ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIAN M. GIBSON is a Canadian speculative fiction author, podcaster and illustrator (as well as occasional tattoo artist). He was born in Ontario, Canada, but grew up in British Columbia. He studied English Literature and has worked in music journalism, restaurants, tattoo studios, clothing stores and a bevy of odd jobs.
In 2021, he created the SFF Addicts podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow author M. J. Kuhn. The two host in-depth interviews with an array of science fiction and fantasy authors, as well as writing masterclasses. (But don’t worry, it’s not overly serious—there are also plenty of shenanigans to be had.)
Adrian has a not-so-casual obsession with mushrooms, relishes in the vastness of nature and is a self-proclaimed “child of the mountains.” He enjoys cooking, music, video games, politics and science, as well as reading fiction and comic books. He lives in Quito, Ecuador with his wife and sons.
Find Adrian online: website
Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we start, tell us a little about yourself.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with me! I’m a writer and artist, originally from the west coast of Canada and now living in Quito, Ecuador. I also created the SFF Addicts podcast, which I co-host alongside fellow author M.J. Kuhn.
Do you have a day job? If so, what is it?
I’m a stay-at-home dad of two young boys, and that’s my main gig. In my spare time I write, podcast and illustrate. I also do tattoos on occasion.
Who are some of your favorite writers, and why is their work important to you?
Two of my favorite writers are Jeff VanderMeer and Philip K. Dick. The former’s novel Annihilation made me want to be a professional writer, showing me the breadth of possibilities for what literature could achieve: rich prose, atmospheric settings, unnerving moods, captivating characters, evocative themes. Every one of VanderMeer’s books I’ve read since has been so memorable, but also challenging (in a good way). Philip K. Dick was also a very experimental writer, and he opened my eyes to how literature could twist our perceptions of reality and consciousness. Books don’t have to be easy or comfortable—to write or read.
What do you like most about the act of writing?
The freedom of it, where your imagination can run wild. I love taking those far-out ideas and refining them, molding them into a more tangible story. It’s at that point when limitless imagination has to confront the limits of writing craft, but I’ve found that boundaries don’t necessarily constrain creativity. For me, at least, it allows me to take big ideas and give them more meaning and potency within a narratively understandable framework.
Can you lead us through your creative process? What works and doesn’t work for you? How long do you need to finish a book?
My process is always evolving. Ideation happens in random spurts of inspiration that I then jot down in a notebook or on my phone. First drafts are the most difficult, and I have to really push myself to get through it. Whether that means writing on my phone, in a notebook, on my computer, wherever and however, whether that’s 5 minutes or 2 hours. After that, it’s revision and editing. I love that stage ‘cause you can really polish your work and make it shine beyond the messy turd of a first draft haha.
I’ve only written two books, the first of which took me 2 years and was extremely arduous. Mushroom Blues, on the other hand, took me just over a year from outline to publication. Hopefully I can start to refine that process as time goes on.
What made you decide to self-publish Mushroom Blues as opposed to traditional publishing?
My podcast haha. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to so many authors with various backgrounds, experiences and approaches to publishing. What I commonly found was that traditionally published authors had a lot of difficulty at each stage: querying an agent, getting rejections, submitting books to editors, getting rejections again, maybe, finally getting their book picked up and published. But even after all of that, many had been hung out to dry by their publishers in the sense that their advances or contracts weren’t ideal, they didn’t receive the marketing they were promised, they were never able to finish publishing a series, etc. The list goes on and on.
However, on the self-published side of things, the authors I’d met seemed to have pride in the control they were able to retain, and that appealed to me. I’ve been self-employed my whole adult life: as a music journalist, a tattoo artist, a podcaster and now a writer. Self-publishing fits my personality because I know what I want to do and how I want to achieve it, therefore I can choose my cover artist, do the cover and interior design myself, hire my ideal editor, market the book in experimental ways. The self-driven, entrepreneurial nature of it just suits me really well.
What’s your favorite and least favorite parts of self-publishing?
My favorite part is what I mentioned above, about the entrepreneurial/experimental nature of self-publishing. That’s also my least favorite part of it, because when things go wrong (and they always can), that all falls on me. It’s hard to own up to your own mistakes, whether that’s a messy book launch or formatting errors or what have you. But I’ve come to understand that each of those mistakes is an opportunity to learn and avoid that same mistake in the future.
It’s also hard for me to switch between “creative mode” and “marketing mode,” so there’s a fine line between how every self-pub author approaches their craft vs. sells their craft. I’ve had a rough confrontation with that since Mushroom Blues came out, and I’m only now finding a better balance between continuing to promote the book and working on the next thing.
Why did you enter SPFBO?
Because I could haha. I’ve followed the competition for years and decided to just give it a shot.
How would you describe the plot of Mushroom Blues if you had to do so in just one or two sentences?
A dead child washes ashore in the fungal metropolis of Neo Kinoko. Human homicide detective Henrietta Hofmann is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder, begrudgingly teaming up with mushroom-headed beat cop Koji Nameko in order to do so.
What was your initial inspiration for Mushroom Blues? How long have you been working on it? Has it evolved from its original idea?
