Interview:

Hi Adrian! Thank you for taking the time to sit for this interview. I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed Mushroom Blues, it’s an incredible debut. For our readers, can you sum up the plot or vibe of your novel so they know what to expect?

ADRIAN: Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed the book, and it’s a pleasure to chat with you.

Mushroom Blues is a fungalpunk noir police procedural, and the first book in both The Hofmann Report series and The Fungalverse shared fictional universe. It follows Henrietta Hofmann, a human homicide detective, as she navigates the Hōpponese capital city of Neo Kinoko to solve the murder of a fungal child. The fungals are a hybrid race of humans that long ago merged symbiotically with fungi, so they have mushroom caps on their heads, mycelium that grows from their bodies, and they communicate empathically via a mycological network. Henrietta is disgusted by fungi and her people are racist towards the Hōpponese, so this case tests her in a lot of ways—especially when she is forced to team up with a fungal cop named Koji Nameko to find the killer. 

Vibes and atmosphere are huge for me, so anyone familiar with the works of Jeff VanderMeer (think Annihilation and Finch) or China Miéville (Perdido Street Station and The City and the City) will feel right at home here.

When did your interest/passion for mushrooms start? What in particular is so fascinating about fungi to you?

ADRIAN: I’ve loved fungi for much of my life—it started when I was a kid, growing up on the west coast of Canada (British Columbia). The temperate rainforests there are full of lush vegetation and dense undergrowth, so, paired with a lot of rainfall, the conditions are ripe for mushrooms. I would always stumble across them while playing in the forest, turning over logs to search for insects and whatnot. What always appealed to me was how visually varied the fungi were, their bright colors and strange shapes, but also the sheer alienness of them. 

As I got older, I spent more time learning about fungi as organisms, both in school and on my own time. I read books on fungi, whether it was about their biology, functions and relationships within ecosystems, or foraging and cooking. Whatever I could get my hands on, I devoured and taught myself. Psychedelics also came into play when I was in university, so I’m fascinated by the spiritual/healing powers of mushrooms, as well as the incredible means by which these substances can alter our consciousnesses and senses of reality.

What influences or inspiration did you have for Mushroom Blues, literary or otherwise?

ADRIAN: I mentioned Jeff VanderMeer and China Miéville earlier. The whole New Weird movement was extremely influential on me, as well as precursors to that subgenre like Philip K. Dick and writers from the Beat Generation. Annihilation in particular affected me so deeply, as I’d never had such a powerful reading experience before. That novel evoked a whole range of emotions, but in particular it made me feel discomfort in very visceral ways. Rather than turning me off of the book, that discomfort drove my curiosity and pulled me deeper into the sublime possibilities of literature and storytelling. 

Beyond books, I’ve also had a longtime addiction to crime thrillers, murder mysteries, and police procedurals. I brought in a lot of the familiar tropes and beats from books in those genres, as well as shows and movies like True Detective, Se7en, Mindhunter, Twin Peaks, Blade Runner, and more. The Last of Us video games were also a masterclass in atmosphere, body horror, and mood, so that disturbing fungal imagery played a big role in how I imagined a lot of the scenes in Mushroom Blues. 

How did you manage to balance such complex worldbuilding while also threading together a mystery? Was there a difference between building a world vs. building a mystery?

ADRIAN: A friend of mine called it “microdose worldbuilding” after beta reading Mushroom Blues haha. I really like that phrasing, as it encapsulates everything I was trying to do with my worldbuilding: immersion, complexity, layering. I’m not a big fan of weighty exposition, so I managed to squeeze all of that world stuff into dialogue, character actions and interactions, the personal histories of different characters, racial/cultural dynamics, etc. It’s like layering your world as you would a cake—you do it such that readers don’t consciously notice, but they absorb far more information (or flavors) than they realize.

Pairing this with mystery elements wasn’t done in an intentional way, though. But after writing the book and talking to friends I realized: the police procedural/murder mystery actually provided a framework of familiarity for readers (i.e. beats and story structures they recognized). The benefit was that the framework did a lot of the heavy lifting, allowing me to more effectively microdose the worldbuilding without it feeling cumbersome or awkward or too weird at the wrong time. The familiar and the strange ended up performing this beautiful, synchronized dance where they wove together naturally—the worldbuilding and the mystery building were deeply intertwined, and there was little difference between “How do I deliver this piece of worldbuilding information at the right time?” versus “How do I deliver this clue about the mystery at the right time?” In the end, they informed each other so much that finding the “balance” became intuitive.

Has your experience traveling and moving to another country influenced or informed your writing, and in what ways?

ADRIAN: Traveling and living abroad have been some of the best choices I’ve made in my life. So far, I’ve lived on three continents and visited five, and everywhere I go I embrace the fact that we’re all human. Regardless of where we come from—our cultures, histories, influences, etc.—our lives boil down to similar needs and desires, hopes and dreams. Not only that, but the magical awkwardness of going to a new place where you don’t speak the language, trying to navigate communication and unfamiliarity, it’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. 

