LitMinds Blog and Interviews

Everyday we read the news reports about the internet revolution and the impact that new technology is having on our lives.  Considerably fewer stories, however, have surfaced describing the unique communities made up of the web designers, programmers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists behind these innovations.  Probably for good reason… most "Web 2.0 geeks" I’ve met are overly engrossed in the latest gadgets, programming languages, internet business models and special effects-laden Hollywood blockbusters  (e.g. The Matrix, The Minority Report, 300, etc.) to make for good character material.  Most, we might surmise, live fairly "ordinary" everyday lives…

But, a surprising new novel SoMa by Kemble Scott (the pen name of San Francisco Bay Area journalist Scott James) is set against a gritty backdrop of a relatively unknown world and sub-culture of tech revolutionaries.  Set in SoMa (a.k.a. San Francisco’s ‘South of Market’ neighborhood), this book is not for the prudish-at-heart. As a Bay Area local, I found the premise intriguing and yet unsettling familiar.  Who knew on a late-evening commute I should have been alert to fellow BART train passengers experiencing a wild ride through the ‘tunnel of love’?!

LitMinds invited the author to an interview to learn more about his book, which debuted on the SF Chronicle’s bestseller list.  We also asked the journalist-turned-novelist about his reading and writing life, including his recommended reads and pioneering online activities.

1. Your new novel, SoMa, delves into the gritty and tantalizing underbelly of San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.  Can you describe SoMa’s history and current cultural scene?  How did you research this subculture?  What has been the response so far to your book’s publicity of such an underground scene?

It seems like everyone you meet here in San Francisco has some anecdote about “the wild night I ended up in SoMa.” It’s the gritty warehouse district that’s also home to the city’s wildest clubs and bars. Since the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, the area has become increasingly gentrified. The warehouses are disappearing, replaced by expensive modern housing and offices. It’s ground zero for a massive culture clash between rich and poor, past and present. That growth threatens the SoMa underground scene. My novel is set in 2003, and a few of the places I write about have disappeared since then.

Readers seem fascinated by the underground depicted in SoMa. The book allows them to visit these strange places and indulge in extreme behavior using their imaginations, rather than in person. Because the book focuses on the sexual underground, this means people can explore aspects of sexuality different from their own through the pages of the book. That’s quite an adventure, or quite a threat, depending on who you are. When readers talk to me about SoMa, they inevitably zero in on one scene that was particularly provocative to them. Each person picks something different from the book, which ultimately says something about his or her needs and desires.

Writing about these worlds meant talking to people who really live these lives. I’m a journalist by trade and I love hearing people tell their stories. I moved to SoMa in 1997 and immediately began noting what was happening around me. In 1999 I began to write about the underground in short stories that I published on the web. Those stories eventually led to the novel.

2. Tell us a bit about a few of the main characters in SoMa.  How do you feel they reflect the psyches of 20 and 30-somethings?  What experiences are specific to the Bay Area dot-com bust and the beginning of the 21st century versus more universal issues faced by people in their early adult lives?

When the dot-com boom hit San Francisco, the city was flooded with thousands of people fresh out of college lured by the promise of tech riches. It didn’t matter if someone had any skills, just being 23 somehow made a person instantly qualified to work in that industry. Many were paid handsomely for showing up at work each day to do little more than play with the office dog and hang out. On the surface it looked like companies were amassing hoards of twentysomethings on the theory that those who use the web would figure out what to do next with this remarkable technology.

We know now that many of these companies were simply scams by venture capitalist firms to bilk investors. But those twentysomethings went in as true believers. They were sold a bill of goods: you are important and valuable simply because of your age. When the dot-com world imploded, a whole generation had its self-esteem shattered. Two years earlier, employers threw buckets of money at them, and then no one would hire them for anything. In San Francisco, thousands of these people suddenly had endless amounts of time on their hands, accompanied with the painful realization that they weren’t actually the demigods they were told they were.

Talk about betrayal! That’s the setting as my novel SoMa unfolds. The characters are part of a generation victimized by a scam. They had their egos built up, and then it was all taken away. Stripped of the VC-manufactured lie, they must now find out who they really are. In real life, that moment of epiphany led thousands in San Francisco to pursue journeys of self-discovery. That’s what happens to the main character in SoMa.

3.  You have created a series of YouTube videos that tell a bit about the real-life places and events that appear in your novel, SoMa.  How did you come up with this idea?  What has been your process in creating these video pieces?  Do you have any other projects or ideas we might know about?

SoMa uses the exploration of sexuality as a way to provoke larger questions about life in this new millennium. Before the book came out, I researched how the media, especially the literary establishment, has treated other books that include sexuality. Let’s just say they didn’t get a warm first reception – even books that turned out to be wildly popular or culturally important. Editors don’t want to risk offending some readers, so it’s easier for them to review or feature other books.

