Interview with V.S. McGrath

Vicki So is a Toronto-born Chinese-Canadian author known for her Devil’s Revolver series, written under the pen name V.S. McGrath. She has also published six contemporary romances as Vicki Essex and has over 15 years of experience in the book publishing industry. In 2017, she received a Writers’ Reserve grant from the Ontario Arts Council and has participated in various public events, including Toronto’s Word on the Street, where she also presented writing workshops. Her work, The Devil’s Revolver, was featured on Barnes & Noble’s Serial Reads program.

Where are you from and when did you first start writing?

I was born, bred, and continue to live in Toronto, Canada. My writing journey began in fan fiction, penning stories in the Avatar: the Last Airbender universe. My love of action and adventure informed a lot of my early style, but it was when I was writing my first contemporary romance novel, Her Son’s Hero, under the penname Vicki Essex that I really started understanding the craft of writing genre stories.

How did you first become interested in writing in the weird western genre? What drew you to this particular blend of genres?

I’d always wanted to write a fantasy novel, but I was tired of pseudo-feudal European-type settings. At the time, I was playing the video game Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar Games, and I was immersed. And I thought, why not set my heroine’s journey in the Wild West? It’s a setting many audiences are familiar with. Oddly, I wasn’t fully aware of the Weird West genre as a thing when I started writing, even though I’d come across other Weird West stories. It just felt like a natural fit to put magic and cowboys together.

Can you describe the defining characteristics of weird western fiction for those who might be unfamiliar with it?

Weird Westerns, to me, are a blended hybrid genre incorporating the settings, themes, tropes, archetypes, iconography and so on from Westerns with elements from fantasy, science fiction, horror, or spec fic. The tones range from dark and serious to fun and silly, and frequently fluctuate through that entire spectrum. 

How do you approach world-building in your weird western narratives? What are some key considerations when creating an alternate or fantastical version of the American West?

I started with the premise “History happened as it happened, but with magic.” It means that despite the existence of magical powers, the basic outcomes of major world conflicts and historical events are still the same as our reality, but the details might be more complex. Putting hard limits on the magic system was key to confining the effects of magic: no one can use magic to solve every problem in this world. I made it a limited resources that only a small percentage of the population could manipulate, then further narrowed the effects by creating a governing authority that imposed its own boundaries about what is allowed and morally acceptable. Arbitrary man-made rules with respect to magic create worlds within worlds.

At first, I thought it would make sense to have a single system of magic, but as I delved more and more into the magical cultural traditions of the many groups included in my story, I realized there could be problematic depictions, especially where Indigenous people were concerned. With the help of a sensitivity reader, Dr. Angela Jaime, I came to understand that magic is a real thing to many cultures today, and is practiced in many forms—through song, dance, prayer, meditation, medicine, and more. 

In order to decolonize magic, to take the system and science away from it, I had to probe the compulsion to institutionalize magic—that is, to seize and control a form of power from others—by being more critical of who gets a say in what is and not “proper” magic. The story of the West is about colonization, after all, and the story in The Devil’s Revolver series mirrors that violent seizure of power and resources. 

How do you balance historical accuracy with creative license when writing in the weird western genre?

It was a delicate balance. Ultimately, one hopes the reader understands the context: this is a fantasy. I can world-build all I want, but it doesn’t all end up on the page because it isn’t always fun to read, and my goal, personally, is to make you keep turning the page. I try to give my readers a lot of credit, too. Whatever head cannon people want to come up with in their imaginations to explain how or why something would or would not work is part of the joy of reading a fantasy series. 

When writing, do you find yourself pulling heavily from your own life, or do you find yourself trying to escape it and write something completely different?

My own life experiences and perceptions often bleed into certain characterizations and narrative. That’s what connecting with the reader is about: articulating universality in specificity. But when it comes to action and adventure and wildly fantastic situations, I try to let my characters lead me through their choices, and escape what I, Vicki, would personally do.

You used to write romance under the pen name Vicki Essex. What lessons did you learn writing romance that has transferred to the magical weird west?

Romance stories are character-driven stories that center on the protagonists’ internal emotional stakes. Understanding the goals, motivations and conflicts of your protagonists is vital to fueling the engine of your story. And this was key for The Devil’s Revolver. It’s no small thing for a young woman with no family and few resources in 1890 to declare vengeance on a bunch of outlaws, or to embark on the quest my heroine, Hettie Alabama, does against astronomical odds. Knowing who she was and why she does what she does meant I wasn’t relying solely on non-stop action to move the plot along. She takes an active role in her life, stubbornly making choices that drive her toward violence and danger and suffering. 

Is it comforting to write in such an esoteric genre, or do you feel the pressure of the “weird west” aficionados?

There’s always a little fear you’ll get it wrong, no matter what you write. I have very little background in American history, so I had to do a lot of research. I even went to a gun range to get a sense of how shooting firearms felt (and yes, I’m well-aware that modern day weapons are different from those in the 1890s). But ultimately, I’m not that concerned about the criticism of those who don’t grasp the idea of fiction as being made up. I’m here to tell a story that sweeps the reader away. If the reader is hung up on a detail that pulls them out of the narrative, that’s on me, but also, they have the choice to put the book down and read something else. I can’t be accountable to every single reader’s hang ups.

Can you share any insights into your creative process? How do you develop your characters and plotlines?

There are a lot of author tools I use to help build my ensembles and main characters, but generally, I write by the seat of my pants with a bare bones outline of beginning, middle and end. I know basically who the characters I need will be, what roles they fill and why they’re important to the plot, but how they got to be who they are, and how and why they respond in the ways they do… That’s the fun part of discovery. It’s like pulling action figures out and telling a story on the fly. You never know what you’ll learn about your characters and yourself when you give yourself a chance to play.

In a review by Donna Thorland, The Devil’s Revolver was referred to as a feminist western. Do you agree with the label and was creating a feminist western your goal?

Absolutely, and I’m very proud of that label. Hettie is a young woman living in a time when women and girls had very little in terms of rights, power or property. Hettie has to fight every step of the way against men who think they know what’s best for her, even when what she wants seems ill-advised. I made an effort to give all the women in the series lives separate from the men around them, even if it’s not all on the page. Giving women and female characters agency, rich backgrounds, goals, motivations, flaws, foibles, and generally treating them with the same thought and care as we give men and male characters is not hard to do, and I’d challenge anyone who says differently. 

Are there any particular authors or works within the weird western genre that have inspired or influenced your writing?

I mentioned the Red Dead Redemption video games: I was playing the first as I wrote the first book of the series, The Devil’s Revolver, and the second game, Red Dead Redemption 2, came out when the final book in my series, The Legend of Diablo, was published, so those helped inform me of many of the themes and details of the Wild West I wanted to explore. I loved Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Pretty Deadly graphic novel series, and of course, I give lots of nods to Charles Portis’s True Grit in my books. I watched a lot of Western films for research as well. Firefly remains one of my favorite TV shows, but not enough love goes out to Strange Empire, which aired on CBC. Wynonna Earp is also a terrific Weird Western show. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers interested in exploring the weird western genre?

No matter what genre you write in, I always give the same advice: just write, and finish what you start. You can’t edit nothing. As for writing Weird Westerns, I’d say the space is wide open for new takes, fresh voices and more. Just go for it.

What are you working on next?

I have several projects on the go, and a couple being shopped around. I’m currently writing a cozy sci-fi that I describe as Firefly, but as a food manga. I love mashing genres. I’m also hoping someone out there will pick up my screenplay for a TV series based on The Devil’s Revolver books. Know anyone who’d be interested? 😉