RealityBypass

*snuggles into the blankie she won at the family party*  Happy Holidays boys and girls.  I hope your houses are having as much fun as mine.  I’m swamped with children, a sick husband and more dirty dishes than I can count.  Oh well… 

Getting on to cooler stuff.  Marie Brennan is our last author interview for December and what a fun ride to talk to her.  She’s been on my TBR list for Midnight Never Come since it came out and I’m already a fan of the Warrior and Witch books.  I’m hoping I’ll get to it here in the next couple weeks.

Housekeeping:  this is the last day to comment to go into the end of the month drawing.  A gift card to Barnes and Noble and a book from one of our December authors of your choice is on the line!

Now our author:
Marie Brennan
Webpage: Swan Tower
Books: Warrior, Witch, Midnight Never Come, In Ashes Lie (2009)
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

How would you classify your fantasy? (For example, epic, historical, classic, re-told fairy tale, low fantasy… etc.)
The series I’m writing at present is historical fantasy, set in London at different points in time.  The first book, Midnight Never Come, takes place in the Elizabethan period; its sequel In Ashes Lie covers the Civil War the following century.  My first two novels, however, are more middle-of-the-genre adventure fantasy.

From the mouth of the author:
What is the fantasy cliché that most bothers you, or what is your book pet-peeve?
I really don’t like Destiny.  Except in the hands of *extremely* good authors, it tends to render the protagonist’s choices less meaningful; I’d rather read about a character who *decides* to step up to the plate and solve a problem, instead of one who’s been fated from birth to do so.  The motif can work if you use it to explore questions of free will and the like, but too many authors use it as a convenient jump-starter for their plot, to explain why this random nobody is so special they’re going to save the world.

What is your favorite fantasy critter or fairy tale character and why?  No, it doesn’t have to be one you write about.
I’m a pretty big fan of faeries, which I *do* write about.  They tie in well with my folklore background, and because “faerie” is a pretty broad category, there’s a wide variety of things you can do with them in a story.

We all know it’s easy to get distracted when a project is taking its own sweet time to bubble.  What is your Achilles heel when it comes to getting distracted from writing?
The Internet, easily.  It contains infinite distractions, many of which update regularly, so that it’s easy to decide I need to check and see if any of them have posted new content.

With the holidays coming up what is your favorite winter activity?
Curling up in the armchair and reading. :-)  I grew up in Dallas, so things like ice-skating or snowball fights were a rarity, and being outside in the cold is not something I particularly enjoy.

I’ve heard of inspirational eating, so when you’re settled in to get things done is there a particular food that you just have to have on hand?
Not really.  I try not to snack too much while working, though sometimes I’ll have a bowl of trail mix on my desk that I can munch from.

What does it take to write a really good villain?  Do you ever find yourself in a mental space that scares you or makes you wonder if that really came out of YOUR head?
I very rarely write villains, as it happens.  My plots more often involve antagonists: people who are genuinely trying to do what they believe is the right thing, but their “right thing” lies at cross-purposes to the protagonist.  I find that produces a richer conflict, because the opposition isn’t as clear-cut right-and-wrong — and it usually means the protagonist can’t take the easy way out of their problems by killing the bad guy.

Which of your characters gave you the most trouble and was the hardest to write for?
Tiresias, the mad seer in Midnight Never Come.  He isn’t the actual Greek Tiresias — he’s just named that because of his prophetic gift — but man, writing a crazy person is *hard*.  Making somebody wacky and random?  Easy.  But creating a compelling madness, something that seems to have its own logic and contains buried fragments of truth . . . that’s much, much more difficult.  The book contains five interludes from his point of view, and I think it’s fair to say they were one of the hardest parts to write.

We all have darling lines or paragraphs in our stories.  Stephen King even says we should kill them.  What is your most favorite murdered darling from any of your books?
Hmmmm.  I don’t tend so much to fall in love with specific lines; more often it’s a scene I don’t want to cut.  There’s an outtake from the first act of Midnight Never Come that had Deven, one of the protagonists, interacting with Queen Elizabeth, which I really enjoyed because it showed a side of her that didn’t come through anywhere else in the novel.  She loved to ride very fast, and as one of her bodyguards Deven has to keep up with her, so it’s this scene where she’s playing a little game by trying to outrace him, and he gets to see a side of her that’s more the woman Elizabeth, instead of the Virgin Queen.

What is your worst writing habit, the thing which you keep telling yourself you’re going to change and you do it anyway?
Not so much that I tell myself I *will* change it as I wish I *could*: writing late at night.  My best working hours start at about 10 p.m. and go until about 3 a.m.; I kind of wish I operated better on a more normal schedule.

If you were going to interview another author, whose brain would you want to pick?
I’d probably have to choose Diana Wynne Jones, though I fear my attempts to pick her brain would degenerate into aimless fangirl babbling.  If I had to point to one author who’s responsible for me being a writer today, it would be her.

