Let’s be honest, you can only eat so many Conans, however much you like a barbarian breakfast. And there’s enough pseudo-medieval European fantasy around to sink a fleet of dhows. There comes a time when you want fantasy with a difference. So how could we miss out on the Sword and Soul movement? We couldn’t. Today we’re opening up the subjects of Sword and Soul, African-based fantasy, and Steamfunk, which sort of explains itself, with writer, editor and publisher Milton Davis. Plus some cracking art, of course.
We sometimes wonder if it’s a bit odd for Argentinian artists, African-American writers and New Zealand LGBT editors when they get a call from our kennels on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The truth is, we are xenophiles rather than xenophobes. We believe that exploring stuff which is strange to us is how we learn, grow and change. And it’s how we have fun, as well.
We’re not a political site (and this is not a deliberately political post), but we have to say that we think black writers creating new black heroes is very cool. And probably overdue. How would white folk feel if the only fantasy heroes available to them were superior-acting Han Chinese adventurers, occasionally given a ‘quirky’ or token white sidekick? Bored, we’d say, at the very least.
Incidentally, we’ve read quite a lot of Sword and Soul stories now, and there’s some damned good, rip-roaring adventure in there which anyone can enjoy.
Upwards and outwards to our interview with Milton…
Milton Davis is from Metro Atlanta in the USA. He’s the owner of MVmedia, LLC , a small publishing company specializing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Sword and Soul. MVmedia’s mission is to provide speculative fiction books that represent people of color in a positive manner. Milton is the author of eight novels; his most recent are The Woman of the Woods and Amber and the Hidden City. He is co-editor of four anthologies; Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology and Griots: Sisters of the Spear, with Charles R. Saunders; The Ki Khanga Anthology with Balogun Ojetade and the Steamfunk! Anthology, also with Balogun Ojetade.
greydog: Milton, welcome to greydogtales. We’ve wanted to talk to you in general terms ever since we came across Sword and Soul last year, but you yourself have a growing presence as a writer, editor and publisher which deserves coverage as well. First of all, maybe you could help us by explaining what Sword and Soul is, for those who haven’t come across it yet.
milton: Thanks for having me! Sword and Soul is basically action/adventure fiction based on pre-colonial African/African Diaspora culture, history and tradition. It was created by Charles Saunders when he was asked long ago to describe Imaro.
greydog: Yes, our only previous experience in this area was Charles’ Imaro stories, and you’ve worked quite closely with him to advance the genre. How did you get involved with Charles?
milton: It was totally by chance. When I first decided to write African based sword and sorcery I searched for writers who may have preceded me but came up with nothing. This was in the early ‘90s and the Imaro books were out of print. Just as I finished my first novel in 2005 I did another search and Imaro was everywhere! The books had been re-released by Nightshade Books. I read Imaro and was immediately a fan. I tried to reach out to Charles through Nightshade but failed. A couple of years later an online friend of mine, Richard Tyler II, announced that Nightshade was dropping the Imaro books and he was going to continue publishing them. I immediately asked him to introduce us and he did. We’ve worked together since then.
greydog: We’re delighted to see that the Imaro tales are becoming available again. As far as your own novels go, we believe that you started with Meji in 2008. Had you written and submitted Sword and Soul stories before that?
milton: No I had not. I began writing Meji in 1994 but set it aside as I started a business. I picked it up again after I shut my business down. I had no intentions of submitting it to anyone. Based on my research I figured publishers would not be interested. Besides, self publishing and print on demand was gaining popularity and I wanted to take another stab at having my own business.
greydog: You set your Changa stories in the 15th century. What made you go for that particular time period?
milton: The 15th century was the height of African culture. The Swahili city-states, Songhai, the Yoruba city-states and the Asante nation were a few of the kingdoms thriving during this time. It was an exciting age and a time ripe for storytelling. I wanted to show this and also show that the African continent was well integrated with the rest of the world long before European exploration.
greydog: How far would you go, chronologically? Is there an argument for black fantasy which engages with the incursions of the European powers into Africa, or do you think that this is too complex a political issue for fantasy?
milton: My focus is pre-colonial African culture and history. I do not think writing fantasy that includes European incursion is too complex. You have to realize that the time span between Europeans attempting to circumvent Africa to reach Asia and colonialism in Africa is 400 years, and most of those 400 years was spent with Europeans having diplomatic relationships with African kingdoms. So there are a lot of stories that could be told during that time period.
greydog: The two Griots collections, edited by you and Charles, are a great introduction to Sword and Soul, with contributions from so many authors. Was it hard at first to get so many black writers to embrace the concept of going wild with African-based fantasy?
milton: Not at all. Not too long after Charles and I met we talked about how we both set out to write similar stories based on similar information. We both wondered about other writers who probably did or wanted to do the same but did not get the opportunity, which is why we decided to do Griots. For some of the writers it was their first time writing such stories but for many they sent us stories that had been rejected by other editors.
