It’s safe to say that you’ve probably seen that I have an affinity towards Andrew Pyper’s novels. If you’re following my social media pages or casually asking me about books in real life, chances are an Andrew Pyper novel will make it’s way into the social media feed or conversation.
When I was in Toronto last year (hard to fathom it’s already almost a year ago!) Andrew shared some tidbits about his upcoming novel, his first under the pseudonym of Mason Coile. Originally under the secret title of ‘Daemon,’ it was actually announced in Publisher’s Weekly during the weekend I was out in Toronto, but at the time the details on when Mason’s identity would be revealed was unknown.
It was really intriguing to me, as a massive fan of Andrew’s work – he of the dozen bestselling novels, multiple film options and one of the biggest Audible releases in the last decade – that he was releasing something now, at this point in his career under a pseudonym and in a genre he’d not really dipped his toes into that far.
When ‘William’ was finally revealed, as well as with Mason being Andrew, the countdown began. When would ARC’s be available? How soon could I get my grubby paws on a copy, and just how awesome would it be? Even before digital ARC’s went live on Edelweiss and Netgalley, we got the news that there would be a sequel in 2025, titled ‘Exiles.’
After getting approved on Edelweiss for a digital copy, I tore through the novel that first weekend, then re-read it, soaking it in and really tried to get to the heart of this masterpiece Andrew had created.
You can read my full thoughts here – https://stevestredauthor.ca/2024/02/16/book-review-william-by-mason-coile/ – but I obviously wanted to see if Andrew would be up to an interview, and amazingly he was!
In the past, I’ve both been fan-boy-ish about my questions to Andrew (read: softball questions), and have also tried to push the questions a little bit. In this interview, I pushed harder than normal, and wouldn’t you know it, Andrew was selectively coy, partially vague, but did give a bit more in this interview than he has in previous interviews he’s done. So, for that I thank him!
Now, let’s get to the interview!
Steve: Is ‘William’ by Mason Coile a reinvention/rejuvenation of Andrew Pyper, the novelist?
Andrew: I like being two people. If I could be twenty people, that might be even better.
Steve: You mentioned that ‘Mason Coile’ specifically paid homage to your Irish roots and family. Did it take you long to come up with your pseudonym? Had you previously pondered potentially releasing a book under a pseudonym?
AP: I wanted a pseudonym that felt like my own name, but different. The goal was to not get too tricky or misleading about it. So even though Pyper is not exactly a common Irish name, neither is Coile, so I liked that about it. I also liked the suggestion of a coiled snake, something powerful and dangerous ready to strike.
I hadn’t really thought too hard about a pseudonym before ‘William,’ but once I was finished the manuscript I saw how it was distinct in interesting ways from my existing body of work. Sci-fi, told in almost “real time,” short. And the next ideas I was thinking about for novels also broadly fit these descriptors too. That’s when it occurred to me that maybe I was embarking on something new, something that could be considered a suite of stories to be presented under a new name.
Steve: When did the first formative bits of ‘William’ begin? I remember a few years back during a video chat we did, when I hosted a read-along for ‘The Guardians’ you mentioned you were working on a tech thriller. Our great friend, Randall Perry, had mentioned you’d read a ‘William’ short story at a reading. Did this begin as a short story?
AP: ‘William’ started as a short story which I sent out to a film producer I’d been in correspondence with for a while. He liked it, and from there I adapted the story into a screenplay. We shopped the project for a time, seeking a movie star attachment that never materialized. But I continued to believe in the story, I couldn’t let it go. That’s when I thought more about what the story could be and, over time, it eventually became a novel.
Steve: I’ve emailed you to kind of confirm my thoughts about this novel, which I shared in my review. There will, of course, be people who purely take this novel as a work of ‘just fiction.’ At what point did this novel become more than just a story? Did you find you had to be courageous and honest with yourself while writing it?
AP: I suppose there’s always something personal in every work of fiction. The degree to which this is the case varies in my own work, but this is only a rough estimation, because I do my best not to think about this aspect too much. I leave it to others to tease out the threads of biography that might exist in what I make up – I fear getting caught up in that spiderweb, or perhaps I fear what I might learn from the spider as it whispered in my ear. So, while I won’t deny the biographical overlaps you identified in your review, I’m hesitant to expand on them myself. Superstitious? In denial? Uncurious? Maybe I’m all of these. But I prefer to see the work in the most impersonal terms possible – keep the stories as stories.
Steve: The character of William itself seems to be an allusion to both technology and to the publishing world itself. Was William always the protagonist or were they a secondary character brought to larger prominence through subsequent drafts?
AP: William was always who he was. Protagonist? Antagonist? I’d say he’s more the latter, but of course, he’s a complicated being. He’s challenging as a character because he changes so significantly over the course of the story – he changes himself, pronounces himself, makes himself up as he goes along. This lies at the heart of my personal anxiety about technology itself: not what it is designed to do, but all the unanticipated things it ends up doing on its own.
Steve: Let’s discuss technology. This novel both embraces tech and rails against tech. We see what Henry built and developed, but also how the house has all these features to make life easier, and how Lily has these amazing glasses. Where do you sit when it comes to technology. You’ve spoken before in the past about disliking social media. But outside of that, are you a fan of technology and some of the exciting new shiny things? Or do you hate where things are going?