Mushroom Blues is an extension of The Fungalverse, a shared fictional world that I created for the book I wrote before it. I spent years worldbuilding/illustrating, creating this magical world of mushroom people. I realized I’d spent so much time doing that, but ultimately there wasn’t an actual story there. So, I ditched the shallow story idea I had but kept the world, then began pulling in influences from my favorite genres, books, movies and TV shows.
The result of that was Spore City, which was my first book. The two years I spent drafting that burnt me out, so I took a “break” by working on something else: a free newsletter novella that I’d outlined while writing Spore City. That novella was a prequel to Spore City, a noir story comprised of 14 chapters. After going through the outline, I understood that a) I didn’t know how to properly outline when I first did it, because b) those 14 chapters turned into 40! I expanded that novella into a novel, drafted it in about 8 months and spent a few months editing it. Thus, Mushroom Blues was born, which is my love letter to the noir/police procedural/murder mystery genres.
What genre does it belong to?
It’s a noir murder mystery that blends science fiction and fantasy, but there are elements of urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and weird fiction in it. I also came up with a new subgenre for the book, called fungalpunk.
If you had to describe it in 3 adjectives, which would you choose?
Atmospheric, dark, emotional.
Is it part of the series or a standalone? If series, how many books have you planned for it?
ADRIAN: It is the first book in The Hofmann Report series, with four books planned. It’s also part of the broader Fungalverse, the shared fictional universe that I mentioned earlier.
Who are the key players in this story? Could you introduce us to Mushroom Blues’s protagonists/antagonists?
I’ll focus on the two main characters: Henrietta Hofmann and Koji Nameko. Henrietta is the POV character, with readers experiencing the story through her eyes. She is a human homicide detective who has been exiled to a city of fungal people, Neo Kinoko (for reasons that I won’t go into so as to avoid spoilers). She’s mycophobic, jaded, angry and racist towards the fungals. Despite this, there is good within her. Which is why her character arc deals with her opening up, coming to terms with the traumas and actions of her past, as well as beginning to empathize with the fungals whom she so carelessly discriminated against. I call it her journey of “awakening and acceptance.”
Then there’s Koji. He is a fungal, and the only one on the police force. He assists Henrietta as she investigates a murder, which puts their conflicting personalities, cultures, histories and beliefs in the spotlight. What I love about Koji is that he’s such a perfect foil for Henrietta, and he’s able to reveal the goodness in her bit by bit. On top of that, Koji has his own dark past (and present), as well as complicated familial dynamics that become central to the story.
Does your book feature a magic/magic system? If yes, can you describe it?
There is a magic system, of sorts, but not in the traditional sense. The fungal people in this world are able to communicate with each other via a fungal network, which acts as a form of biological brain-to-brian communication. They are also able to interact with and manipulate their fungal environment.
Have you written the book with a particular audience in mind?
I wrote it for myself, first and foremost, with the hope that it would be enjoyed/appreciated by fans of murder mysteries, police procedurals and weird fiction. In all honesty, my sense of a “target audience” was pretty hard to pinpoint until the book was released and readers started to pick it up.
What’s new or unique about your book that we don’t see much in speculative fiction these days?
Personally, I don’t think I’m doing anything particularly new, as I continue to draw inspiration from one of the most unique and strange subgenres out there: New Weird. This isn’t the first time there have been fungal people in fiction, nor is it the first time that noir/police procedurals have been blended with sci-fi/fantasy. I just told the story as honestly as I could, and it’s amazing that readers are connecting with it.
What I’m happy to see more of in spec fic these days are stories that aren’t afraid to broach hard topics and themes—this is something that I always try to capture in my work, too. Fantasy, sci-fi and horror are such perfect vehicles for exploring the human condition, psychology, trauma, memory, war, the unknown, the unspeakable. If we can’t deal with these difficulties in real life, then fiction can be our window into the subconscious. After all, stories have always been the best means for humans to understand themselves.
Cover art is always an important factor in book sales. Can you tell us about the idea behind the cover of Mushroom Blues and the artist?
I 100% agree that cover art is such an important factor in a book’s sales, presentation and perception, which is why I put a ton of effort into mine.
The artist is the talented Felix Ortiz, and we worked together to convey a) the main characters, Henrietta and Koji, as well as b) a snapshot of the setting, Neo Kinoko. My idea from the beginning was to have this strong sense of “who” and “where”, so that readers could get a clear vision of this story just by seeing the cover. I also wanted vivid colors and strong blues, to make the cover pop and stand out, whether someone saw it on Amazon or social media or on a shelf.
What are you currently working on that readers might be interested in learning more about, and when can we expect to see it released?
I mentioned earlier on about Spore City, the first book I wrote and put aside to write Mushroom Blues. I’m currently revising Spore City (more like tearing it apart haha), applying all the lessons I’ve learned over the past year-and-a-half to making this manuscript as good as possible. It will be released sometime in 2025, but no specific date yet.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all the questions. In closing, do you have any parting thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s read Mushroom Blues, or who will read it in the future. The fact that something I wrote resonates with people still blows my mind, so I’m grateful to anyone who takes the time to absorb my words.
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