Questions for AJ Dalton
Hello Adam. Thanks for joining us.
You’ve just had the third of your books in ‘The Chronicles of a Cosmic Warlord’ series published, Tithe of the Saviour by Gollancz. For those who don’t know, can you tell us a little about the series?
It’s set in a medieval empire in which the people are forced to live in fortified towns. The walls are guarded by Heroes, whose job it is to keep out marauding pagans… as much as it is to keep the people trapped inside. Then a Saint visits a couple of times a year to exact the Church’s tithe from the people, usually paid in blood. A young boy unleashes pagan magicks in an accident and has to go on the run pursued by Heroes, Saints and Saviours in this repressive religious regime. It’s autobiographical and set in Manchester. (That last bit isn’t true). And there’s a black wolf, pagan gods, a naked holy man, a woman suffering from rock-blight and bags of gothic humour. What more could you want?
I think you may have answered this next question exactly there! What do you think makes your books different?
Hmm. I tend to write fantasy with strong sociopolitical themes. Mechanisms of societal manipulation and control are exposed and resisted by our protagonists. I write a damned good fight scene (with a nod to David Gemmell, RIP). My fantasy work is epic, but also the gothic mixed with dark humour – don’t want to depress my readers and have them top themselves… it’s bad for business. Lastly, my work has magic very much in the foreground (where many current fantasies don’t), but my magic has a psychological drive to it. Empire of the Saviours opens in a very traditional, almost cliched fashion, and is then rapidly subverted, so the reader is turned upside down. It’s a hell of a ride… but can end up being a matter of taste too. Can’t please ’em all, as they say.
Trilogies take time and effort. How long have you been writing the series?
Wow. Yes, they do, especially if you’re writing epic fantasy. In total, well over half a million words. But my contract with Gollancz demands a book a year – that’s really tough when the writing doesn’t pay enough for you to do it full time. I have to do a part-time day job (teaching Creative Writing) to supplement my income, so finding sufficient time to scribble is always a challenge. I don’t have kids – if I did, I don’t think I could meet the deadlines. It’s a sad story, but once I get the film deal, who cares!
Were you always thinking ‘trilogy’, or is that how it happened?
No. I pitched a five-book series to Gollancz. ‘We don’t do five-book series,’ said Gollancz. ‘You would if I were George RR Martin,’ says Adam. ‘But you’re not George RR Martin,’ said Gollancz. ‘Good point,’ says Adam, ‘alright, it’s a trilogy instead.’
What made you write it (apart from the money, the celebrity lifestyle and the unending applause, of course)?
Well, I was sent to a very religious school when I was young. The quality of the education was good, but it was quite indoctrinating. When I whispered to a young friend I wasn’t sure about the whole God thing, and he told his mum, and his mum phoned the headmaster, there was hell to pay! My life at the school became an absolute misery. I guess writing Empire of the Saviours was a sort of catharsis for that period of my life. But that all sounds a bit self-indulgent. I also wrote it because I believed it to be a good story – simple as that, really. The author sometimes feels ‘lucky’ when a story like that comes to them – they can feel a responsibility to write it and get it out there. Authors certainly don’t do it for the money, that’s for sure, because there isn’t any money.
Without any spoilers, do you have a part in your books that you’re proudest of?
Yes, there’s a great scene in which the Peculiar (who is an incarnation of the God of Mayhem) is confronted by the good guys and exposed for who he really is. It’s a really funny scene… as is the scene between the stiff-collared Minister and the naked pagan holy man. They’re a scream. The randomness, conflict and humour of life all brought together in one moment is something magical for/to me.
Are you glad now the trilogy is finished? Do you have a book that you’re proudest of?
I am glad, and kinda sad too. It was a labour, but a labour of love. I’m glad because those fantasy readers who don’t start buying a series until all the books are ‘out there’ might now start buying mine. I’m sad because there is a follow-up trilogy I want to write, but the publisher won’t agree to it until sales of the first trilogy are sufficient. The book I’m proudest of is the third book (Tithe of the Saviours) actually – Gollancz interfered far less with this book, because they knew only true fans would get that far in the trilogy and so it was okay to write something that was far more ‘out there’. Tithe really challenges the limits of what can and can’t be done.
Have you plans to take the series further or is it time to do something new?
I do have plans for a follow-up series, but the publisher is making me hold off for a bit. I’ve just finished a stand-alone literary scifi called ‘Lifer’– it’s probably the best book I’ve ever written, but the publisher is twitchy about ‘relaunching’ me as a scifi author, so we’ll see what happens. It’s ironic really, ‘cos the Empire of the Saviours series goes very fantasy/scifi crossover in Book 2 (Gateway of the Saviours), even though the publisher (Gollancz) decided to market it as a straight fantasy.
To wider issues now. What made you want to write in the first place?
Hmm. Well, I went to a primary school that really encouraged writing. The habit started there really – as I got older I carried on, and was surprised to discover that there were people who didn’t write. Added to that, my parents were supportive because my grandparents had both been writers. Is it nature or is it nurture? A bit of both. Basically, writing is a vocation or calling: something you feel you have to do. I do it even though my bank manager strongly disapproves of the whole commercial outlook to it.
