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By Patrick (2008-01-27)
- Have the plotlines diverged much since you began writing the series, or did you have the entire plot more or less figured out from the very beginning? Were any characters added or further fleshed out beyond your original intention? Have you made any changes to your initial plans during the course of the writing of the series?
I had a plot when I began, but I didn’t follow it. The characters shanghaied the story and I like it that way. I’m constantly surprised and entertained by the writing process as I’m never quite sure what will happen in a scene. The joy of writing for me is creating that scene, that chance for characters to interact and then allowing them to be themselves.
The Dog Lord is a character who wasn’t planned. One day I fancied a break from Blackhail’s storyline and brought him in. The same with Bram Cormac. Now I care about both of them very much. Other characters were already present in the story, such as Marafice Eye and Effie Sevrance, and after a while I chose to write for them, rather than about them. It’s all a bit spare-of-the-moment. As a writer, I want to challenge myself. Writing from different POVs is one of the ways I do that.
- What do you feel is your strength as a writer/storyteller?
I hope it’s my characters. I have a strong sense of them and never have to wonder what they’re likely to do in any given situation. They just go right ahead and do it.
- The fact that there are a website dedicated to your work 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?
http://www.jvj.com/ is one of the longest running writer websites on the internet. We’ve been going since 1994, a year before The Baker’s Boy was published. Back then, we didn’t have our own domain, just a very long URL and handful of bright blue hyperlinks. My brother Paul and I have run it, hands on, from the beginning. And from the very beginning readers have been able to contact me via email. This is important to me. Writing is a solitary profession. When things are going well you spend the entire day on your own. Contact is a lifeline. It reminds me why I write: I want to tell a good story and hopefully entertain someone for a while.
- Given the choice, would you take a New York Times bestseller, or a World Fantasy Award? Why, exactly?
Either would be nice.
- More and more, authors/editors/publicists/agents are discovering the potential of all the SFF blogs/websites/message boards on the internet. Do you keep an eye on what's being discussed out there, especially if it concerns you? Or is it too much of a distraction?
For the first four weeks after SWORD came out I regularly did searches for reviews, but apart from that I leave well alone. One can’t control what’s being written about oneself or one’s work so it’s best not to worry too much about it. For SF news I check locusmag.com and for book reviews I read publishersweekly.com and nytimes.com.
- 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.
Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer prize this year for The Road, which is SF. Right now the entire country is reading the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera, as Oprah picked it this month for her book club. Speculative fiction is alive, well and much-honored. What’s not much honored is epic fantasy written in the tradition of Tolkien. I don’t see this changing any time soon. Just the word "fantasy" alone is enough to send the critics running. Why this is, I’m not sure. To a certain extent all "genres"--romance, westerns, epic fantasy, who dunits--are unfairly dismissed by the critics.
- It's said that there's a certain lack of respect from writers (non-speculative fiction) towards authors of genre fiction, especially female writers. Have you had to deal with any such problems and what are your thoughts on the subject?
I’ve been told many times that while women buy books by both male and female writers, men prefer to buy books by male writers. I’m not sure if this is true. I believe a book finds its audience through word-of-mouth, and a good book appeals equally to both men and women.
- Anything else?
I write the story I want to read. That’s my guiding principle as a writer. From an early age I was drawn to epic fantasy. The scale appeals to me, the idea that everything we hold precious depends upon the decisions of a handful of people. As a writer I’m playing with the highest possible stakes--if all goes well, life as we know it continues. If one key thing goes wrong it all ends. That’s exciting to me. It gives me chills and I hope to pass along those chills to my readers.
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Interview by Patrick
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