It’s a deliberately unsettling book, harshly realistic at times, deeply cryptic at others. These stories are designed to leave you staring into space and wondering.

Tod Foley – 20 October 2023

The Back Flap

IPSEITIES. Eleven visionary indie writers deconstruct The Human Condition in this mind-bending collection of short stories in a variety of genres. Each of these unique voices explores a divergent world as unnerving as it is unknown, unsettling, and unresolved. These stories are guaranteed to take up residence in your head. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Stories by Beau Blackcrow, Irene Bloodrose, Tod Davies, Jens Durke, DeAnna Knippling, Shawn Koch, Adrian McCauley, Matt Orth, Miriam Robern, Rick Rosenkranz, and Leigham Shardlow

About the book

What is the book about?

IPSEITIES is a collection of stories that were rejected by other publishers. I asked my favorite writers to send me their favorite rejects, looking specifically for “headscratchers” (which, incidentally, was the working title of the book). We developed themes and reworked some of the stories as we went along. All of them ended up sharing a sense of strangeness, partly from mixing genres, and partly from pure literary experimentation, but no two stories are in the same genre or style. Each author explores some ontological boundary or liminal space, often leaving the central question dangling, unresolved. It’s a deliberately unsettling book, harshly realistic at times, deeply cryptic at others. These stories are designed to leave you staring into space and wondering.

When did you start writing the book?

The idea and initial contact emails went out in late 2020.

How long did it take you to write it?

The stories were collected and edited over the next 18 months, with the final submissions coming in this year.

Where did you get the idea from?

As If Books is a small weird imprint, specializing in small weird books and games. We love experimentation and genre-bashing fiction. In 2020 I wanted to release another anthology featuring some of my favorite writers, and figured the fastest way to get one would be to go through their reject piles, asking for their favorites. I’m always pleased to publish stories other publishers wouldn’t take a chance on, or considered too weird for their publications.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

It all fell together rather organically. Just before publication I wrote a short introduction for each piece, to introduce each writer and their story, preparing the reader for the next dose of weirdness. Those were pretty straightforward. The tricky part was arranging the stories themselves. Just like arranging songs on a record album, the order of different themes, ideas, and voices creates an abstract “meta narrative” that runs across the entire book, like a rollercoaster of emotional structure and pace. Slow songs and fast songs should alternate, later songs can effect your understanding of earlier songs, etcetera. It was important to get it just right.

What came easily?

The easy part was editing. I am blessed with some of the finest and weirdest minds on the scene today, and their contributions were a joy to work with. They all brought their own unique voices, views, and visions. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Different authors may answer this differently, but I see it as a perpetual cycle: Life influences Art, and then Art influences Life again. You can’t avoid it if you have a human brain and human feelings. We live in a long chain of dialectical exchanges via the written word, and all stories project some perceived truths about the world, even if their real-world sources are not so obvious.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Oh for sure. My tastes and fondness for cerebral stuff came from my love of “New Wave” science fiction and Postmodern Lit in the 70s. My literary idols include Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. LeGuin and Philip K. Dick on the SF side, and PoMo darlings like Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace on the lit side. I also have an extensive collection of Crowley, make of that what you will.

Do you have a target reader?

I think at the end of the day, your target audience is comprised of people who are kinda like you. For me, that’s people who appreciate strangeness, cognitive dissonance, head-twisting scenarios, future speculation, magical realism, dense symbolism, and a deft turn of phrase. The shortest term for these people is “Brainy Weirdos.” 🙂

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

As a writer I’m a hardcore plotter, then I “pants” from beat to beat. The first part takes forever; the second is very fast. As an editor I’m a structuralist, but that term applies to “soft” aspects like voice and pacing, as well as beats and arcs. But people’s processes differ. Your process is rooted in your approach to your art, and leverages your personal skills.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes. My outlines are comprised of one-sentence summaries of each beat. I take those sentences and space them out in red ink, then I go back to the start and begin fleshing them out. I usually write in chronological order, but I’ve also done weird surrealist things like Sierpinski Gaskets a la DFW, Cut-ups a la William S. Burroughs, and Cobralingus a la Jeff Noon, where the process is determined or altered by random or meta-structural elements.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I edit as I go, because feeling and prosody are as important to me as action and setting. I don’t necessarily recommend this for other people; it depends on your brain.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I will only listen to music without words while working. Otherwise I can’t avoid listening to the lyrics. I’m totally semantic/symbolic and I cannot resist words.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Never have. Might be interesting to meet one some day.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I don’t think it would make much sense for me to shoot for a mainstream publisher; I don’t produce mainstream material, and I’m not expecting to serve a large audience. We’re small and weird, and we like it that way.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

The cover of IPSEITIES was done by Midjourney. I got rather lucky, I think it’s lovely, and does a good job of evoking the ambiguous nature of the works inside.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

Wingin’ it every day! Our books are distributed by Ingram, and I spend a lot of time contacting indie bookstores directly.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Hmm. I guess I’d say if you’re in this to make a killing, you’d be better off writing ad copy for corporations. The market is saturated and growing more so every day. But if you find your voice and stick to it, producing a backlog of quality material, eventually your audience will find you. Just keep it up, grasshopper.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I’m a Valley Boy, from the northwest part of Los Angeles. Like, totally.

Where do you live now?

For the last 20 years I’ve lived in Vegas, which is similar to LA but more “real” (as long as you stay away from the Strip); it’s like any medium-sized southwestern city. Very multicultural, with a small but vital theater & arts scene. It’s also cheaper than living in LA.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I guess I’d like them to understand that As If Books is a tiny independent imprint that relies on both product sales and patreon support to keep the lights on. We’re not a big company and we’re never going to be, but if you’re a brainy weirdo, you’re one of us. You can find out more at patreon.com/asif. And lastly: Read more books and play more games! 🙂

What are you working on now?

We tend to go for catalog releases twice per year, in Summer and Winter. Coming up for the 2023 Winter Catalog we have two game projects and two book projects:

• “CORE Complete” is the expanded all-genre companion to CORE Micro, a simple roleplaying game system for character-driven emergent stories.
• “The UbiquiCity Sourcebook” is a GM’s guide to roleplaying in Union City and the Fractopian Future of “UbiquiCity” (As If Books, 2017 and 2018).
• “Grim Axiom” is a darkly political work of fantasy and mysticism by Beau Blackcrow.
• “Doubt Farmers” is the next book up from Master of Weirdness S.L. Koch (author of “Unjudgable” and “Liquid Hitler”), a bizarro cosmic thriller.

End of Interview:

For more from Ted Foley and As If Books visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

You can get your copy of IPSEITIES from Amazon US or Amazon UK. If you’d prefer an eBook version, go to Drive Thru Fiction.