An Interview with A.P. Thayer

A.P. Thayer is a queer Mexican-American living in Los Angeles. He writes cross-genre speculative fiction and is represented by Helen Lane at the Booker Albert Literary Agency. He has words in places like Dark Matter Magazine, Uncharted, and Neon Hemlock anthologies and is currently on submission with three books. He publishes short fiction and blogs in his Substack newsletter, Strange Speculations.

Find his published work, social media information, and blog info at apthayer.com.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I have my father to thank for this. One of my first memories was listening to him reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I ended up rereading them almost every year growing up. Tolkien is such a common inspiration, but it was my dad reading fantasy to me that really planted the seed. That and his work ethic.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

What inspired me to write Revenant was a journey of self-identity I’ve been on for several years, where I’ve been exploring my Mexican heritage. During that time, I fell in love with Mexico City. I based Lirium, the city in which Revenant happens, heavily on my experiences in Mexico City while still allowing myself to explore other cultural ideas and be creative in a world I’ve been working and writing in for a decade.

What got me started drafting this story was a long trail of exploring a world and characters, as well as two trunked novels. I decided to focus on one character specifically.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Finding the title has been a long journey and there’s no guarantee it’s over. Revenant is only its current title. While working on the novel, it had a working title of Thug. Later, I called it Nagual while I was querying. My agent and I, while doing the edits before going on submission, decided on Revenant.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

I, of course, have a Spotify playlist for Revenant. Some of the songs include:

Massive Attack – “Angel”

Portishead – “Roads”

Ángela Aguilar – “La Llorona”

Danheim – “Vega”

Jóhann Jóhannsson – “Forging the Beast”

Daft Punk – “Rinzler”

Describe your dream book cover.

My dream book cover for Revenant would be a pyramid floating over a city, centered on a man (the main character) facing the pyramid with their back to the reader and the shadow of a monstrous demon around him.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I would really love for my readers to take away an understanding of what it is to be the “other.” I would also like them to see that vengeance is not the same as justice and that morality has to come from within.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.