Archive for Interviews

Interview: Francis Knight on FADE TO BLACK

Fade to BlackRojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan – this is going to hurt.

Only two more weeks until FADE TO BLACK (US | UK AUS) releases online and in stores. Here’s an interview with Francis Knight. Find out how the city of Mahla came to be and more about the magic system employed by Knight’s pain mages.

Have you always known that you wanted to be a writer?

No, I can’t say that I have, probably because it never occurred to me to write down all the stories in my head. I’ve always read, and always made up little stories but it was only when I was struck down with ME that I started to write—I was housebound, and it was almost a defence against day- time TV. So I wrote one of my little stories and found I was addicted to writing.

Did the idea for the Rojan Dizon books come to you fully realised or did you have one particular starting point from which it grew?

As with most of my ideas, it came a piece at a time, each piece from a different direction. The idea really takes hold when they gang up on me. The theme came from one direction, Jake from another, whereas Rojan came as I was writing. He was kind of an experiment—I’d never writ- ten in first before, and he is polar opposite to me in many areas (though we do share a trait or two), so he was almost a challenge I set myself, to see if I could do it. I splurged out fifty thousand words in a month—at this stage it was a future dystopia world, but then my writers’ group pointed out, quite fairly, that I am horrible at making up future tech. One member suggested, “Why not make it a dark fantasy?” which kind of fed into a separate idea I’d had for a world where magic lived with technology. I dabbled a bit then left it on my hard drive for a few years, tinkering with it every now and again in between other projects. It was only when I decided to actually knuckle down and do something with it, when I started with the idea of pain magic in fact, that it really came to life. It was waiting for me to have the right idea to make it work, I think.

Read the full interview here.

Ian Tregillis in conversation with Charlie Stross on The Laundry Files

The Coldest War - the second novel in the Milweed Triptych following BITTER SEEDS, a fantasy series featuring superhumand and dark magic, and earning comparisons with Charles Stross's Laundry Files novelsThis week sees the release of THE COLDEST WAR (UK | ANZ) , the second novel in Ian Tregillis’s landmark series, the Milkweed Triptych. The trilogy began with BITTER SEEDS (UK | ANZ) and concludes with the forthcoming NECESSARY EVIL (UK | ANZ).

These novels feature a secret history of Twentieth Century conflicts in which scientifically-enhanced superhumans and dark magic collide. The result is described by Fantasy Faction as ‘oh-so compelling, fascinating and frighteningly convincing’ and by Cory Doctorow  as, ‘some of the best – and most exciting – alternate history I’ve read. Bravo.’

The Apocalypse Codex, a Landry Files novel by Charles StrossIt’s possible to draw a few parallels between the themes in the Milkweed novels and Charles Stross’s highly popular Laundry Files (including the recent THE APOCALYPSE CODEX – UK | ANZ) – a series of science fiction spy thrillers featuring Bob Howard, once an IT geek, now a field agent working for a British government agency dealing with occult threats. They’re what SFX calls ‘beautifully handled, believable and well envisioned – a highly enjoyable bit of spy-fi.’

For that reason we were really interested to hear these two exceptionally clever Orbit authors in conversation about their series. The results are below!

Ian: In an afterword to THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES (“Inside the Fear Factory”) you mention that while writing the first Laundry novel you were advised to avoid Tim Powers’s novel DECLARE.  And that later you were made aware of the Delta Green supplement to The Call of Cthulhu RPG, which again resides in a similar neighborhood.

Bitter Seeds - the first novel in the Milweed Triptych, a fantasy series featuring superhumand and dark magic, and earning comparisons with Charles Stross's Laundry Files novels(After BITTER SEEDS debuted, people assumed I had been influenced by DECLARE, Delta Green, *and* the Laundry novels!  But, like you with DECLARE, I wanted to avoid cross-contamination. So I didn’t dive into THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES until after I turned in THE COLDEST WAR, at which point I was 2/3 through the Milkweed trilogy and the story was on a ballistic trajectory.)

