Meet Brent C. Lambert

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brent C. Lambert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brent C. below.

Hi Brent C., thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism stems from the belief that I’m not so special. And I don’t say that to demean myself, but instead to highlight the collective power of humanity. There are billions of us; it would be absurd for me to think that I am alone in the amount of empathy I possess for my fellow man.

I’ve told this story many times before but I grew up a terribly anxious, Black gay kid who never really had any sense of permanence outside of my immediate family. Those conditions forged my empathy in a couple of ways. Seeing many parts of the world while you’re young I think instills very early on an understanding that the world is so much bigger than you. People often ask “what radicalized you” and for me, it was being a middle schooler living in Panama and constantly seeing the damage wrought by US imperialism.

And then, I think my dire need for someone to empathize with me set me on a path to make sure I would become the person a younger me could have clung to. We save ourselves by becoming the love we needed. And we save each other by recognizing that just because I couldn’t be saved doesn’t mean there aren’t others that can be.

And to circle it all back, if I can be for someone else what I needed then there are bound to be millions and millions of people who feel a deep desire to want to do the same. So my optimism just comes from a belief in the numbers.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I say this in my author bio, but I believe in the transformative power of speculative fiction. Science fiction, fantasy and horror of all stripes are stories that I think don’t get enough credit for how much they can influence culture (for good and ill). I think this is even truer when these stories are in the hands of the marginalized. So that’s what I focus on in my writing. I chose to dive into the fantastic because I think so many universal truths and also specific cultural truths can be explored through them. Think about the movie GET OUT and how it is a uniquely Black American horror story and yet so many people found themes in the story that resonated.

So to sum it up, I’m a writer of fantasy, science-fiction and everything that branches out from the two.

My focus will always be trying to bring Black people into these stories. I could spend the rest of my life writing stories with nothing but Black characters and it still wouldn’t be enough to address the imbalance of our presence in these worlds. So I will never be ashamed or afraid to put us at the forefront. And to be even more specific, my lens is tuned on Black gay men–who have even less presence in these spaces.

To that point, my novella A NECESSARY CHAOS is basically Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets Final Fantasy where two Black gay men possessed of magical powers are spying on each other while wrangling with romantic feelings. I also have a novelette coming out in the soon to be released BEATING HEARTS & BATTLE-AXES which will feature a married Black gay mercenary couple tackling a dark god.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Learning and accepting that rejection is forever is the biggest thing I think that gives me resilience in continuing as a professional author and editor. Even the biggest names in the business still get rejected for things and once you can solidify that into your mind, you can push through the many rejections you’ll face.

Finish what you start is another lesson that is huge for me. You grow as an author when you finish projects, whether it’s a poem, novel, short story or whatever. Just finish! An imperfect completed product will always be superior to a perfect, unwritten idea.

Never stop being hungry. And what I mean by that is never think you’ve “made” it. Always be trying to improve your craft, experiment with your storytelling, consume art that challenges you and pushes you outside your comfort zones. There’s a lot of people who want to be great at writing and you need to be constantly pursuing that next level.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

They let me read whatever I wanted to read. My Mom (who did most of the buying) never has been big on comics, science=fiction or fantasy. But she saw I wanted to read, loved that for me and rarely said no to getting me a new book. I would run into the house every month with that new Scholastic order form ready to get the next Goosebumps or Animorphs and she would do it. That steadfastness in nurturing my reading was so crucial to who I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brentclambert.com
• Instagram: brentclambertwrites
• Other: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brentclambert.bsky.social