The man who traveled through Ain’t It Cool and into Dreams And Shadows

C. R. Cargill talks about the Internet's glamour and danger, and his new novel.

by Cesar Torres - Mar 9 2013, 11:01am EST

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/the-man-who-traveled-through-aint-it-cool-and-into-dreams-and-shadows/

C. Robert Cargill

There’s nothing cooler than pitting a monster against another monster. Wolf versus vampire, troll versus imp, fairy versus djinn. Role playing games and fantasy movies have always been quick to try to pit magical creatures against each other, but the logic of these scenarios can be flimsy. How, exactly, does that werewolf share a world with a djinni? Some fantasy stories, like the one in C. Robert Cargill's new novel Dreams and Shadows, aim for plausibility, crafting a story where a creature’s reason for being in the story makes sense.

Enlarge / Harper Voyager

In Dreams and Shadows, Cargill takes us back and forth through the doorway of fantasy, in a manner reminiscent of novels like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, where characters go between the real world and the realm of fairies, monsters, and magic with ease. Cargill's novel heightens that, bringing us a world where magical creatures from different traditions can coexist. A djinni shares the same world and laws with fairies and other creatures from the world of “Fae” (for Faerie). In the case of this book, the djinni will also share a few rounds of drinks to let off some steam. For readers who like to delve deep into the imaginary worlds of fantasy and science fiction, being easy with metaphors like veils, secret tunnels, and especially doors, turns out to be a handy skill when reading Dreams and Shadows. The doorway, in particular, is a metaphor that shows up over and over, one which suggests to us a mysterious world on the other side, where things with teeth, wings, and magic lurk. As a rule, the main character in a fantasy book has no choice but to discover this door between dimensions. He or she will be compelled, at one point or another, to go into that place on the other side. And that’s when things get messy, because sometimes the things from the other world—the ones with wings, claws and magical powers—come back into ours.
Dreams and Shadows follows the lives of Ewan and Colby, two human infants whose lives are intertwined by fate and by magical bylaws that bind them to this magical world. These two boys grow up to be men, and each one is bound by the choices made by his parents and by the rules of magic set in Fae. Cargill begins the story in the world of magic, but whirls and dips into ours a few times, until the narrative finally slams itself into Austin, Texas, where Ewan and Colby must survive and resolve the threats of the fairy world, and the debts that they owe some nasty creatures with magical powers.
Author C. Robert Cargill spoke to Ars Technica about his experiences writing under a pseudonym for the influential site Ain’t It Cool News, and how he transformed that gig into the roles of screenwriter (he penned last year’s Ethan Hawke film Sinister), and novelist.
In early 2001, Cargill joined Ain’t It Cool, a cinema news and gossip site run by Harry Knowles that changed the way movies were covered by traditional media starting in the 1990s.
Cargill credits his success as a writer for a large Internet site like Ain’t It Cool to its founder, Harry Knowles. “I have my career because of Harry,” Cargill said. “He was a sink or swim editor. He didn’t spend much time coaching us. He’s just gonna let you do it. He’s a self made man and who wanted self made guys. That’s why he doesn’t throw a lot of resources behind our stuff. “ (Readers  will also find a nice cameo reference to Knowles in Dreams and Shadows).

It starts with a book: there and back again

Cargill wrote under the name Massawyrm on Ain’t It Cool, though he admits that his pseudonym was never as secret as some of the other writers for the site. While Cargill was still writing for Ain’t it Cool, Hollywood director Scott Derrickson became a fan of Massawyrm’s reviews, and he finally approached Cargill to tell him he liked his writing. They became friends online, and they decided to meet. Over time, Derrickson started sending Cargill scripts to read, and Cargill would send him back his professional opinion. One day, Derrickson caught wind that Cargill had been working on a fantasy book.

Trailer for the film Sinister, which Cargill co-wrote.

“He read it, loved it, and he said 'I want to help you get this out there',” Cargill said. They finally met in person in Vegas to talk about Derrickson’s current projects, and Cargill said, “Hey, I've had this movie in my head for years. So I pitched him Sinister. Derickson said holy fuck, I need to see that movie. Because he read my book, he decided to write the screenplay with me.”
The two became writing partners, and Cargill sold the book Books and Dreams to a publisher soon after.
“The book got me the movie, which got me the book,” Cargill said.

On the subject of trolls

Writing as Massawyrm allowed Cargill to get plenty of insider access to Hollywood and indie films, but he says that more than a decade later, the explosion of the Internet has changed the game.
“People have learned how the system works. Hollywood learned how Internet worked. When it was new, AIC was the Rolling Stone of the Internet.” Indeed, the site broke new ground as it got access to special premieres and delivered its own direct style of movie reviews. It also became known for its scathing commenters, who were quick to point out when movies were in or out. What had been an anomaly in film journalism eventually became a mainstay. But now, the rules are a little different.
“Hollywood has figured it out,” Cargill said. He explains that there are sites that write film reviews, and "then you have these sites that don’t do movie reviews at all anymore. Instead, they have become marketing sites to market the films.”
So, as Hollywood has become savvier about bloggers, they’ve made things more difficult for sites that don’t comply with what they want, Cargill says: “The sites that do what the studios want get what they want.”
Cargill considers the Internet a powerful tool, but one which has to be handled with wisdom and care. Like some of the magic in Dreams and Shadows, the Internet can cast a glamour on its users that can corrupt.
“You can’t ever know what the soul of a human is like until they do what they do without repercussions.” Cargill said. “It’s an invisible magic ring [that lets you] know what they are capable of. The Internet is that magic ring. It lets us see who a person really is deep down. On the outside, they may be super nice, super friendly, and then they go home and try to make other people’s lives terrible on places like Reddit and 4chan, and pick fights with people. They torture people any way they can."
“The Internet reveals the true nature of who we are as people. When we can’t be caught—that’s when we really show what we would do if we could really kill a person.”
So, what’s more dangerous? A troll from fantasy or an Internet troll? Cargill, who is familiar with the ways of both, has the answer.
“The scariest trolls are the regenerating ones that live under caves,” Cargill says. On the other hand, “Internet trolls push out and melt away when you meet them in person. When you meet them, they say, Oh, hi, hi, hi, yes, yes, nice to meet you….and you think to yourself, this guy spent ten years lambasting you telling you you’re the worst writer, saying horrible things about you. And now, face to face, he has a hard time making eye contact. It’s very rare that an Internet troll can back up what he says. These guys are trolling because it’s the only power they have. Internally, they feel a lack of control. When they troll they can control what happens online. And that way, they can control someone else’s day. “

A unified system of myth

Cargill is at work on a sequel to Dreams and Shadows already, and he says the goal of the book was to make a system of multiple mythological creatures that could plausibly come together. Indeed, the book stays true to the myths of Irish fairies, djinn, Germanic folklore, and more.
“I’m a huge fan of folklore and mythology,” Cargill said. “I read poems and bits and pieces of folklore that many people have never heard of. What I wanted to do is create a unified theory of folklore. As religion would move into a region, it would explain tales in the framework of their old religion.”
Dreams and Shadows is available from Harper Voyager.