Interview with Stephen R. Donaldson

- You have been writing novels for three decades. What has changed the most in the fantasy genre since you began your career?

For two decades before I broke into print, there was "The Lord of the Rings"--and virtually nothing else. Six months before I was first published, Terry Brooks made a splash with "The Sword of Shannara". Now we're up to our hips in fantasy novels and series of every conceivable description--and quality. In general, this seems good to me. But it does make it more difficult--you should pardon the cliche--to separate the wheat from the chaff.

- What advice would you give a younger Stephen R. Donaldson concerning his writing career? Looking back, would you have done anything differently?

No, I would not have done anything differently. But if I could communicate now with my younger self, I would urge that Stephen R. Donaldson to trust himself more.

- Many fantasy authors don't read within the genre. Is it the case with you? If not, what authors make you shake your head in admiration these days?

I'm a very slow reader, but I do read a fair amount of fantasy and science fiction. Writers whom I especially admire include: Patricia A. McKillip, Steven Erikson, and Tim Powers.

- After producing all those bestsellers and selling millions of copies worldwide, after winning literary awards, is there added pressure when it comes to writing new series/novels, knowing that the expectations will always be high?

I do suffer from a kind of "performance anxiety" that I associate with competing with myself. So many people enjoyed the first six "Covenant" books--and I've made them wait so long to complete the story--that I can hardly bear the prospect of disappointing them. In the long run, however, I'm more concerned about doing justice to the story. For that reason, I hope that my own expectations for myself are higher than anyone else's for me.

- The fact that you have an official website on the internet is an indication that interaction with your readers is important to you as an author. How special is it to have the chance to interact directly with your fans?

Actually, my website does *not* indicate that interaction with my readers is important to me. It indicates that my publishers want me to do more to promote my own books. Nevertheless I *do* benefit from interaction with my readers, and I value it. Primarily through conventions, every writer of science fiction and fantasy is blessed with access to his/her audience(s): access which does not exist to the same extent in any other form of literature. As a result, I don't need a website to help me interact with my readers.

That said: the interactions on my website are more focused (therefore more efficient? certainly more concrete) than those that occur at conventions. My website has benefitted me in ways that I didn't expect when I started it.

- 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.

I think that the recognition of the best work in our field as serious literature is inevitable--although I don't expect that recognition to come quickly enough to do either of us any good. It is a fact that the oldest and most enduring forms of literature in every language of every culture on the planet are fantasy. This simply cannot be an accident: it has to be an important statement about how human beings find meaning. Well, we live in a cynical time: "meaning" is out of favor. But this phase will pass eventually. Time will ensure that any work which deserves the status of Literature will receive its due.