J.B. Toner studied Literature at Thomas More College and holds a black belt in Ohana Kilohana Kenpo-Jujitsu. He has held many occupations, from altar boy to homeless person, but has always aspired to be a writer. Whisper Music and The Shoreless Sea are his first novels, but by God not his last. Toner lives and works in Massachusetts with his beautiful wife and two daughters.
He recently published “Red Horse, White Horse” in Jason M. Walsh’s Death’s Sting – Where Art Thou?
G. W. Thomas: “Red Horse, White Horse” is a real roller coaster of action. How do you use action (call it violence if you like) to tell a great story?
J. B. Toner: They say an action story’s fight scenes ought to function like the songs in a musical: memorable, engaging, but also advancing the plot and developing the characters in some way. Otherwise, no matter how good the choreography, it’s just noise. I love action, so I try hard to craft protagonists for whom violence is an intelligent response to their challenges. Sometimes, to be honest, the ostensible storyline evolves out of connecting the dots from one fight to the next.
GWT: Sword & Sorcery has been offering up tales of heroic deeds since 1929. Mythology and folkore did this long before that. What can modern authors offer the Fantasy fan?
JBT: Well, we need to remember the Law of Equivalent Exchange. We’ve lost some things; it’s very hard now to write “unironically” in pure S&S form without being mocked (although I think that might be coming back around again). But we have more giant shoulders to stand on: stream of consciousness, psychoanalysis, and other literary innovations; not to mention new insights into human nature from things like Auschwitz and Hiroshima. Perhaps even more usefully, modern authors can use a kind of “trope shorthand” to introduce concepts to an audience that no longer needs detailed explanations. Show a trail of pawprints becoming human footprints, and everyone gets that we have a werewolf on our hands, with no exposition necessary.
GWT: You studied literature at Thomas More and we once an altar boy so I have to assume a traditional Christian upbringing. Robert E. Howard was never particularly religious. How does your faith intersect with heroic fantasy? Are they at odds or not?
JBT: I’m a cradle Catholic, and there’s no doubt that my background influences my imagery and worldbuilding. I can’t write a character until I’ve figured out his/her personal philosophy, even if that doesn’t end up making it onto the page. And I think that’s true of all writers, whether or not they’re conscious of it; Lovecraft, for instance, spent a career weaving a cosmos out of his personal beliefs (or rather, lack of same). For Howard, too, the insistence on strength and self-reliance is clearly an outgrowth of his essential nihilism. Tolkien famously crafted a whole legendarium out of his own beliefs, even though The Lord of the Rings literally has no mention of any gods or religions whatsoever. Your fundamental convictions will always creep in: even if you try to exclude them, the method of exclusion that you choose will, itself, derive from your defining beliefs. In short, I gravitate to nihilistic protagonists who live only to fight—but they’re continuously seeking some greater purpose. I don’t think heroic fantasy is inherently at odds with any philosophy.
GWT: You saved studied martial arts, a traditionally Eastern practice. Did any the Eastern faiths rub off on you? How does this experience affect your storytelling?
JBT: Yes! And no? I believe profoundly in what the Eastern arts call qi. However, I also don’t accept that qi can’t fit into a Christian framework. Ultimately (as I was taught), the Creed can contain everything that is true; but there are still truths that we haven’t uncovered yet. Part of my motive in constructing imaginary worlds is finding new angles from which to explore the world we have. And since I always seem to end up writing about warriors, that means I’m constantly making up new martial arts.
GWT: Your story “Seven Devils” (with link) features G. K. Chesterton as its hero. Have you written any large amount of Mystery fiction? This tale seems more of a horror or dark fantasy in theme. Does that genre interest you?
JBT: I don’t have a knack for Mystery, but I love Horror. I think elements of it slither into just about everything I write—maybe because elements of it are present in every aspect of mortal existence? I dunno. I have a series of crime stories called the Fight Corps, about a group of fight choreographers in present-day Hollywood, which is a lot of fun to write; but otherwise, no, I haven’t written much mystery fiction. “Seven Devils” only came to life when I learned about GKC’s real-world connection with the *redacted* antagonist, which provided a Horror flavor to the tale.
GWT: Both “Red Horse, White Horse” and “Seven Devils” are told in the first person. Do you favor 1st person? Some writers have shied away from 1st person as unsellable or undesirable. Thoughts on that?
JBT: I keep trying to write in the third person, and it keeps feeling stilted and forced. The only time I feel satisfied with it is when I write about my beloved Cundar of Raelor, whom I invented/met when I was 13, after marathon-reading 200-plus issues of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian (no big surprise there). I suppose it’s because I’ve been with him so long that I can enter his headspace without the necessity of Quantum Leaping into his brain.
GWT: What’s next for J. B. Toner?
JBT: I’m working on sequels to my horror/action novel Whisper Music, released last year by Hellbender Books, and my urban fantasy The Shoreless Sea, just released by Beacon Publishing. Also, after almost exactly 30 years, I’m finally beginning Cundar of Raelor, The Fucking Novel! (Obviously, a working title.) Thanks so much for your time and space, this was a lot of fun!