From the mouth Lune, the faerie protagonist of Midnight Never Come, which is why her responses sound a little archaic.

What is the best piece of advice you’d give to other Fantasy characters on how to survive troubles and tribulations?
Never cease thinking.  If your author is like mine, the trials you face will require you to solve the riddle or learn the history or find the solution no one expects.  Brute force will only rarely avail you.

How do you feel about magic powers? Indispensable? Only for the Lazy Hero/Heroine? You wish your author gave you more?
For those of us whose nature is magical, they are as commonplace as breathing — but their power is limited.  While I might wish to be a great enchantress, I suspect it would not rescue me from the need for quick thinking.

What’s the best way to vanquish mad witches, evil dragons… orcs, ogres?
With aid.  ‘Tis a rare hero who knows all and can do all, without another to guard his back.

Is there a happily ever after on your horizon, or is true love only for those sappy romance books?
Mortals may love until they die.  Faeries may love — until the one they love dies.  The grief that follows lasts forever.

Magic artifacts? Useful, indispensable, more trouble than they’re worth…
All of that and more.  But my greatest protection has come from the most ordinary of things: mortal bread.  Use lies in everything, if you can but find it.

Thanks so much to Marie and Lune!

I bought myself a great writer’s (or reader’s) game called “Once Upon a Time“. This is a game that takes standard fairy tale elements (or darker elements with the Dark Tales expansion), and turns it into a fun group storytelling game. The players have to take turns telling a story, using the elements of their tales and try to be the first to reach their “Happily Ever After” card, but other players can hijack the tale and become the new storyteller. In the end, you have an inspired or sometimes zany fairy tale story and a lot of laughs!

I love the inspiration the cards can provide, as well. They have place, story element, and character cards so they can offer a bit of chance if you’re looking for an element to add to a blocked tale, or looking for something to start filling a blank page. They also are good practice for telling succinct tales and learning to create a cohesive story out of disparate elements.

Finally it’s good social fun! You can make it as silly or as literary as you want. My friends and I will sometimes put a requirement like, “You have to include the first character in the whole story” or similar to add a degree of literary difficulty.

Welcome to our next interview. Sorry for a weak intro, I injured my wrist and it’s difficult to type! Chad Corrie is our latest author in the hotseat! Comment and win prizes.

~K

Vital Status:

Lives:  Minnsota.
Webpage: ChadCorrie
Books: Divine Gambit Trilogy, Tales of Tralodren, The Adventures of Corwyn
Genres: Fantasy

From the mouth of the author:

1.      What is the fantasy cliché that most bothers you, or what is your book pet-peeve?

You now, I don’t know if there really is a fantasy cliché that bothers me too much.  I tend to subscribe to the notion that “there isn’t anything new under the sun” when it comes to stories.  It’s really just how they are packaged and dressed up a bit that is the difference.  You can’t really get away from all of the clichés even if you wanted to. 

The thing that does tend to make me chuckle when I see it is the authors who jump on the bandwagon of a trend and try to grab ahold of its coat tails.  I don’t blame them for wanting to try and work the system to their advantage, but if you’re just writing a book to try and get into a lucriative niche rather than trying to tell a good story then you might be missing the mark when it comes to being an author… at least how I see it.

Then again, if you do get a ton of cash for crafting a tale in the same vein/flavor of what’s hot right now you might not see the down side to what I just said. 

And this isn’t to say that what is produced in these trend niches is entirely bad either.  As any author will tell you how their work is perceived is a relative thing when it comes to the reader’s eyes.  If enough people thing your work is great and are willing to pay you to keep coming up with more than I guess you’re doing well.  Even if I get a kick out of the mentality to “hurry up and jump on this trend” in many niches that, in my mind, are getting a bit too glutted now and need a bit of refining, there is still money to made and people who, more often than not, will purchase and enjoy the published work.

2.       What is your favorite fantasy critter or fairy tale character and why?  No, it doesn’t have to be one you write about.

I’ve always liked dragons, but then again, who hasn’t in this line of literature.  I also like griffins and many of the creatures found in classical mythology.  But if I had to pick a favorite type of fantasy character I think it would be the fractured hero. 

When I started writing my first book, Seer’s Quest, I decided that I wanted to do something with the heroes to make them more clay-footed than some I’d read up to that point in my life.  I was coming out of the Conan and D&D type of novels and mindset where the heroes were brave and bold and often one or two-dimensional and just did things because they had to - as if they had a requirement in their contract that forced them to do these heroic deeds.

Now while these are all well and good in their own right for the stories in which they occur, I didn’t want to do the same for my work.  There was a chain of thought going around at the time as well that went something like “DC Comics characters are just plain old heroes-guys who get a power and then slap on tights and start fighting crime just cause they are heroes.  Marvel characters are clay-footed and are more ‘human’ in their motives-more complicated.”

