Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Want to be featured? Email us: online@britishfantasysociety.org
Name:
Cheryl Myfanwy Morgan (she/her)
Which region are you based in?
Wales
If you write, which genre:
Sci-fi
FantasyHorrorLiterary Criticism
History
If you don’t write, what do you do?
I do write, but most of my time is spent running my publishing company, Wizard’s Tower Press.
Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres?
I’m a sucker for anything with tentacles (pun intended)
Your influences
Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into SFFH: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?
Growing up as a trans girl, your parents naturally assume that you must be a boy, and that means getting you to read boy things. In my day that very much meant books, and comics about boys. No girls allowed! Boring.
There were exceptions, of course. Narnia had girls in it, though what I said about Mr Lewis when I came to the bit about poor Susan being banned from Narnia for liking stockings and makeup was, well, sufficient to get me banned from Narnia.
There was, however, another option. American comics had girls and women in them. And when I was 9 Marvel started re-packing their stories for the UK market in two comics called Fantastic and Terrific. Thus I grew up with Jean Grey as my big sister, and Janet Van Dyne as a role model.
A little later I was able to read my father’s copies of books by Jules Verne and HG Wells, and we did John Wyndham at school. By that time I was hooked, and devoured everything by Tolkien, Moorcock, Zelazny, Heinlein and so on that I could get my hands on.
How does that early influence show up for you (in life/writing/agenting/publishing/editing/reading) now?
I’m still firmly in the SF&F world. Though these days I don’t have time to read much else.
Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
I use a lot of history in my fiction, primarily the ancient world. And I like to base stories in the region where I am living. When I lived near Bristol we did a couple of steampunk anthologies because the Brunel connection made steampunk a natural fit for the city. These days I live in South Wales and am looking more at ancient Welsh history and legend.
(Pictured: one of Wizard’s Tower’s anthology offerings)
Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?
I don’t believe in having heroes. You never know what they might get up to when they are not doing the things you idolise them for.
Having said that, there are many writers whose work I hugely admire. They include Cat Valente, Nicola Griffith, Guy Gavriel Kay, M John Harrison, Jeff VanderMeer, and of course all the people I publish.
Your Work
You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.
Hey Cat, what ever happened to the publishing rights for your version of The Descent of Inanna? Wouldn’t it be nice to get a new edition out into the world? I could ask Hal Duncan and Sophus Helle to write introductions… Of course it would not just be for me. Herself would really like it done, and you know how She is about smiting people who don’t do what She tells them. And I don’t really fancy being stuck full of arrows for failing to deliver.
What are you working on right now?
I have just finished reading a draft of the new Crater School book from Chaz Brenchley. There are a few copy edits I need to check with him, and we need to wait for Ben Baldwin to have time to do the cover, but I hope to have the book out in the world in a few months time.
(Pictured: a previous Crater School book)
Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?
The time that Amazon made The Green Man’s Heir a daily deal. The book was our first original novel, and one of the first paper books we ever put out. It was doing quite well, and getting a lot of good reviews. Juliet McKenna and I had no experience of Amazon promotions, so we were a bit wary when we got the email asking us about the offer. But Juliet asked around a few friends and they all said go for it. We sold something like 9000 books in a day. They were at 99p each, but that’s still very good business. And we knocked Rowling off the #1 spot in best selling SF&F.
Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?
In the shower, going for long walks, on long drives by myself.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
Do what you enjoy doing, in the way that you enjoy doing it.
What’s your writing soundtrack?
Many and various, but a lot of Afro-Celt Sound System, Single Gun Theory, Mogwai, Steve Hackett.
The Quick-fire Round
Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
Yes
Quiet or loud?
Loud
Dark or light?
Dark (we are talking about beer, right?)
Strict lines or genre blend?
Blend (unless we are talking about whisky)
Awards or bestseller?
Neither, both, depends
Fiction or non-fiction?
Yes
Poetry or prose?
Prose
Plotter or pantser?
Non-fiction doesn’t have a plot, per-se, but it absolutely has a narrative flow, and if you don’t know what that is in advance you will get in a terrible mess in an essay. That said, I do tend to pants book reviews, because the act of writing often helps crystalise my feelings about a book.
Reading or listening?
Reading
Notebook or computer?
Laptop
Favourite SFFH book of all time?
Changes every day
Last book you read?
The new Crater School novel
Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
No
Favourite podcast?
The Ancients on History Hit
The Home Stretch
What’s the best thing about being part of the SFFH community?
As a trans woman, I have found the SF&F community more welcoming than any other part of society I have interacted with.
Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.
- My blog: www.cheryl-morgan.com
- My fanzine: www.salonfutura.net
- The Wizard’s Tower website: wizardstowerpress.com
- The Wizard’s Tower bookshop: wizardstowerbooks.com
- BlueSky: CherylMorgan.bsky.social, WTPress.bsky.social
- Mastodon: @CherylMorgan@Mastodon.social, @WTPress@wandering.shop
We have the Wiz Duo novella series kicking off soon with two books. The first has stories by David Gullen and Ben Wright. The second has stories by Juliet Kemp and EM Faulds. Once those are out in the world, we’ll open for submissions for further books.
The new Crater School book will be out in a few months. The next Outremer book will hopefully be out this year too, though I am keeping Chaz very busy.
Juliet McKenna is working on a new Green Man book, which we expect to launch at World Fantasy.
And look out for some press releases about other books that will be out this year.
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