Interview with Shadows of the Dark Crystal author J.M. Lee

Shadows of the Dark Crystal is a new prequel novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s 1982 cult favorite, The Dark Crystal. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Sure! Shadows of the Dark Crystal takes place some time before the movie, right as the Gelfling are beginning to learn about the true nature of the Skeksis. The story follows a Gelfling named Naia, who finally gets to explore beyond the swamp where she grew up. It’s really a story built to explore the world of the Dark Crystal prior to the corruption of the land by the Skeksis, showing what Gelfling life was like before the, um, let’s just say conflict that is resolved in the film.

You writing this book is actually a result of a competition, can you tell us about it? Were you very familiar with the film before you entered the competition? How did you feel when your story was picked as the winner out of nearly five hundred submissions?

In 2013, Grosset & Dunlap partnered with the Jim Henson Company to put on an Author Quest, which was originally announced at San Diego Comic Con (in case you want to check out the panel about it). My agent forwarded the call for submissions to me and I was pretty excited about it. The Dark Crystal was a staple film of my childhood, along with Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, The Neverending Story, etc. I rarely enter contests, but I felt really good about this one, and had a lot of ideas already brewing, which is why I decided to enter. I hadn’t ever really thought about The Dark Crystal in terms of realistically and critically continuing the story, so in that way it was a challenge. When I found out I was a finalist, I was really excited. But when I found out I had won, I think I was just stunned! It took a while to sink in… and not only that, then I had to actually write the rest of the book!

How has it been do expand on an existing universe like this? Any special considerations you had to take?

I had the benefit of a long legacy of world-building by previous creators, such as the material in the Creation Myths graphic novels, The World of the Dark Crystal book, and darkcrystal.com, which in particular had been seeded with information specifically for Author Quest. During my initial submission, I was very careful to stick exactly to the details. Once I was sort of “set free” to write the rest of the novel, though, I was encouraged to have fun with it. I did a LOT of research and spent a LOT of time watching the movie, taking notes, and making sure everything I wrote fit in with the film and all the other existing canon material. In some ways it was like writing a creative research paper. Juggling the canonical details and still telling a story that made sense – and in some ways, was written to showcase the world – was definitely tricky. But I really enjoy that kind of work.

Shadows of the Dark [Crystal] also features cover art by the film’s original creature designer and popular fantasy artist Brian Froud, and interior illustrations by Cory Godbey. How do you feel about the end result? Did you have any influence in this part or was it all handled by the publisher?

I’m really pleased with how everything came together! Brian Froud’s work is phenomenal, as usual, and I think Cory’s interiors are just dreamy. The Dark Crystal means something special to every person who took part in creating this book, and I think it shows. I really didn’t have a lot to do with the illustration pieces, aside from providing some textual descriptions of the characters. Side note: you can see some really cool progress shots of the cover over at Giuseppe Castellano’s website.

I believe it’s supposed to be four books all together. Is the whole series already planned out?

We’re doing four books total. I’ve got ideas about where we’re going. Each book is in a different stage of planning, and of course we want to make sure everything fits, so we do a lot of outlining and reviewing with the team with the Jim Henson Company. I’m currently doing outlines for books 3 and 4 simultaneously, since we have a lot of ground to cover. I’m really excited about the opportunities and feel confident we are going to come up with something really fun and suspenseful, while maintaining every bit of dark beauty of the world.

How did you start writing? Was there a particular book or moment in your life that spurred you on?

I actually don’t remember when I started writing, so I guess that means as far back as I can remember. I think the first long piece of fiction I tried to write was a sequel to Tad Williams’ Tailchaser’s Song. I finished my first novel in 6th grade. But I think the main thing that kept me writing was that I did a lot of collaborative writing with a group of friends. Long-running co-written stories and the like. It didn’t make me good at writing endings, but it did make me good at writing ongoing stories with really rich characters.

Is it a dream come true being published by a major publisher such as Penguin Random House?

Yes. That is the most accurate response I have without using expletives. 🙂

What’s next? Do you now have a grand plan for your writing career and other projects you’re working on also?

Next up I’ve got the Dark Crystal books and also hoping to announce another collaborative project with a long-running children’s series soon. In the meantime, between revisions, I’m working on a sci-fi western that involves three of my favorite things: Coffee, Corvettes, and psychic robots. So I guess you could say my grand plan is basically psychic robots.

J.M. Lee (www.joeyver se.com) is a novelist, writing mentor, illustrator, and graphic designer with a background in linguistics and film. As a writer, he finds the most rewarding stories in fusion genre, from nostalgic historical fantasies to gritty sci-fi westerns. On the side, he enjoys dabbling in experimental short fiction and drinking a lot of coffee. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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