In Conversation with Dana Fredsti

In Conversation with Dana Fredsti

I first encountered San Francisco-based author Dana Fredsti in 2012, when I was asked to interview her in advance of Plague Town being released. Following the interview, we kept in touch through the magic of the internet, and I later provided advice on parkour for Plague Nation and geographical information for Plague World.

In my review of Plague Town, I described the novel as “Dana’s love-letter to film and sci-fi geekdom” as it is an unashamedly fun novel, which opens with a quote from Big Trouble in Little China, and races along at a cracking pace.

To say Dana is unconventional is an understatement. Before becoming an author, Dana was an actress and theatrical swordswoman. Dana’s most famous cinematic credits include Army of Darkness, where she appeared as a sword-wielding deadite, as well as being the armourer’s assistant.

Dana and I finally met in person last weekend, when she attended the Sheffield Fantasy and Science Fiction social during a trip to the UK.

At the social, Dana gave readings from Plague Town and Plague World (specifically the Sheffield interlude). After which, I briefly interviewed Dana about her writing, before opening the questions to the audience.