Processing: How Paul Tremblay Wrote Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep

Processing is Counter Craft’s semi-regular interview series where I talk to authors about the craft and writing process behind their work. You can find previous entries here. This week, I’m excited to be talking with about his weird and wild new science-fiction horror novel Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep. Tremblay is the award-winning author of novels like The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts, among many other inventive and excellent horror works. Tremblay’s newest, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep, turns a dark eye to AI and the tech companies trying to monetize our onrushing dystopia. The novel follows Julia Flang, a Gen Z slacker and video gamer, who gets recruited by her big tech exec mother for a secret job: piloting an AI-controlled braindead body across state lines. But the man—nicknamed Bernie as in Weekend at Bernie’s—is not as braindead as the corporation claims. Between Flang’s chapters, the narrative falls into the nightmarish rabbit hole of…