Interview with Mark T. Barnes

We’ve talked to Mark T. Barnes, author of The Garden of Stones, the first book in his Echoes of Empire trilogy.

For those who’ve not tried your first book, “The Garden of Stones”, how would you describe it?

‘The Garden of Stones’ is a character and story driven epic fantasy adventure, crossed with a political thriller. The world the readers see has heavy Orientalist influences, in an age of invention and reason.

“The Garden of Stones” was released May ’13. The second book in the trilogy, “The Obsidian Heart” is being released this month. Your site says that the final book, “The Pillars of Sand” is scheduled for May ’14. This seems an unusually brief period between books. How did that come about? And do you have any thoughts on the release schedule?

It is a brief period between books, and the release schedule was quite demanding particularly since I own and operate my own business full time. It ended up being three novels released in slightly less than twelve months. The schedule was set by the publisher, 47 North. ‘The Garden of Stones’ had been completed when the contract was signed, and Act I of ‘The Obsidian Heart’ was almost finished. 47 North are aware of the appetite fantasy readers have for their books, as well as what seems to be a considerable wait time between books in a series. They wanted to get the books out in quick succession, and not have readers waiting years between stories.

The schedule in an of itself wasn’t impossible, but having done it once I’d need to seriously consider the feasibility of producing that much again while working full time. Between working and writing there wasn’t a great deal of time for much else, so there’s a conscious decision to sacrifice some things you want to do, for those things you have to do.

In “The Garden of Stones”, you immediately throw readers into the middle of a lot of action and then the situation becomes clearer as the story progresses. Why did you decide on that approach, and how do you feel it ultimately turned out?

I’ll admit it was a big ask for readers to take it all in. It is a frenetic and dangerous time for the characters in the story, and I wanted the opening to reflect that. Readers were thrown in the deep end, to sink or swim, in much the same was as the characters. As the dust settles, and they find their feet and their vantage points, the landscape becomes clearer: the world around them a little more familiar. The characters could then proceed from what they perceive as surer footing, into a story that isn’t as straightforward as they might hope.

Conflict is a powerful tool to motivate characters into action, as it breaks the status quo. The harder opening and the steep learning curve of a unique world turned some people away, though most appear to have loved it. The journey gets easier for people reasonably early in the piece, once the three POV characters have been introduced and the story and character lines emerge.

In your first book, readers primarily saw the story through the eyes of three characters, Coradjin of the nobility, warrior-mage Indris and the elite guard Mariam. What was your experience writing from three such differing points of view, and will they remain the central characters in “The Obsidian Heart”?

Indris, Mari, and Corajidin remain as the central characters in ‘The Obsidian Heart’, though their supporting cast change to reflect the new focus of the story.

Writing from three points of view was challenging, but interesting. Having three different views allowed me to focus on separate aspects of the world and the story, and to give the reader a 360 degree view of what was happening. You get pretty much equal story time between the three, and see the events unfolding from three different perspectives, backgrounds, and orientations. Varied points of view keeps the writing interesting. I had to shift gear, and think like a different person for each new POV: in terms of what was important to the character, what they noticed, how they spoke, etc. I enjoyed it, and it’s a method I’ll use in future books.

“The Garden of Stones” was packed with history and fantastical artefacts, how easy is it for you to generate so many ideas and is there any concern that you’ll run out?

It wasn’t difficult, but then again it’s the space my mind was in when I developed the world and the story. I enjoy world building, and the creation of the details for the worlds I build are always on my mind.

A world doesn’t start at the first page of a book, any more than a person’s history starts on the first day that you meet them. Every event, action, joy and sadness, success and failure, defines us, and makes us who we are in any specific moment. There are the concepts of nature versus nurture, also, which are examined in the POV characters of the books. Knowing the world I wanted to the reader to see, and knowing there had to be good reasons for the world to be the way it was, I seeded history with the causes, events, and outcomes I needed to make the current world, and it’s people, consistent.

I had a concept of an arcane renaissance: an age of invention and reason. It’s a world of a semi-industrialised arcane system, with a recognised and usable natural resource. Given the people of my world recognise that the world itself is aware, there has come a natural reticence to damage it more than is needful. Therefore it was logical that throughout history there would be institutions that focussed on finding ways of improving quality of life in harmony with the world around them. So inventing devices for transport, entertainment, defence, etc was a logical extension of that, in the same way we invented cars, planes, cameras, winches, etc.

As for running out of ideas? I hope not! There are plenty throughout all three books. I only include them when they’re relevant to the story.

Politics played a role throughout “The Garden of Stones”. What was it that led to your interest in exploring this subject?

In Australia it’s a legal requirement to vote, so one should be as politically aware and informed as possible, to make informed choices. Government is something that we experience daily in our lives, with our perceptions of it’s presence informed by the way it impacts as directly. As such I wanted to write a story where the political motivations that impacted the characters directly, as well as indirectly, were seen by the reader. It brings the consequences of individual actions onto a world stage, where decisions can become powerful levers with sometimes unforseen circumstances. Politics and the pursuit of power can also be cutthroat, and I wanted to show how far some people would go to realise their ambitions: the needs of the one, or the few, outweighing the needs of the many.

What sort of research, if any, did you do for your Echoes of Empire trilogy?

Not a great deal, truth be told. All the cultures, names, languages, etc are entirely my own. I did some research on political systems, and a little on languages, to make story elements consistent.

What about “The Garden of Stones” are you most proud of? And if you had the chance, is there anything you’d want to go back and change?