But of course even Powers wasn’t the first to marry espionage and the occult – Dennis Wheatley’s novel THEY USED DARK FORCES first appeared in 1964, and Katherine Kurtz‘s LAMMAS NIGHT was published in 1983, as just two examples.

In the above-mentioned afterword, you make a strong case for why it’s natural to blend horror, the occult, and espionage.  So is this an idea that’s continually bubbling into the aether to be rediscovered by other writers?  Or have we reached the point where we’re having a conversation within an actual subgenre?

Charlie: It is indeed an actual subgenre! Or maybe a sub-subgenre: a corner of that section of urban fantasy that is preoccupied with the interaction between agents of the state and the occult. (more…)

Miles Cameron on THE RED KNIGHT – available now!

THE RED KNIGHT by Miles CameronTHE RED KNIGHT by Miles Cameron releases in the US today and we’re thrilled to see others enjoying this novel as much as we have! Check out some of the great reviews below.

– “Dear reader, I couldn’t put this book down. I lost sleep. I walked around carrying it from room to room, bumping into furniture because I was so captivated by its story…This is a stirring, gritty, and at times brutal epic fantasy treat.” – Stefan Raets, Tor.com

–  “Overall, The Red Knight – top 25 novel of mine – is an excellent debut…I think you will be won by the intricate story and sophisticated world building the author put so much thought into.”  – Fantasy Book Critic

– “It’s not often these days I find myself wanting to find time to continue reading – with this one, I did, to the point where, at the end, I was sad to see this group go. It’s a pleasingly complex and greatly satisfying novel…” – SFFWorld

Find out more about THE RED KNIGHT and the author’s combat experience in this interview with Miles Cameron or read the first chapter now.

What inspired you to write The Red Knight?

I am a passionate fan of the cult of chivalry and all that entails.. I honestly can’t remember whether I read T.H.White’s Sword in the Stone or Steinbeck’s ‪Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights‘ first, but I read them close together, and they were followed by a visit to the cloisters in NYC. And I love the wilderness–the real wilderness, where you are five miles from a road.  I guess Red Knight puts the two together.

Where did the first seeds of the idea for The Red Knight come from?

The Traitor Son series was born like Athena from the head of Zeus. Okay, that’s a bit strong, but I was looking at an icon of Saint Michael and the Dragon (it hangs in the Met) and my mind wandered–about how monsters might have really worked, about why monsters are such a common motif–and about exactly how Saint Michael got his red-brocade covered breastplate to do up.  I sew, I tinker, I make armour, and I reenact.  That image of Saint Michael asks so many questions–often, when I’m stuck on The Red Knight, I go back and look at it again.  Why does he have a buckler?  With a long sword?

Read the full interview here.

 

Epic Fantasy Interview Swap: John R. Fultz interviews Gail Z. Martin

Today John R. Fultz interviews Gail Z. Martin about epic fantasy and her new novel ICE FORGED (US | UK | AUS). If you’re just joining us, here is the first part of the discussion.

Seven Kings, the second novel in John R. Fultz's Shaper series, an epic fantasy series of huge proportions, perfect for fans of Dungeons and Dragons     Martin_IceForged-TP

John R. Fultz: ICE FORGED is a “fresh start” in a new fantasy world, one that is separate from your previous five books (which were all set in the same world). Why start fresh after six books’ worth of fleshing out your first fictional universe? Along those lines, what was your initial inspiration for ICE FORGED and the Ascendant Kingdoms?

Gail Z. Martin:I love my characters and the world I created in my previous series (Chronicles of the Necromancer series and The Fallen Kings Cycle), but the action had come to a natural resting point.  I still hope to tell more stories about that world, but there is a natural break in the action for the characters, so it seemed like a good time to go do something else myself for a while.

I got some of the inspiration for Ice Forged and the new Ascendant Kingdoms Saga series by turning a few elements of my original series upside-down.  In my first series, my main character is a necromancer, with very powerful magic.  In Ice Forged, my main character has very little magic, more on the hedge witch level of power.  In the Chronicles of the Necromancer/Fallen Kings books, my main character keeps magic from failing.  In Ice Forged, the magic upon which the civilization depends becomes impossible to harness and wipes out much of civilization.  In my original series, my main character was wrongfully hunted as an outlaw.  In Ice Forged, my main character not only actually committed the murder for which he is exiled, he is unrepentant about it.