Well, that saying has been reversed from time to time as the companies have both worked to redefine their worlds and characters but I took that thought to my own heroes and made them more complicated-more complex on the simple to even the most detailed of matters related to them.  This, I believe, has helped make some interesting characters and stories.  And this is why I tend to think of them as my favorite type of fantasy critter/character

3.  We all know it’s easy to get distracted when a project is taking its own sweet time to bubble.  What is your Achilles heel when it comes to getting distracted from writing?

When I write it’s not really a challenge to get the idea or to put it down but to keep a disciplined practice of getting it put down on the computer instead.  I tend to leave my email on while I work and every once in a while an email will pop up and then I check it out and get distracted at times by that.  And then there is the internet which I sometimes used for a little reference work or research for one item and I tend to get and go a little farther than I should and find I spent more time than I should on that.  Then you have the phone and other odds and ends that tend to crop up and pop up every so often too.

So that is what gets me for right now when and if I let it. But if keep myself focused I can keep myself chugging away until I complete what I have to do for that day writing wise.  It’s just a matter of focus.

4.  With the holidays coming up what is your favorite winter activity?

You’re talking to a guy who lives in Minnesota, the land of snow and fun.  We’re the folks who like to go taking dips in frozen lakes for some odd reason and find all sorts of odd excuses to get out in below zero weather for some sort of fun. 

That being said, I don’t know if I have any real favorite activity for the season.  When it gets cold and snows I tend to not want to go out all that often to do a whole lot of anything other than shovel.

5.  I’ve heard of inspirational eating, so when you’re settled in to get things done is there a particular food that you just have to have on hand?

Nope.

I just have my mug of water and that’s it.  I try not to spend all day at my computer.  I try to keep set hours for my computer use and stick to them as best I am able. I think it’s important to get away from the computer and let my mind and eyes rest and actually get some exersice that doesn’t just benefit my fingers.

6. What does it take to write a really good villain?  Do you ever find yourself in a mental space that scares you or makes you wonder if that really came out of YOUR head?

I’ll tell you want amazes me most is when I go back and read what I wrote and wonder if that came from the same person.  For me there is a sort of odd disconnect as an author.  You know you wrote it when you are writing it but once it is done you go back and it somehow feels different, like it was written by someone else and you’re looking at it from a different place.  Maybe that’s just me and my possible oddity in relating to my work.

To answer your question, however, I don’t know that I’ve been scared by a villain that finds his or her or its way into the story.  From my standpoint I’m in the director’s chair of the tale and sort of know where most of the tale is going to fall before I get started. I see the end of the tale from the beginning and know this and that about the story and don’t really get frightened by what crops up in the process.  I guess it also has to do with the fact that I understand what I’m doing isn’t real and that all these “acts of evil” and so and so forth aren’t real either.  Now if I read something not written by me with a nice baddie in it that could be a different story.

What does it take to make a great villain?  Motivation is a key issue.  Why are they doing what they are doing?  Now in fantasy you can sometimes get away with the classic “I’m just evil and I do evil things because I live for it” type of mindset.  If used in the right way it can work pretty well even in the world of gray people like to live in now days.  There is still a market for the classic “good vs. evil” story.  However, it has to be done in the right way or you lose the full impact of such a mindset.  Imagine it.  The villain knows he is evil and just likes to do evil things.  There are some serial murders like that, who have said, “I’m evil and I know it and just want to kill people.”  So there is a villain out there like that and it can work, but again if used in the right way and in the right story.

Motivation, however, is key for villains favored by most of today’s readers.  In a world where everyone now has some sort of “victim mentality” with which they have to contend we have villains who have “abandonment issues” or this mental disorder or that.  They are painted as sympathetic characters who can’t help themselves and might even be able to be turned to do good if someone just “helped them through their pain/challenge”.  If only someone would understand them.  I’m not a big fan of this in my own writing, as I tend to shy away from what I think of as “whiny characters”.  Though again, if used in the right context it could work very well and I have read books there that is the case. 

The best villains, ideally, are ones who really push a button with you.  They are not victims of something that warps them for life (though that can help add some resonance at times if done right) but rather are people who think they are doing the right thing but don’t see it is the wrong thing.  In their own mind they are the good guys and everyone else is on the wrong side.  These, to me, are the best villains because you can relate to them on a more practical level and see the reasoning behind their logic (and might even agree with it) but you don’t like the means by which they try to justify their end. 

Again, this is an interesting and nebulous topic in this graying world we live in as we see more and more villains becoming anti-heroes and the line between hero and villain getting more and more blurred.  And then there is the reader’s disposition and how they see the story from their own unique moral worldview…. but I digress.

7.       Which of your characters gave you the most trouble and was the hardest to write for?

In this current book, The Adventures of Corwyn, there weren’t any hard characters to write.  Now in some of my other novels and graphic novels I’ve had to wrestle around a bit with things but for The Adventures of Corwyn it was pretty easy going.  Given that there weren’t that many characters in this short story collection other than Corwyn (who I got along with very well) it probably made things easier as well.

