Interview with SD Perry 📡

GHOST PLΛNЄT 🌘 Interview with SD Perry

SD Perry is an accomplished Science-Fiction and Horror writer with an incredible knack for descriptive detail. In addition to writing the Resident Evil tie-in novels, her career spans other beloved franchises like Alien, and Star Trek. SD opens up about her writing, her father, and her Legacy within Sci-Fi in this candid interview.

*SD Perry goes by Danelle

(Some of Perry's most beloved novelizations)

🌘 Good morning Danelle, I'm Kenny Mason, Writer and Voice Actor for Ghost Planet Studios. Thank you for taking the time to answer questions about your illustrious career today!

You’re welcome! Thanks for asking. Lol, illustrious! :)

🌘 Your Father, Steve Perry, is an accomplished Science-Fiction writer in his own right. How much did his work and Legacy influence you?



Hugely. I grew up thinking that being a writer was an actual occupation, for one thing; it didn’t seem like some out-of-reach dream. I got to hang out at sci-fi conventions and listen to other writers talk… And both my parents read voraciously, so my brother and I had easy access to cool books. I started keeping a journal when I was 11, and wrote my first short story at 13… And my dad encouraged me to submit. The story was rejected, but the process taught me what writers actually do: they write, they submit, they get rejections, they edit and resubmit. I was super lucky to have a parent with connections and a name, nepotism definitely helped out at the beginning of my career, but just the belief that anyone could tell stories, that was huge.

(Emile Antoon Khadaji from Steve Perry's The Man Who Never Missed)

🌘 Aliens: The Female War, was co-written by both yourself and your Father. Was that a passing of the torch moment for you? What was it like to write with Steve?

I don’t know about passing of the torch, exactly… I was in my early 20s and decided I was ready to go to college, because it turned out waiting tables wasn’t my thing (I sucked at it and it was hard). I’d written and sold a short story, but I wasn’t ready to take the full writing plunge. Anyway, I didn’t have college money, and my father suggested that I co-write with him—it would give me a credit and I could use the money to get started in school. So, I wrote the first draft for Female War—long-hand, and then I typed it up—and he edited. His advice for me was to copy his style, which is what I did, to the best of my ability… And he said I did great, and I got the contract money. Which suddenly seemed way more attractive than college, since I was only going to college so I could have a better job to support myself writing. We did a second book together, the same way, and he barely touched it. Then I started getting offers on my own.

🌘 Writing for the Alien Franchise in the 90's saw you adapt Dark Horse comics into novelizations. What are some unique challenges that come with adapting a story from one medium to another?

All mediums have their challenges, when it comes to novelizations. For graphic novels, it was about pacing—breaking down the comic into rough thirds, and then assigning each third about a hundred pages of material—and coming up with logical explanations for what the panels represented. Stuff that looks cool doesn’t always make sense, when you’re trying to write about it. So the challenge was often trying to make scientifically improbable pictures into something that wouldn’t insult the reader’s intelligence.

🌘 In 2008 your wrote Aliens, Criminal Enterprise, an original tale that marked your return to the Alien Franchise. How did you prepare to write your 1st original story in the Alien setting?

(Image via Xenopedia)

At the time, a couple of new editors had taken over books at Dark Horse, and they asked for some new ideas. They didn’t want re-tellings of the movies, they were looking for something where the xenomorphs weren’t the “main” characters. I pitched several ideas, and they liked one I came up with—a drug lord using the aliens as defense, with a cast of reprobates. I wrote it and the editors were happy and I thought I’d done a good job. Turns out a lot of fans hated it because the aliens weren’t the main characters. I’m not sure I blame them, but I was proud of the work.

🌘 Before penning Criminal Enterprise you wrapped up an iconic run of Resident Evil novels. Our Fans have to know Danelle: Why Resident Evil? What attracted you to the Survival Horror Franchise?

As a writer-for-hire, I take what I’m offered. Sometimes I know nothing about the franchise and have to take a crash course in the subject before I get started. RE was one of those lucky coincidences—I was still in the mansion trying to beat the big snake when I got a call from an editor who’d just snagged the publishing rights for RE, would I be interested? Hell, yes. I am a horror nerd in real life, and I totally dug the premise, one I was already familiar with—basically, soldiers stumbling into something they’re not ready for, a disaster created by an evil corporate entity. Plus zombies? I was psyched. The contract was for four books, two based on the games—the second game wasn’t out yet—and two originals set in the game universe. I signed up.

🌘 Which of your Resident Evil novels is your personal favorite, and why is that?

Probably Caliban Cove. I’d already turned in the first book and was starting to feel comfortable with the universe, so I wasn’t as terrified of messing up… And I got to write a character eating another character’s face, which remains a high point for me.

🌘 Extra characterization was given to characters like Albert Wesker, and William Birkin in the RE novelizations. How much freedom did you have to explore characters within each established video game's plot?

I had total freedom. My editor told me not to drop too many f-bombs and to write something exciting. I was young and brave and just kinda went for it, trying to pick characters I thought it would be fun to write for.