Stories, for me, begin with the question, “What if?”  What if…a civilization depended on magic like we depend on the power grid—and the magic could no longer be controlled?  What if…the only one who might be able to restore the magic was someone exiled to the farthest reaches of the world? What if…the future of the kingdom depended on a handful of convicts?

My other favorite question is, “And then what?”  As I think through a plot, I always ask myself, “And then what?”  So they have a battle—and then what? So there’s a confrontation with the forces of the opposition—and then what? So they win a battle—and then what?  Even after a victory, there are messes to clean up.  For me, that’s where the story starts.

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Epic Fantasy Interview Swap – Gail Z. Martin interviews John R. Fultz

2013 is off to a great start, and if you’re a fantasy reader there are a ton of great books to choose from. With the releases of A MEMORY OF LIGHT (UK AUS), ICE FORGED (US | UK | AUS), and  now SEVEN KINGS (UK |US | ANZ),  you have a lot of reading to do.

Today let’s talk epic fantasy with authors Gail Z. Martin and John R. Fultz. Below is the first of a two part interview about writing in the genre and the most recent projects of these two authors. Come back tomorrow for the second half.

Seven Kings, the second novel in John R. Fultz's Shaper series, an epic fantasy series of huge proportions, perfect for fans of Dungeons and Dragons     Martin_IceForged-TP

Gail Z. Martin: SEVEN KINGS is your second novel, and you’ve said that you think it is even better than your debut work.  What did you learn writing your first book, and how did that affect your new book?

John R. Fultz: What a great question… I think that writing SEVEN PRINCES was very freeing for me because at the time I wrote it I had no guidelines, no publisher, no deadlines, no expectations except those I built myself. I remember telling a friend: “I’m going to write this story and let it be as long as it wants to be, and take as long as it needs to take.” After years of writing short stories it was time to make the transition to novelist, and all the advice I’d been given said “First, you must write the novel—everything else will follow.” So I took a “damn the torpedoes” approach and wrote the novel that I most wanted to write, with all the elements that had fascinated and attracted me to epic fantasy for decades. I came up with some fascinating characters, dropped them into an interesting setting, and basically let them run. It was very cathartic, and I finished the novel in far less time than I thought I would—I had built up some serious momentum. I usually write novels over the summer when I’m not teaching, and I’ve written three more “summer novels” since then. Of course the “idea work” begins months earlier, but summer is my official “writing season,” when I go nocturnal and spend as much time as I want in front of the keyboard. With SEVEN PRINCES I also had some great advice from a local writing group to help me get the early chapters just right.

With SEVEN KINGS, things had changed. New challenges presented themselves, and my priorities were quite different. I had already established a great cast of characters that I loved writing about, as well as the world they inhabited and most of the major conflicts that drove the narrative. The rules of sorcery were there (if not fully revealed yet), as well as the threads of many plotlines that would carry throughout all three books. So my job with Book II: SEVEN KINGS was to “deepen” the pot. I wanted to introduce some new characters, and to reveal more of the mystery that is Iardu the Shaper, including his role in the history of the world. I had always planned to explore the dichotomy of Lyrilan and Tyro as the Twin Kings, two very different brothers attempting to rule the same kingdom. And I knew I would stay with Vireon and Sharadza, the Children of Vod. My Book I antagonists had been defeated but not completely vanquished in the first book, so I needed to take them to a new level. Finally, I wanted to explore more of the deep history of the Shaper’s world, and reveal some heretofore obscure regions of it. This is why I decided to begin SEVEN KINGS deep in the jungles of Khyrei, a nation ruled by wicked powers that the rest of the world hates and fears.

There were also some “happy endings” in SEVEN PRINCES that I always intended to reveal were far from “happily ever after.” For example, Sharadza’s marriage to D’zan seems like a fairytale ending in the first book, but in the second book you find out the marriage is a failure—and for a reason that Sharadza refuses to reveal. Likewise with Vireon and Alua’s seemingly “perfect” family…there is more going on here than either of them suspects and it takes seven years to manifest. Life rarely serves up genuine happy endings, and I wanted to reflect that in this series by going back and showing the consequences of the new situations established at the end of the first book.

