Interview with A.R. McNevin, Author of The Way of the Quantamancer (Part 1)

20 Mar 2024

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Way of the Quantamancer (Part 1)?

I don’t want to say. I’m very much a “death of the author” kind of writer (and reader). The reader gets to interpret the text, to hopefully find something in the text they can connect to. I have my intention and my own reading of the narrative, of course, but at this point in the series, it is hopefully not definitive. Perhaps once the series is done, which is a few books away, once all/most of the answers are known and the secrets have been revealed, my full intent will be known, but until then… the reader gets to decide.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Way of the Quantamancer (Part 1), what would they be?

Interestingly, the narrator of the story is a wandering bard. Each of the chapters begins with a misremembered song from modernity, with the lyrics changed to suit the situation/theme/motif of that chapter. Each chapter is focused on one of the four main characters. So, while I wouldn’t have a theme song for them, per se, they are well scored. (I do have the funereal songs in mind for each of them, however)

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

To read; genre doesn’t matter to me; the story does. Especially SF – and to a slightly lesser extent fantasy – they require another genre to be complete. SF/Fantasy tend toward settings, while the other genres tend toward plot. I would like to write in an SF setting, but at the moment, almost all of my open projects are set in fantastical worlds.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

A lot of TTRP books – Vaesen, DIE, the DUNE RPG, Wretched Epoch – good RP books are made to inspire. For novels, Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and a few of the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks when I dare to grant myself a writing break.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

My favorite types of scenes to write are the revelation scenes; the “this is what’s been happening all along” moments. It’s in those moments when you get to give the reader a peek behind the curtain. Hopefully, you’ve done a good enough job in layering the facts and innuendo, that some of the reader’s questions are answered and more are created. If you’ve done a good enough job, the mystery is maintained, the pressure valve is opened just a bit, and the reader’s own interpretation of the narrative grows.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

None that I know of…

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I tend to read lists of “writing rules” and then break as many as possible. While there will be one or two, here and there, which tend towards the universal, the vast, vast, VAST majority of them are specific to that writer’s style.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

Part 2 comes out in June 2024!

A.R. McNevin is the author of the new book The Way of the Quantamancer (Part 1).

Connect with A.R. McNevin