[Interview] Pam Inder

Leicester-based writer and former museum curator and university lecturer, Pam Inder is the co-author of seven books.

The books, which she wrote with Marion Aldis, include:  

• The 1844 Diary of John William Sneyd: Muskets and Mining (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1996);  
• John Sneyd's Diary 1815-1871: Thirty Pieces of Silver (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1998);  
• Finding Susanna (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2002);
• Susanna's Cookery Book: A Culinary Adventure in Staffordshire (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2003);  
• Finding Ralphy (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2006), and  
• Staffordshire Women: Nine Forgotten Histories (History Press, 2010).

In this interview, Pam Inder talks about her writing:

How did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t really have much choice about writing – I worked as a museum curator and writing catalogues, articles in journals etc was very much part of the job! However, the sort of writing I now do came about rather differently.

Back in the early 1990s, I did an MA in English Local History and became friendly with one of my fellow mature students, Marion Aldis, who was very interested in 19th century diaries. Some months after we finished the course – by which time I was working at Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent – I helped a colleague with a local history project she was doing with a group of students which involved them in looking at original documents.

One of the sets of documents they were given to work on was a collection of diaries (in Keele University Special Collections Library). The students hated them – they were quite difficult to read – so I spent quite a lot of time helping them with that part of the project and realised that the collection was actually enormously interesting – and no-one else was studying it. I contacted my friend – and we embarked on what became a 12-year project tracing the history of these North Staffordshire diarists. Fortunately for us they were an eccentric, quarrelsome bunch so their lives made interesting reading ...(I can talk about this at length!)

Fairly soon we realised that the material was worth publishing and set about looking for a publisher. We wrote to a number of national publishers – none of whom were interested – then we heard about a publisher (now retired) in Leek and he published five books for us based on the diaries.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

We write ‘popular history’ – for people who are interested in the same sort of things that interest us – the everyday lives of ordinary people, especially women, in the 19th century.

We both read a lot of history but I’m not sure there are many direct influences on our work. In some of our books – notably Finding Susanna, we incorporate quite a lot of the story of our research projects and our personal stories. Research is a form of detective work and the way we uncover information can sometimes be quite quirky.

We also have a lot of fun – we are both married women, not as young as we’d like to be, and going off on research trips together is very enjoyable, very different from the lives we lead as wives and mothers.

What are your main concerns as writers?

I suppose our main concern is, first of all, to do our research properly. What we write is always as factually historically correct as we can make it. The second concern is to try to make our subjects come alive – without relying too heavily on our imaginations. And the third is to write in a lively, approachable style. So much modern history is written in jargon.

Writing as a pair does help – we are quite critical of each other.

Do you write everyday?

I, personally, don’t have any particular process for writing. I’m busy – I write when I have the time, while dinner is cooking, while the kitchen floor is drying – whatever. I certainly don’t write every day.

How many books have you written so far?

• The 1844 Diary of John William Sneyd: Muskets and Mining (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1996) 144pp. Transcript of the diary with an introduction and a lot of illustrations.
• John Sneyd’s Diary 1815-1871: Thirty Pieces of Silver (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1998) 264pp. Edited transcripts of some of his 50+ diaries with chapters describing the major events of his life. He was a clergyman who lost the family fortune in ill-advised mining speculations, had a fellow clergyman imprisoned for slander, quarrelled irrevocably with his eldest son. He was a charismatic, able, but deeply flawed man.
• Finding Susanna: the Story of Mrs Susanna Ingleby, née Sneyd 1831-91 (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2002), 379pp. A biography based on her diaries. The most colourful event of her life was that she married in 1860 to an abusive husband and left him after a mere six weeks. Thereafter she was a social pariah and ended up as housekeeper to her widowed brother (the one who was estranged from their father) bringing up his only child, her nephew, who grew into an extremely strange and eccentric adult. She was, however, the only member of the family who was remotely capable of managing money, and she spent her time bailing out impecunious relatives – including her youngest brother who was a clergyman who impregnated a teenage aidservant and was the subject of a Consistory Court hearing.
• Susanna’s Cookery Book: A Culinary Adventure in Staffordshire (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2003) 128pp. A collection of Susanna Ingleby’s recipes together with comments from local people (some of them her descendants) who tried the recipes out for us.
• Finding Ralphy (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2005), 288pp. The biography of Susanna’s nephew. He had a private museum, was a self-styled Knight of the Round Table, became Chief Druid for Staffordshire, conducted eccentric religious ceremonies in his private chapel, was a competent artist and a truly appalling poet – and totally eccentric.
• Staffordshire Women: Nine Forgotten Histories (History Press, 2010), 126pp. Very much the same sort of thing as I’ve described for Norfolk Women. Subjects included a pottery paintress, an heiress who endowed a school, a nail mistress, a housekeeper in a stately home and a factory owner.
• Our 7th book, Nine 19th Century Norfolk Women (title not yet decided) goes to press at the end of next month. To be published by Poppyland in 2011

How would you describe your latest book?

The current book is about 19th century Norfolk women and it takes the form of nine single-chapter biographies of ordinary women who led successful lives within the parameters of their social class. None of them are in any way famous – we aim to shine a spotlight on the lives of ordinary people. One was a governess who went to the Ukraine, one was a lighthouse keeper, one a fishmonger, one the matron of a lunatic asylum, one a farmer, one emigrated to Canada – and so on.

How long did it take you to write the book?

Its always hard to say how long something takes. The research for each chapter probably takes about a month – or it would if you could work at it consecutively – but that’s not how research pans out.

We got the commission for this book in October and it goes to the publisher at the end of July – but we’d already done some of the work in another context. So you could say it took 10 months – or three years – or twenty years if you include learning how to do what we do!

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

Poppyland, our publisher specialises in books on Norfolk which is why we chose him – but in the real world publishers do the choosing, not authors. The only disadvantage so far is that he is based in Cromer which is rather a long way away – time will tell what other (if any) disadvantages present themselves when he actually gets the mss!

What were the most difficult aspects of the work that went into the book?

There are always all sorts of difficulties – for this particular book we have had to discard several of our subjects either because someone else was working on them or because their descendants didn’t like us writing about them, for example.

