You've all talked about your series a bit, but what would you consider to be the big central idea that created or jump-started your series? (Mr. Knaak, we'll let you go with Black City Saint on that one.) And, since that sometimes happens, did you know what it was when you started writing or did you find it in the middle?
i began with an idea of writing an classic fantasy-style story from the other side. from the villain's point of view. i have oddball social beliefs in which i don't believe in good and evil. i believe everyone's a bit of everything and if you were on the evil side, you'd think you were on the good side. god is, after all, on the side of the victor and not the righteous.
when i tell people that, they say i'm thinking about brandon sanderson's mistborn series, but i wasn't. i only read that (finally) last year. i was originally thinking of raistlin and kit from the dragonlance series. how they're essentially villains but you never think of them as such because they're just normal people. an anti-hero, perhaps.
i was also moved by the character of zatoichi, a japanese blind swordsman. he's a member of the criminal underclass. essentially, a villain (something which doesn't often come across to most people watching). but his actions end up heroic (though ironically they adhere to his strict criminal code).
i'd say the biggest central idea was the story in my head of a necromancer who runs away with a princess. but the princess' people think she's been kidnapped and send armies to rescue her. and then a small group of valiant "heroes" to sneak behind enemy lines. the only problem is the princess left out of love and is slightly homicidal, so there's no way she wants to go back...
i liked this kind of story because it toys with the expectations of fantasy while simultaneously staying true to it in a warped and wonderful way.
sometimes, when i answer these questions, i wonder if i'm not just trolling the fantasy genre...