greydog: Bearing in mind some of the incredibly racist and patronising tales of Africa written in the early 20th century, we’ve been working on what we call African Weird tales – horror with black protagonists in the colonial era around and after World War One. How do you feel about white writers taking on these topics?
milton: I think it is a slippery slope, but there are some Continental Africans that take issue with me writing stories that take place on the continent. I think any writer attempting to do so must leave all their prejudices and preconceived notions at the door. You have to truly write the story from the specific culture’s point of view, be it Asante, Yoruba, Kikuyu, Zulu or Mandike. Do your research, respect the culture.
greydog: We admit to having felt self-conscious about it, but we also wanted to challenge the work of Edgar Wallace and others, to show that white English writers could do better than that. Your points are well-noted. Now, tell us something about your publishing company, MVMedia. Is this a one man show?
milton: MVmedia is a small publishing company dedicated to science fiction and fantasy stories by and about people of African/African Descent. It’s a one man show; I do publish other writers but I don’t accept submissions because I have a day job. It’s really a labour of love, a chance to do what I love doing my way.
greydog: You also have animation projects in the pipeline for characters such as Changa, and you’ve signposted comics and graphic illustration such as Malika. One of the striking things about your books, (and Sword and Soul in general) is the fantastic imagery. Do you have a main artist with whom you work?
milton: I work with a number of artists. I’m an art junkie, so I’m aware of quite a few artists. I try to select an artist based on how I think his/her style fits the story. The artist I work most often with is Stanley Weaver, Jr. He’s talented, professional and creates very expressive images.
greydog: We shouldn’t pigeon-hole you, either, – you have an interest in other speculative areas, such as Steamfunk. – which we guess is Steampunk with a predominantly black character list, yes?
milton: Yes. Steamfunk is Steampunk based on African/African Diaspora history. We saw a lack in such representation in steampunk and decided to rectify that with the Steamfunk Anthology, which is one of my most popular books.
greydog: We were interested to read your on-line posts about attending the recent State of Black Science Fiction conference. What messages from that gathering do you think need to get out there?
milton: Balogun Ojetade and myself were actually the organizers of SOBSFCon. The main message is that black fans and creators are eager for images that represent us accurately and are willing to come together to support each other. It was a fantastic event.
greydog: Sounds excellent. And we hear that you’re on the edge of having your books distributed in Nigeria. How does it feel taking African fantasy to Africa?
milton: It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve received positive feedback from readers and writers from various African countries and cultures over the years, so to have a distributor interested in selling my books there is the icing on the cake.
greydog: So which authors should we be watching in terms of Sword and Soul or Steamfunk? We can’t cover everyone, so maybe you could give us a few names to check out?
milton: First and foremost is Charles Saunders, the creator of Sword and Soul. He’s recently completed the Imaro series and is currently working on a new series, Abengoni. Then there’s my partner in crime, Balogun Ojetade. As a Yoruba priest and Afrikan martial artist his sword and soul books are steeped in Yoruba tradition and amazing action. His Steamfunk series, Chronicles of Harriet Tubman were the first Steamfunk novels. Valjeanne Jeffers has made a mark for herself in Steamfunk. Her Mona Livelong series is excellent.
greydog: We’re pleased that we have writers such as Valjeanne Jeffers interested in our Occult Detective Quarterly venture as well. We hope that black writers will feel keen to portray black occult and psychic investigators, to give that area new black ‘heroes’ as well. And finally, tell us what’s coming from you personally during the rest of 2016. More Changa, new protagonists, or entirely different projects?
milton: I’m working on the final Changa’s Safari novel as we speak. I’m also releasing a Changa’s Safari Special edition collection in association with the animation project. I’m also in the process of launching the Ki Khanga Kickstarter, a Sword and Soul RPG created by Balogun Ojetade and myself. And the Dieselfunk Anthology will be released in August 2016.
greydog: Many thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Milton, and we look forward to lots more from you and your colleagues in the future.
You can hop over to Milton’s publishing site and have a browse around by clicking here:
And Changa’s Safari is on Amazon here:
Right, time to go. Occult Detective Quarterly can be found by clicking top right, lurchers and longdogs can be found by clicking on the tag cloud, and why not sign up for free whilst you’re here – just pop your e-mail in top left. No sales-folk will call, but you will be kept up to date. Au revoir, dear listener…
Great article.
Charles Saunders actually lives right around here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’ve met him a couple of times and a long time ago he came and spoke at a couple of local events I was attending.
Hi Steve. Nice to see you here again. I didn’t realise he was up there with you in Nova Scotia. He’s definitely the father of what’s going on at the moment – Imaro has obviously encouraged a lot of younger writers to pitch in, which has got to be good.