Interview with Tad Williams

Q: After what can only be called an illustrious and prolific career, what motivates you to keep on writing?

Samuel Johnson said the prospect of being hanged "concentrates the mind wonderfully." With me, it's the prospect of not paying the mortgage and having to go live with my wife and children in an old refrigerator box under the freeway. Of course, if you're talking about the ARTY side of the whole thing, there's also the fact that every year that goes by as a writer I discover a hundred new things I don't know how to do and wish I could. One of the great things about being a writer, or any kind of artist or craftsman, is that the challenges still remain right up until the day you pop your clogs.

Q: You have been writing novels for over two decades. What has changed the most in the fantasy genre since you began your career?

Not enough. It's still largely (as far as I can tell) a comfort genre for a lot of readers -- that is, many people will read any old rubbish as long as it has enough fantasy tropes in it. I still can count the number of writers whose work I look forward to on the fingers of two hands, and that's because the ones I used to wait for eagerly have mostly died and only a few new ones have come along to take their places.

I should clarify this, actually. When I say "fantasy", I'm talking about the more traditional part of the genre. If you interpret "fantasy" in its broadest form, including a lot of what gets called modern fiction or magic realism, then there's plenty to read, and a lot of it very good.

Q: 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?

I love meeting readers, either virtually or in real life. I can't talk about it much without sounding sappy. I like the people who read my books, and not just because they help keep my family out of that refrigerator box. After all, it stands to reason that if a writer like me writes things HE'D like to read, then the people who like his work will often share other similarities and interests.

Q: Characters often take a life of their own. Which of your characters did you find the most unpredictable to write about?

The first and classic example for me was the monk Cadrach in MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN. He was intended to be a minor character -- a walk-on, basically -- but just kept growing in importance until he was central to the story. That's happening a bit in the SHADOWMARCH books with the poet Matty Tinwright, although I'm still not completely certain what he's going to do in the last volume.

Q: In the long run, what will differentiate SHADOWMARCH from the other popular fantasy series on the market?

I hope the depth of characterization, the depth of worldbuilding, and the intricacy of the plotting. In short, all the obsessive-compulsive stuff that I bring to my work instead of having treated by respectable physicians so I could lead a normal life.