Today, I have author Andy Siege in the interview chair. We’re discussing his latest release Vinny, part of the Divergency series, an LGBTQ+ sci-fi, dystopian novella.
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1. Hi, Andy. First off, readers have an idea of the writer you but what about the every day? Can you share about your personal life?
Andy: Hi! I spend a lot of time in cafes, talking to people, drinking coffee. I find that I get the most inspiration from socialising. I also go to bed quite early and am awake at about 6am every morning. Because of my mental illness, I don’t spend time in large crowds and I don’t travel very far outside of my neighbourhood.
2. I’ve been perusing your Goodreads page and see you write whatever you fancy. What stops you from sticking to one genre?
Andy: I really love SciFi, and most of my books are Queer SciFi books, but sometimes I experiment with different genres. I have one book out called Rastaman, which evolved out of my experiences with Rastafarianism in Ethiopia. Before falling ill, I used to travel a lot all around the world, and I try to write about all of my experiences. One of my upcoming projects is a book about FilmFestivals, as I used to be a filmmaker.
3. Your latest release is Vinny. Can you tell me what inspired you to create this novella?
Andy: I was suffering from a mental relapse. I’m a paranoid schizophrenic, which is something that I struggle with every day. A little while ago I regressed a little and became scared of loud noises and people again. Writing Vinny helped me through that difficult time. Vincent VanGogh was himself also mentally ill, so researching him and trying to figure out his story, was extremely therapeutic.
4. Can you share your writing process through Vinny?
Andy: When writing Vinny I did a lot of research on the original Vincent VanGogh, but I also put a lot of my own experience with mental illness into the book. While writing, I felt an incredible kinship with the main character, as if I was really getting to know him. Setting Vinny free, helped me through a very difficult time and helped set me free too.
I myself used to be a filmmaker, but had to give that up when I became mentally ill. But then I realized that writing books is way more my thing anyways. Films are expensive to produce, but books don’t cost anything to write.
5. Let’s talk about the main character. What do you love most about Vinny and what makes you want to shake him?
Andy: I love that Vinny doesn’t stop hoping, doesn’t stop fighting. Despite all the hurt he experiences, he just wants to express himself musically. What makes me want to shake the original Vincent, is that he doesn’t allow himself to love other men. He cares too much about societies pressures to enter into a relationship with his doctor (Peyron).
6. You chose three pairings for this novella. Why three?
Andy: I prefer to write about Queer relationships in my work. Although I enjoy books with hetero characters too of course, I just don’t find hetero relationships to be very romantic. Queer relationships have more drama, more obstacles to overcome. Vinny is bisexual, and his lover Lily, realizes that she is a trans man. Boom, so much more interesting than a hetero love story.
7. Without giving away any spoilers, what was your favourite scene to write?
Andy: I quite liked the romantic scene between Vincent VanGogh and his psychiatrist Dr. Peyron. That scene is so bittersweet and poetic. I love writing about love.
8. What makes Vinny different from other sci-fi, dystopian novels?
Andy: Vinny is a hybrid beast. The book isn’t just sci-fi and dystopian, it also has horror aspects and it is definitely a literary novel as well. Without patting myself on the back too much, the storytelling is of high quality and the morals and themes are very nuanced. I don’t follow a romance, or scifi plotline with this book, but instead created my own rules for telling the story.
9. If a reader asked you why they should read Vinny, what would you tell them?
Andy: I would tell any reader that they should read Vinny for two reasons. Firstly, the book has the power to empower people to be who they truly are. Secondly, this book will open your mind to new possibilities of storytelling.
10. I enjoy doing random questions, so humour me:
What’s your favourite movie?
The Lion King!
What book is currently in your e-reader?
A little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
Who’s your favourite musical group?
At the moment I enjoy various Japanese Hip Hop artists.
What song puts a smile on your face?
My Way, by Frank Sinatra
11. What can we expect from you in the future?
Andy: I am currently working on a Queer SciFi trilogy called “The Biopunk Trilogy”. I’m about halfway done the second book already!