I guess you could say my goal with SEVEN KINGS was to raise the bar on the conflict, the characters, the threat, and above all the sorcery. Someone told me that SEVEN PRINCES was really all about sorcery, and I agreed. If that’s true then it also applies to the entire series. In some ways I wanted to subvert all the victories of the first book and show that the real story is far more vast and complex, like magic itself. Hopefully this mirrors how difficult it is to be a King, as opposed to a Prince. A King actually has to rule the kingdom, fight the wars, confront the overwhelming threats, and live with the terrible choices he makes. Kings rarely get second chances.

In many ways SEVEN KINGS is the “Act Two” of the trilogy, and traditionally the second act of any drama expands and complicates the elements of the first act. This is also why the second part of any trilogy is often considered “darker,” and I expect that to be said of SEVEN KINGS as well. It is decidedly darker: The worst is yet to come for these characters and the world they have built. Also, Book II: SEVEN KINGS takes place seven years after Book I, but Book III will take place only seven DAYS after Book II. So there is a much more immediate connection between Books II and III than between I and II.

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An interview with Gail Z. Martin on ICE FORGED

Who would you be, if everything you were and everything you had was stripped from you? Blaine McFadden will find out when Gail Z. Martin’s latest novel, ICE FORGED (UK | US | AUS), releases this January.

ICE FORGED is the first book of Gail’s new series – The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga. Check out the interview below to find out what you can expect from this series debut including tidbits about about the magic and world of the Ascendant Kingdoms.

Your previous five novels, including the Chronicles of the Necromancer trilogy and the Fallen Kings cycle, were all set in the same world and featured many of the same characters. ICE FORGED marks the beginning of a new series. How much of a departure are we in for? How did the new series come about?

This is a whole new enchilada!  Brand new world, completely new characters, totally new magic system and gods.

I love my Fallen Kings Cycle and Chronicles of the Necromancer series characters (and do plan to come back to tell more stories about them at some point), but let’s be honest—after everything I’ve put them through,  in what for the characters is a little over 2 years, the survivors really deserve to put their feet up and have a few beers for a while.

So I’d been playing with the idea of what if magic broke (as it nearly did in the Chronicles books), and what if we had a post-apocalyptic medieval world, and what if a world sent its convicts to the northern rim (instead of, in our world, Australia)….and I was off and running.

Read the rest of the interview…

Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Amanda Carlson interviews Kristen Painter

We’re back with Part II of the Urban Fantasy Interview session with authors Amanda Carlson and Kristen Painter.

To recap, last week, Amanda debunked any rumors of sparkling werewolves, and told us about her new novel FULL BLOODED (UK| US | AUS). You can read the full interview here. Now it’s Kristen’s turn to dish about her writing life. Look for Kristen’s fourth House of Comarré novel, OUT FOR BLOOD (UK| US | AUS) this October.

The cover for FULL BLOODED by Amanda Carlson - the start of a new urban fantasy shifter series perfect for fans of Rachel Vincent, Kelley Armstrong, Cassandra Clare and Patricia Briggs     OUT FOR BLOOD by Kristen Painter4

Amanda Carlson: I want to know about your “before I was a writer” life. I’ve read your bio and it sounds like you’ve done some fun things. Pick two (and I hope I laugh).

Kristen Painter: I’ve never been a stand up comedian, so I can’t promise laughs. I’ve held all sorts of jobs, from working in a candy store (the summer of my expansion) to walking a runway in a NYC fashion show. My favorite job has to be writer, though. It’s also the toughest I’ve ever had.

Amanda Carlson: Your House of Comarré series is awesome. I love the mythos behind it all. How did it come to you? Was it a dream? Were you eating pizza? Or, perhaps, playing bingo?

Kristen Painter: There was no bingo involved, I swear. Mostly my overactive imagination and the inability to legally kill people in real life. Wait, did I just type that out loud?

