PHOTO: Jon Gray Lang seated outdoors with mountains behind, casually holding a ukulele and smiling thoughtfully at the camera.
Exploring Adventure Loyalty And Human Connection
Jon Gray Lang discusses the emotional depth of Saga of a Space Freighter, the grit of The Nun with a Gun, and his approach to creating morally complex, unforgettable characters.
Jon Gray Lang’s stories have a way of lingering in the mind, long after the last page is turned. Born on the other side of the world and now settled beneath the Rockies’ soaring peaks, Lang brings a wanderer’s sensibility to both his science fiction and Western narratives. His life—spanning filmmaking, acting, swordplay, and even the gentle strumming of a ukulele—feeds into a literary imagination that thrives on adventure, tension, and the unexpected.
His five-book epic, Saga of a Space Freighter, reaches its thrilling conclusion in Waltzing Matilda, a finale that balances the vast unknown of space with the intimate emotional stakes of its crew. Lang’s characters are shaped by their pasts, bound together in fragile alliances, and tested by the very darkness that surrounds them. It is in these interstices between fear, loyalty, and desire that his storytelling finds its heartbeat.
Now, with the Western series The Nun with a Gun, Lang shifts terrains while maintaining his trademark focus on morally complex, deeply human characters. The grit, sun-baked landscapes, and old-leather tang of the genre are rendered with a precision born from his cinematic eye, offering readers a fresh, visceral journey into a world both familiar and startlingly immediate.
Whether in the infinite expanse of space or the parched plains of a Western frontier, Lang’s work reflects a fascination with human connection, resilience, and the choices that define us. In every story, he reminds us that it is the bonds we forge—through trust, imperfection, and courage—that illuminate even the darkest of journeys.
In Waltzing Matilda, the crew faces escalating threats. How did you evolve their dynamics to heighten tension and emotional stakes?
The crew of the Matilda has come to rely on each other in spur-of-the-moment action, and in the quiet moments after. Even as fear or loss eats at some of the characters’ resolve, the others help them move forward. Even if they protest at the choices left to them, each of them knows that they can depend on the others to the very end.
Your characters often grapple with their pasts. What role does personal history play in shaping their decisions and relationships?
Every decision the characters make is, in some way, fuelled by their past. In fact, we learn quite a bit about Anton in Waltzing Matilda, where he calls home, being on the run for most of his life, and how those life choices shaped his belief system. He has seen and done things that the other crew members can’t even imagine, and they are horrified by them. But deep down, he wants the same thing that they all do, someone he can trust.
The Matilda series blends science fiction with elements of horror. How do you balance these genres to maintain narrative coherence?
Luckily, science fiction and horror blend quite well. What is unknown and inhabits the dark are the monsters that exist in our dreams. What is space but darkness infinite and filled with the unknown? Living on the edge of society means a piece of you is constantly fighting against fear, and introducing creatures that exist in the dark would only increase your need to survive.
Your writing reflects a background in screenwriting and filmmaking. How have these experiences influenced your storytelling techniques?
Screenwriting helps me ‘see’ how scenes play out clearly. Being able to predict how characters would interact with each other in the tight confines of a ship and how they would use the space to subtly avoid each other or try to be closer informs the bond between them. This helps me write the scene immensely.
In Nun with a Gun, you introduce a new protagonist. What inspired this shift in perspective, and how does it expand your universe?
After working on the Saga of a Space Freighter series, I needed a change of pace. The Nun with a Gun series is a journey into the spaghetti western world I grew up watching. It shifted how I write into tighter prose, where you can smell the old leather, feel the grit on the wind against your skin, and the hot sun baking the back of your hand. It fits the western genre in a way that other writing styles I’ve used don’t.
Your stories often feature morally complex characters. How do you develop these characters to ensure they remain relatable yet unpredictable?
This is something that has always fascinated me. Our strengths are what we portray to the world around us, and yet it is our flaws, our imperfections, that make us human. Stronger connections are made in moments of weakness than in displays of strength. The morals that each of us has play into those moments, and when you can see why that choice makes sense to someone, then you feel that connection, even if you disagree with it.
The Matilda series concludes with Waltzing Matilda. What themes or messages did you aim to convey through this finale?
This is something I believe in greatly, and that is the family you make, be they blood or not, are the ones that can see you through the darkest moments in your life. And if anything is worth fighting for, at the heart of it is that connection we create and foster with other individuals to see the way forward to a better future.
What advice would you offer to aspiring authors seeking to create compelling, genre-blending narratives?
The best pieces of advice I can offer are twofold. Write the story that you’ve wanted to read, include those things that have inspired you throughout your life, no matter if it doesn’t automatically make sense. Make that story happen, and the pieces fall into place. The second bit of advice I can offer, and, in some ways, this is the most important one, is to finish it. No matter how hard it feels, or how it looks like it isn’t working, complete that first draft. Once you have the full story in front of you, making it better makes all the sense in the world.
