Dragon Soul Press took a moment to interview Alex Passey, an author featured in the Apocalypse anthology.

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1. Introduce yourself.
   • My name is Alex Passey, and I am a featured author in the Apocalypse anthology from
     Dragon Soul Press. I’m also the author of a pair of novels. One is a sci-fi story called
     Mirror’s Edge, and the other is a high fantasy tale called Shadow of the Desert Sun. I
     also wrote for the graphic novel Twilight of Echelon, which is slated to be published later
     this year. Besides fiction, I also write opinion pieces for the Winnipeg Free Press and
     book reviews for Broken Pencil Magazine. When I’m not writing or reading I’m typically
     spending time with my wife and daughters, preferably somewhere out in the Manitoba
     wilderness.
2. What prompted you to begin writing?
   • I’ve always loved reading. I devoured comics and Goosebumps books until I was old
     enough to discover Stephen King, and then read every single one of those I could get
     my hands on as well. But then when I was about 13 on a whim I picked up The Cleric
     Quintet by R.A. Salvatore at my school’s library. I fell in love with the world building of
     high fantasy and knew it was something I wanted to dedicate myself to. To hold up a
     mirror that somehow reflects the world back at itself, while also allowing us to escape at
     the same time. Ever since I’ve never been able to imagine a more worthwhile endeavor.
3. Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
   • My favourite is usually the project I’m currently working on. Despite being cognizant of
     how it works out every time, it’s hard to not get wrapped up in the creative process and
     convince yourself that this thing you’re currently doing is finally going to be the thing that
     perfectly expresses what you’re always trying to say as an artist. Even though you know
     you’ve felt that with every other project, and that ultimately when you step back and the
     glamour of whatever divine source you were channeling wears off, you will see that no
     matter how good it might be, it is still a cheap facsimile of that divinity.
     
     Anyway, if I’m looking back at projects which are not currently enrapturing me, despite
     being primarily a fiction writer, I do have a soft spot for my poems. I have one called
     Breakable that is about a man made of glass who thought he was a diamond. It’s a
     representation of my eldest daughter’s biological father, who we lost years ago due to
     mental illness which he insisted he could handle without seeking treatment. I don’t know
     that it’s my best work necessarily, but it’s certainly the one most reliable to still give me
     an emotional reaction even years later.
4. How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
   • Tough question, because I always have a number of things going, so it’s hard to pick just
     one to talk about. There is Twilight of Echelon, the upcoming comic book I wrote for with
     illustrator Robert Pasternak which should be coming out later this year. Then there is the
     sequel to my book Mirror’s Edge which should be entering the editing process soon.
     
     But as with my last answer, what I’m the most excited about is always the thing I’m
     currently working on, which is a whole new project called Lived Experience. It’s a
     speculative fiction set in the next century, where virtual reality tech has been perfected to
     the point where it is so immersive that one can entirely lose themselves and live a life as
     a different person, with no memory of their true self. The experience of this is condensed
     so that while a person might experience an entire lifetime inside the simulation, only a
     matter of minutes passes in the real world. Vast as the implications of this tech might be,
     its intellectual property rights belong only to a single institution; known as the Lyceum.
     Dubbing this machine the Empatholizer, the Lyceum utilizes the tech in an educational
     program that allows its wealthy, white and heterosexual participants to live out full lives
     as marginalized demographics throughout history. Thus, after living out lives as an
     Indigenous fur trader, a transgender woman in 2024, a neurodivergent girl in the 1960s,
     etc. they deem themselves so educated in the intersectional experience that they are
     justified in passing sweeping reforms in how we structure society in regards to race,
     gender and sexuality. They can claim their knowledge of ultimate diversity shows them
     alone the wisdom of a new hierarchy of segregation and oppression, which they have
     thrust upon society at large, fortifying a new “pure” empire known as the Amerium.
     
     I really love writing stories about persevering in a bleak world, and this might be the
     bleakest one I’ve created yet. So I’m pretty excited about it.
5. What is your writing process like?
   • The writing itself is very routine. Wake up, have breakfast and the rest of the day is on
     hold until I get my writing done. I think it’s so important to just make it habitual, as
     immutable as sleeping and eating. That’s the best way to make the practice itself simply
     second nature. We also just recently got a new kitten named Lando who loves to curl up
     beside my head as I write. He is there right now, purring very loudly.
     
     But as for inspiration, that almost never strikes when I’m actually sitting down in front of
     my laptop. My phone is full of voice and text notes to myself that I make throughout the
     day when ideas strike. Really, the writing itself is mostly just organizing and structuring
     the chaotic jumble of notes I send to myself while I’m out walking or doing the dishes or
     some other such monotonous task that lays the groundwork for an idle mind to create
     something exciting.
6. Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
   • Another impossible question to narrow down. On the science fiction front I’ve been
     reading the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons lately and absolutely loving it. I’m having
     trouble thinking of anything better. I also loved Margaret Killjoy’s We Won’t Be Here
     Tomorrow. As for fantasy, The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks comes immediately to
     mind. Though I loved his Lightbringer series as well. For horror I recently read The Troop
     by Nick Cutter and that definitely became an immediate favourite. When it comes to the
     literary, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson will always have a spot in my heart. And I
     loved No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. I can get pretty carried away
     going down this rabbit hole, so I’ll put a stop to it there.
7. What is one goal you have for your writing future?
   • Besides making enough money at writing to quit my day job and write full time? Actually,
     even more important than that, I would love it if my writing could change the way people
     interact with the world. Whether it be from writing something socially insightful like
     Huxley’s Brave New World, or writing something subversive like the gonzo journalism of
     Hunter Thompson, the most important thing to me is trying to help people see the world
     from angles they hadn’t before considered, and maybe even conceive of how things
     could be changed for the better.
8. What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
   • I hope to provide the reader with the same thing that my favourite books provide me. It’s
     kind of a neat little paradox, the way a great book can provide us escapism while also
     allowing us to engage with the world on a deeper level. To transport us elsewhere while
     also granting us new insight into the world we’ve left behind. The perfect blend of
     cathartic detachment and educational engagement; that’s what I want to give to my
     readers.
9. Where can readers learn more about you?
   • I have an author page that I am currently working on reviving.
     Here is my Twitter, where I occasionally remember to post links to my opinion columns
     in the Winnipeg Free Press.
     Here is my Instagram if you want to see my new cat, Lando.
     And if buying books through Amazon is your thing, you can find them here. Though feel
     to seek them out elsewhere.