8.       We all have darling lines or paragraphs in our stories.  Stephen King even says we should kill them.  What is your most favorite murdered darling from any of your books?

Stephen King advising us to kill something?  I can’t imagine that.  When I write now I’ve learned to look at it is a crafting a sculpture.  You have to clear away the excess to get to the image beneath.  So there is going to be some things that get cleared away and should be.  Often times this is done by the aid of an editor who can see things from a more objective viewpoint and help make your work all the better for it.

That being said, I don’t really honestly recall what has gone by the way side in the process of completing my works any more so than the artist would consider the bits of saw dust or marble chunks chipped off from the final image hidden beneath the now fallen debris.

9.  What is your worst writing habit, the thing which you keep telling yourself you’re going to change and you do it anyway?

Besides checking my email or answering the phone?

I think many authors struggle with coming to a point of knowing when it’s time to let the book go.  I used to keep wanting to go back and tweak and twist and polish and so on but in the end you can’t do that forever.  There has to come a point where you say “this is it” and then let it go.  I’ve gotten much better at that but sometimes I’ll be tempted to give it “just one more look over” before turning it off to the publisher for the final layout.

10.   If you were going to interview another author, whose brain would you want to pick?

You know, that’s an interesting question.  I don’t really know if there is a certain author I’d like to chat with.  However, I do think talking with other authors in general is very insightful as there can often be a nugget you can pull out of the conversation that will benefit you later on.     

From the mouth of Corwyn Danther (The Adventures of Corwyn):

1.   What is the best piece of advice you’d give to other Fantasy characters on how to survive troubles and tribulations?

You tend to get what you expect; look for the best in all things and you will tend to get it.  You might not be able to get out of the situation, but you should he able to weather it better than most if you keep your wits about you and your expectation of a good outcome close to the forefront of your mind. 

2.    How do you feel about magic powers? Indispensable? Only for the Lazy Hero/Heroine? You wish your author gave you more?

Magic can be a boon, I suppose, but when is there a wizard around with you might need one, eh?  Making someone lazy?  Well there was that whole mess with Wizard Kings a few centuries ago… if anything magic can make one more arrogant than lazy… though that is often a symptom which follows as well.

As far as me wanting any magical spells or powers or trinkets I’d have to decline.  As I’ve said already, such things tend to be more trouble than they are worth. A recent encounter with two Sellswords and their circlet comes to mind to help make my point… but that’s another story.

3.  What’s the best way to vanquish mad witches, evil dragons… orcs, ogres?

Outsmart them.

If you have to face them, and thankfully I haven’t had to deal with so great a list as what you posted above as opponents myself, then you’d best find a way to use what you have against them.  Often times you’ll find such creatures give you a way to either defeat them or flee.  Sometimes its smarter to just leave while you can as well, and often will save more lives than pressing in for a hard fight ever will.

4.  Is there a happily ever after on your horizon, or is true love only for those sappy romance books?

I’d like to think there is, either in this life or the next.  Causilla is the goddess of love after all, and I’m a faithful follower.  I’d like to think my future wife is out there somewhere and if she is we’ll find each other eventually. 

Now wouldn’t that be a tale?

5.   Magic artifacts? (You know what I mean, enchanted swords, books of spells…) Useful, indispensable, more trouble than they’re worth…

Magic artifacts?  Hmm.  Well you probably don’t want to mention that to Fred, he’s still upset about those ruins we found a while back… and those two sellswords I mentioned earlier come to mind again…

Magical trinkets and artifacts tend to be confusing if you ask me.  People are often searching for things that they have no idea what they do or even if they are real in the first place.  In most causes things often tend to go down a bad road and take those who seek after them with them.   

Okay I have a pet peeve that makes me grit my teeth every time I read it! It’s a silly one, but it just drives me batty.

“They broke their fast on bread…” or “They sat down to break their fast.”

Maybe it’s the Catholic in me that wants to shout… Fasting means going without something for an extended period! Or for a purpose, not just… oh I didn’t eat while I was sleeping or walking!

Okay, I know that Break the Fast…. = Breakfast in the modern day. It’s even the same in Spanish Des Yunar… Stop Fasting. But… really, just say They Ate. I’m sure a lot of folks disagree with me, or think it adds a “period” feel to a piece, but we’re all allowed our personal little irritations right? The only time I want to see someone Breaking Their Fast is if we’re writing about Ramadan or Lent, or something religous.

Hee… what do you guys think? Am I crazy? Are there other Break - the- fast haters out there?

~ K

Greetings from the frozen mountains of the Rockies.  It’s snowing hard outside and I’m trying to make it all the way through the work day with the hope of getting home without dying on icy roads!  However, I’m happy to have a White Christmas, so I can’t complain too much.

Santa has been good to us here at Reality By Pass and we have more Author Interviews than we do remaining Fridays!  To this end there will be at least two author interviews a week for the rest of December.  Remember that there will be a drawing for books at the end of the month.  Ask a question, comment on the state of the weather…just let us know you’re out there to win!

