The actor-turned-writer first found her storytelling home in audio with her podcast All Things Undone. She was a natural choice to adapt award-winning author N.K. Jemisin’s stories into an audiodrama. We talked with her about the genesis of this project and the future of her audio work.
Sam Danis: How did this project come to be?
Chené Lawson: Audible’s Steve Feldberg discovered my podcast series, All Things Undone, a few years ago and reached out to me, seeking a Black female sci-fi/fantasy writer to adapt N.K.'s stories. I love N.K.'s work, as her stories often explore similar themes found in my work, such as oppression and liberation, leading him to believe that I could be a suitable candidate. I, of course, said, “Yes, I’d love to!”
Amorph is based on two short stories by N.K. Jemisin—“The Trojan Girl” and “The Valedictorian.” What drew you to these two short stories, which subsequently evolved into this new story?
Well, “Trojan Girl” is the prequel to “Valedictorian,” set in the near future, and it follows the lead character, Meroë, who is a primordial conscious entity living in the “internet's cloud.” As he and other entities try to overthrow their "Gods," they discover an avatar unlike anything they've created. Perhaps she is the key to their liberation.
The story of "Valedictorian" takes place approximately 300 years after the events of "Trojan Girl," focusing on a young woman living in the dystopian aftermath of the war. N.K. never reveals where this "Trojan Girl" avatar came from, nor who this person was. I wanted to explore the possibility of intertwining the "Valedictorian" characters with the origins of the Trojan Girls' liberation story 300 years in the future. I'm hesitant to reveal too much to avoid spoiling the surprise.
Why did audio feel like the right format for this story, and what was it like writing for audio? Did anything about the finished product surprise you?
I believe that audio stories enable the audience to "create movies in their minds," and the landscape of Amorph is an ideal setting for this. The story primarily takes place in the "Cloud" of the internet. No one has ever visited this location before. Therefore, our task was to create a dynamic auditory environment that would effectively portray a completely unique world.
Writing this story was a lot of fun, as I had never heard of a series set in such a highly conceptual space before. It was like pioneering a new frontier, and I love unique soundscapes. Creating an environment no one has ever experienced and conveying it in a grounded way to draw the audience in proved to be a lesson in world-building. [Producer] Thomas Mann and his crew really took that to heart, and the finished product is amazing! They had to take these highly speculative creations, like a “giga-worm" or a “hyper-flash storm," and develop what they would each sound like. The quality, time, and effort put into producing it are quite remarkable, and my first listen brought me to tears.
You’re an actor-turned-writer, with a book, a web series, and an award-winning podcast under your belt. What inspired you to take the plunge into writing and performing your own work?
I trained at The Groundlings (Improv & Sketch Writing) Theater in LA for 10 years, and that’s where I honed a lot of my writing. This laid the foundation for character development and story development in many aspects of my work. I've always had a love for storytelling. I wrote and performed in my own plays and shorts for years. But it wasn't until 2020, when I was developing an idea for a short film, that I began exploring the world of podcasts. Producers consistently informed me that the cost of producing a short film would be prohibitive. So, after so many “No's," I pivoted, and with the help of my husband/creative partner, we developed my little idea into a podcast. And now that podcast, All Things Undone, is an Audible Original as well, launching this summer.
