(1999-11-01)INTRO: John Marco burst upon the Fantasy scene earlier this yearwith The Jackal of Nar, a debut that has reached #1 on the Locusand Waldenbooks trade paperback lists.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the Tyrants and Kingsseries?
A: Like a lot of first novels, the idea for Tyrants and Kings waskicking around in my head for years. And actually, it was morethan just one idea; there were a lot of themes I wanted to puttogether into a book. I've been a fan of military history sinceI was young, so I knew that I wanted to write about war. And Iwanted to make it realistic--I wanted the war to haveconsequences and to affect the characters involved.
I also wanted to write a story about a person caught up in astrange culture. I've always enjoyed stories where the maincharacter is out of place and has to learn about the "different"people around him. This gives a lot of opportunity for thecharacter to grow and change. By the end of the story, he'snever the same person he was at the beginning. For me, that's alot of fun, and The Jackal of Nar let me explore that idea.Those two elements, war and culture shock, are probably the twomost basic themes in the book. They carry over into the next twobooks, as well.
Q: How has it been getting all this positive response to yourfirst novel, The Jackal of Nar?
A: It's been extremely gratifying. Every writer works hard andhopes that their efforts will pay off. We all want people toread our work and our books to do well. I spent a lot of timeworrying about this while writing Jackal. Then, when the bookfinally came out, I started worrying about reviews and sales. Ittakes a while before you have a firm idea on how well a book isselling. Thankfully, most reviewers have been kind to Jackal,and the response from readers has been terrific. I'm alwaysgetting emails from folks saying that they've read the book, andI just love hearing from them. Getting attention for a firstnovel is tough, so I'm very grateful to anyone willing to takethe time to read my work.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about the experience of writing yourfirst book?
A: To be honest, it was tough. I was working full time as atechnical writer back then, so I had to do all my fiction writingand research at night and on weekends. That made for some slowgoing. It took about two years to write Jackal, which is longerthan I had thought it would take. Sometimes I joke about it andsay that if I had known how long it would take, I wouldn't havedone it. But obviously I'm glad I did. Thankfully, I have a verysupportive wife who took care of most of the other things thatneed to be done around the house, which really freed me up. Butit was still difficult juggling everything.
Once I finally finished the book, my agent started shopping itaround to various publishers. This was probably the toughestpart for me, because I'm somewhat impatient, and the publishingindustry can be really slow. But within a month or so I wascontacted by Bantam Spectra. They liked the book, basically, butsaid it needed work. My editor at Bantam said that if I madesome changes and reworked the book, she would be willing to lookat it again. So of course I reworked the book and sent it back toher. A couple of months later, they agreed to publish it.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your second book, The GrandDesign?
A: The Grand Design is due out in April of next year, and takesplace about a year after the close of the first book. Many ofthe old characters are back, but there are also a lot of newcharacters as well. It's also slightly different from The Jackalof Nar, in that it's more about the aftermath of war. There's alot of intrigue and skull-duggery, and of course there's actionand romance. The book also shows the people of Liss for thefirst time, who were introduced in book one but were never seen.
Vengeance is the major theme of The Grand Design. At the end ofThe Jackal of Nar, there are a lot of people who have been hurtor who have lost loved ones, and by book two they all wantrevenge. That's the motivation that drives the characters in thestory, and they all have to deal with the consequences of theirfeelings.
Like the first book, The Grand Design stands pretty well on itsown. Personally, I don't cliff-hangers or surprise endings, sonone of the books close that way. I want people to feelsatisfied when they've finished my books, and not like they'vebeen cheated. There's more to come, certainly, but I like togive each book a feeling of closure. After all, if you've justread 600 pages, you shouldn't have to wait a year to see how thestory actually ends. That just seems unfair.
Q: How many books will there be in the Tyrants and Kings series?
A: There are a total of three books so far. I'm finishing up thethird book right now. I'm very satisfied with the story arcoverall, and I think the third book ties everything up nicely.But that doesn't mean there won't be more books in the series. Ireally love writing in the world of Nar, and I'm always gettingnew ideas for stories. If people want to see more books aboutNar, I'll certainly write them.
Q: What lies ahead of the Tyrants and Kings series; will we seeyou doing something else in the future?
A: That's a tough question. Just like I have ideas for moreTyrants and Kings stories, I also have ideas for books that arecompletely unrelated to the world of Nar. I'd like to keep theNar series going, but on the other hand I want to write otherthings as well. I don't want to get stale or bored, and I thinkthe best way to prevent this is to write about differentcharacters and places. Right now I have an idea for a newfantasy series, and I've been enjoying working on it. But so farit's only in its early stages. It's a little too early to tellwhat will be next for me.
Q: What has the Internet meant for you as an author?
A: For me, the Internet has been a boon. Not only does it let medo research quickly, but it's really helped to level the playingfield, allowing me to reach many more readers than I ever couldwithout it. I had my website (www.tyrantsandkings.com) up longbefore my book actually came out, which allowed people to learnabout the book and generate some interest. It's also allowedpeople to get in touch with me by email, which is great fun. Plus I've done a couple of interviews with online magazines, andthat's also helped. The great thing about sites like Sffworld isthat they're willing to talk to new writers like me. That's justnot the case with established print media. So I'm really a bigfan of the Internet. 
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