Nooow…onto today’s interview with Petter V Brett.

Vital Status:

Lives:  Somewhere in the US.
Webpage:  Peter V Brett
Books: The Warded Man (March 2009)
Genres: Fantasy

From the mouth of the author:

What is the fantasy cliché that most bothers you, or what is your book pet-peeve?

Oh, there are so many. I guess the standard fantasy story arc/climax gets to me the most. Basically, this is where the main character discovers they are the heir to a magic they did nothing to earn, don’t understand, and are afraid/unable to use. They muddle through the book with no control over this special power until the last possible minute when all seems lost, at which point,  for no real reason other than plot resolution, they manage to bend the magic to their will just long enough to defeat the villain, who is usually a  life-long master of the same magic, because “good” magic, as everybody knows, is stronger than “bad” magic, and the hero always has the strongest magic of all. Of course, when the sequel rolls around, they are back to not understanding their power. Lather, rinse, repeat.

A lot of amazing fantasy authors, including many bestsellers, have used this story skeleton through the years, some to great effect, but it’s begun to stick in my craw because I think that with a very few exceptions, it makes for an unsatisfying climax. The author builds enormous tension getting the protagonist into an inescapable fix, and then  kind of cheats to get them out. Victories in real life don’t happen that way, and I am a big believer that even fantasy fiction should mirror reality as much as possible, so that readers can relate to it.

What is your favorite fantasy critter or fairy tale character and why?  No, it doesn’t have to be one you write about.

Unicorns. Totally.

Okay, I’m lying. Screw unicorns. Actually, my favorite fantasy critters are the ones I write about. Demons.

I always loved demons, even back when I was a little kid playing Dungeons and Dragons. I memorized all the demon types in the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio, and looked for any excuse to use them in a game. Did you know the Balrog in The Fellowship of the Ring was a Type VI demon called a Balor? Those things are no joke. Makes you really respect Gandalf. The real D&D demon you didn’t want to fuck with, though, was the Demogorgon. That thing was a two-headed psionic supra-genius with a -8 armor class and 200 hit points. D&D also made a point of distinguishing demons from devils, which I think is important.

There were also these evil demons called the N’gari that fought the X-men in the early 80’s. There was a special Christmas issue of the X-men (Uncanny #143, I think) where a demon chases Kitty Pryde all over the X-mansion. That comic scared the crap out of me when I was a kid; I must have read it a thousand times. From there I went on to read lots of demon-centric fantasy novels like Terry Brooks’ Elfstones of Shannara, Lyndon Hardy’s Master of the Five Magics, and… heck, just about any of the many works of RA Salvatore or CS Friedman.

You get my point. I was always hunting demon stories, and it was great to finally take a crack at writing them myself.

We all know it’s easy to get distracted when a project is taking its own sweet time to bubble.  What is your Achilles heel when it comes to getting distracted from writing?

Same as everyone these days, I reckon. The internet. It’s probably why I usually get more writing done on my smartphone riding the subway for an hour than I can all day on my home computer with its seductive high-speed web connection. That said, it’s just as easy for me to get distracted by sorting my socks.

Distraction is a real problem for me, and I think for anyone who wants to be a writer. Stephen Pressfield calls it “Resistance” in his book The War of Art. The fact is, unless you have the muse sitting right on your shoulder (which is a rare and undependable thing), writing, at least, writing well, is a lot harder than it looks. It can be such a trial sometimes that to a struggling author, the thought of climbing an icy ladder to clear leaves from the roof rain gutter starts to sound more enticing that sitting by the computer with a hot cuppa. I truly believe that training yourself to focus and produce work consistently when you’re blocked or tired or not in the mood is what separates pro writers, even hackish ones, from talented amateurs.

I wish I was better at it, myself.

With the holidays coming up what is your favorite winter activity?

My family used to have a ski house at Hunter Mountain in New York, and we would go skiing a few times every winter. Sometimes my dad would even pull us out of school on a Friday to take advantage of a day without weekend crowds. Those were the days!

Now that I live in Brooklyn and am married to a non-skier, I don’t get to go as often as I used to, but my father and sister and I still try to go once every winter if we can.

I’ve heard of inspirational eating, so when you’re settled in to get things done is there a particular food that you just have to have on hand?

Ugh. Prepare to be sickened. I like to eat Nerds Rope, which is this Willy Wonka candy where they essentially take a long Gummi Worm and stick Nerds candies to it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, be thankful. It is somehow several times as sugary as pure sugar.

I also mix iced coffee with Diet Coke when I am working late and want a caffeine boost. Don’t knock it until you’ve let it keep you up till 4am. Red Bull is for sissies.

What does it take to write a really good villain?  Do you ever find yourself in a mental space that scares you or makes you wonder if that really came out of YOUR head?