I think those experiences of strangeness, newness, adaptability, and anarchy, they’ve all coalesced in my mind and affected how I write and what I write about. So much of my writing is about human nature: how cultures clash or commingle, how languages develop and shape us, the repetitions of history, the interplays between religions, governments, and other monolithic institutions, the tragedies of war and natural disasters. Ultimately, I use my writing to try and figure these things out for myself, whether it delves into the darkest or brightest corners of what it means to be human.

Why did you decide to self-publish? What are the positive and negative aspects a new author should expect from self-publishing?

ADRIAN: I was originally going to go the traditional publishing route, but through doing my podcast, SFF Addicts, I was slowly but surely dissuaded after hearing the struggles so many authors have gone through. (Side note: there are plenty of positive stories to match the horror stories of traditional publishing.) When it comes down to it, self-publishing is just a better fit for me. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life being self-employed, whether as a music journalist, a tattoo artist, or a podcaster. Self-publishing fell neatly into that mold, where I could assume multiple roles at the same time: entrepreneur/small business owner, art director, graphic designer, marketer, publicist, formatter. 

All of that, on top of the writing itself. I kinda love it though, cause I’m a control freak when I have a specific vision for a thing, so I was able to execute Mushroom Blues exactly the way I’d envisioned. Going forward, I’m very content to wear all these hats, ‘cause I know I can do each of them well. On the other hand, if I were to be offered a traditional publishing deal, I wouldn’t say no. In my opinion, hybrid publishing is the way of the future for this industry.

Can you speak a bit about the design work done for Mushroom Blues? The physical copy is stunning and the various features make the reading experience fuller. Was a complex exterior and interior design always planned?

ADRIAN: Building on my answer to the last question, I had a vision of what I wanted Mushroom Blues to be, both as a story and a product. I’m a stickler when it comes to presenting things to the world as best as you possibly can, because what’s the point of putting your story out into the world if the packaging is garbage? The quality of the package needs to reflect the quality of the story, so I knew from the get-go that self-publishing would allow me to take the design aspect a step further than the average. 

With my background as an illustrator and graphic designer, I was able to take something as simple as a “title page” and make it really pop. I did that for pretty much every aspect of the book, from the typography on the cover, to the map and glossary, to the interior images that appear within the narrative. Plus, mushrooms are just so cool and weird, so it added a lot to the immersiveness of the reading experience to literally show the reader some crazy mold or fungi or spores. For me, a regular edition of a book should feel as close to a special edition as it possibly can.

How were you able to balance writing a debut novel with other projects, such as your podcast, and family life?

ADRIAN: That’s the hardest part of the whole thing. Family life takes precedence, and I had to remind myself that again and again while writing Mushroom Blues. I’ve got two young sons, so they didn’t (and still don’t) allow me or my wife much breathing room when they’re awake. I took advantage of evenings, when my sons would be asleep (which is when I also do the majority of my podcast recording/editing). Or nap times. Or five minutes when they were busy playing in the backyard. Basically, I had a fair few late nights, a couple of all-nighters, and I accrued a lot of writing time in minute chunks that built up into the shape of a novel over months and months. 

I also learned to write in whatever form best suited any given situation. Life rarely offered me the “golden opportunity” of 2-4 solid hours of complete solitude, so I wrote on my phone, in a notebook, on my laptop, on my iPad. Waiting for the muse is a bullshit idea in general, and even more so if your life is a constant stream of familial distractions and responsibilities. Write when you can, wherever and however you can.

In what ways did your background in music journalism influence Mushroom Blues? Music was important to multiple characters in the book and there is even a playlist included at the end. Did you always plan to make music a prominent element of the novel, or did it come naturally?

ADRIAN: Music is one of my many loves, and much like mushrooms it’s something that seeps into a lot of my writing. In the case of Mushroom Blues, I had a scene where Henrietta was in her car with Koji and I wanted music to be playing. I elaborated on that by picking the technology (in this case, cassette tapes), then elaborated further by creating a genre of music (Pilzrock, akin to the real Krautrock), which then developed its own backstory. The Pilzrock cassettes ended up being a really personal part of Henrietta’s history and character arc, as well as a symbol for her growing friendship with Koji. There’s also a scene that I’d planned early on set in an underground jazz bar, and the way that scene informed the trajectory of the book was beyond what I’d imagined. It also spawned one of my favorite characters, Ryo.

So, I’d known from the beginning that Mushroom Blues’ narrative would feature music to some capacity. (Hell, the title of the book comes from the blues genre of music.) But I took it a step further and created a) a Spotify playlist for the book, with one song to match each chapter, and b) an original soundtrack composed and produced by two of my friends in Sweden (who go by the name Sporer). They even made the whole thing extra meta by releasing the soundtrack on physical cassette tapes!