🌘 Which of the RE novelizations was the most challenging to write?

The first one, definitely. I had written a few graphic novel adaptations, plus a script novelization and a book based on a TV series… But video game books weren’t really a thing. I didn’t have a game guide or a bible, only the game to work from… So I just played and played and took pages of notes, trying to capture the feel of each room, documenting each event and interaction. Every time I wasn’t sure about a detail, I played again, finally video-taping the screen so I could fast-forward to what I needed. My first run through of the game took me more than 20 hours. By the time I’d finished the book, I could get through in less than two hours. Not impressive by gamer standards, but I was mostly just a casual player.

🌘 Do you have a Favorite video game in the Resident Evil franchise?

RE2, probably. Because of the Lickers, and Mr. X.

(image via Resident Evil wiki)

🌘 How much interaction did you have with the developers of Resident Evil?

Very little. For the first book, we submitted an outline with an idea about how the mansion was built, and they said to leave it out because they had their own story. When the second game came out, they sent a couple of character sketches. That was pretty much it. We never got edits on any of the books, or knew what was coming from new games. In their defense, they were developers, not publishers.

🌘 You've written multiple novels in the Star Trek Universe as well. Was it intimidating to write for such an established IP?

(Star Trek, DS9. Image via Memory-beta wiki)

Yes and no. My editor for RE, Marco Palmieri, got promoted to editing DS9 after the success of the RE books. He wanted to work with me again and had an idea to do an arc of books that took place just after the last episode. I’d been a fan of TOS and TNG, but I hadn’t watched DS9. Luckily, a local channel was running the series every night, so I binge-watched, and then read the entire Star Trek encyclopedia, twice. I loved the show and felt like I understood the characters, so I wasn’t too freaked out.

🌘 Do you have a Favorite Star Trek Captain? A Favorite run of the Show?

I have multiple answers to this, for different reasons. I grew up on re-runs of TOS and was a nerd for it, so Kirk holds a special place in my heart… But Picard was definitely a better captain. I mean, a diplomat, not constantly sleeping with aliens, willing to delegate, etc. After absorbing DS9, Sisko wins for me as best-written, hands down, with a compelling arc that made me a huge fan of the material, which explored all of the characters more fully than previous Treks. I haven’t seen enough of Voyager or Enterprise to hold an opinion on them, but I imagine they’re comparable to the rest—some episodes are fantastic, some not so much. Fans fall in love with the characters, the relationships, and are happy to follow along, even when the story isn’t the strongest. But honestly, if I’m flipping through cable late at night and run across any of the shows, TOS episodes still grab my attention, every time. They seem so campy now, but some of their ideas were just brilliant, the concepts brand-new to people who didn’t read science-fiction. So… I guess TOS for love, DS9 for quality.

🌘 Looking back over your career and all that you've accomplished is there anything you'd do differently if you could?

I’m not sure. I’m one of those writers who is afraid to read their old work, because I know I’ll end up focusing on all of the mistakes. It’s the same reason I don’t read reviews, they make me too anxious. For me, one bad review negates all of the positive ones. So, my initial reaction to your question is that I should have written better early on… But of course, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I’m more competent now, and have finally gotten rid of my imposter-syndrome problem, so I’m hopeful my future will be brighter. I’ve made a number of mistakes, but I try not to dwell on them overly. Did I mention I get anxious? :)

🌘 What series would you love to write for that you never have?

Silent Hill, probably. The atmosphere of those games is unreal. Really, anything even remotely horror-related sparks my interest, books, movies, games.

🌘 Do you prefer doing adaptations or writing original works?

Adaptations/novelizations are easier, for sure; I understand the format and I’ve got the skill set (fast and clean) and I’m technically poor, so knowing that a paycheck is coming is a huge relief. But writing my own stories is love. I’ve written three original non-franchise novels, though only one sold, with a huge edit that I shouldn’t have agreed to… so I’m gun-shy lately about original stuff for pragmatic reasons. On the other hand, I just love writing, period. Even writing these answers for you makes me happy.

🌘 What advice would you give to aspiring Science-Fiction or Horror writers starting out today?

Writing is like learning to play the violin; you have to have a few sucky years before you get any good, and that’s okay. Professional writers are just aspiring writers who didn’t give up, who wrote, submitted, networked, revised, just kept at it, even as the rejections piled up, because they loved telling stories. It’s a lifetime commitment, this practice, but it’s so gratifying to me. Not because some people like what I do, or because working pays the bills (sometimes!), but because the process makes me feel good. I still get rejected, and I’m still learning, but I’m often happiest when I’m writing. I’ve even come to love editing, honing the sentences to be their best, chopping out unnecessary words, stopping to research so that my characters can comfortably be themselves. If you love writing, your time is well spent whether or not you ever publish. Because you’re doing something you care about.

🌘 Thank you again for the interview, Danelle, and for your incredible contributions to these beloved Franchises. It's been a pleasure!

No problem! Thank you for caring what I think!