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Robot Noir: Talking with Adam Christopher about Raymond Chandler, Machine Men, and Made to Kill
The mega-prolific Adam Christopher has flitted from genre to genre since the 2011 publication of his debut novel Empire State, flitting from thriller, to superhero story, to space opera, and now, to Raymond Chandler Hollywood noir pastiche. With robots. Made to Kill, out today from Tor Books, is a clever, cheeky whodunnit starring the world’s only android detective, muddling through a convoluted case involving murder, mayhem, and movie stars in an alt-history mid-century America in the post-robot uprising era.
We recently got a chance to talk to the author about what inspired this book, and how he manages to write so darn many of them even while overloading his DVR.
What was the genesis of this story? How did you find the way in?
I really love that kind of detective fiction—hard-boiled stuff of the ’40s and ’50s—and I really love Raymond Chandler. And the idea came about—he wrote to his agent in the mid-’50s complaining about science fiction, saying, “Can you believe this rubbish?” And he wrote 140-word short story, and it was complete nonsense. But it was Raymond Chandler nonsense, so there’s still something in it. His style and voice. And I was like, “Well clearly he should have written a science fiction novel.” So I thought maybe I should be the one to write it. I wrote novelette for Tor.com [that] was the origin story of the main character, Ray, who’s the robot detective. It was so much fun to write, that style and voice, that the trilogy just kind of sprang from that. I’m not sure that I’m calling it pastiche, because I love Raymond Chandler, and there’s absolutely no way that I could ever try and emulate his style, because it’s absolutely me.
So it’s like an homage?
Yes. To get in that mode of hard-boiled prose, it’s so much fun. As a writer, I can really stretch myself to ridiculous sentence structures and similes, metaphors and things, which is what Chandler is known for. And it was fun.
I enjoyed your all your passages about doors. Every time a character walked through a door, it was commented on. “I went through the door, I closed the door behind me.”
That is one of the things—I have to admit that I’m a recent convert to Chandler. 2009 was the first time I read it, and I was like, “Why haven’t I read it before?” But this is the thing: it’s like, I think it’s in, I forget which book it is, but he talks about getting a whiskey. And he opens the drink cabinet. And I think it’s like a page of “He opens the drinks cabinet. He takes out a glass. He closed the drinks cabinet. The drinks cabinet is still where it was.” It’s funny in a way, but also it’s got that kind of rhythm to it. Which for me, as a writer, is really appealing. So I took it to do my three books like that. My very first novel is called Empire State and it’s kind of in that vein. It’s less obvious. It’s quite dark. Made to Kill is not funny, but—
It’s kind of funny. Ada, Ray’s AI computer secretary, is pretty funny.
I do love Ada.
Coming from the UK, were you already enthusiastic about the Hollywood studio system and the history of the movies, or did you have to do a lot of research for that part of it?
I’m from New Zealand originally, and I moved to the UK; it’s been about nine years. But American history is something I’ve always been fascinated by. 20th century history/New York is like my pit subject, but Hollywood in the ’40s and ’50s is so fascinating. I was recently in LA doing research for the next book. Although Hollywood is kind of—things have changed—you can still find little bits and pieces of that period. 20th century history fascinates me, because it’s so recent, yet completely different to our experience now. We now have this great world of film TV and film photography. With the robot books, people took home video of Hollywood in the ’60s. Just driving down Hollywood Boulevard and shooting stuff. That kind of research is really fascinating. I’m glad we have that depository.
It’s the first period we have those kind of documents.
And in the robot books, there’s no cell phones. No computers. It’s kind of nice. I like that old-fashioned quality. Ray, the main character, has to go find a phone booth to call back to the office. It makes it interesting.
Are you deep in book two or three right now?
I’m due to start writing two.
You seem to work quickly. Between your space operas for Tor and your thrillers for Angry Robot, you’ve had a lot of books come out in the last couple of years. Were those written earlier?
I had four books out from Angry Robot to start with. It’s kind of like a backlog I had already written. But that’s the thing about being a writer these days. You need to fill up your dance card. I also write the tie-in novels for the show Elementary, and I have some other stuff coming up as well. I’m really lucky and grateful that I can do what I love to do. I absolutely know that not everyone can do that. So I just try to fill my time, do as much as I can. I was a fan of all this before I was a writer. Fan of science fiction, detective fiction, comic books, a huge TV fan.
What media—books or authors or shows—do you find inspirational?