My biggest difficulty probably this time was finding illustration of a particular small town in the Ukraine – you’d be amazed how difficult that was.

You deal with problems as they crop up - they are all different so there’s no simple answer.

What would you say has been your greatest achievement as a writer?

Single biggest achievement? Well, I suppose getting fairly esoteric material published at all was quite clever – let alone having (so far) had three separate publishers.

Most of the people we studied with write and do research – few of them have published.

Related articles:

• Summer Reading Challenge, Tamworth Blog, June 22, 2011
• Four must-read local history books - if you can find them, By Chris Upton, Birmingham Post, January 30, 2011
• Brian Wainwright [Interview_1], Conversations with Writers, February 1, 2008

[Interview] Max Gladstone

Max Gladstone lives, works, and writes in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of several novels which include Three Parts Dead, which is currently out on submission.

His short stories have been featured in magazines that include Space Westerns and On The Premises as well as in the anthology, The Book of Exodi (Eposic, 2009).

He also administers the blog Two Guys, Three Hundred Poems, where he publishes and comments on translations of the anthology of Tang poetry known as the 300 Tang Poems.

In this interview, Max Gladstone talked about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I began writing before I actually knew how to put letters together -- just a bunch of scratches filling my parents' old notebooks, one line at a time -- but if you mean writing stories, it started with a very simple vampire story typed out on an old suitcase Remington in my closet at the age of five or six.

From there, it was a short skip and a jump to wanting to be a published writer: I realized as soon as I started reading books that were worth remarking upon that I wanted to respond to the ladies and gentleman I had read, and the best way to do that was to write books of my own.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

In terms of genre, I write mostly in what John Crowley would call the genres of romance: science fiction and fantasy, with a bit of mystery thrown in.

I'm concerned about the degree to which American fantasy fiction concerns itself with the same issues as English fantasy fiction. It seems to me that we should be trying to do something different, and I've been trying to reach towards that.

I've spent the last year or two reading a lot of American fiction and trying to develop the voice in my writing. It's a very strange exercise, something like practicing Taiji Quan, where you have to be very conscious of the words you're writing and what they mean.

Who is your target audience?

I try to write for all intelligent people who like awesome stories.

Roger Zelazny has been an immense influence since I was a child, and a lot of my initial sense of the poetry in speculative fiction comes from him.

I also loved LeGuin's Earthsea books; her dragons are some of the best realized creatures (monsters? beasts? people?) in fantasy.

John Crowley's Little, Big has also molded the way I see fiction, though I didn't discover that particular masterpiece until college.

Recently, I've found non-genre authors the most moving and influential: Mikhail Bulgakov, Salman Rushdie, and Toni Morrison on the slightly slipstream side, and [William] Faulkner and John Steinbeck on the more traditional side.

East of Eden and Absalom, Absalom are particularly amazing, though in different ways.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Every writer is shaped by his personal experience, whether he admits it or not. I try to avoid directly copying events from my life into fiction, but my experiences in Asia (I lived in China, traveled in Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan), and my travels in Europe and out west in the United States as a child gave me a wealth of experiences that are endlessly valuable in my work.

Bits of truth about life in China, and about the history of suffering there, show up from time to time in my work that's not set anywhere near China, for example. Certainly my sense of the pleasures and occasional torments of village life come from my experiences in China, and my students' discussions.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, honestly, is that it's quite difficult to make a living as a writer, and that in the context of a full-time job I won't find time enough to get serious work done. So far I've tried to fight that with a rigorous writing schedule, and had some success.

My biggest challenges arise when the obligations of life get in the way of doing real, capital-W work, without being a huge loser to my family and friends. As far as challenges go, these are pretty simple, I guess.

I once met a farmer in rural China who made 100 kuai a month (about $12.50) from his crop; I said that seemed a very small amount and he said it was fine, that he made a lot less during the Cultural Revolution. He's been through challenges far greater than any I've faced in this life, and there are still tons of people in the world worse off than him.

Do you write everyday?

I write every day, though I don't have a set habit. I have an extremely portable word processor (an AlphaSmart Neo, if you're interested), that I carry with me while I'm writing, and if I have a few minutes I sit down and slam out a few sentences, a paragraph, a thousand words. The one-track mind is a great help to me there.

I've written several novels, one of which I'm submitting to agents as I write this; none of these have been published, though I have published a handful of short stories in small presses and magazines in the last two years: one short story of espionage and assassination, one about a group of Martian rebels, one about a dream-space-Viking invasion of Miami, and one about the travails of a Chinese doctor who discovers the secret to re-animating the dead (some of the time), all of which are linked off my website.

This year I'll be collaborating with Alana Abbott on a serial novel about fairy politics, gladiatorial combat, and political rebellion called Blood and Tumult, which should start appearing in fall on Baeg Tobar.

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is a sort of legal procedural with necromancers; it took me the better part of six months to write, and is currently in the submission stage of its life.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The query letter and plot synopsis were the most difficult parts of the writing process, though I did finally get the hang of them.

Essentially, you have to distill the book you've written to a few sentences. The problem is, if you could represent adequately your book in those few sentences you wouldn't have written a book, you'd have written flash fiction. So then you think about it as an exercise in marketing and flash fiction, and it's (mostly) okay. Of course, the success of that method remains to be seen -- fingers crossed!

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy writing the most. Putting one word in front of the other is great, especially when you feel that they're good words.

Revising is second-best. It's like whittling, only you're whittling your own child. Maybe it's more fun than that sounds.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Each of my books (and each of my pieces of short fiction, for that matter) have come out of different inspirations, and have been written in states of obsession with different topics. While writing this one, I spent a lot of time thinking about neural networks, religion, evolution, and finance, for example; previous books have been more concerned with Go, or with Genghis Khan.

I hope readers would say that all my books have interesting, well-defined characters, and a driving plot that consists of many wheels within wheels.

What will your next book be about?

The next project is going to be Blood and Tumult, an exciting project that I'm collaborating upon with Alana Abbott. I'm looking forward to collaborating with someone so experienced on such an interesting property as Baeg Tobar.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

So far, I'd say my most significant achievement as a writer has been persisting. Writers write, finish what they start, revise endlessly, and move on to the next project. That way (I hope!) the best story is always the next one.