Would you consider yourself an Epic Fantasy fan? What were your first influences?
Definitely an epic fantasy fan. I read Raymond E Feist’s Magician at 15 and there was no looking back after that. It was epic fantasy all the way. (I’d read Enid Blyton’s Magic Wishing Chair and Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox when even younger.) I think I then read Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion and that really added a bit of darkness to my writing – those who know my Necromancer’s Gambit series will see that.
And now a discussion of your writing process, please. Are you a writer that prefers to work to a routine or is it a case of panic-near-the-deadine?
I work 9.30am-4pm, Mon-Fri, usually. I do around 2000 words a day, which is around 10,000 a week. I have never suffered from writer’s block (anyone who does is doing it wrong) and I’m quite disciplined about it. But it’s easy to be disciplined when you ENJOY it. If you don’t enjoy the writing process, you’ll never be able to be a writer in the longer term.
Do you have set word limits? Or is it that you keep going when the mood takes you? Are you the sort of writer that can write anywhere?
My contract with Gollancz is to do 160,000 words a book, and I usually come in 10-20% over. If I’m writing 10,000 words a week, then I can easily write a book in 6 months… which is just as well, cos I have to do a book a year and still find time to do my teaching job to cover the mortgage and buy cat food.
Yes, I can write anywhere really – although I prefer sitting at the back table and looking out on the garden. I also write a lot on trains. Here’s a weird thing that makes it easier: I write it all long hand and then type it up later (making small revisions). Why long hand? Well, I write long hand faster than I type – and it’s important to get the words down as quickly as you’re thinking when you are in the middle of ‘creating’ or ‘composing’. Also, the crossings-out of a handwritten manuscript and the graphology of your handwriting make it easier to pick up where you left off after a break.
If you could give your younger self some advice, from your current perspective, what would it be?
Don’t give up. 9 out of 10 people who fail do so because they give up. And the longer you keep at it, the better you get. Practice makes perfect and you will see yourself improve. And it’s worth the years of struggle – that first piece of fanmail from someone you’ve never met or someone who isn’t related to you makes it all worth it, worth the stress-related hair loss, the poverty and divorces. It’s all worth it when someone finally ‘gets’ your stuff. You feel like you’ve finally communicated something important, that you’ve finally been understood and have been able to influence someone else, that your life is meaningful and you’re not just plum crazy.
And what about new writers?
Advice to new writers? Hmm. In addition to the above, don’t let rejection be the same as dejection. Your manuscript can be rejected for many reasons that have got nothing whatsoever to do with its quality. Charlaine Harris couldn’t get any publisher to go with True Blood for 2 years. JK Rowling was rejected by 20 publishers. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was rejected by 29 publishers, and now it’s compulsory reading in schools. Don’t be dejected just because you are rejected. Look at poor old Stig Larsson (The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo) – he didn’t really make it big until he was dead. Just tell yourself you’re born ahead of your time and the world needs time to catch up. And don’t give up.
You also teach Writing at Manchester Met University. Does that help or hinder your Fantasy writing?
Hmm. Well, it helps with paying my bills, and I enjoy helping other writers… but it doesn’t really help my own writing that much, in truth. Like Worzel Gummidge, I have a different head on when teaching rather than writing.
Writers often wish for accreditation. What value do you think Awards are to a writer these days? Are they still important? Or is it ‘the word of mouth’ that’s the thing today?
Hmm. Well, I can read other questions between your lines there. You’re asking whether Awards help sell your book more than a ‘word of mouth’ recommendation, right? In truth, it’s not either-or. Both can help. Awards particularly represent the recognition of peers and knowledgable readers, of course, and that validation is always important to a writer’s sanity. ‘Word of mouth’ can also represent that, but it doesn’t always – sometimes it’s just a ‘fashion’ thing. For example, when Fifty Shades of Grey came out, I heard a lot of people say, ‘I only bought it to see what all the fuss was about.’
Is there a book that you’d like to write, or a genre you’d love to write in, but so far haven’t?
Actually, I’d like to do ‘The Books of St George’ – a historical fantasy trilogy. My publisher is pondering whether to give it the nod at the mo. I’d also like to do a follow-up to ‘Lifer’ – a book called ‘Investigator Beyond’ (a scifi detective novel). There are a few others too. But it’s finding time and backing, as ever.
What next for AJ Dalton?
Well, tomorrow, I’ll get up and go off to work as a teacher at Manchester University. It’s summer school, you see. Fulltime work with a good rate of pay. I’ll be doing that until the end of August. I don’t mind the teaching (and my bank manager loves me doing it), but I’d prefer to be writing another novel. But none of us are as free in this life as we’d like or perhaps should be. Damn cats keep wanting more food.
On 23 August 2014, I’ll be doing a signing event for Waterstones Doncaster. And I’ll be attending FantasyCon in York 5-7 Sept 2014. But for the very latest, you can check my website (www.ajdalton.eu), where there’s plenty of advice for aspiring authors, and a fair bit to interest fantasy fans. Happy days, Adam.
Many thanks, Adam.