AP: Contemporary human beings – especially the smart ones, but the stupid ones too – are flawed by arrogance. We see this no more clearly than in the tech world, where brilliant engineers, financed by less-than-brilliant but powerful venture capitalists, make incredible things they either don’t consider the implications of, or don’t care. The tech world’s self-justification ends with “Look at this!” and then the companies get bought out by bigger companies and everyone walks away rich. It’s a world of making things that could destroy us and not giving a flying fuck as long as you’re the first to do it. It’s Oppenheimer times a million. And none of it is questioned, let alone regulated. In fact, most of us can’t wait to get our hands on it and act as the first voluntary lab rats. So, while I’m not fearful of technology in itself, I’m extremely fearful of human arrogance and thoughtlessness when married to technology.
Steve: And on that note, let’s discuss AI. Recently you shared that a number of your books had been illegally used to aid in the AI Chat programs (as did dozens and dozens of other authors). Do you see any benefits of AI?
AP: I see many benefits to AI if its uses are controlled, regulated, safe. What are the chances of that? None.
Steve: Henry is a unique main character. Awkward, intelligent, scared of the wide world. Was Henry a completely formed adaptation of yourself, or was it a case of further introspection that modified the character himself?
AP: For me, I need to find something at the core of my main character that I also find in myself in order to inhabit them. In the case of Henry, it was his obsession with his “project” – a robot for him, a book for me. And yes, while his case of agoraphobia is extreme, I certainly go out less these days than I used to. But it was Henry’s bafflement with the world that was an invention (I don’t know much, but I’m more familiar with people than he is). That’s where his sweetness lies, and also his tragic possibilities.
Steve: How much did the Covid pandemic influence this novel? Do you think if the pandemic hadn’t occurred, you’d still have written this novel?
AP: In a way, ‘William’ is a pandemic novel without a pandemic. There’s no virus, no masks, none of that. But it is about self-isolation, and ways of escaping it. Was I aware of that aspect of the novel as I was writing it? Not really. I was more fixated on the spiritual and conceptual questions the story raised – what is the nature of an A.I. afterlife? – than that. But there’s so much about the circumstances in which a novel is written that finds a way into the novel without my awareness that it’s inevitably the case that the “aboutness” comes as a surprise to me once it’s done.
Steve: Henry’s wife Lily is pregnant. Was her pregnancy a metaphorical concept around ‘a new story’ idea? As in, within a writer’s mind, there’s always something that is being born.
AP: Lily’s pregnancy, to me, represents less the idea of a gestating story than it does the organic, the fundamentally human. William is a mechanical creation. The house is enhanced in an assortment of computerized ways. Drones buzz by over the street outside. But Lily’s body is creating something that has nothing to do with that – which is why it sparks so much of William’s attention. He is becoming something new. So is Lily. And William is all about becoming.
Steve: Let’s talk about the agoraphobia aspect. Firstly, was that completely inspired by Covid? Did you yourself develop agoraphobia? You’ve been a professional writer, writing from home, for thirty years. When the pandemic hit, it essentially closed off the entire outside world to you. How did you manage that? Did you become more introverted? More intrinsic in nature? Or did you desire to be out in the wider world?
AP: I wouldn’t say the pandemic left me agoraphobic, but I did adapt to life at home in ways that definitely still linger, even if the rules have changed and the world opened up. I find that I don’t need the social as much as I used to, I just need a handful of good friends, and my kids to shuttle around, and collecting groceries on foot in my particular corner of the city. So yes, I’ve become more introverted. But I don’t feel closed off. It may simply be the inevitable consequence of getting older, moving deeply into my Dad Years, watching the world and loving the world but from a greater distance.
Steve: A sequel has been already announced for 2025, titled, ‘Exiles.’ We see that it has shifted further into the future and set on Mars. I know you won’t go too far into any plot points or any details, but was ‘William’ always considered book one with a sequel? Or was ‘Exiles’ born later on and it made sense to continue the story?
AP: I see ‘William’ and ‘Exiles’ as related but distinct. Both are brisk thrillers that deal with serious questions related to technology in what I hope are entertaining ways that don’t slow the fun down. The sci-fi thread in these stories arose quite organically, which is a bit odd, as I’ve never really been a big reader of sci-fi before. I come to the genre with excitement and innocence.
Steve: And lastly, is there anything you can share about a potential Oracle 3?
AP: Oracle 3 is coming! I honestly think that’s all I can say about it at this point.
*Steve note – in Andrew’s recent podcast appearance on The Stratford Slice, he confirmed that Oracle is currently being adapted for film, but didn’t share anything regarding Oracle 3.*
*****
I can’t thank Andrew enough for taking the time to answer these questions! I always appreciate his kindness and his willingness to answer questions regarding his work.
You can find all of Andrew’s work at his website;
http://www.andrewpyper.com/
‘William’ will be released on September 10th, 2024 and can be preordered below;
Universal link;
https://books2read.com/u/bz6NM2
Publisher link;
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/752545/william-by-mason-coile/
Steve Stred - The Official Website 