A Q&A with Tripp Ainsworth, Author of The Spokepit Fairytale Series.
Tripp, thanks so much for being willing to share something of yourself. I think people will enjoy getting to know you a little better.
What made you decide to sit down and start writing the Smokepit Fairytales? What made you say to yourself "this is what I want to do"?
For years I had ideas in my head about stories, and aspirations to write. AT some point I started carrying around a little black moleskin book and started taking notes of humorous stories or situations I came across or heard. In 2015 I was on the USS Bonhomme Richard with the 31stMEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) out of Okinawa and having all but filled up that little black book, I started transferring the notes to a word document on my laptop. I hadn’t really anything to do on ship, and the idea sparked to flesh out the notes into a series of short stories, which is where I got the name Smokepit Fairytales. I didn’t get around to making all them what they were before I decided that it would be more entertaining to make it pure fiction and have all those scenarios happen to a small group of characters instead of unconnected individuals. In the end I ended up writing the first two books back to back on that deployment.
Is there a genre you don't write in that you are a fan of, that you might consider writing in one day? If so, which one?
I’m not a huge fan of romance novels. It’s not that I don’t like romantic things, or soft core porn (That most love novels are), but their tone irks me, and the authors more often than not, don’t make the story enjoyable. That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty of romance, and graphic sexual encounters in my work, but to dedicate a whole novel to it seems a bit much. My fourth novel kind of takes a jab at that. Chainsmoke Your Problems Away could almost be defined as an anti-romance novel. Half of the story is focused on a failing relationship, but the other half id space-naval-warfare, and barracks life on Mars.
Who are some of your favorite writers? Either inspirational or just for entertainment?
Ernst Junger and Robert Heinlein are the two that immediately come to mind. Junger started with memoirs about his time on the western front in the first world war and then transitioned to writing science fiction later in life. Heinlein is almost exclusively science fiction.
I've always heard the expression write what you know. How much of you is in Smokepit?
All of everything anyone writes is 100% the author. While they might be based on someone in real life, every character ever written is in some way shape or form a reflection of who wrote them. There’s no way of getting around that, only hiding it. That being said, almost all of the situations my characters have gone through are things that either my friends and I have done, or are handled in a way that I think me or my friends would handle it. Like, I’ve never been tied up and assaulted while my friends were ritually sacrificed to dark spirits, but my characters reacted how I think the people I know in real life would.
There are some really crazy scenes throughout the books. How much of your real life experience is in them? Not just the combat, but stuff like the barracks “accident”. Is that something that really happened, not necessarily to you, but on post? Or did you just think up something just over the top and run with it?
A good chunk has happened directly to either me or someone I know, however a lot of it’s fiction. One of the ways I get ideas is by hearing a story, watching a movie, or reading a book and thinking a situation is dull and could be improved by a certain thing happening. I’ll take that situation form whatever it was then add my spin of the interesting thing happening.
I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout the books. Were these things you started while you were still on active duty, or something you drew specifically for these books?
The illustrations in the books were made specifically for the books. I also use them as almost a writing guide sometimes. If I’m not sure what I want to happen in a scene, or how things should “look” to the reader, I’ll often draw out the scenario then base the writing on what ended up being drawn.
I know this questions might be controversial, but are there any trends in current Sci-fi and Fantasy you aren't a big fan of? And conversely, trends you are really into.
Not with the trend themselves, but the band wagoning. Someone might come out with a good sci-fi idea that really hits home, but it can be completely ruined by Hollywood making 50 carbon copies of the plot and saturating the market.
Finally, so where do you see the series going? Any finite plans for series completion?
Smokepit Fairytales is half over. I plan to have 12 books in the series and cap it off. Then from there I do have other series and stand alone books I plan to write. Though so far they’re all in the same universe. I want to write a book about Elcair after Russia, “In the Mood’s” Pilot from St Petersburg, Jorge McKenzie after Six Pistols and a Dagger, and I have a whole series planned for the Virescents who left earth.
Again, thanks for sharing a bit of yourself with the rest of us. Hopefully, we'll have more entries in the series for years to come.
For anyone interested in learning more about Tripp, or checking out his books, which I highly recommend, here is the link to Tripp's Amazon author page, as well as his social media links.
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