But I kept coming back to it and wanting to do *my* version. So we built this plot outline together as a thought experiment, and he actually went ahead and wrote his version of it. He had the original idea of a kind of inverted ghost story, and we used it as a kind of convenient subject during conversation we were having about plot structure. My experience with it grew out of my work with Ty Franck, whoвЂ™s the other half of James SA Corey. For вЂњHurt Me,вЂќ what was the initiating scene, if there was one? If there wasnвЂ™t, what sparked this story?ДA: вЂњHurt MeвЂќ is only sort of my story. There are some decisions IвЂ™ve consciously made in my work to address moral issues about race, sex, and gender, but that particular one just happened.ДЄM: YouвЂ™ve mentioned in the past that many of your stories are germinated from a clear vision of one or several scenes youвЂ™d like to write, and from there the story develops. And as IвЂ™ve become a middle-aged man, I have to say the intellectual company of thoughtful, middle-aged women is one of my real pleasures in life. She was Amat Kyaan in A Shadow in Summer, and Chrisjen Avasarala in CalibanвЂ™s War, and Clara Kalliam in The Dagger and the Coin books. One of the actors IвЂ™ve got is this very powerful middle aged woman. Sometimes I think writers are kind of like theater troupes with a particular stable of actors that come to play particular roles. As epic fantasy can be so male-oriented, IвЂ™m curious: have you always gravitated toward peopling your fantasy fiction with lead female characters, or is it something youвЂ™ve consciously chosen to do over time?ДA: ItвЂ™s more something I discovered than something I chose. And since sheвЂ™s the only one whoвЂ™s totally in on the game, people have to misunderstand her.ДЄM: Cassie in вЂњHurt MeвЂќ is a complex, yet believable female character, and many of your books make certain that female characters arenвЂ™t all relegated to the вЂњIвЂ™ll wait for you until you returnвЂќ role. Apart from that, everything you get comes from third parties or the physical descriptions of whatвЂ™s happening. The narrator only steps in once at the beginning to tell you that the real estate agent (and by extension all the people trying to make sense of her) are wrong. So instead, we need informationвЂ“and misdirectionвЂ“to come in from other places. We see her, we hear her, we even know how her body feels to her, but if we were ever in her mind, the storyвЂ™s structure would collapse. The whole thing is tightly focused on the one character whose mind we never have direct access to. вЂњHurt MeвЂќ is one of the most technically difficult things IвЂ™ve ever written because the control of information in it is vicious. Could you talk a little about how you approached developing these subtler tensions (which in tandem add up to a crackling pressure almost as strong as the ghost in the house, itself)?ДANIEL ABRAHAM: Actually, that grows pretty-much organically out of the constraints of the story. While the dead husband is ostensibly the central villain, there are many conflicting players. Her mother provides guilty pressure, the neighbors quietly judge and watch, her new boyfriend-unintentionally, perhaps-provides pressure in the hopes of a better future, and her own memories haunt her and keep her from moving forward (thus the return to the house). As in real life, the physical removal of CorrieвЂ™s abusive husband (via murder) isnвЂ™t the end of her trials, nor her only trial. I think in part, one of the things that struck me about this particular tale was the complexity of emotional conflict. Corey, visit his website at A Shadow in SummerДЄPEX MAGAZINE: вЂњHurt MeвЂќ takes an original spin on what could have been just another vengeance story. In this issue of Apex Magazine, Daniel Abraham kindly shares his short story, вЂњHurt Me,вЂќ and spends some time with us discussing pseudonyms, leading ladies, juggling multiple projects, and even a bit about gaming. His novel Leviathan Wakes with Ty Franck was a finalist for the 2012 Hugo Award, and his shorter works have also garnered nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. His short fiction has appeared in venues such as AsimovвЂ™s Science Fiction Magazine, Realms of Fantasy, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, among many others. Hanover) to far-future science fiction (as James S.A. Over the past ten years, Daniel Abraham has published over a dozen novels, spanning epic fantasy (as himself) to urban fantasy (as M.L.N. Corey, and Daniel Abraham have in common? WellвЂ¦actually, they all shareвЂ“at least in partвЂ“the writing chops and creative mind of Daniel Abraham.

Daniel abraham