Support the novel Project Gateway on Kickstarter

An interview with Thomas K. Slee

Thomas K. Slee is an engineer and author from Melbourne, Australia. In his day job he turns vague problems into scoped and costed solutions in the gas and electricity industry. At night, he writes science fiction and thrillers like Project Gateway which is about to launch on Kickstarter.

Image: Thomas K. Slee.

Q: Please tell us a little about your journey with reading and writing?

A: The first novel I ever read was The Paradise Snare, part of the Han Solo origin trilogy, when I was eight- or nine-years-old, and it wasn't long before I was tearing my way through the likes of Discworld, Harry Potter (The Philosopher's Stone came out when I was 11, we essentially grew up together) and then, when I was old enough, my dad's collection of classic sci-fi, private-eye and thriller novels.

My first attempts with writing were Dinotopia and Warhammer 40K fan fiction (Dark Eldar were a favourite at the time) during the back end of primary school and the beginning of high school, but the itch lay fallow for a good decade (or two). In that time I wrote essays at uni, and reports at work, and not much else. I still had ideas, I just didn't do anything with them. Then the pandemic hit and the rest, as they say, is history.

Outside of writing and engineering, I keep in touch with my buddies through board games and video games, spend far too much of my attention on the footy (in winter) and the cricket (in summer), read voraciously, make bread, eat toast, guilt my partner into watching 90s sci-fi and try to tempt the dog onto the couch with treats (she usually declines).

Q: Have you read any interesting novels lately? I quite enjoyed The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey.

A: I've just started reading The Expanse, also James S. A. Corey. I'm two books in and really enjoying it so far. Normally I don't mess with anything longer than a trilogy, but I'd heard so many good things that I had to give it a go. No regrets so far!

My favourite book this year was A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantell: a historical novel set during the French revolution, in particular Robespierre's years of terror. To be honest, as a book, it's too long. But so was the French revolution – and the heft of the book really gives you a sense of this popular movement, which started with a burst of rage and violence, morphing into something dark and bloated and terrible that nobody could control or bring to an end.

Mantell took the written records of the time (speeches, letters, pamphlets, court documents) and used them tell the tale of the revolution's architect's lives behind the scenes. It's beautifully written, impeccably researched, and when I put it down I felt like I'd known Camille Demoulins and his wife Lucille all my life.

The best science fiction I've read this year is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

It's a bonkers tale about a millennia old AI warship embedded with hundreds of human drones that man, maintain and defend it. But, the ship was destroyed and the AI has been reduced to just one drone, one singular human body, and is trying to figure out who tried to kill it, and why.

I also want to shout out Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew. The most fun I've had reading a book for a long, long time.

It's about an alcoholic Sri Lankan sports-writer trying to track down the best spin bowler he ever saw, and figure out why he disappeared at the height of his powers. Not only is it an absolute hoot, Chinaman began life as a self-published book (it was just too weird, until it became a hit), which I take as inspiration for my own career. I doubt I'll end up winning the Booker prize like Shehan Karunatilaka did but you never know. Anyway, you should give it a read, learn a little about an imaginary cricketer who feels totally real, and a lot more about Sri Lanka.

Q: Over the past few years you have been working closely with a small writing group, workshopping novel chapters and short fiction. Are there any highlights or key lessons you would like to share about this journey of being vulnerable and creative with your peers?

A: My mum, my dad and my partner's dad got talking around Christmas of 2019 and realised we'd all been harbouring a desire to write for a while but hadn't really figured out what to do with it. So started a writing group where we could both share what we were working on, keep one another accountable and try new things.

The group has evolved over time as our interests and goals have changed (new members have joined, others have stepped back) but it's still a bit of a family affair. And that has been the best thing about it. No matter what we do, our writing will always contain a little bit of ourselves and getting to share that has been quite special.

One example that stands out is from very early on in the process. My mum, who is working on a memoir, shared a piece she'd written about eight years before while my dad was going through radiotherapy to treat a tumour. I had been living in Perth at the time, and being so removed from the day-to-day stress of his treatment, I realised I'd not appreciated just how serious dad's illness and his treatment had been. Mum's piece allowed me to share a little of that stress and worry, and also gave her a chance to get it off her chest.

Writing together has brought us closer together as a family, and that's just been lovely.

Q: Congratulations on being published in Aurealis #172. You submitted a fantastic slice of short fiction, 'Foretold'. What inspired that particular story?

A: Thanks very much. Getting the email from the editor last year to say that ‘Foretold’ had been accepted was a real thrill.

