[Interview] Jason Hough on Mass Effect, Collaboration, and Series Writing

[box] Jason Hough has written some damned cool science fiction in the few years he’s been on the scene. He first caught my attention with The Darwin Elevator back in 2013, but he’s been consistently pumping out high-quality, adventure sci-fi (Zero World, Injection Burn, Escape Velocity) that is definitely worth your time. Look for him on Twitter at @jasonmhough or hunt him down at jasonhough.com.[/box]

Jason Hough

Anthony Vicino: Recently you teamed up to write Mass Effect: Nexus Rising with KC Alexander, and then followed that up in July with a short story for Mech: Age of Steel alongside Ramez Naam. First of all, you’ve got great taste in partners, but is this the year of Jason Hough collaborations or what? Are you officially the bacon of sci-fi (ie: you go well with everything)?

Jason Hough: Hah! It was more coincidence, really. I was invited to be in MECH, and saw Ramez’s name on the list, so I asked him what he thought about collaborating. He liked the idea and, being short stories, it was really low risk. That was over two years ago, though! It took a long time to be released. In the intervening months, I teamed up with K. C. on Mass Effect, which ended up being released even sooner than MECH, so it only seemed like some kind of coordinated plan.

AV: What was the collaboration process like with these two wily word-slingers? Which was harder to write, the short story or the novel?

JH: Well MECH was easy. Ramez and I brainstormed some ideas, then we each took one and wrote it. Once we had a draft, we sent it to the other person and let them revise it with “carte blanche” editing powers. It was a fun process and, again, wasn’t going to be the end of the world if we didn’t end up enjoying it. The Mass Effect novel was much harder to write for many reasons. First off, the schedule wasn’t going to allow for any mistakes. We had a short time to write it, no flexibility. That meant we had to figure out a way to work together and it had to be productive and effective from day 1. So we did that the only way you really can: we planned like crazy, and we communicated constantly. We outlined our chapters and then when it came to writing we just claimed whichever chapter was next and wrote it. After the first draft was done, we revised one another’s chapters and did our best to make it all from one voice. I think it worked out pretty damn great!

AV: You exploded onto the scene back in 2013 and I remember taking one look at The Darwin Elevator cover and thinking, “Yeah, this is going to do well.” Turns out my gut was dead on. Anyways, one of the unique things about your debut was that the 2nd and 3rd books in the series (The Exodus Tower and The Plague Force) were released only months later. You’ve talked about the process and experience in other interviews (links here), so I’ll save you from repeating yourself, but recently you repeated the process with your duology Injection Burn and Escape Velocity and I’d love to hear how a couple years in the game informed your process going into writing this series. Were there any lessons learned during the initial trilogy that you were able to carry into the duology?

JH: Well, the big difference with the two new books was that I knew from the beginning they would be released this way, so I just approached it as one big book that had a easy-to-split point in the middle. The Darwin Elevator was written by me as a hobbyist, with no idea how long the series would be or what would happen after (except for the very end). Even after being contracted for a trilogy, I didn’t know they would release them so rapidly. So, if anything, I took advantage of the process up front and I think that allowed me to do a better job of planning. There were things at the end of Plague Forge, for example, that I wish I’d done a better job of setting up in Darwin.

AV: Any words of advice, or warning, for authors trying to replicate this process?

JH: Well, certainly if you know you’re writing a series, at least go through the process of plotting it all out at a high level. You may realize there are things you want to do later that you can tee up in book one. That said, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s impossible to predict what release plan your publisher will pursue.

AV: I’m sure all of our video game nerds out there are dying to know how you got wrapped up in the Mass Effect: Nexus Rising collaboration alongside KC Alexander.

JH: It’s pretty straightforward. My UK publisher Titan had the Mass Effect license, and was looking for authors to do books for the new game. It came up when I met with them and, being a big fan of the game, I was very interested. But, I didn’t really have the schedule bandwidth to do it, so I suggested co-writing it with a friend as a way to ease the time crunch. K. C. didn’t even let me finish asking before she said yes.

AV: Having written video games in a previous life, did you find that helped, hindered, or didn’t really play a role in the process of creating Mass Effect: Nexus Rising?

JH: Didn’t really play a role. All it did was help me understand the realities of game development when they came to us after the book was written and told us of some changes to certain characters that would have to be worked into the book. I’ve been there, I get it.

AV: Tell us about the short story you co-wrote with Ramez Naam for Mech: Age of Steel. What sort of shenanigans should we come prepared for?

JH: We actually co-wrote two. One is about a kid in a far-future Atlanta who finds a wounded, incoherent Mech pilot and then finds the Mech he evacuated. The other is about a soldier fighting an AI controlled Mech. They’re both in the same universe, and we leave it up to the reader to decide if one takes place before the other.

AV: What’s next for Jason Hough? Any projects (more collaborations, perhaps?) squatting on the horizon?

JH: I’m currently working on adapting the Darwin Elevator (and series) for television. Early days yet but I’m enjoying working in a different medium. As for novels, I’m working on proposals for new books right now and hope to have news on that front soon.

AV: I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule, Jason. Before I release you back into the wild, I need to know, which of your books has your favorite cover? Personally, I’m torn between Zero World and Injection Burn.

JH: Oh, that’s a tough one. I’m torn between Escape Velocity and the German cover for Darwin City (the Darwin Elevator). They’re all great, though. I’ve been very lucky in that regard!

AV: And lastly, where can people find you if they want to follow along on your adventure?

JH: My website is at jasonhough.com, or look me up on Twitter @jasonmhough – I’m not super active there but hope to get more time for it once the kids are back in school. Thanks for the interview!

Big thanks to Jason Hough for his time and the many great stories he’s given the world.

Now it’s your turn, readers. Which Jason Hough story is your favorite? Haven’t read any of them yet? Well, go ahead and judge a book by its cover: Tell me which of Jason’s covers is your favorite. Sound off in the comments below!