Well, my favorite author is Stephen King. That’s probably an obvious answer. I read loads of mystery and detective stuff. Lawrence Block’s another favorite. A Walk Among the Tombstones was based on one of those novels. I think he wrote the script for it as well. I try and mix up my reading across genres, all the new classics and modern stuff. I love American TV because you get 24 episodes a year.
A lot of us are the opposite: “I wish they’d just do the six and they’d all be really good.”
Because British TV is six episodes and it’s finished and then you have to wait another year. I love Elementary and Person of Interest. I’m a huge fan of DC Comics, so things like Arrow and Flash. Legends of Tomorrow, which is coming. I have a spreadsheet to plan my recordings, because it gets crazy.
You don’t want an over-taxed DVR to come after you.
I keep deleting stuff because it just gets full.
When your books come up in discussion, one of the things that seems to define them is their covers. That seems like maybe a happy accident, because the same guy has done all the covers.
That’s all Will Staehle. They picked him back at Angry Robot, and he did Empire State, and he really understands my books because he reads the books and then he presents like 20 covers, and then you have to try pick the one you want. And they’re all amazing.
Do you collaborate or does he just go off and exercise his genius?
I do have notes for him, but if he reads the book or at least part of it, he knows what’s going on. He did my Angry Robot books and now my Tor books, and the diversity of his style is remarkable. The space opera stuff is nothing like Made to Kill. Made to Kill is amazing and retro. The typography is actually part of the cover. Because often there will be artwork with the typography laid on top. So he controls the whole design process. But I think I probably suggested him to Irene Gallo, who’s the art director at Tor, for the first space opera book, which is really dark. I said, “This guy’s really good, he’s done all my covers and I’d love to see what he does to a space opera book.” Because he’s so stylized. And she was like, “That is a really good idea.” So I’m very lucky.
Ships in 1-2 days.
It’s odd to see someone jumping publishers and jumping genres so much, but keeping that consistency. Even though they look different, all the covers look great. And it’s a nice boost, I’d imagine, when you’re starting out, to have a really great cover. I think the Empire State cover was one that just got the book so much more attention.
I think everyone was really blown away when they saw that. There were two covers, and they weren’t sure which one, but then the started showing it to people.
When you’re writing all these different kinds of books, jumping genres from super hero to space opera, doing the detective stories, do you work on them in different ways, or do you have to just sit down at your computer and do it?
It’s kind of both. I sit down and do it because when writing becomes a job, you have to do it. I start off by working on three things at once, so I’ll do comic scripts, and I’m working on the next Elementary book at the moment, so there’d be that. But then as deadlines approach, I tend to focus on one particular thing. In the end, the process is pretty much the same. Tie-in stuff like Elementary is a different kind of approval process. I tend to outline them in the same kind of way—even the comic stuff, even though it’s scripting, a different format, it’s kind of the same. You get to the point where as you progress as a writer, you learn how you work and what you need. Now, my first drafts are pretty rough because I know how I edit, and how the story comes out. I tend to write quickly but then I edit more and really pull the story out.
It sounds like Made to Kill kind of surprised you—you weren’t necessarily expecting to write a trilogy about a robot detective. Do you know what you’re doing next or are you waiting for inspiration to hit?
Because I’ve got the next two LA books, and the final space opera next year, and two more Elementary books, I’ve always got stuff going. I’m one of those writers where I have half a dozen in progress things that I will, if I can find the time in my schedule, work to pull them all out. It’s good to keep busy. Even though there’s crazy deadlines, I’m really happy when I’m busy. Give me a deadline and I’ll hit it.
It gives you a sense of purpose. You don’t just check Twitter all day.
Yeah, because I’ve had deadlines be way in the future and I’ll just watch Netflix. And then it’s like…panic.
Do you see the same fans following you from the different genres, or do you think you have a different fan base in each?
I think I ‘ve seen, I guess, the same fan base? Except for the Elementary stuff, because that’s the Sherlock Holmes/Elementary fan base. And the comics are different again. The great thing about doing all these different things is that people will discover you when the read the comic and they’ll get the book, or they’ll read the book and discover the comic. It’s good to have fans. I’ve met lots of readers, and I’m very rich on social media, which people like. I enjoy checking those figures. Nothing’s better than someone who says, “I got your book and it was great.” Because that’s my job. I have entertained you for how many hours? Perfect.
Made to Kill is available now.