I don’t really write about villains, because I’m not convinced they exist in the classical sense. No one sees themselves as a villain, that is just a label from the person on the other side of the conflict. In real life, people find all sorts of ways to justify the evil things they do. I try to be impartial as an author, and just describe conflict and motive and let the reader decide who’s right and who’s wrong.

That said, there are several characters I’ve written that scare the crap out of me, especially Jardir’s wife, Inevera, who makes her first appearance in my nearly-completed sequel to The Warded Man, titled The Desert Spear. I have nightmares about her.

Which of your characters gave you the most trouble and was the hardest to write for?

Probably the Warded Man. My main protagonists, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer, all have clear voices in my head, but the Warded Man is an entity unto himself, and a being of constant internal conflict. It’s a difficult head to get into sometimes.

We all have darling lines or paragraphs in our stories.  Stephen King even says we should kill them.  What is your most favorite murdered darling from any of your books?

I have many murdered darlings. The version of The Warded Man I originally sold to Del Rey books was 182,000 words. The final draft I released to print was a sleek 158,000. I had reasons for everything I cut, usually pacing or redundancy, and the end-product was better for it, but some really great (in my opinion, anyway) material was lost in the process. So much, in fact, that I am planning to add a “deleted scenes” blog to my website to reveal some of those delicious tibbits to anyone interested in the writing process, or who just wants a little fix before the sequel comes out.

What is your worst writing habit, the thing which you keep telling yourself you’re going to change and you do it anyway?

Overwriting. I always write more than I need to. Like this answer. I could have just said “Overwriting” and been done with it, but was that good enough for me? Noooooo.

If you were going to interview another author, whose brain would you want to pick?

CS Friedman or George RR Martin. Both have an amazing ability to keep an incredibly complex set of POV characters and story arcs straight and still tell a cohesive story.

From the mouth of the Warded Man:

What is the best piece of advice you’d give to other characters on how to survive troubles and tribulations?

Stop being afraid to stand up for yourself. You can’t count on someone else coming along to do it for you.

How do you feel about magic powers? Indispensable? Only for the Lazy Hero/Heroine? You wish your author gave you more?

No one gave me my magic. I earned it, paid for in blood and scars, and now I walk free in the night when others cower behind their wards. But magic’s nothing compared to the will to stand up and defend what’s yours when the demons come to take it.  

 What’s the best way to vanquish mad witches, evil dragons… orcs, ogres?

Ent no such thing.

Is there a happily ever after on your horizon, or is true love only for those sappy romance books?

Gave up my chances for happiness long ago. I spend more time amongst demons than I do men now. I’ve eaten their flesh and stolen their magic. No woman in her right mind would want me, or the spawn of my tainted blood.

Magic artifacts? (You know what I mean, enchanted swords, books of spells…) Useful, indispensable, more trouble than they’re worth…

Weapons can be lost. They can be broken. They can be stolen. Make your own body a weapon, though, and nothing can take it from you, or catch you unarmed.

Welcome to another author interview! Today we’re featuring Juliet Marillier, author of 11 novels currently in print, and hopefully author of 11 or 12… or 50 more! (*nudge nudge*). Juliet’s latest book Heir to Sevenwaters is newly published here in the US and in Australia, and would make a lovely Christmas Present if you’re still looking for gifts. Her novels have a beautifully flowing prose, engaging protagonists, romantic heroes and beautiful imagery. She richly deserves her many awards, most recently the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Young Adult Novels. (Cybele’s Secret).  

Don’t forget to post comments! There are prizes to be won.
Enough from me…. on to the interview! (~K)

Lives: Perth, Western Australia
Webpage: Juliet Marillier
Books: The Sevenwaters Trilogy, The Bridei Chronicals, Wolfskin, Foxmask, Wildwood Dancing, Cybele’s Secret, Heir to Sevenwaters
Genres: Historical Fantasy, Celtic Fantasy

From the mouth of the author:

1. What is the fantasy cliché that most bothers you, or what is your book pet-peeve?
 
My number one book pet-peeve is head-hopping – constant changes of point of view within one scene. It’s still pretty common in fantasy writing and distances the reader from the main protagonists. My number two pet peeve is writers using ‘lay’ when they mean ‘lie’, and editors who don’t correct it.

2. What is your favorite fantasy critter or fairy tale character and why? No, it doesn’t have to be one you write about.

The non-human characters in my books would be deeply offended if I ever referred to them as critters. They’d prefer to be considered somewhat similar to humans, but superior in all ways that matter. Most of them come from mythology or folklore, but I take quite a few liberties with them. I had a lot of fun with the Irish mythological race of Fomhoire in the Sevenwaters books, especially HEIR TO SEVENWATERS – they have become distinct individuals now with personal quirks. Their strongest skill is being able to blend with the surrounding landscape, whether it be water, stone, foliage or whatever. This has ensured their survival over many generations.

3. We all know it’s easy to get distracted when a project is taking its own sweet time to bubble. What is your Achilles heel when it comes to getting distracted from writing?
 
