Interview with Katherine Kurtz

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- Is a World Fantasy Award something you covet?

It would be nice, certainly-and awards do tend to give a book exposure that leads to more sales, so that’s a definite plus. But I don’t write for the awards. I write because it pleases me, and because I get antsy when I’m not writing and putting ideas together. These last couple of years, when I was heavily involved with finishing the restoration of our house in Ireland and getting it to market, the original writing suffered, though I did manage to turn out Childe Morgan, and am happy with the result. But fortunately, the general chaos coincided with the polishes for the hardcover re-releases of the first three books-the "author’s cuts," if you will-which I could pick up and put down without losing continuity. (I was also been working with my Scottish writing partner, Deborah Turner Harris, on the outline for a new Adept book, a prequel to the five we’ve already done-and that is now getting underway. And of course, the third Childe Morgan was bubbling away on a back burner.) So even in the midst of chaos, the writing goes on, in one form or another. And now that I’ve just about found the floor in my new office, and my new bookshelves and desk units have been installed, I can get back to work on that third Childe book! (When we first moved back to the States, earlier this year, we lived in a hotel for more than two months, before our house was ready to move in-and I reviewed the copy-edits for High Deryni while holed up in the hotel room, and had to rely on the hotel business center for my internet access. This was not conducive to getting much serious writing done!)

- What project will you be tackling next? What's the progress report?

I’ve begun work on the third Childe Morgan-still uncertain what it will be called. Hopefully it will go fairly quickly. Meanwhile, the High Deryni hardcover will be out for Christmas of this year.

- Honestly, do you believe that the speculative fiction genre will ever come to be recognized as veritable literature? Truth be told, in my opinion there has never been this many good books/series as we have right now, and yet there is still very little respect (not to say none) associated with the genre.

Well, J.K. Rowling certainly did her part to put fantasy on the popular map. Granted, the Harry Potter books are regarded as children’s literature-but I reckon that at least as many adults as children have read the books, and loved them. And while some adults may still sneer at fantasy, there’s no denying that it has made Rowling one of the richest women in Britain-and one of the most respected, since she applies a large portion of her wealth to good causes, like children’s literacy. There’s no arguing with that sort of success-and by association, I think fantasy probably has acquired a bit more acceptance. A number of science fiction properties have also helped to raise public awareness of speculative fiction as a worthy literary genre, by being translated into the more popular medium of film. After all, you can’t have films without authors.

- How would you like to be remembered as an author? What is the legacy you'll leave behind?

I know that many of my readers have found inspiration in my books for dealing with troubling aspects of their real lives, and that the books sometimes have made big differences in how those readers have coped with difficult times. Some would call it a spiritual dimension that they had thought lost. That can only be a good thing. I know that my readers generally learn things from reading my books-and to learn is always a good thing, especially if it’s nothing like the formal lessons one remembers-or doesn’t remember!-from school. But most of all, I hope that my readers come away from their reading of my work with a greater awareness that being different is not necessarily wrong. As I’ve often summed up my intention, "I don’t necessarily want to change minds; just open them."

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Interview by Patrick
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