Related articles:

• Dylan Birtolo [Interview], Conversations with Writers, April 20, 2011
• The Amazing Max Gladstone: Mystery Agent Success Story [Interview], Operation Awesome, April 15, 2011
• Max Gladstone, Out of Order Interview, Mystic Vision, December 6, 2009

[Interview] Dylan Birtolo

Dylan Birtolo is the author of two novels, The Shadow Chaser (Inkwater Press, 2004) and The Bringer of War (Lulu, 2008).

He is also the co-author of Colonial Gothic, a role-playing game and has short stories that have been published in places that include the anthology of short stories, Ransom (Athor Productions, 2008)); the multi-media epic fantasy setting,  Baeg Tobar; and the e-zine, The Edge of Propinquity.

In this interview, Dylan Birtolo talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing back when I was in third grade and we had to write out our stories in cursive writing on paper with the one inch margins drawn on them. I actually still have the very first story that I ever wrote. It was required to be one page long and tell a story, mine was 17 pages. At this point, I knew that I wanted to be a storyteller and share stories with people.

Ever since then, I have always been telling stories in many formats - writing, orally making up stories on the fly, running tabletop role-playing games. It didn't matter to me how I was telling the story, as long as these stories were getting out there.

I think it was high school when I decided that I wanted to be a published writer. This had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to make it a vocation, but solely was based on the fact that I knew I could share my stories with more people if I wrote them down in books. Plus, I just thought it would be wonderful to hold a book in my hands with my name on the cover.

Over the next several years, I tried a couple of ideas for a book, deciding to go right for that rather than try to get some short fiction published first. It wasn't until I was two years out of college that I stumbled upon my first idea for a novel that would turn into a full-fledged book. I shopped it around and tried to find both an agent and a publisher who might be willing to bite on it. It was a few years after that when I found a small publishing press that was willing to publish my first novel. From there, once it was done, I started trying to figure out how to market it and going to cons to meet other writers, editors, and publishers. The irony is, now I am getting into short fiction more after I published two books, rather than the other way around which is more standard.

How would you describe your writing?

Is frenetic an acceptable answer? Seriously though, I am writing a lot of short fiction currently and some game fiction. Everything that I write is fantasy based, and usually has a bit of a darker tone to it than most sword and sorcery fantasy.

I also write a fair amount of urban fantasy where I take the modern world and throw a twist into it that changes it significantly. I have submitted several short pieces for consideration into multiple, different anthologies at this time and am waiting to hear back about whether or not my stories are accepted.

I recently completed a contract for the game called Colonial Gothic. This was a cooperative effort between myself and another writer where we wrote letters from one character in the game world to another.

Most recently, I have been working with the creators of Baeg Tobar to create some short fiction that highlights pieces of their world that ties into their graphic novel, The Torn God.

Who is your target audience?

Honestly, my true target audience consists of my Beta readers and myself.

I try to create stories that I know that I would enjoy reading. I find that my writing is much more exciting if I am excited about creating it. Other than that, I do have a handful of friends that are my beta readers - a collection of about 10 people who read just about everything that I consider sending out. I like hearing their feedback and knowing that they enjoy the stories that come out of my head. This has expanded to the point that I now write for people who have read my current books and stories and want to read more.

Going to the same conventions year after year enables me to see the same friends and fans each year. I love to have new things to share with people who enjoy what I create and hunger for more. I have never actually written a story for a specific audience in terms of a certain age bracket or type of person.

In the writing you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

The strongest influences on my writing always go back to C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Specifically, the books the influenced me the most were The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings series, and The Hobbit. These books influenced me the most because of the fact that these are the ones that I grew up on.

The story in my family is that the first book I ever read was actually The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Of course I wasn't actually reading the book - I just had requested my mother to read it to me so often that I knew the first chapter or so by heart and would "read along". It still makes for a good story. But, these are the books that I have read the most. No matter which fantasy authors I read, every few years, I come back to read these series.

There are several authors I have read since then that I have enjoyed and think are wonderful, but those two definitely form my core influence.

I will say that the two authors that have had the most influence on my style, versus my content, would be Stephen King and Alan Lightman.

Stephen King's book On Writing is the best book I have ever read to improve my craft. With Alan Lightman, I was incredibly lucky to have him as a creative writing instructor. Not only did he improve my writing quality, but I also owe him for keeping me interested in writing. I can honestly say that if I didn't take his class, I would probably not be a published writer at this point in my career.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Personal experiences are key to writing, and I am no exception. I am a firm believer that you can only write what you know. Once you have experienced things, it gives you a very different perspective and enables you to write about it in a way that makes it more believable and put in details that you might otherwise miss.

I always try to incorporate my experiences into my writing, and at the same time, seek out experiences that fit with the type of stories that I write. That's why I picked up martial arts and horseback riding at first. I stay with them because I love them, but I wanted to know what it was like so that I could bring that to light in my writing. And let me tell you, it is very different to talk abstractly about wearing armor and getting on a horse and actually doing it. I think that having this knowledge and experience enables me to put in a lot more minor details and make my stories more believable. Hopefully this makes them more entertaining as well.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My biggest concern as a writer is whether or not the story that I am writing is going to be both enjoyable and clear to read. If I am not writing something that is fun to read, then there is not much point in putting the time to put fingers to keys.

The biggest problem that I have with this is my internal editor - where I will rewrite the same sentence multiple times trying to get it just right. The biggest way that I deal with this is I learn not to listen to the editor - to pound out that first draft and stay excited about it. I find that if I just keep writing my first draft, my energy and excitement stays up, which usually keeps the story moving along at a steady and enjoyable pace. I can always do the editing after the entire first draft is complete.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The biggest challenge is getting my writing out there.

Personally, I do not have problems with the writing, and while I don't enjoy the editing, I think I do a decent job at it. Even if I don't, I do have a couple of friends who are good at editing and are more than willing to read through my material.

However, getting my writing out there is a problem that has no simple solution. With short fiction, I need to find someone willing to buy a story. With books, even if you have the best book in the world, it doesn't do any good if no one knows about it.

