Happy Thursday, friend! Welcome to an interview with author DK Mok about her short stories collection, The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories. The cover is stunning and I am excited to dive into the stories themselves. Let’s chat with DK and learn more.
Get to know the author: DK Mok
Welcome DK! Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
Hi! I’m a fantasy and science fiction author based in Sydney, Australia. My novels include cyberpunk adventure Squid’s Grief, fantasy epic Hunt for Valamon, and action mystery The Other Tree. My debut short story collection, The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories, came out in March this year. I grew up in libraries, and I’m a huge fan of the works of Sir Terry Pratchett, Martha Wells, Shaun Tan, Kirli Saunders, and Hayao Miyazaki. I’m also a bit of a science nerd, with a deep love of the natural world, and I particularly enjoy reading about curious, resourceful women having exciting adventures.
What inspired you to write this book?
Growing up, I didn’t come across many stories about women having fun adventures. Especially nerdy, diverse women having fun adventures on distant planets or magical worlds. I wrote many of the stories in this collection partly because I wanted to create the sort of stories I wish I’d had when I was younger. Stories with complex, heroic, funny, kind and brave girls and women. Stories that have tragedy, but aren’t tragic. Stories that leave you feeling uplifted. Stories about friendship, community, compassion and defiance. And I hope there are people out there who’ll read these stories and feel a little more seen.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
All up, it took over eleven years for this collection to take form. My mini space epic, “Morning Star”, was first published in One Small Step: An Anthology of Discoveries in 2013 (FableCroft Publishing). That was also my first story to be shortlisted for an Aurealis Award, and it marked the beginning of an amazing journey that would see my short stories appearing in many other wonderful anthologies. I always quietly dreamed of one day publishing a collection of my short stories, so this has been a real passion project, and I’m so excited to see these stories brought together in one book!
Who would enjoy reading your book?
This book is for anyone who enjoys stories involving diverse girls and women having adventures with robots, kraken, fae, and emotionally complicated monsters. It’s also for anyone who loves reading about passionate librarians, scientists, and oddball misfits stubbornly trying to make the universe a better, kinder place.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
One of the reasons I write stories is to try to give people the same comfort and sanctuary that I found in books growing up. I want to create fantastic little realms that readers can disappear into, where they can have wondrous adventures with empathetic companions and, for a while, escape their everyday troubles. My hope is that readers will feel a little better after reading my stories, whether they feel a little more seen and understood, or a little kinder towards themselves and others, or just a little more rested and ready to face the world again. I hope The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories is a place that readers can visit whenever they need, where they’ll always find kindness, courage, and good friends awaiting them.
Where can readers find you on the Internet?
I’m most active on Bluesky, so feel free to come by and say hello!
Bluesky: @dkmok.bsky.social
Mastodon: @dk_mok@mstdn.social
Instagram: @dk_mok
Website: www.dkmok.com
The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories
Fantasy, Science Fiction, Solarpunk, 2024
Twelve tales of adventure, wonder and heart from Aurealis Award-shortlisted author DK Mok. These diverse stories of courage and hope celebrate fierce women, curious minds, and unexpected kindness. A warrior librarian makes a pact to save the monsters of her realm. A high school girl ferries refugees from broken, enchanted worlds. An underfunded roboticist builds a robot kraken to explore the abyssal depths. The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories features six Aurealis Award-shortlisted stories, as well as two stories original to this collection.
Content notes: Some violence.
Book Excerpt from
The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories
Onward, they roamed, and the horizons unfolded as they searched the lands. They travelled the kingdom from peak to trough, from volcanic seas to glacial peaks. They snapped the chains from the Haranguing Hydra, and shattered the coral cage of the Kleptomaniac Kraken. They unbound the anchors from the Judgemental Jellyfish, and freed the Socially Awkward Serpent from the catacombs. Or, at least, they rolled aside the boulder sealing the doorway, and spent several hours coaxing the enormous reptile towards the entrance.
“Sarak is gone,” said Kaya. “You’re free to go.”
The Serpent mumbled and hissed incoherently, writhing into panicked knots behind the sarcophagi. Kaya studied the scene with a frown. It had taken them hours, and rather a lot of complicated physics, to shunt aside the boulder.
“I suppose we should leave him be,” she said. “After all, sealing a socially phobic snake inside an abandoned necropolis – as far as torments go, it wasn’t Sarak’s best work.”
“Giving someone what they crave isn’t always a mercy,” said the Devourer.
He sat on the weathered rock outside, and waited for the sound of hyperventilation to subside.
“Do you remember the delicious heat of the sun?” he said gently. “The slither of sand beneath your belly, the tickle of grass against your scales?” He sighed slowly. “I was Sarak’s prisoner too. When Kaya freed me, I was terrified of leaving the labyrinth, of seeing the world, or perhaps of the world seeing me – for a prison can be less frightening than the unknown. But the worst prison is the kind that sits within you, the cage that tells you what you are, what you will always be. It’s a prison that few of us escape, but sometimes, we can bend the bars a little, open the door a crack, and perhaps add a nice conservatory with an adjoining larder.” He tilted his head towards the sky. “And perhaps, it would be nice to feel the sun again.”
A forked tongue darted hesitantly through the doorway. After a pause, the head of a giant snake peered out, slitted eyes shining nervously. There was another tense pause, and then the rest of the Serpent slithered out, coils of delicately patterned green and gold. Almost half of his scales were missing, revealing patches of pale skin.
“I’m how are thanks fine?” ventured the Serpent.
“I’m thanks fine too,” said the Devourer.
“Thirty miles west,” said Kaya, “there’s a woodland plagued by rabid boar and brooding minstrels. Perhaps you’ll find good hunting and sparse conversation there.” She paused. “I recommend you only hunt the boar.”
The Serpent abruptly dashed back into the catacombs.
“Wait!” said Kaya. “I’m sure you could nibble a few minstrels, perhaps the ones who sing about all their wenches—”
The Serpent reappeared with something gripped in his jaws – it looked uncannily like a giant deflated white snake. He dropped it at Kaya’s feet.
“Sarak my scales she harvested most … for shields and armour, but last my shed skin she didn’t take. Stronger, lighter … than leather.”
He bumped Kaya shyly with his nose, and then slithered away towards the wooded hills.
Interested?
Find The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Goodreads and IndieStoryGeek.
Thanks for taking the time to join us for this interview!
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