Tag: Billy in Space

I talked about Harry L-B’s debut novel, Billy in Space, earlylier today, and am now very pleased to bring you this Q&A with the author!

Let’s start off by introducing yourself to the readers—talk about your background, path to publication, etc.
My background is in theater. Outside of my day job, I’ve spent the last ten years writing and performing on stage in small venues around Milwaukee. Before Billy in Space I hadn’t actually thought about writing a novel. Writing plays or sketches always felt easier, because they didn’t necessarily have to be that long, and the actors do half the work for you. Billy in Space was my first attempt at a novel during a NaNoWriMo, and I loved the world and story I created so much that I decided to try publishing it.

Before I dive into Billy in Space questions, do you want to plug your webseries? Where’d this project come from?
I would be happy to plug Space Station-19. SS-19 was a project born out of the pandemic. My partner and I were both stuck at home, feeling isolated and bored like everyone else. With all that time on my hands, I decided to turn those feelings into a funny cartoon about a couple of blue collar workers on the edge of space. I wanted to make something that I could produce on a regular schedule, so each episode was only about a minute long and reused the same set and props as much as it could. Right now the show is on an indefinite hiatus while I tie up some other projects, but I’m proud of the 80-ish episodes we have so far, and have plans for future installments down the road. If your readers are interested in a bite-sized mashup of early RedvsBlue and Futurama, they should check it out.

All authors have more ideas running around in their head than they can possibly develop—what was it about this idea that made you commit to writing it? Was this something that was originally intended for Space Station-19, but ended up needing to be told somewhere else? Or did you set out to do something in a new medium?
The idea for Billy in Space actually started out as a video game. It was originally a sort of 2D riff on Dead Space, but as more ideas about the world and story popped up, the more I wasn’t sure I could pull it off as a video game. As to how it relates to Space Station-19, Billy in Space was actually done way before SS-19. It was just my first novel, so taking it from first draft to something I’m comfortable with people reading took a very long time.

I like to find someone other than the protagonist to focus on in my Q&As, and I have to ask about Boris here. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I think he’ll be overlooked by most readers, who’ll fixate on Billy, Andy, Alice, and Janet. Do you actually know his backstory, or is it something you just kept inventing layers for when the opportunity arose? Have you thought about using him as a protagonist for something—or do you think he’s most effective (and funny) as a secondary character?
Boris is one of those characters that started out more as a device than a person, and slowly took shape as he had more interactions with the other characters. Some of my favorite characters in other media are the ones that the audience never really gets to know outside of the weird one-liners that paint a progressively weirder and weirder picture of their life outside the story. Because of that I don’t know that Boris can ever be a viewpoint character, since the comedy comes from that mystery, but that doesn’t mean he can’t grow and change. He could certainly be more of a focus, or even a protagonist if he shows up in later stories, we just probably won’t see the world through his eyes.

How do you approach humor in your stories? Do you work to maintain a balance between it and the action/tension? Does it come naturally? Do you have to come back on a later draft and insert or delete jokes to get it right?
I think every story should be at least ten percent comedy. Humans are naturally funny, oftentimes in reaction to difficult or even terrifying scenarios. Leaning into those natural human reactions, and heightening the stakes and absurdity of what those humans are reacting to is how you get to comedy. Or you can string some funny words together. That always makes me giggle.

It’s pretty clear that you’re into Science Fiction and humor—are there other genres you want to try in the future? Do you spend much time reading/watching other genres, or is SF primarily your thing?
If I had a favorite thing to write it would certainly be scifi-comedy, especially when it leans at least a little into space-horror. That being said, I do have another very early draft of a novel which is a riff on old adventure paperbacks, and I have had an idea for a more traditional fantasy novel that I’d like to get to one day. As for what I read, I am a sucker for most things with spaceships, but I also enjoy reading horror and fantasy. Bonus points for anything that also gets me to laugh.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I made up for these Q&As). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Billy in Space?
Billy in Space shares a genre with Will Save the Galaxy for Food, so if you enjoy Yahtzee Croshaw’s work, I bet you’d like it. I’d also compare it to Meddling Kids, for its mix of horror and humor. On the strictly scifi-horror side of things, if you liked the novels Dead Silence, The Luminous Dead, or any of the recent Alien novels I bet you’d enjoy it.

What’s next for Harry L-B, author? More novels, or are you thinking of trying a different medium next time?
I would like to get some more novels out there, specifically some that build on Billy in Space`, but up next might be a few video games. I was just at the Midwest Gaming Classic telling people about my first game, I Wouldn’t, a short, silly-horror escape room type game. After that, my next project will probably be a game that shares a world with Billy in Space and Space Station-19. I’ve started working on it, but it’s in its very early stages at this point, so nothing specific to say right now. If you’re at all curious, be sure to follow me on youtube (HarryLBonYoutube), as you’ll hear more about any of my upcoming projects there first.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for introducing me to Billy, Boris, and the rest. I had a great time hanging out with them.

Billy in Space by Harry L-B: The Most Benign Space Mission Conceivable Goes Horribly Awry

By HCNewton

On April 13, 2023

In Fiction, Science Fiction

Come back this afternoon for a Q&A with the author!