My two dogs, a Miniature Pinscher and a Maltese / Bichon cross. They are always up for more cuddles, snacks or walkies, so it’s easy to use that as an excuse to stop work – who could resist a little dog’s softly pleading eyes? I brew and drink a lot of tea and coffee, especially as my current work space is the kitchen table. Using the Internet for non-essential purposes is another great way to waste time. Close to deadlines, I disable the modem so I can’t obsessively check my email or visit favourite sites. I don’t switch off the dogs or the kettle.

4. With the holidays coming up what is your favorite winter activity?

Curling up with the dogs and reading a great book while drinking tea. Or at least, that’s what I’d do if it actually was winter, but I live in Australia, where Christmas coincides with summer. That means the dogs and I are more likely to be paddling in the nearby river or collapsed in a heap under the shade of a big tree. Summers are extremely hot here.

5. I’ve heard of inspirational eating, so when you’re settled in to get things done is there a particular food that you just have to have on hand?

I have a mug of Twinings Earl Grey on hand pretty much all the time. (See above regarding kitchen as workspace.) Food-wise, I graze on whatever is to hand. Sitting at the computer eating and drinking most of the day tends to lead to ‘writer’s bum’ (in American, I guess that would be ‘writer’s butt’) so I also go to the gym three times a week.

6. What does it take to write a really good villain? Do you ever find yourself in a mental space that scares you or makes you wonder if that really came out of YOUR head?
 
Over the course of twelve books my villains have become a lot better (by ‘better’ I mean subtler and more interesting as characters – they’re no less evil.) In my first book I wrote a cardboard cutout villain. I even included a ‘since you’re about to die, I will now explain in great detail all the evil things I’ve done’ scene. These days, I guess I don’t write ‘villains’ as such. I’m intrigued by characters whose moral codes are a bit askew, or characters lacking the ability to come to terms with certain aspects of their existence. It’s interesting to explore their motivation and to look at how nature and nurture shaped them. Mac Dara, the prince of the Fair Folk from HEIR TO SEVENWATERS, is a complex character, with his own motivations and his own weird logic to back up his decisions. Some of my bad characters, such as the seriously warped Somerled in WOLFSKIN, are extremely popular with readers. A sympathetic baddie is a good baddie. Do I ever shock myself? No, but I don’t enjoy writing the scenes where unspeakable things happen.

7. Which of your characters gave you the most trouble and was the hardest to write for?

Faolan from the Bridei Chronicles gets the prize for being the most trouble AND for being my favourite. Clearly unhappy with his intended bit-part as assassin and spy, he moved himself up to hero’s best friend in THE DARK MIRROR, then insisted on taking the central role in the second and third books in that series. One book to introduce him, one to break his heart, one to let him sort his life out. Hardest to write for has been Anluan, the male protag of the novel I’ve just finished, HEART’S BLOOD. He is such a burdened character, he and I both had to dig deep to find his heroic qualities.

8. We all have darling lines or paragraphs in our stories. Stephen King even says we should kill them. What is your most favorite murdered darling from any of your books?

I prune nature descriptions, pagan rituals and angsty internal monologues. I’m getting better at recognising what is slowing the story down. Looking back at some of my earlier books, I can see a couple of passages that cry out for the editorial red pen.

9. What is your worst writing habit, the thing which you keep telling yourself you’re going to change and you do it anyway?
 
A tendency to wordiness. I’m working on it. Writing two novels for young adults, with a shorter word count, taught me to write more tightly.

10. If you were going to interview another author, whose brain would you want to pick?

I enjoy discussing the craft of writing. The authors I most admire are those who combine excellent technical skills with great storytelling ability. I’ve already interviewed the two fantasy authors I most wanted to talk to, Jacqueline Carey and Joe Abercrombie, for genre writing blog www.writerunboxed.com. I’d love to talk about writing technique with Orson Scott Card – I especially admire the earlier books in his Alvin Maker series, in which he makes brilliant use of voice. I’d like to interview Margo Lanagan, whose recent novel, Tender Morsels, is a dark and gritty variation on Snow White and Rose Red.

From the mouth of Clodagh, the narrator of HEIR TO SEVENWATERS:

1. What is the best piece of advice you’d give to other Fantasy characters on how to survive troubles and tribulations?

Recognise your own strengths and trust your own judgment. Who would have thought my sewing ability could have achieved what it did? It helps to have capable friends, too.

2. How do you feel about magic powers? Indispensable? Only for the Lazy Hero/Heroine? You wish your author gave you more?

My author has a theory that ordinary women can be heroes without needing magical powers, so she didn’t give me any except for the ability to mind-talk with my twin sister, and that only got me in more trouble. She didn’t give me any combat skills, either, because she has another theory that her stories need to be plausible within their historical and cultural context. As it happens, I did quite well with just my common sense, courage and readiness to accept outsiders. Oh, I did get one small magical device to use. Judging by what happened, I think I’d have been better off without it.