I realized that SoMa would face this same wall. It comes with the territory. So I decided to take my case for the book directly to the readers. We now live in an age where I can do that. I created an online presence for SoMa that includes various web sites, a page on MySpace and videos on YouTube.

My work as a journalist has been in television news, so I thought it would be interesting to show people the real world places that inspired the book. It turns out I’m the first novelist to launch a book this way. The videos have been watched thousands of times and they’ve created all sorts of interest in the novel.

I’ve produced five videos so far. There are others in the works, but I’m also thinking of evolving the YouTube project into more of a “channel” that goes beyond the book. I’m also interested in what’s being called web 3.0 and new ideas like Second Life. Stay tuned.

It’s a good thing I did my own media. The establishment press treated the book just as I predicted. To this day, my own local newspaper The San Francisco Chronicle has yet to do a story on SoMa, even though it’s a local story written by a local author that’s been on the paper’s own bestsellers list twice in the first month it’s been out. Had the book explored shoes, instead of sexuality, it would get the cover of the lifestyle section.

4. You seem to have a strong affinity for using technology as a means to communicate about the literary world.  Among your writing pursuits, you have created an e-zine (SoMa Literary Review) and a weekly email-based newsletter (San Francisco Bay Area Literary Arts Newsletter).  Your novel also explores the world of emerging technology.  Can you describe your online writing projects and how they got started?  What has drawn you to these mediums?  How has your work with technology informed the ideas explored in SoMa?

There’s a metaphor laced throughout SoMa that involves technology. In some ways it’s the religion of this age. When the characters cry out to the universe for guidance or intervention, they don’t go to church. They go to Craigslist.

We live in an age where people can now express their ideas to the world without getting anyone else’s permission. Having spent my entire career in the highly controlled business of TV news, it was so liberating to realize that I didn’t need someone’s approval to publish my short stories. That’s why I launched SoMa Literary Review in 1999, and it has since become a safe haven for all sorts of emerging voices.

The truth is, freedom of the press has always belonged to those who own the press. Now we live in an age when just about anyone can publish their ideas, for good or bad.

5. In a recent interview, you discuss the vibrant literary scene that exists today in San Francisco.  This city has an impressive cultural legacy of writers.  If you were to create a reading list for someone interested in doing a literary journey through San Francisco, what books would you recommend?

San Francisco has an extraordinary literary history, but there are many writers living today who are doing incredible work capturing the city – and telling provocative and entertaining stories at the same time. All of these are novels, but they mix facts with fiction to enlighten readers about the city.

In Woman of Ill Fame Erika Mailman takes readers back to the Gold Rush days for the story of a prostitute pursued by a serial killer.

The six Tales of the City novels by Armistead Maupin chronicle life here from the 70s through the 80s. Those books are fun and addictive, and Maupin brings the whole story up to the present in his new novel Michael Tolliver Lives, which comes out this June. I was able to get an advanced copy and it is just wonderful. San Franciscans will adore him for writing it.

The Ultimate Rush by Joe Quirk hilariously tackles the 90s, as seen through the bike messenger/skater subculture.

In My Lost and Found Life Melodie Bowsher takes us into the jaded but highly entertaining world of spoiled local teens.

Forget the controversy over her use of a pen name, for capturing the city’s grit, JT LeRoy’s The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is quite devastating (in a good way).

For readers who want an unusual perspective, I recommend War Boy by Kief Hillsbery. Hillsbery invents his own version of English to tell a story from the perspective of a deaf and mute teen living in San Francisco. The entire book contains only one comma – and it’s on the very last page.

6. You have had a successful career in print and broadcast journalism, including obtaining a degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and winning three Emmy awards.  At what point did you start writing fiction?  How have your experiences as a journalist informed your writing of fiction?  What journalism work do you most want to be known for?

I’ve never had any patience for journalists who play fast and loose with the facts. If you call yourself a journalist, that comes with a responsibility to get things right – to spell names correctly, to quote people in the right context, to be fair, etc. Too many reporters today don’t follow or understand these basic tenets, and you see mainstream journalism in a freefall. Newspaper readership is plummeting. That’s no coincidence. If you treat journalism with all the ethics and standards of an opinion blog, then you negate the only reason for people to use mainstream media.

I decided to write about the world of SoMa because I thought it was fascinating. I figured that if I found the stories provocative, perhaps others would too. But in journalism, you name names. Did I want to do that? My goal wasn’t to expose or embarrass individuals, so I decided early on to write the stories as fiction.

In doing so, I freed myself to add perspective, metaphors, symbolism, introspection and a whole host of other writing tools never before available to me when working in journalism.

Still, I can’t get beyond my roots. My background in journalism requires me to get the facts correct, even in fiction. I research what I write, and have experts look at the early drafts to make sure I’m getting the details right. For example, for the sections of SoMa that involve drug use, I had a drug addict vet that part of the book. Even working in fiction, I feel an obligation to make things as real as possible. It makes it easier for readers to go along for the ride.

Check out Kemble Scott’s myLitMind reading profile here.