I deal with the problem in two different ways depending on whether we are talking about short fiction or novels, because they really are two different beasts.

With short fiction, I find that getting the fiction accepted in a reputable market is the hardest part. True, you can publish it on your own website for free, but then you are left with the problem of getting people to your website and convincing them to spend the time to read your material. If they do not know you and you don't have a reputation, I feel like the odds of this are significantly small. Instead, what I choose to do is write short pieces for markets that already have a fan base. This can be something like monthly e-zine like The Edge of Propinquity, the graphic novel and surrounding stories of Baeg Tobar, or inclusion in a short story anthology. I find that all of these are ways to get your writing noticed by even more people. In these cases, you can be pretty sure that you will have more than just your effort going into the promotion of the writing. This communal marketing helps immensely.

For books, it is much harder because in these cases, usually you are doing all of the marketing yourself. Granted, you may have some support from your publisher, but I have been told that is unlikely. I have not been published by a large publishing house, so I do not know if it is different in that case. With a small house publisher or independently publishing, you will definitely have to do all of the marketing yourself. I am not sure what the solution to this is, but I can say the different things that I try: having a website, maintaining a blog, having a mailing list, going to conventions, posting in forums, and getting more short fiction out there which hopefully leads people to your novels. This marketing plan is still a work in progress.

Do you write everyday?

I do write every day, but I do not write fiction every day. I have another job that pays the bills and that is being a technical writer.

Even though it is a different style of writing, it has improved my craft significantly. It has taught me how to tighten up my writing, express my ideas more clearly, and be less repetitive. If I was not a technical writer for my day job, I know my writing skills would not be even close to where they currently are.

With my fiction writing, it is a very different beast. Because of my schedule, I am not able to get fiction writing done on a regular basis from Monday to Thursday. However, there are times when the desire to write a story is so strong that I need to make the time to write.

When I have decided it is time to write I have my rituals. I turn off all distractions, because otherwise I can't keep the writing flowing. It is too easy to get distracted and lose a train of thought, which is devastating especially in the middle of an action scene. Then I get myself a beverage, what it is varies based on the time of day. It can even just be a glass of water, but I need something there to sip on when I am gathering my thoughts. The last step is the music. What music I play depends on the story or scene that I am writing. I find that my music and the tone of my writing often go hand in hand. Regardless, I do have a preference for music that either has no words, or that I know the words so well I don't think about them. Otherwise, I might start listening to the words of the music, which makes me unable to write.

How many books have you written so far?

I have written two novels so far. The first is called The Shadow Chaser and was published in 2004 by Inkwater Press. It is an urban fantasy novel that tells the story of a world where people have the ability to shift between their human form and an animal form at will. A young man named Darien is thrust into this world because he is a shifter even though he doesn't know it. He is stuck between two warring factions who are both trying to recruit him because even among the shifters, he has a unique ability that makes him potentially more dangerous.

My second novel is The Bringer of War and it was published in 2008 by Lulu. Yes, I self published my second novel because I made the decision that it was more important to make the book available to my fans than to try to publish it traditionally. This novel is a stand-alone sequel to The Shadow Chaser and delves deeper into the conflict between the two warring factions of Shifters. It tells the story of what Darien does once he has access to his powers, and how another player gets involved - one who has the same abilities as Darien.

What advantages or disadvantages has self-publishing your second novel presented?

The Bringer of War was self-published through Lulu. This was a decision that I spent a lot of time debating about. I tried to get it traditionally published, but I was pressured for time. I very much wanted to make sure that it was available at GenCon 2008 so that it would be available to my fans who had enjoyed the first book and kept coming to my table for two years to see if I had anything new. It got to the point where I knew that the only way it would be available by then would be to self-publish, so I opted to go that route.

However, going with a self-publish book takes a lot more work if you want it to be of the same quality as a traditionally published novel. I spent a lot of time and effort into getting artwork for the cover, laying out the book, line editing the book, etc. I also called in a lot of favors and did put a fair amount of money into the process as well in terms of paying artists and editors for their work. The traditional rule is that money should always flow to the writer, but I decided to violate that rule in this case because I was self-publishing and wanted a quality product. In the end, I believe I succeeded, but it was far from simple.

I can honestly say that I would not self-publish again. The amount of work that it takes to finalize a quality product is simply not worth it. By the time that my novel was available, I had lost my enthusiasm for it and was not excited to market it and get it out there like I had been with the first novel. This is perfectly understandable because your excitement and energy will only go so far, but it is not a good way to handle the release of your book. You should be excited about it and do everything you can to make it available and known. No one else will market it for you, and honestly, no one else should because no one is going to as excited as you are about your book.

Which aspects of the work you put into The Bringer of War did you find most difficult?

I think that the marketing aspect is the most difficult. I think this is because there is no clear idea of what works and what doesn't. The problem with marketing is that you can put a lot of time and effort into it (and possibly money too), and have no good way to measure the effect it might have.

There are a lot of things that you can try that have no effect whatsoever. So it becomes a question of how you will market yourself and how you will determine what is worthwhile. You only have so much time - where will you devote it? I have a feeling that marketing also is susceptible to the law of diminishing returns.

The best way that I deal with these aspects is I do the marketing aspects that I enjoy doing. I enjoy going to conventions and meeting other writers and editors. I enjoy talking with potential readers and past readers to see what they liked and didn't. I like updating my blog and sharing details and writing thoughts with anyone who reads it. I enjoy sending out emails to the mailing list because it reminds me that I have people who enjoy what I create and seeing the stories that I come up with. I don't know if this is enough, but that is the wonderful thing about marketing - no one knows what works. There is no single solution that works for everyone.

Which aspects of the work you put into the novel did you enjoy most?

I love the creation of the first draft. This is by far my favorite part.

Everyone writes differently, and what works for me will not work for another writer. But, when I am writing, at least with a novel, I often don't know what is going to happen. Yes, I have the big-picture events planned out for consistency, but the minor details are as much of a surprise to me on my first writing as they are when someone is reading it for the first time. Because of this, I think it is very exciting to create the first draft to see what happens. It is like reading a story that you are enjoying, watching the characters come to life and start to take charge of the story. Eventually it gets to a point in the story where I don't feel like I am writing any more and I am just documenting what happens. That is when it gets really exciting.