I’m proud of it all. For an unknown author to get a three book deal based on one novel doesn’t happen every day, and I’m profoundly thankful for the opportunity that’s been given me. I think the world itself is something unique, and quite different from what’s come before. The same can be said for the arcane system. I love my characters, and hope that readers find them engaging.

As for what I’d change? It’s a little early to say at this point. I wrote all three books back to back, so had little to no chance to reflect on much external feedback between stories, given how rapidly they’re released. ‘The Garden of Stones’ is my first novel, and it has mistakes that, had I been a more experienced writer, may not exist. But I made those mistakes, and I learned from them, so they add value. I made mistakes in ‘The Obsidian Heart’, and ‘The Pillars of Sand’, and I hope I learned from those also so that each new project is better than the last. About the only thing I’d go back and change is to maybe make the learning curve for readers a little flatter, and trim down some of the prose. Ask me the same question in June 2014 or so, after ‘The Pillars of Sand’ has been out for a bit. I’ll probably have a better answer for you.

What goals might you have set for yourself when writing “The Obsidian Heart” and how do you feel about the end result?

Once you’re under a contract with strict deadlines, your goal is to get the book written, edited, and delivered on time. I de-engineered the time I had between the completion of ‘The Garden of Stones’ and the delivery date of ‘The Obsidian Heart’, then took out the time to edit, for first readers, and to incorporate their changes. That gave me the number of days I had to write the story, which gave me the word count deadlines I needed to achieve. It’s a little like the story of how you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.

On a good day I was writing between 4000 and 5000 words a day. On a bad day, 1000 or so. My daily target was circa 2500 words a day, which gave me breathing room to actually have a life. As it was I had way more good days than bad, and the edited story was delivered a little ahead of schedule. No rest for the wicked, though. I still had to write ‘The Pillars of Sand’.

I’m proud of the end result. ‘The Obsidian Heart’ doesn’t have the same kind of learning curve for the reader, and kicks off straight into the story. Responses from first readers and those who read the ARCs were very positive. There’s already a 4 star score on Goodreads from somebody who read the ARC. I think a review will follow once the book is released on the 15th of October.

What should readers expect from “The Obsidian Heart”?

It’s a darker and more relentless book than ‘The Garden of Stones’. Expect more world building, more conflict, higher stakes, greater victories, and greater loss. Some things will take readers by surprise.

What was it that led to your becoming an author?

Since I was a child I’ve loved stories. Reading stories of adventure and heroism, of villains and far away worlds, was inspiring. I was an athlete and an academic as a child, so most of my hours were spend in a pool or on a sporting field, or with my nose in books. Reading always made me happy. To pass that feeling on to others, even in a small way, I’ll be happy.

What sort of challenges, as a writer, might you have faced before “The Garden of Stones” was published? Any insights you would be able to share for those aspiring writers seeking advice?

I think many of our challenges will tend to be unique to the individual, given that we’re all motivated, and demotivated, by different things. That said, the biggest challenge for me was the management of my own expectations.

Publishing isn’t an instant gratification industry. Everything takes time, and your own work needs to be considered in the context of all the other work around it. At any one point there may be thousands of manuscripts in your genre in the process of being shown to agents, or publishers: but there are significantly less books published than there are books written. Some are by name authors, others by authors moderately known, to writers who are unknown. The conditions under which a novel is accepted can vary, but will always include commercial viability, as well as the level of enthusiasm an agent and editor feel towards the project. Rejection is nothing personal towards the writer: publishing is business.

The challenge is to find the agent who loves your work, because they’re the one who will be your advocate. You can’t expect an agent to seel something they don’t believe in, especially if they’ve other clients who produce the kind of work they love. So, do your homework. Find an agent who represents writers with work similar to your own style, and voice. Make sure your work as is good as it can possibly be: never send a first draft. Edit it. Have others read it, and send you feedback. It may hurt, but trust that your readers want your book to be the best it can be.

Be patient: only rarely does a deal happen overnight, and overnight in publishing is still weeks, months, or longer. And while your waiting, keep writing! The more material you have, the more you’re honed your craft, and the more options you have to get published.

Any thoughts on what projects you might like to pursue once your Echoes of Empire trilogy is complete?

‘The Echoes of Empire’ series is longer than three books. Both my agent and publisher knew this when we signed the contract for the first three. So there are more stories to come after ‘The Pillars of Sand’, both with some of the established characters, and parallel storylines with different characters in different parts of the world. I’ve started work on an urban fantasy project, and will send the proposal and first chapters to my agent before the end of October. There are also proposals for some stand alone novels. I love Indris, Mari, and the other ‘Echoes’ characters, but they’ve been such a big part of my life for the past couple of years that some distance would do us all some good. At least for a little while.

If the first three ‘Echoes of Empire’ books perform well, and there is interest in more, there will be more to come.

Anything you’d like to add to your fans?

The biggest thing would be my heartfelt thanks for your support and interest. A writer wouldn’t get very far if people didn’t read their work, and I’ll try to keep giving you interesting characters, in unique worlds, for you to enjoy. With any luck, we’ll be together on this journey for some time to come.

I’ve a Facebook page Mark T Barnes-Author, as well as @MarkTBarnes on Twitter for those who want updates on what’s happening. I’ll also be at World Fantasy Con in Brighton this year, for anybody who wants to come and say hello, or to have their books signed.

My thanks also to SFFWorld for the opportunity to talk about my work. The chance to reach out to the people of the spec fic community is greatly appreciated.

I hope you all enjoy the stories in ‘The Echoes of Empire’!

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