How does writing as an art form differ from being a tattoo artist? Did you find that one or the other is a better creative outlet?

ADRIAN: Writing is so much less consequential hahaha. There’s a permanence to tattooing that is stressful and unforgiving, since you’re putting ink into someone’s skin that will stay there for the rest of their life (whether the end result looks amazing or shit). There’s also a health component to tattooing that adds more anxiety, where you have to be super careful about hygiene, cross-contamination, and things like that. It’s the part of the job that’s more akin to nursing/medicine than art. But as an art form, tattooing is truly beautiful. It almost takes on a spiritual significance for me, where the level of intimacy and connection between myself and the person getting tattooed is so powerful—it goes beyond normal levels of human interaction. And when that tattoo turns out exactly as I’d hoped, seeing the elation on the client’s face is worth the stress, every time.

Writing, on the other hand, is more solitary and the gratification/connection doesn’t feel as tangible. It’s incredible to see readers around the world picking up my book, but there’s still a huge disconnect there. On a more positive note, writing is a more carefree form of expression for me. It’s drawn out over a long period of time, there’s room for deeper thematic and craft exploration, and it challenges me intellectually. In that sense, I feel like writing makes me smarter and more empathetic, whereas tattooing makes me feel more alive and connected to people. They both have their pros and cons, and I appreciate that I can practice both.

You also have a highly successful podcast, SFF Addicts, with fellow author M. J. Kuhn. Has running a podcast given you any opportunities as a new author, whether through networking or insight from interviews? 

ADRIAN: Oh, 100%! The podcast has set me up better than I ever could’ve imagined, especially for a self-published debut. I started SFF Addicts to learn as much as I could about writing, and it continues to serve its purpose in that regard—above and beyond my original goals. On top of that, I’ve learned so much about publishing, marketing, editing, and more. Through the connections I’ve made via the podcast, I found friends for life, authors who were willing to blurb my book, beta readers, my cover artist, my editor, and more. Beyond that, I’ve gotten to know a ton of folks in the podcasting/booktube/blogging space who were willing to interview me or help promote my work with guest posts, reveals, promos, reviews, etc. for the Mushroom Blues book tour.

Simply put, you can’t put a price tag on getting involved in the SFF community, putting time and effort into forming meaningful connections, reaching out to people (whether you know them or not), and taking chances that could lead to your book getting in front of one more reader.

What is your favorite mushroom and why?

ADRIAN: One of my favorites is the burn morel mushrooms, because of how they are created, how they look, and how they taste. First, creation: burn morels live in symbiosis with conifer trees in what’s called a mycorrhizal relationship, but even more fascinating in that the mushrooms themselves only fruit after significant forest fires. So, once the trees are reduced to char, the mycelium beneath the ground consumes the decomposing organic material, and the mushrooms sprout to spread their spores. It’s a literal example of life from death. Second, look: they have bulbous, oblong bodies with porous grooves, making them look almost like alien brains. Just visually eerie and enthralling at the same time. Third, taste: after foraging, you can cook morels in various ways. My favorite is to pan-fry them with butter, garlic, and salt, that way they retain as much of their mild smokiness and nutty flavor as possible. Serve that with some shaved almonds on top next to a nice cut of meat, and you’re ready for a delicious meal .

Do you have any exciting new projects you’d like to let readers know about?

ADRIAN: I’ve got quite a lot coming in the next year, including Spore City, the first book in a new Fungalverse trilogy, as well as the sequel to Mushroom Blues. I also have a Koji-centric short story coming soon, which will be released for free when you sign up for my newsletter. On top of that, I’m wrapping up a short story that will release as part of an anthology. That one is set in northern Hōppon, but a couple thousand years before the events of Mushroom Blues. 

Any last thoughts or comments you’d like to leave with the audience? Shows, books, video games, etc to recommend?

ADRIAN: I’ll recommend a show, a book, and a video game. Silo is an excellent television adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novel Wool, and it does what the best adaptations do: it respects the source material but also understands when it needs to make changes based on the medium. For a book, I want to recommend Dan Hanks’ The Way Up is Death. It doesn’t release until January (I read it for blurb), but it was easily one of my top 5 reads of the year. Such a surreal fever dream that delves into the human psyche. For a video game, if you’re a fan of Star Wars and aren’t satisfied by the pretty mediocre output re: TV and movies, then I highly encourage you to check out Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel Survivor. These are fantastic games in terms of solid controls/mechanics/combat, explorable environments, and stunning graphics, but the narratives are some of the best examples of what modern Star Wars can do.

Adrian M. Gibson is a Canadian SFF author, podcaster and illustrator (as well as occasional tattoo artist). He is the creator of 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. He lives in Quito, Ecuador with his family.

His debut novel is Mushroom Blues, which released in March 2024.