David Oppegaard received critical acclaim and a Bram Stoker nomination for his first novel, the Suicide Collectors. A post-apocalyptic tale, the Suicide Collectors took a very personal look at how one man dealt with the quiet extermination of mankind. His second novel, Wormwood, Nevada, continues to build him a reputation as a fresh voice in the realm of science fiction.
Reflection’s Edge: Your debut novel, The Suicide Collectors, was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. What went through your head when you found out?
David Oppegaard: I think the first thing I thought was “Sweet!” and the second was “What is a Bram Stoker?” I knew about Hugos and Nebulas and all that good stuff, but not the Stokers, for some reason.
RE: Did you do anything to place your book in front of the Bram Stoker committee?
Oppegaard: Nope, but I think I had help from author Jonathan Maberry, who wrote a blurb for The Suicide Collectors and was nice enough to put it forward.
RE: Your second novel, Wormword, Nevada, differs greatly from The Suicide Collectors. Was this on purpose?
Oppegaard: Every book I write tends to be different because I have a short attention span and get bored easily. Plus, I really enjoy working in multiple genres. I’m sure St. Martin’s Press would have preferred for me to write a similar second novel and establish my “brand” more, but that’s not my style, really. With Wormwood, Nevada I wanted to fuse the literary and science fiction genres together in a new and darkly comic way.
RE: Do you have anything new in the pipeline?
Oppegaard: Since Wormwood, Nevada I’ve written three novels. One won’t be sent out to publishers, one is currently making the publishing rounds, and the third is in the final stages before my agent and I begin submitting it to publishers. The two that are heading out are actually dark fantasy, one adult and one YA.
RE: You received your MFA from Hamline University. Did getting your MFA affect your writing in any way?
Oppegaard: Definitely. It helped me hone my skills as a writer, which is always helpful no matter what you write, and introduced me to many great Twin Cities writers.
RE: Where do you find your inspiration?
Oppegaard: Each book is different. I wrote The Suicide Collectors as a challenge to myself, to see if I could come up with a new apocalyptic landscape that hadn’t already been well-trodden, and I wrote Wormwood, Nevada as a sort of strange homage to the small Minnesotan town I grew up in. Also, I occasionally dream about the end of the world, just like Anna Mayfield . . .
RE: Your novels place normal people in extraordinary situations. Why choose average “Joes” over the superhuman heroes more common in the genre?
Oppegaard: I think being average is a lot more interesting than being a demi-god, and I like the idea of dropping your average citizen into the frying pan and seeing what they come up with. The stranger and more frightening the world becomes, the more you need a pair of average eyes to ground the reader in that world. Tolkien used hobbits to the same effect.
RE: You wrote your first book at the ripe age of fifteen. As a writer, how have you changed since then?
Oppegaard: This may sound crazy, but my first (unpublished) novel might have been the most elaborately plotted novel of the ten I have now completed. It had a sweeping array of POVs, dozens of main characters, and an unwieldy plot, all of which owed a great deal to the original Star Wars trilogy. Since then I’ve learned how to cut to the heart of what matters in a story (which is probably why I’ll never write a six-hundred page novel) and utilize only the characters and situations that truly speak to me in a new and interesting way.
RE: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Oppegaard: If yea be seeking riches and fame, turn back now. If yea just love to write, keep on writing until yea can write no more. The rest will work itself out!