What sets The Bringer of War apart from the other things you've written?

This book has a lot more action and a lot more intensity in terms of outright violence than my previous works. There are many scenes where people are being brutally attacked by different animals. I won't say that I went into excessive or even vivid detail, but there are some details in there that will and have make some readers a little uncomfortable.

While my stories have always been a little bit darker, this was the first time that I showed the darkness as clearly as I did.

All of my stories have a tendency to move pretty quickly because of the fact that I know I write action well. The best scenes in any of my writing, according to my readers, are my fight scenes. I seem to have a talent for writing combat in a way that flows quickly and is easy to follow while keeping the excitement up. So, I tend to put a fair amount of action in all of my stories and try to keep it moving at a steady clip. My first draft actually needed a couple of extra scenes added because as one of my beta readers said - "You need to slow it down once in a while, otherwise when the person gets to the end they feel like they ran a marathon."

What will your next book be about?

I'm not sure since I am currently focusing on my short fiction. However, I am toying with the idea of another urban fantasy novel, but set in a different world than the one of my previous two novels.

I have a short story published in The Edge of Propinquity that talks about a young man, a martial arts practitioner, who learns that oni - Japanese demons - actually exist and masquerade as humans. The only weapons that can harm them are traditionally-made Japanese swords. Over the course of that short story, he becomes an oni hunter. I am thinking that my next novel will expand on this short story - several years after the events of the short.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

My most significant achievement is getting my first book published. I am still new enough to writing that sometimes I can hardly believe that I actually have a novel out there with my name on it - let alone two! It still feels like a big deal and is something that I am very excited about. I love sharing it with people and hearing what they have to say.

I have taken many steps over the years that I am really proud about, but finishing that first novel and getting it published is definitely the biggest step I ever took. I can still remember what it felt like to open that box the first time and pull out a copy of the book. I will never forget that feeling.

[Interview] Daniel Tyler Gooden

Daniel Tyler Gooden was born in Independence, Missouri and graduated from Baker University in 1998 with a degree in English.

His short stories have been featured in magazine and anthologies that include Crown Tales (Dark Quest Books, 2009), Nth Degree and Alien Skin Magazine.

His second novel, The Unmade Man was published by Outland Entertainment in 2009.

In this interview, Daniel Gooden talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

My first story came after watching a horrible Leslie Nielsen Dracula spoof. I thought it was so corny that anyone could write something more entertaining. That evening I tried my own short horror piece, and while I can’t remember it being good either, I distinctly remember how spooked I was while writing it. The thrill definitely hooked me. I think that I got my first taste of the story being in control, the sense that it was a creature moving under its own power.

I got my degree in English, and after college found myself writing for a small bi-weekly newspaper. It was rural Louisiana, west of New Orleans, and great work for a young writer. Regular deadlines really drove home that writing wasn’t about waiting on inspiration, but just getting the first line of letters on that blank screen.

I was lucky enough to be given a new parish that the newspaper had only rarely covered. While there was a share of dry governmental reporting, most of the job was driving the roads and looking into the landscapes for stories. Stories are everywhere, once you really start looking. The best stories too were just about regular people. People are doing good, fascinating and tremendous things and they have no idea. It is daily life for them.

After I married, and moved back home to Missouri, my wife gave me liberty to work part-time. I decided that if I was going to continue to dream about being a fiction novelist, I would have to make sure I could actually write an entire book. That project taught me there is no better hone to your writing mind than daily effort. I was amazed to find that after a week of writing, I knew what was coming in the next two days. If I took more than two days off I’d have to pull the story back out from under my fingernails.

Soon after I finished that first book, I joined with a group of writers and illustrators in building a world called Baeg Tobar. I’ve spent the last few years with them, writing a second novel and a number of webcomics, all of which they’ve published, or are currently publishing online.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

Most of it is traditional fantasy at the moment. I’ve enjoyed recently mixing science and magic. Baeg Tobar has blended pre-industrial technology into their magical realm. It is a fun bit of work to rationalize ways magical elements can be used in concrete scientific rules and what inventions can be born from that.

I’ve always wanted to write for borderline genre fans. I read as much, or more, horror growing up and tend to want someone to pick up my work and decide that though it is magic, swords and sorcery, the characters are not that much different than the characters they know and love.

Which authors influenced you most?

What I really have wanted to do is write the common-man character that Stephen King has done so well with. Judges and housewives alike read King, I think, because his characters are most like you.

I like that heroes can be, and most often are, people that don’t realize they are such kind. Heroes aren’t bred for that purpose. They are folk living their lives and suddenly required to scratch their way out of something unexpected. That is certainly not something new to fantasy. Tolkien stated immediately that hobbits were the least likely adventuring folk, but nonetheless they turned out to be fantastic heroes.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

When you begin writing it’s hard enough to get those first thoughts out well. I think people say “write what you know” because it puts the writer in a comfortable place. I thought I’d start with fantasy because had read a lot of it, and I also figured that I was young and didn’t “know” that much yet. I hadn’t realized that in building a new fantasy world not only do you need to create everything from scratch; you also have to find amazing ways to make it uniquely different from anything bearing a resemblance. So much for going with what I knew.

Stories do spring to life around you, though. Some of them you miss, just because you aren’t ready to see them yet. With everything that changes you, your writing is drawn through a new filter. After the birth of my first son, any story with a child in danger would bring out a fury in me. Characters of temptation and infidelity, in those fresh years of love with my wife, were often met with contempt. One can imagine a great many situations and relationships, and write them true, but life unlocks a great deal of emotion. It removes placards and sets these pieces of you in their place. After that they come to your writing with an honesty that wasn’t quite there before.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Most artists, I imagine, worry about whether they work in vain. While I would love to have my work widely read and well respected, making enough to support my family would be a dream accomplished.