‘Foretold’ started as a typo. A poster on my favourite football forum had meant to say birth certificate but wrote death certificate instead. That's all it took to get me thinking: what would the world be like if everyone knew the date they would die for their entire lives? What would it be like to be the last person in the world who didn't know the date of their death?

My first instinct was to go down a 'this is your life' style interview/documentary, but then I hit upon the idea of geriatric daredevils, giving death the finger and making the most of their unique position as the only people left who could actually risk their lives. From there, the story kind of wrote itself.

I wrote it in 2021 and it got rejected about a dozen times. Then, in 2023, I went back through it and realised there were places I could improve it. I strengthened both the opening and the ending, culled a few things in the middle, and sent it back out there. Lucky for me, Aurealis liked it and it fit a need for an issue they had in mind.

It's a great magazine, championing Australian voices. If you haven't tried it out yet, you should. Issues #167 & #173 have stories from a couple of friends of mine (Henry Neilsen and Arden Baker), so are definitely worth a look.

Q: Your short story Making Space: A Short Story About Love & Loss – published January 2024 – was longlisted for Best Australian Yarn 2023. How does it feel to be recognised for your writing?

Note: It was first published in November 2023 in the West Australian. Their exclusivity period expired on Dec 31st 2023 – Tom published it in January 2024.

A: Aside from the nerves, the nomination for the ‘Best Australian Yarn’ was a lot of fun, actually. The competition is run by The West Australian newspaper and the first I heard of the nomination was when an invite to the awards ceremony landed in my inbox. That was a bit of a shock and a surprise.

I was actually very lucky, I had a project in Western Australia for my day job and was able to schedule some necessary site visits so that I could attend the awards ceremony as well. My partner flew over too and we made a weekend of it. We lived in Perth for five years, so as well as a fun night out it was great to have an excuse to head back and catch up with old friends.

Sadly, the nomination did not turn into a win. However, that momentary disappointment was softened by free booze and the chance to commiserate with my fellow nominees. We assured ourselves that we must have just missed out on the top ten (and agreed that the third place getter, The Culinarian by Cameron Rutherford, had been absolutely robbed). All the nominees for the three years that the competition has been running are still available to read on the West Australian website if you've got a subscription.

Making Space was inspired by an ABC podcast (A Silent Promise | The keeper of forgotten souls - ABC listen) and had been rolling around in my head for about a year. When I heard about the Best Australian Yarn competition, I knew it would be a perfect fit. I sat down to write it, the words fell out in about four hours.

It's still one of my favourite stories, and it was so pleasing to know that others liked it too.

Q: The Weird Blue Yonder podcast chose your short story 'The Only Saviour You'll Ever Need' for their first episode. What an honour! Did anything surprise you about that audio adaptation?

A: So many things surprised me about it! First was that The Weird Blue Yonder liked the story in the first place (I think it is the most rejected short story I've written so far). To be their first episode, their guinea pig in a way, was a real privilege. Second was how quickly it all happened: from the call to accepted to recorded to uploaded for the world to hear in not much more than a week.

And then the production itself. My gosh, I was not expecting sound effects!

There were probably two lessons that came out of the whole experience for me. First, strange and fun things can happen when you give others creative freedom to build off of your work. I've come to realise that once I've written a story and I'm happy with it, I've kind of done the thing I wanted to do. Then it is out there, and it's not just mine anymore. It was so much fun to see someone else take it and run with it in a direction I totally wasn't expecting.

The second lesson was more technical. For an audio production, sound effects are fantastic. They deepen the experience for the listener in a way that words just can't. However, that means that some of the words that I wrote were no longer necessary and probably could have been cut. A good thing to keep in mind for an upcoming project for next year: a radio play in the style of Dragnet and Tales of the Texas Rangers, with a post-modern twist. Keep an ear out!

Also, I got the chance to make a mock-up pamphlet for my tentacled Intergalactic Missionary to hand out, and that's never a bad thing.

Q: In addition to short fiction you also have other projects in the works including Project Gateway which is about to launch on Kickstarter. What can you tell us about it?

A: Project Gateway was the second novel I tried to write (the first was a novel about a serial killer that I got about five pages into before I realised I was out of my depth).

It's a techno-thriller (think Michael Crichton's the Andromeda Strain, or Prey) about the fight for control of Gateway, a revolutionary technology that can turn your phone into a literal portal. This fight starts in the boardroom, but ends up as brawl in the dirty streets.