3. What’s the best way to vanquish mad witches, evil dragons… orcs, ogres?

We don’t have any of those in our stories. What has to be vanquished is fear or prejudice or a crippling memory. We did face a dark prince of the Tuatha de Danann. This time around, we got the better of him by courage and cleverness, and a smidgeon of magical craft. It was a case of out-tricking the trickster. I feel sure there will be a next time; he wasn’t happy.

4. Is there a happily ever after on your horizon, or is true love only for those sappy romance books?

My author believes in true love, but she thinks it’s unrealistic to have everyone live happily ever after. My beloved and I got a ‘happy for the foreseeable future BUT…’ sort of ending. It’s enough to be going on with; I’m a practical person. When you have a powerful enemy, you don’t expect to live the rest of your life in peace.

5. Magic artifacts? (You know what I mean, enchanted swords, books of spells…) Useful, indispensable, more trouble than they’re worth…

In the right hands, this kind of thing can be very useful. In untrained hands (mine, for instance) it’s a really bad idea. In our type of story, it’s not magical trappings that save the day but human virtues such as courage, faith, love and loyalty. In other words, it’s what a person is INSIDE that makes the difference. (Wait – my author just pointed out that her next story contains magical mirrors, grimoires and a spectral horse … Oh, it’s all right, my beloved tells me we’re not in that one.)

Firstly, it’s time for the results from the mid-month contest drawing. The magic randomizer of dice comments awards the Barnes and Noble gift card to…

                        John
  Remember to keep commenting, we have a Barnes and Noble Gift Card of $10 dollars and a book from one of the authors, your choice of author, our choice of book! Spread the word!

  

Hello Folks,

Jana got busy and I got in late, but here’s the Wednesday book review! We’re going to feature Juliet Marillier this week in our interview, and I wanted to share my love of her novel Daughter of the Forest. I was given this book as a present by Julie-the-sucky-bathtub-reading-friend (self named!) and absolutely loved it. It’s a retelling of the classic fairy tale where six brothers befall a terrible curse and are turned into swans. Their sister, Sorcha, has to rescue them through self-sacrifice and heroism. On the way she discovers self-value and a little true love in the process. This tale weaves love, brotherhood, danger and magic into a Celtic tapestry which also incorporates a little history. You learn a lot about the tensions between Ireland and England and discover first hand some of the magic of the Irish fairy tales in this retelling. Juliet Marillier is wonderful at mingling classic stories of the Fair Folk with magic and a believable setting that is close to, but not quite, our reality. This is the setting that the Irish Fairy Tales wanted you to believe in, a world that is familiar but touched by the power of ghosts and magic. I also enjoyed the feminist themes wound into the tale as Sorcha has to learn to be self-reliant and to choose her own direction in life. I couldn’t put this book down, and read it straight through. What joy that it’s the start of a Trilogy!

Author: Juliet Marillier
Rating:
    Genre:  Historical Fantasy
    Age: Preteen - Adult
    Content:  Violence, suffering, a rape (although tastefully written)
    Overall:  Buy
 
As the only daughter and youngest child of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, Sorcha grows up protected and pampered by her six older brothers. When a sorceress’s evil magic ensorcels Colum’s sons, transforming them into swans, only Sorcha’s efforts can break the curse. Marillier’s first novel uses a familiar Celtic legend to tell the story of a young woman’s sacrifice for the sake of those she loves and her own discovery of unexpected joy in the midst of sorrow. The author’s keen understanding of Celtic paganism and early Irish Christianity adds texture to a rich and vibrant novel that belongs in most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

I’ve spent the whole day hand dipping chocolates, so you’ll all have to forgive me if I have food on the brain.  I can’t help it 400 chocolates later.

Sooo…of course this has turned my brain to pondering how food appears in our writing.  Especially as we’re talking about fantasy books this month it seemed appropriate to talk about food in literature.

I love Tolkein’s The Hobbit as much for the recitations of all the food that Bilbo has in his cupboards, and later all the foods he wishes he has, as anything else.  There is a reality which is brought to the story by the connection to food.  Later in The Lord of the Rings we see this again as Samwise ponders how a rabbit could be made into better foods with just a few herbs and the qualities of lembas bread are extolled and in some cases, when it’s all they’ve eaten for a very long time, cursed.

Food seems to be one of those little details which can bring a lot of texture to a story, but is often glossed over.  How many inns do intrepid adventurers visit where in they are fed stew, cheese and maybe some bread?  Anyone besides me ever wonder what kind of stew it was?  Not that it usually matters to the story as a whole, but it does round out the world just a little more and sometimes begs interesting questions if beef stew is being served in a town famous for its mutton.

So what about you, gentle reader?  What foods have you seen in fantasy books which caught your eye, or what ones have turned your stomaches?

Oh, and a housekeeping detail.  The drawing for the first December prize will happen tomorrow.  It’s not too late to comment!  There are books to be won!

~Jana