I also remind myself that being a successful father is most important to me. If that means I work diligently and never become a successful writer … well, the lesson of perseverance will serve my children better than the pride of my success.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Maintaining a high level of creativity is not easy for me. I spend a lot of time with my children, I enjoy lounging with my wife, and I drive to my parents most Sundays. Writing time often ends up being traded for other events and once the habit of writing is interrupted, it’s that much harder to get back.

When I’m kicking myself for not sitting at my desk I try to make up for it by being creative, or at least productive, elsewhere. I work on the house, or in the yard and garden, or catch up on reading. I like to think that being active will at least keep my mind in shape for when I return to my desk.

Do you write everyday?

I wish writing for me was an addiction, like it seems for some writers. While I know I can accomplish so much more by writing everyday, it doesn’t happen as much as it should.

I finished a large edit on my last book, The Unmade Man, prior to the birth of my second boy. He pushed me out of my office and between turning an old porch into a new office, and learning how to raise two boys at once, I’ve been sorely out of the habit. Writing is returning to normal now, thankfully.

When I am writing regularly, though, I shoot for about 2,000 or 2,500 words a day. If I’ve been at it several days in a row, that is not too hard to accomplish. I seem to write action scenes faster than anything else, and if the scene is good enough I can get out 4,000 to 6,000 words in a session.

The next day I’ll re-read the prior day's work and that helps me slip back into my place.

I’ll generally end where it feels right, either on a good note or where if I continue it’s just going to be a mess that needs fixing. I’ve certainly quit with only a few words down before, but I’m striving to change that.

Neil Gaiman said, to the effect, the days where writing came easily and the days where it came hard were often indistinguishable from each other after the fact. It makes me think that it’s not talent that ebbs and flows, but just one’s concentration.

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written two books.

The first is overweight by about 300 words. There’s a solid story under there, and once I find time to carve it out I’m sure I’ll be pleased with it.

My second, The Unmade Man, was published by the Baeg Tobar’s parent company, Outland Entertainment.  The Unmade Man was written in the Baeg Tobar setting. The setting was pretty new at the time and I had a lot of room to explore.

Baeg Tobar is a realm divided between a mortal realm and a Fae realm. I wanted to write a story that would bridge those two places. What I came up with was Boruin, a man devoid of any past. The only hint to what he was, before waking in his 50s, was a line of tattooed runes that slid across his body like beads on an abacas. Boruin can draw those runes, one by one, into his palm and create some powerful magic. The downside is he doesn’t know the runes any more than he knows his past and guessing at these rune combinations tend to cause more trouble rather than get him out of it.

I liked the idea of chaotic spell casting because I really wanted to create some oddball spells. If you asked a fantasy fan what spell he’d use to take down a dragon, his suggestions would make sense and probably work. What I wanted were spells that didn’t make sense at all, and might not even solve the conflict at hand. What a temptation—incredibly powerful spells that could save you from certain death but may kill you directly instead.

The story took about two years to write, as we were publishing the chapters monthly and I never did get ahead of the work. That was also a big draw in having a character with amnesia. I don’t like planning out my books in depth and this allowed me to discover Boruin at the same time he did, and my readers would.

Writing this book through Baeg Tobar and Outland Entertainment was quite a lot of fun. Being such a small, upstart company, I was given total control over my work even though the story was set in their world. They’ve even allowed me to rewrite their setting where The Unmade Man built new and intriguing concepts.

The downside of Baeg Tobar is the same with all small publishers. It’s a lot of work to get readers to your story—but that’s the task all writers must accomplish one way or another.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into The Unmade Man?

Writing for Baeg Tobar has been tricky, in that a lot of authors have put their ideas into the mix and not stepping on toes can be a huge referencing challenge. We’ve really had to keep track of whose storylines are crossing what portions of the map and setting what details into stone. You can’t visit a city and describe it contrary to what has already been laid out in another’s story. Luckily our writers tend to be cooperative and we keep in close touch, reading each others work and working to tie our stories together effectively.

Writing The Unmade Man with only hints about the character was harder than I initially expected. As I was only about two months ahead of the publishing date with each chapter, I didn’t initially have the convenience of going back and fixing contradictions. It was a challenge that in the end forced me to be more inventive in writing myself out of traps. Once the story finished its first publishing, I did finally get to revisit the work and smooth out some creases.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

Something unique for me on this book was an illustrator on hand to produce chapter art. Jeffrey Koch did all the chapter art in the first publishing. He was excellent about thoroughly studying the chapters and working with me to find the most visual scenes. To see Jeff bring my characters alive in his own art was fabulous. It made me feel like the characters were growing, somehow more alive by being in another’s hands. Scott Godlewski was hired to create chapter art in line with Baeg Tobar’s new art style and his work has been very exciting to see as well.

I find it a shame that publishing companies have turned away from regularly hiring illustrators for chapter art. I think if someone would take the hit and hire artists, they’d find their illustrated book line would really do well. With any luck, I’ll be a part of that.

What sets The Unmade Man apart from the other things you've written?

My scenes are quite visual to me while writing and so action has been fairly quick and easy to put on paper. With this book I challenged myself to introduce a larger set of characters and concentrate on carrying the scenes more with dialogue than I had in the past (my first book having one or two characters in scene most of the time). I picked four characters as my main crew and it worked well. They had a good chemistry together and it helped the story immensely.

This book also taught me to better trim the excess bits between scenes. Serial fiction has to get to the crux of the scenes quickly, especially on the web where your reader always has his cursor poised over the exit link. As a result, The Unmade Man is one of the tighter stories I’ve written, with a consistent pace throughout.

In what way is it similar to the others?

Both of my books deal with characters that aren’t trying to be special, and aren’t really. Sometimes they step up because it’s the best route toward where they are really going. Sometimes they are heroic because there is no one else around to do it for them.

What will your next book be about?

I love post-apocalyptic stories and I’m currently pursuing the idea of faith creating reality.

My next book is set in a world where people are waking up to the idea that the wonders of science have failed them and our industrial world has slipped away. People turn back to superstition, nature-based health remedies, worshipping numerous gods, etc. to create meaning for themselves and find their way through their struggles. As they begin to disregard science as absolute fact, magic swells again in the world to fill that void.