Billy in Space

by Harry L-B

DETAILS:
Publication Date: April 5, 2023
Format: eBook
Length: 223 pgs.
Read Date: March 23-24, 2023

“Sometimes things go so bad you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse. Then, it does. Because life is terrible.”

This is somewhat new territory for me—I’m generally pretty adept at talking about a book’s story/setup without getting into spoiler territory.* I’m not worried about spoiling plot points in this book—I’m worried about spoiling jokes. It’d be really easy for me to describe something here in a way that’s not particularly amusing and then when you get to the point in the book that’s supposed to tickle your funny bone, it’d lose its effect.

* Although an author or two have had different thoughts.

What’s Billy in Space About?

Billy had constantly lived his life in the shadow of Andy—brilliant, effortlessly cool, and genuinely a nice guy, and it grated on him. When it came time to decide on a career path, he swallowed a recruiter’s lines and volunteered to have the surgery to become telekinetic—visualizing a future as a member of a security team, using his abilities to combat injustice.

And instead, he became a “thought-lifter.” Basically, a human forklift working in a ship’s cargo hold. Thankfully, he was on the same ship as his one and only friend, so he wasn’t entirely miserable. Actually, he rather enjoyed his life, certain things would get better. “Billy was nothing if not delusionally optimistic.” He’s desperately outgoing, friendly, socially-inept, and earnest as the day is long.

After weeks of hesitating, and a final push by Andy, Billy asks out an attractive engineer—and is the victim of an industrial accident just as the date is about to start. And that’s the best part of the date. He wakes in a medical bay—the ship is on emergency power, and he can’t find anyone on board—he can find some discarded pieces of crew members, however. So he sets off to try to find anyone alive, find out what happened—and hopefully, find something to wear other than a hospital gown.

Oh, and then space pirates show up.

Boris

Boris could best be described as a man made from a carefully arranged stack of Russian cinder blocks.

Billy’s coworker—and fellow thought-lifter—Boris took a bit for me to warm up to. Initially, he seemed like a one-trick pony—he’s the gruff and laconic anti-Billy. He stands and says nothing, barely tolerating Billy’s attempts at conversation and bonding. Ha-ha, I get it. Can we move on now?

But the further we get into the book, Boris starts contributing in other ways—largely interacting with people who aren’t Billy. His character handles plenty of the action, but he’s also a guaranteed punch-line generator. With one sentence in any situation he can reveal a little about himself that is both incredibly apropos and ridiculous.

I’d compare him to Ron Swanson or Rosa Diaz—at least in the way he works in contrast to the other characters and what has to be a deadpan reaction to almost everything.

The Action Part of the Equation

Popular film and television painted an uncharitable picture of space pirates. In every depiction Billy had seen, they were a rude and nasty lot, their ships’ halls favored an abundance of red lighting, and someone onboard kept a cyborg parrot as a companion. The media was surprisingly accurate on most counts. Billy didn’t think abductions were particularly polite, and his eyes were having difficulty adjusting to a world painted in shades of crimson. He was disappointed by the lack of any cybernetic parrots, but kept his ears open for digital squawking.

Something I try to do when evaluating an action-comedy is to ask what it would be like without the comedy. Does the story hold up? It’s not a deal-breaker for me if the novel/show/movie needs the comedy, but if it can survive while being serious, I give it bonus points.

With a tweak to the purpose of the Space Cutie VII‘s mission (and the ship’s name), in addition to dropping the comedy and Billy in Space would work as a SF-Action tale—might even cross the line into SF-Horror. That says a lot about the plot, the story arcs, and the characters.

The comedy helps heighten the story—I think maybe even makes some of the tense moments more tense (this isn’t a comedy where bad things don’t happen), and the ridiculousness of the characters makes them more engaging. But the fact that the novel could hold up without the chuckles makes me care more about the outcome.

So, what did I think about Billy in Space?

Billy was born on Mars. He grew up on Mars. He went to Mars City High School, home of the Fighting Tunnel-Squids. Growing up, he had been fairly sure he was going to work on Mars, and eventually get eaten by a tunnel-squid on Mars, something that became more and more likely as Martian settlements spread into their natural habitats.

I had a lot of fun with this one, it’s a great mix of silly, SF, and action. Because everyone has to mention Hitchhiker’s Guide when mentioning humorous SF, the jacket copy for this does, too. I didn’t find it that THHGttG-ish, honestly. More of a Futurama (also mentioned in the description), or early Scalzi. Very Red Dwarf, too. Although, that’s something that too few would understand anymore. But for those of a certain age, Billy’s pal Andy is essentially what Ace Rimmer would’ve been had he gone into biology.

When things got hairy, I have to say that I was surprised at how dark the events got—I wasn’t put off by it, I just didn’t assume the light feel of the book up to that point would take such a left turn. But it worked so well. It’s hard to describe the blend of Alien-ish story with the goofiness of Billy and the others. Shaun of the Dead comes kind of close.

I chucked frequently, gasped in surprise at least once, and generally had a good time escaping into the world that Harry L-B created. This was a fun ride and I’d jump on another novel like this without hesitation—you should check it out!

3.5 Stars