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Title: VINNY
Series: Divergency
Author: Andy Siege
Pairing: MM, MF, MT
Tense/POV: A mix of tenses: first/third/present/past/single
Genres: Sci-Fi/Futuristic/Dystopian
Tropes: Forbidden love, friends to lovers
Themes: Coming out, bisexual awakening, trans awakening
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 40 000 words/180 pages
Release Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: UpLit Press
A sci-fi novella about Vincent van Gogh’s queer clone.
Blurb: 1888: A young prostitute opens a gift from a painter and discovers van Gogh’s bloody ear.
2042: The inventor of gene-tweaking buys a desiccated ear which he believes holds the key to bottling human genius.
Vinny lives on an isolated island and paints. Scientists watch him, waiting to see if his artistic genius or his latent schizophrenia will manifest first. He’s been cloned to be an artist; he’s surrounded only by things that stimulate his art. Until he discovers rock and roll…
The island is full of secrets. Vinny is hiding a guitar cut out of paper. His surrogate parents are hiding their anger and shame. And in an underground lab lurks a far more dangerous secret, a warped, wrathful angel that longs for freedom.
As these secrets explode into the public eye, Vinny must discover what it means to be true to himself when he’s been born to be someone else.
Note: It is a standalone book in the DIVERGENCY SERIES and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
The painting van Gogh was working on depicted a group of prisoners walking in a circle around an oppressive prison yard. In the center of the painting was a convict that resembled van Gogh himself, and Peyron figured that the artist was expressing his own feelings of claustrophobia inside the asylum. The work was dominated by depressing tones of blue and green with splashes of red on some of the bricks that enclosed the prisoners.
Peyron cleared his throat. “Monsieur van Gogh.”
The artist jumped a little at the noise, but then kept painting. “You almost made me misplace a line, Doc.”
“I apologize. Were you not able to sleep?”
Van Gogh shook his head. “Not before finishing.”
“Does painting help you?”
Van Gogh turned around slowly and smiled. “It does.”
“How does it help?”
The artist scratched his red beard with a paint-speckled hand. “When I don’t paint, I worry about delusional things. But when I paint, I worry about the next drop of color. In this way my mind is occupied with logic when I paint.”
Peyron nodded. “Thank you for putting it so well.”
“Why are you awake, Doc?”
“I dreamed something that upset me.”
Van Gogh took a sip of water from a metal cup, spilling some of it onto his chest. He was wearing an open shirt and the droplets ran down across his belly, dampening the top of his pants. The painter had put on a little weight since coming to the asylum. A sign of increased health. Peyron also noticed himself getting aroused. Not a good sign under these circumstances.
“I, um… I should go back upstairs,” the doc stammered.
“No. Stay.” Van Gogh scratched himself just above his left nipple. “I’m a bit lonely.”
The doc’s eyes lit up. He had been waiting for a sign from the painter and here was a sign. Peyron swallowed hard and then took a step forward. Van Gogh mirrored him and also stepped closer. The doc lifted his right hand and placed it on the painter’s chest. Van Gogh took the hand in his and their fingers entwined. Then the painter pulled Peyron towards him and the men kissed. Peyron could feel van Gogh’s stubble against his own clean-shaven face.
Suddenly the painter pulled away. “No. I… I can’t do this.”
“But… why?”
“I’m not a pervert.”
“Neither am I.”
“Other people, all of them, they don’t understand.”
Peyron remembered the crowd at the dock in Marseille. “I know.” He turned and walked away.
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Andy Siege born as Andreas Madjid Siege in Kenya in 1985 is an award-winning film director and writer. His debut feature film “Beti and Amare” which he wrote and directed was nominated for multiple high-profile international film awards. He has a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Political Science. Andy Siege is also neurologically divergent and a member of the LGBTQ community.
Follow Andy: Facebook
Maggie Blackbird 