Of course, there will be some last bastion of science and working industry. There is a good chance that these two forces will square off to see who will inherit the earth.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

For the majority of writers the chance at being truly significant to more than a handful of people is a slim. Because of that, it is important that writers remember that they must be writing for themselves. As long as they are happy, even flat broke and never published, then the writing is a true and good thing. Being content with that reality may be my most significant achievement.

I love discovering stories in my own head. I love being my own boss, even though I am often not the best employee. I’ve put the weight of failure or success squarely on my own shoulders and I’ll take that over cubicle work and a guaranteed paycheck for as long as I possibly can.

Related articles:

• DANIEL TYLER GOODEN: Writer of The Unmade Man and The Broken Mantle [Interview], by Richard Vasseur, Jazma Online, May 26, 2007
• Scott Colby [Interview], Conversations with Writers, August 15, 2010
• Alana Abbott [Interview], Conversations with Writers, October 6, 2010

Possibly related books:

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[Interview] Alana Abbott

Freelance writer, an editor and a role-playing games developer, Alana Abbott is the author of two novels, Into the Reach (White Silver Publishing, 2006) and Departure (White Silver Publishing, 2007).

Her stories have been featured in online magazines that include Coyote Wild Magazine; The Edge of Propinquity and the collaborative writing project, Baeg Tobar.

She has also been published in a number of anthologies, among them, Ransom: The Anthology (Enchirdion Books, 2008); Crown Tales (Dark Quest Games, 2008) and Crown Tales 2, (Dark Quest Games, ___).

In this interview, Alana Abbott talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing in grade school, making up stories in other people's worlds.

By middle school, I had started creating worlds of my own, and after finishing a 'novel', the summer before my freshman year of high school, I decided to make it my G&T (gifted and talented) project for the year to attempt getting it published. I learned so much about the publishing industry that year, just from the process of submission and rejection.

In college I interned at two publishing houses and I became an editor after my graduation.

I returned to fiction writing after getting married, making contacts in the game industry and doing shared world fiction projects.

My first two novels, Into the Reach and Departure, came out of work I'd done for a game sourcebook.

How would you describe your writing?

I vary between doing creative projects and work for reference and game publishers, which pay by the assignment. It's a way to make a living!

Currently, I am working on a fiction project for Baeg Tobar, a novel I'm co-writing with Max Gladstone, who is a phenomenal writer (and a member of my local crit group).

I also write reviews for School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and the Flames Rising website.

There are a few other projects on the shelf that are just waiting for me to have time to devote to them.

Who is your target audience?

I've written for both adult and young adult audiences.

I think the people who follow Baeg Tobar have a nice potential mix -- the type of project that we are is likely to appeal to teens and adults, and so it's great to be able to hit both audiences.

Most of my adult work has some YA appeal, which I think is true for a lot of adult fantasy.

I think I always keep the YA audience in mind, even when they may not be the total market share, because so much of what I read as a teen has stuck with me over the years, and so much of what I learned as a writer developed between the ages of 14 and 20. (I hope I'm still growing and improving, of course!)

Which authors influenced you most?

I think Tamora Pierce was a huge influence on me in the way that I learned to craft a story -- and the way I learned about how stories can grow up with their characters. She was really one of the first writers to start creating strong women in fantasy geared particularly toward teens. So, not only was she ground breaking at the time, helping to shape what would become the YA market that's exploded these days, but she was helping to form the way that strong female characters appeared in YA and fantasy, right at a time when I was exactly the right audience for her books.

I'd also be remiss in not mentioning Joss Whedon, whose writing for television has impacted the way so many writers use language -- I see his influence everywhere, especially in urban fantasy, and I know he's affected the way I write as well.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I actually thought I wanted to go into physics in college to pursue the development of teleportation, and somewhere along the line I realized I was far more interested in the way it worked in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle than I was in how the math would work out.

From there, I pursued studying stories, both in literature and mythology, and I've had the wonderful opportunity to work as a teaching assistant for one of my college professors on several study tours to Greece and Turkey, Ireland, and England over the years.

Being able to study mythology in the settings where the stories take place has had a huge impact on me as a writer.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

It may sound mercenary, but sadly, one of the biggest concerns is being able to afford the time to write.

In order to write for a living, I have to balance the types of assignments I take to make sure I'm bringing in enough to help support my family.

I also work part time at my local public library, which helps me deal with the loneliness of the writing lifestyle. It's good to balance being on your own, in your own head, and being social! And it's great to be involved with the publishing industry on the user end as well as on the creative side.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The biggest challenge in my fiction is definitely finding the time to prioritize the projects I really want to do. I'm still searching for a good way to deal with this!

Do you write everyday?

I don't have the same writing process every day, in part because of my library work schedule and in part because life events have changed my availability recently: I'm currently pregnant and will be having a baby inside the month (if she comes on time!), so I've been balancing classes on pregnancy, paid writing assignments, and my day job in a much more chaotic schedule than usual!

But even when I had a very regular writing schedule, it was never that set in stone. I'm not nearly type-A enough to be that organized!

I also find that I like to be surprised by my writing process, and that I'm less enthusiastic about projects when I know exactly where they're going, so I try to leave room for flexibility.

How many books have you written so far?

