An interview interlude

Update on The Trouble With Demons: Chapter 1 is done, Chapter 2 is well underway, Chapter 3 is simmering on the back burner. Chapters 2 & 3 have to be finished this weekend to stay on my "two chapters a week" schedule.

*** Progress report: Webmaster Todd is formatting the A&M sample chapters and has a few more new pages to build. If all goes well, the revamped site will go live before this weekend. ***

For today's blog, I realized that I haven't posted the really fun interview that I did recently with the fabulous fantasy author, Diana Pharaoh Francis. It was originally posted over on her site (the link is to the right). I thought you all might enjoy it. Tomorrow's topic will be back on the writing of TTWD.

The world of MLTF is really fun. What I like about it is that there's this feel of a larger world existing beyond the city, and also that there's a lot of history to it, which makes for a lot of political posturing (for lack of a better word). Talk to me about how the world developed, and can you tell me more about it, beyond what's in MLTF?
Back in college when I first started writing the books that would form the basis for MLTF, I drew a map to go along with it. Those first two books were epic fantasy, and since all the epic fantasies I was reading had maps, I had a map. I actually still have that first map, and a later version of it hangs in my office for reference purposes (city names and whatnot). It's on parchment, it's framed and it's gorgeous--and it's utterly wrong, geologically speaking. Ooops, my bad. Apparently being an English major isn't conducive to map making. I drew my rivers and inland seas where I wanted them to be, and where I thought they'd look good. A fencing buddy of mine (who also happens to be a PhD in geology and paleontology), told me that my rivers were flowing the wrong way, and the location of my inland sea would have made it a swamp. He wasn't even going to get into what was wrong with my mountains. So he graciously redrew my map (correctly), as well as included what natural resources would be found in each kingdom what crops could be grown (or not grown) which would affect the type of culture they had, along with what they could export and what they had to import. Thanks, Bill! Dr. William Straight was the fencing buddy, and he'd bring in fossils, t-rex teeth, dino jaw sections, all sorts of uber-cool stuff. So at our gym, we not only fenced, but got mini dino-lectures. : )

I think I mentioned that I really like your goblins and elves. First, can you give people a sense of what makes them unique, and then talk about why and how they came to be the way they are?
I wanted to do something different with my elves and goblins. In those early books that I'd written, the character that eventually became Raine was an elf princess. I look back on that now and it cracks me up. Not to mention, it so did not work. I decided that not only should she be non-royal, she should be from a family of criminals, and she worked for a living. No hoity-toity elves for me (at least not for Raine and Phaelan). However, there will be a hoity-toity, high-elf mage in Armed & Magical, named Carnades Silvanus.

As to my goblins--most of the goblins in books I'd read were short, gnarled, and had a bad case of post-nasal drip. Again, I wanted to do something different. Why couldn't goblins be hot? Svelte, silver and sexy--with fangs. And amazing long black hair, dark eyes, tall, with sinuous grace, cultured, dangerous bad boys. Niiice.

Talk about the writing of MLTF--what was it like for you? What's your process like?
Once I started writing in first-person, I immediately found Raine's voice, and knew I was on to something when my characters started coming out of the woodwork as if they heard their cue to come on stage. As to my process, I write every day (whether I feel like it or not). Some days I only get a couple of pages, other days I've written an entire chapter (that's exhausting but exhilarating). I go for a minimum of five pages a day.

I know I've mentioned that I really like the mix of urban sensibility with the traditional fantasy. Was that a hard line to walk? How did you make sure you didn't stray into anachronism?
Yes, it was a hard line to walk. I resisted doing it for as long as I could, but finally gave in. Raine's voice just didn't work trying to force her into traditional "fantasy speak." To avoid really modern references--and to put a fun twist on them--I'd say things like: "armed for ogre" instead of "armed for bear" and "that's the king's ransom question" rather than "that's the million-dollar question."

What's your favorite bit from MLTF?
There are so many; it's hard to choose. But I'd have to say the goblin king's masquerade ball and the final scene with Raine and Sarad Nukpana. The ball was just fun to write, and the final confrontation scene with Sarad Nukpana was incredibly difficult, so I had a tremendous sense of satisfaction when I finally got it the way I wanted it.

What was the most painful thing you had to cut?
There were another two chapters set in The Ruins with some characters that I had to cut to streamline the book. I resisted cutting the characters and chapters, but realized that they had to go for the good of the book. I've posted some of those chapters on my blog as "Outtakes from MLTF."

I know that Armed and Magical is a sequel to MLTF--can you tell me something about it? And do you see this as an ongoing series or have you got a specific ending in mind?
It's an ongoing series, with no ending in sight. ; ) Two weeks ago, my publisher bought the next two books in the series. And I even have some prequels (books before MLTF) floating around in my head. After all, Raine did have an adventurous life before the events of MLTF.

As to what happens in Armed & Magical--By the end of page three, Raine's already got big problems--an assassination attempt on the archmagus, an encounter with an enemy from her past, and an entirely too public display of her Saghred-enhanced powers. Later, Tam has not one, but two, deep dark secrets from his past that he'd rather keep buried. Piaras is now a Conclave college student studying spellsinging, and that voice of his attracts way too much of the wrong kind of attention. Mychael has his hands full with Raine, and with trying to keep her from falling prey to the darkest side of the Saghred.

What do you read? Got some favorite novels titles you want to throw out there? I absolutely adore Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. I've just finished Nightlife and Moonshine by Rob Thurman (must-buy, fabulous books, deliciously snarky characters). I'm reading Wraith by Phaedra Weldon (really fun book that breaks new ground), Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (a wonderful, different take on werewolves), Bitterwood by James Maxey, a NC author who I'll be doing a second booksigning with Monday, Oct. 15 at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington, NC at 7 p.m. He's written an awesome dragons vs humans adventure series, and I've recently finished Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (a new take on just about everything). In my TBR pile is Coyote Dreams by C.E. Murphy, Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair (my author "big sister"), The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (as well as his sequel), and your book The Cipher as soon as it comes out. I've read the first chapter and it's definitely my kind of book. I'm looking forward to it. I know there are some books I'm leaving out, but that's it off the top of my head.