a Mutant, and her powers have manifested as an ability to manipulate luck. Million-in-one shots always go her way. She was “raised” by abusive fanatics at a facility called Project Armageddon, a product of an attempt to create a living superweapon. She’s got a long list of traumas to work through, and is struggling to accept that she’ll never be able to leave any of them behind.
Outlaw, aka Inez Temple – Outlaw is a hard-working, hard-punching Texas girl. Outlaw is also a merc, and she’s got a history she’s not proud of. She was less selective in her clients than she knows she should have been, and she’s trying to make up for it now. Like Domino, Outlaw is a Mutant, and her abilities have manifested a little more bluntly: as superstrength and super-endurance. The people who see her as just a country stereotype always underestimate her, and deserve what they get.
Diamondback, aka Rachel Leighton – Diamondback’s had an on-and-off-again relationship with the right side of justice. She made her fame working as a burglar in the criminal Serpent Society, but her encounters with the likes of Captain America brought about a change of heart, and she’s learning how to do better… though she’s always wearing something new and never wants to say where she got it. She serves as the demolitions expert on Domino’s team, and mostly does more good than harm.
ToW: Where and when is this story set?
TP: Tricky question! Strays is split across three three timelines and follows a story woven through all of them. The first is set during Domino’s childhood, first among the weapons development program that traumatized her and later at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. The second starts in a botched op in the Florida Everglades, whose consequences will cut to the core of Domino’s being. And the third brings her back home to Chicago, where she’s taken on a job to rescue wayward siblings from a local conman’s cult.
ToW: How does this tie in with the rest of the Marvel stories featuring Domino? Is there anything that readers should be familiar with before starting Strays?
TP: Readers shouldn’t need to be familiar with anything. I wrote this so that it should serve as an introduction to Domino’s character. That said, there are a few prior stories that will enrich the telling. Gail Simone and David Baldeón’s Domino (2018) and Hotshots (2019) series are both great reads and form Domino’s team as it exists in Strays.
ToW: What appeals to you about Domino as a character to write about?
TP: First, I love writing frenetic, kinetic action scenes. Domino’s talent makes those a joy to write. With her, action-follows-consequence-follows-consequence-follows-consequence in big, complicated chains. Strays’s action scenes are as if a Rube Goldberg machine could be constructed out of guns and bullets.
Second, I love Domino’s voice. From the start, I knew this story had to be told in the first person. She’s sharp, she’s funny, and she’s punchy. I loved spending time with her, and just letting her talk. The big draw of a prose novel about Domino is getting a chance to spend more time with that voice than comics could allow.
ToW: Where did this specific story come from? Of all the stories you might have written about Domino, what inspired you to write this one in particular?
TP: Most of my stories start in reading and research, and often before I realize I’ve been researching for a story. My first published novel, Quietus (2018), was set during the Black Death, and came from reading a ton of material about the plague and the ways that people responded to it. I’ve been reading about different cults–about what draws people into cults, and the many ways their leaders abuse and manipulate. I didn’t realize I was reading for research until I was well into it. Sometimes, when I read material so emotionally affecting, the best way for me to deal with it is to write about it.
ToW: Have you adapted comic book characters into prose stories before? Can you talk a bit about how you go about doing that, and what the challenges/opportunities are?
TP: This is new to me, and certainly takes a different approach. It’s much more difficult to convey expression in prose than in comics, for instance. If you write about someone’s reactions and expressions as often as comics are able to show them, the prose starts to get tedious. You have to seize your more-limited opportunities to describe anything visual, and make the most out of them.
But prose gives us a lot of opportunities, too. And the first, best thing it gains is the opportunity to spend more time with Domino’s voice. Domino steps out of dialogue bubbles and narration boxes and shows you her world as she sees it. I loved being able to channel her, and I hope readers will love it as much as I loved writing it.
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
TP: A better understanding of the ways that people abuse, manipulate, gaslight, and betray both other people and themselves. And the ability to recognize these things when they’re happening.
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on with Aconyte for future release, or whether you might revisit Domino in more stories?
TP: If I said too much, Aconyte’s editor-in-chief (Hi, Marc!) would have to kill me. Let me just say I’m extremely excited for what’s coming next.
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Thanks so much to Tristan for taking the time to talk to me, and for these great answers! If you’d like to know more about Domino: Strays you can check out my review here.
If you’re in the UK and would like to support local independent bookshops, you can order Domino: Strays from my store on Bookshop.org*
Alternatively, you can order Domino: Strays on Amazon*
*If you buy anything using one of these links, I will receive a small affiliate commission – see here for more details.
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