• Into the Reach (White Silver Publishing, 2006): In the land of Eranon, the Reach is a desolate place where people journey to forget who they are. Now, a menace rises from this wasteland, and he is hunting for someone. To keep the madman and his chaos behind the Reach, four adventurers with haunted pasts must rise to the challenge. But how can failed heroes bring hope to others when they doubt themselves?
• Departure (White Silver Publishing, 2007): Called to face the pasts they hoped to leave behind, Lydia, Kennerly, Nara, and Taru leave the Reach for the homes they once knew. There, new enemies have been set against them, driven by the same dark force they hoped they had defeated. Now the people they once most trusted have become pieces in a game that may lead them down the road to their deaths.
• Cowboys and Aliens II Web comic (Platinum Studios, 2007-08): I served as the writer for the team working on the sequel to the original comic, Cowboys and Aliens, which is soon to be made into a movie. The story takes the original characters from their battle with aliens in the West to Washington, D.C., where they discover they'll have to take a little bit of Old West into outer space to meet the threat head on.
• Contributor to role-playing games, including Gallia (Dog Soul, 2006); Chronicles or Ramlar RPG (White Silver Publishing, 2006); Verto Syzol's Legendaria Geographica (2006); Balok's Book of Banter 2: Battle Cries (Dog Soul, 2007); Allies and Adversaries, (White Silver Publishing, 2007); Steampunk Musha RPG (2007), Politically Incorrect Games: Serenity Adventures (Margaret Weis Productions, 2008) (which won an Origins Award in 2009); The Living Kingdoms of Kalamar (Kenzer & Co.), Xen'drik Expeditions (Wizards of the Coast), and Living Forgotten Realms (Wizards of the Coast) campaigns through the RPGA (now the Wizards Play Network).
• Contributor of fiction to anthologies, including Ransom: The Anthology (Enchirdion Books, 2008); Crown Tales, (Dark Quest Games, 2008); and Crown Tales 2, (Dark Quest Games, ____).
• My short fiction has been featured online at The Edge of Propinquity, Coyote Wild Magazine, and Baeg Tobar.

How did you chose a publisher for your first two books? What advantages/disadvantages has this relationship presented?

My first two books (the only two I currently have available as the sole author) were written under a contract -- the publisher approached me about writing them.

Some disadvantages of publishing with a very small start up company is that the publisher is still learning the ropes and, sadly, may not survive the economic pressures (which is why only two of the three contracted books ever appeared).

The best thing I've found to do, however, is move on to other projects!

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the books?

I struggle with making sure that the story fits within the boundaries it needs to fit into -- that the page and word count work for the size of book being expected, and that the flow of the story works with the size of the book.

As I mentioned before, I prefer not to outline, but in order to keep books fitting to about the right size, an outline is really helpful!

Authors talk a lot about people who are "pantsers" (write by the seat of their pants) and "plotters" (know what's going to happen in advance), and I think that mixing those two styles is a big challenge.

That said, I love the editorial process, when someone on the outside can give me commentary to bang a whole project into shape!

I love telling stories, no question about it. I think there's a magic in it, that we're following in a grand tradition that goes back to the beginning of language. Even if the story doesn't seem to have much to it, the act of telling, and of connecting, is -- I think -- part of what makes us human. And hopefully, if we can relate to each other's stories, we can relate to each other.

What will your next book be about?

The book Max Gladstone and I are working on is about the Parade of Champions, a ritual among the fae of Baeg Tobar to decide which court has political control, and the mortals who get tangled up in the process.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

There's nothing quite like seeing that first novel in print, and knowing that you've done it once, so you can do it again.

But I have to say that it's a toss up for me between seeing that first novel come out and receiving an Origins Award last year -- knowing that people had recognized my work (along with the work of my co-writers and the editorial and art team!) as something that merited acknowledgement. That was incredibly exciting!

Possibly related articles:

• Editor Interview: Alana Joli Abbott on Something about the Author, By Cynthia Leitich Smith, CYNSATIONS, September 17, 2009
• Games As Interactive Storytelling, By Alana Joli Abbott, Journey to the Sea, December 1, 2008
• Maurice Suckling [Interview], Conversations with Writers, July 4, 2007

[Interview] Scott Colby

Baeg Tobar is an epic fantasy world that is brought to life through comics, short fiction, novels and other forms of illustrated media.

Scott Colby is one of the project's editor-contributors.

In this interview, Colby talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing way back in elementary school. I was very good at finishing my work long before everybody else, which meant I needed something to keep myself entertained. I couldn't draw worth a lick, but luckily I was alright with the English. It wasn't long before I was cranking out ten page novellas and reading them in front of the entire class.

Since then, I've just kept plugging along, trying to incorporate things I've liked to read into my work. When I saw an open call for writers at Baeg Tobar, I sent in a few samples. Luckily they liked me!

How would you describe your writing?

Fantasy with my own little twist.

I've always felt like the genre can handle a lot more than just the typical "go there, find that" quest mechanic, and I think Baeg Tobar is definitely built along those lines. It's really not as far removed from science fiction as people might think. Remove the details, and you're dealing with the same flexible theme: man against something far superior.

Who is your target audience?

I know it's not necessarily the best idea, but I'm not aiming for one audience in particular.

Lots of writers find a niche by aiming to please a certain set of people. I don't really feel the need to do that. You either like me or you don't, and I'm fine either way as long as you've got a legitimate reason for your opinion.

Which authors influenced you most?

Terry Brooks was probably number one. He began as a bit of a Tolkien impersonator, but he's grown above and beyond that.

I also like to think that I've pulled a lot from Frank Herbert, even though I know I can never touch his prose. He's made me like deep, multi-faceted characters who don't necessarily show the world their true faces.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I try very hard to keep my writing clear. If the reader doesn't understand what I'm talking about, I'm not doing my job, flowerly language be dipped.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Getting started has always been my biggest hurdle, but transitioning between scenes is a close second. I think the two are very related.

I find the best way to deal with any writing problem is to walk away from it. Look at other things, do other things, and give your mind time away from what's frustrating you.

Lately I've also become a big fan of writing things out of order, of plugging along with what you know about one particular thread until you hit a roadblock. Then you work on another aspect of the plot for awhile until you finally come back to your initial problem. I find this works great.

Do you write everyday?

I've been trying to either write or edit 500 words a day. It doesn't always happen, but the days it doesn't are rare. If I become completely stuck on something, I leave it for another time and either write or edit something else or stop working completely.

Unless you're on a deadline, it's best to let these things come naturally.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

This is more as an editor than as a writer...but I like to think I've gotten Baeg Tobar into a great place. I think we're entertaining, and I think we should be very attractive to fans and publishers alike. It's a huge, complicated, diverse world, and I think it's a lot of fun to see what a wide variety of writers can do with it - but it's also quite a challenge to keep all those writers on the same page, to make sure that everything they do jives and has a place.

If I have to pick one thing I'm especially proud of being involved with, it's Daniel Tyler Gooden's The Unmade Man. I've read it five or six times as an editor, and I haven't gotten tired of seeing it - which, for me, means it's something I really like.