Our main character, Brita, wants to gift Gateway to a world in need of radical change, but is forced to compromise her ethics at every turn in order to keep Gateway out of the hands of her ruthless rivals and their shady underworld backers. It's a story about money, power and corruption where the only choices are bad, and the consequences are even worse.

Project Gateway has been through multiple iterations. The first draft (like most first drafts) was bad. The second was okay. With the help of a few trusted readers, and about 18 months of brewing time while I worked on other things, I was able to turn Project Gateway into something I'm incredibly proud of.

The Kickstarter goes live on Wednesday 11 December 2024, with Project Gateway available in e-book, paperback and hardcover formats (as well as a few other stories exclusive to the Kickstarter). If you're interested, please follow the link. The first four chapters are available in .epub and .pdf format and, hopefully, that should be enough to get you hooked.

Big thanks go to Stephanie Chou, who edited the final manuscript and found so many errors I hadn't known I'd made, and Brie Rowe, who put up with all my nitpicking to come up with the awesome cover. And also to my partner Caitlin, who didn't hold back, and our friend Grace. They both helped with critical improvements between the second and third drafts that turned Project Gateway from an intriguing idea into the tight, tense thriller that it is today.

Q: You mention Project Gateway is for watchers of shows like Succession. Can we expect to see creative profanity between characters throughout or are you referring more to the family drama and politics?

A: Unfortunately, no. While there are a few f-bombs, I can't lay claim to rivalling Logan, Shiv or Roman Roy for the sheer inventiveness of their insult game.

Project Gateway is most like Succession in that one of the rivals wrestling Brita for control of Gateway is her father, Hugo. He invented Gateway, but it's Brita's company that owns the rights. The company that he founded, and that she stole from him (or saved from his negligence, depending on which of them you ask). So it's not just money on the line for Brita and Hugo. Gateway will be their legacy. For one of them, at least.

Q: What are your favourite tabletop board games?

A: Probably the best game I've played in the last five years has been Seafall. It's a legacy game, where you play as an explorer and trader, plying the seas and competing for the precious resources you need to build your fleet and strengthen your base.

The best part of Seafall, however, is that each treasure chest you unlock radically changes the game. There are hidden idols, secret societies, mysterious ruins, and dangerous sea monsters. It was just epic, from the first game to the last. I don't even care that I didn't win.

Outside of the big legacy epics, Firefly is a favourite. It's one of those games where zooming about in the world is so much fun that sometimes the missions and the end goal can get forgotten. For a little while at least.

And now that we're of an age where children like to get involved, putting cards, dice, and anything they can get their sticky little hands on, really, into their mouths, we've found some shorter, simpler games that we can squeeze in around naps and snacks. The Grizzled, Cover Your Assets, Railroad Ink, Star Wars Love Letter and, of course, Sushi Go are hard to beat.

Q: Are you likely to get into Warhammer 40K 10th edition?

A: It's probably been about 10 years since I played a proper game of 40k. I had a fairly conventional Eldar army for a long time: Banshees, Swooping Hawks, Jetbikes, Wraithlords, an Avatar of Khaine and a Seers Council, but my favourite army I ever played was a Tyranid Horde built entirely around Mawlocks.

My 'nids were designed to combat my friend Darren who had a practically invincible T’au force. He would park his Hammerheads at the back of the map with the vulnerable rears inaccessible to attack, and just pound away with his railguns, absolutely mauling my squishy little Eldar before they even got close.

So, my 'nids army was built around deep strike: Mawlocks, winged Hive Tyrant, Shrikes (made from Warriors with Gargoyle wings glued to their chitin backs), Lictors, Genestealers and Hormagaunts, all supported by a couple of Zoanthropes and a fleet of Spore Cannons. In my head, the Mawlocks would burst from the ground directly beneath Darren's Hammerheads, knocking them flying, ready for my hordes of clawed monsters to sweep in from the flanks and shadows to turn his slow, panicky foot soldiers into so much red meat.

Most of the time, though, my Mawlocks would pop up in the middle of nowhere and my Genestealers would get sliced to pieces before they ever got within range.

But it did work as intended, just once. Should have seen the look on Darren's face. So worth it.

Then 6th or 7th edition came out and both deep strike and outflank were nerfed (no assault on the first turn). Adding last stand just rubbed salt into the wound, and that 'nids army was obsolete. I moved to Perth about a year later, and the various units were dispersed via gumtree soon after.

I'd not really thought about 40k since, however a friend of mine just got a very nice, custom gaming table built. Big enough for a 4,000-point game to live in while life goes on around it. And when we helped him to get it into his house, I did happen to spy a very nice set of Necrons just waiting to be painted.