Dana Schoel is a Montreal-based writer working in film, television, and print. He won a Canadian Screen Award for his documentary work about the Inuit and worked with Chad McQueen (son of Steve McQueen) on a Netflix biopic. His short film The Fantastic Bus is one part a poignant snapshot of childhood, full of idealism for a father, preternaturally strong and full of life, the embodiment of all authority through the eyes of his son. Fantastic Bus is also one part an adult's reckoning with the weakness of his parents, with their aging, with the knowledge that they were never perfect but were doing the best they could with what they had. Dana recently spent some time with Rapid Transmission and, for the record, Andy Weir is the SF writer, Peter Weir is the talented auteur.
RT: Many readers like cozy versions of particular genres. In fantasy, Brian Jacques has cozy stories of mice and badgers fighting between lavish meals. Do you see your
culinary SF as fitting into a cozy niche of the genre?
RT: What speaks to you in Lieber's work? And do you mostly just read SF or more widely? Cookbooks have a big market too. I didn't know until recently that many people read cookbooks for fun, not necessarily for the recipes. Where do you fall on that scale? And who's your favorite cookbook cook. Don't say Anthony Bourdain.
DS: I read widely, though I always end up coming back to SF. It's what's in my blood, so to speak. Other authors I read are, Mordecai Richler, Yu Hua, Lu Xun, John le Carré, Neil Gaiman... I could go on. I'll often return to the classics too (Tolstoy, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Hemmingway, Melville). I'm open to anything, as long as it's good writing. I recently watched Lupin on Netflix, so I picked up the original books it's based on (I read in French too).
I think what draws people back to a story is character and place. That's what I like about Fritz Lieber. It's always fun to return to Lankhmar and hang out with Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser. While his characters are in the heroic mold, they're also very human and relatable. And, he writes in such an evocative way. I can't think of another author who can paint such a detailed picture - to make you feel like you're really inhabiting their world. That's what I try to do in my writing (of course, I can't compare).
I don't really read cookbooks, though my brother and I had a tradition, years ago, of getting a cookbook for our dad every year. My brother's actually the expert, and most of the Culinary McGuffins in my stories were sparked by him, though I also do a lot of research. But I do watch food shows (with my wife): Street Food, The Chef Show, Taco Chronicles, Ugly Delicious, Flavorful Origins...
RT: I once got confused when someone told me they were writing about Melville. I forgot about Herman and could only think of China Mieville. "You mean Mieville," I said. The guy looked at me, eyes wide, and said, "Uh, no, Melville. He wrote Moby Dick." Of course I knew Moby Dick but I've read nothing but SF for years, so it felt odd to think about an older kind of fiction, a fiction that doesn't consider science and technology. Yet, I do appreciate Melvilles literary power. I wonder how you approach the writing process. Are you more interested in the tale, the craft, or themes and underlying meaning?
DS: I'll discuss how I approached the Galactic Culinary Society stories, since I also write for film and TV, and the process for that is different. For this series, right off the bat, I wanted to write something that was fun and lighthearted (after working on some darker material), so that affected things. And, I wanted to write a story that would take the reader to another place, other worlds.
So, I first set myself the goal that these stories should be exciting and plot-driven, a real page-turner, with unique characters... like classic SF. With this in mind, I spent considerable time on the craft; having twists and turns and so on. However, there has to be something going on underneath too, or else it doesn't really move or interest me. I mean, why am I bothering to communicate with other people? I feel I have something to say, even if it's just my point of view. There are always ideas in the back of my mind... but I was careful not to let them overpower the story.
Finally, after writing for independent film for so long, where to be honest, you don't always have access to the best actors (apologies to anyone I've ever worked with - you're the exception)... anyhow, you tend to limit what you'll have a character do or say in a script, because really, there's a reason not everyone's a movie star. Not everyone can pull off a Nicolas Cage type performance. It was super fun -and liberating- to finally let loose in my writing, especially with the alien characters.
Lastly, I do a fair amount of research, and that will usually set me off in new and unexpected directions.
RT: Is your research all book-based or do you get in the car and visit sites and cities to physically take it in?
RT: I mix it up. The first story, Secrets of Umami, was influenced by my visits to the Arctic (through my documentary work with Inuit), as well as various trips to China where I watched these old guys doing Chinese calligraphy with their brushes...
The second story, Song of the Golden Brew, was inspired by a trip to Xinjiang and seeing a Uighur race across the wide-open land on his horse... what a sense of freedom! That gave me the idea for the aliens and their special, mysterious steads (I don't want to give away what they are). There, I was introduced to the beer Kvass, which is the Culinary element in that tale (I could also say drinking a ton of beer was part of my research, but Kvass is unique in that it's very low in alcohol). Some characters were modeled on these Uighur women (horseback riders) who were our guides one day...
For an upcoming book, Cryovacked, my brother introduced me to sous-vide cooking, so I went out and ordered the device and played around with it; just being hands-on gives a different perspective. And for another story, I've been chatting a lot with Andy Weir, and he helped me understand Special Relativity which became a central part of Rising Terror (it'll be released in the coming month or so).
DS: I supplement all this with books and articles, to know my subject as best as possible, but for each story I try for there to be a tangible element, something I've personally experienced... that I can share with the reader.
RT: Andy Weir! His movie Mosquito Coast is one of the most important movies of the late 20th century, the competing narratives of religion and technology vying to civilize primitive people. And in the end, all the civilizing impulses are proven corrupt. How did you meet Andy?
DS: Uhm, think you might be doing a 'Melville'.. That would be Peter Weir. Andy's the guy who wrote The Martian. But Peter Weir is indeed a great director!
RT: Doh! Ok, it's still cool that you know Andy Weir. I'll ask the same question--how did you meet Andy?
DS: We just chat on the internet... I work in film too, so I've built up different connections and contacts, and I'll tend to seek someone out if I have a particular research question...
RT: Ah, yes. If there's something to learn in life, it's that it's almost always a good idea to ask people questions. Even people that might at first seem unapproachable are usually happy to answer questions. What's the weirdest thing you've ever been asked?
DS: Well, it's maybe not what you were thinking, but what came to mind was when my daughter was about 2 or 3, and I was shirtless - and she pointed to my chest and asked, "milk?" I said no, so she thought about it, and then asked, "soya milk?" (I drink mostly soya milk, so she must've figured... it's gotta come from somewhere!)
RT: Smart girl! Tell us, what are some projects of yours we should check out?
DS: Start with my two Galactic Culinary Society books. And I have two other paperbacks, based on film scripts:
Here's the most recent TV series I worked on (well it's season 1 that was just released, though I'm actually working on seasons 2 and 3).
End Transmission