Amanda Carlson: You have quite a shoe obsession. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Who’s your favorite designer? Describe your favorite pair of kickass shoes (for the ladies who love UF in the house).

Kristen Painter: My favorite shoe designer right now is probably Christian Louboutin. The craziness/sparkliness/wear-me-if-you-dare kind of attitude those shoes put off is like crack to me. Unfortunately, the prices of those shoes means I don’t actually own any of the truly stellar examples. I recently picked up some Vince Camutos leopard print and gold studs that are kind of amazing.

Amanda Carlson: You started Romance Divas, correct? How did that come about?

Kristen Painter: Jax Cassidy (fellow author) and I needed a place to hang out online and talk about writing and life after we (sort of) got kicked out of the writing forum where we met. What can I say? We bonded and it upset people. Romance Divas was our mutual dream that became a reality a lot of writers now enjoy.

Amanda Carlson: You tower over me, yet you’re cute like a snuggle bear. (For the audience, Kristen has the heart of an angel, when continually fed and nurtured.) Give us a deep, dark secret of Chrysabelle & Mal’s. Something juicy.

Kristen Painter: A snuggle bear? You really want to be killed off in a book, don’t you? Let me see, a deep dark secret of Chrysabelle and Mal’s…I guess you’ll just have to read OUT FOR BLOOD this October and see for yourself.

Amanda Carlson: Okay, some quick bullet questions to end. They give us a sense of who you are, like a picture. Ready?

Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi. Preferably Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Yep, that’s how I roll.

Hellboy or The English Patient: Hellboy, movie or graphic novel

Tolkien or Rowling: Old school. Tolkien

Tom Hardy or Johnny Depp? (Tom’s mine, but you can pretend) I’m going to go left of center and say Benedict Cumberbatch.

Elvis or The Beatles: Young Elvis.

Jimmy Choo’s or Manolo Blahnik’s: Jimmy Choo’s, but if you see above you’ll know I swing toward Christian Louboutin.

Disco or Salsa? When it comes to dancing, I’m down for anything! I love to dance. It’s a great workout that doesn’t feel like a workout.

Amanda Carlson: Thanks for playing along, Kristen! I had a blast and you are awesome.

Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Kristen Painter interviews Amanda Carlson

Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes crisp weather, pumpkins, goblins, and ghouls. It’s the best time to be a supernatural, and also a great season to be an Urban Fantasy reader.

This fall we’ve got two great urban fantasy novels to look out for by a pair of fantastic authors. Amanda Carlson’s FULL BLOODED (UK | US | AUS) officially releases tomorrow. It’s a new urban fantasy debut featuring a tough as nails female lead, and did I mention she’s a werewolf too?

Then in October, the fourth House of Comarré novel, OUT FOR BLOOD (UK| US | AUS) by Kristen Painter will be published. Find out more about this dark and seductive series from the House of Comarré website.

But enough about the future (exciting as it may be). Today we thought we’d bring both authors here and let the fur and fangs fly . Come back next week for the second half of this series where Amanda will be interviewing Kristen about her life and books.

The cover for FULL BLOODED by Amanda Carlson - the start of a new urban fantasy shifter series perfect for fans of Rachel Vincent, Kelley Armstrong, Cassandra Clare and Patricia Briggs     OUT FOR BLOOD by Kristen Painter4

Kristen: Amanda, I hear you have a book coming out. Can you tell us more about Full Blooded and what interested you in writing about werewolves that sparkle? 

Amanda: Well, sparkling werewolves hadn’t been done yet, so I thought I’d jump in and give it a try and…no…wait. There are no sparkling werewolves in my book. Wrong series, KP. My book is about the only female werewolf ever born. The book starts out with the worst wake-up call ever and takes off from there, like a fun romp through the woods. It’s full of action, adventure and the right amount of snark. Just the way you like it.

Kristen: So there’s no sparkling? Not even a tiny bit, like they wear fancy jeweled collars?

Amanda: Nope, no sparkling, except if you count the “pow” moments where Jessica gives someone a shot to the face. The bad guys may see a sparkle or two in their mind’s eye, but that’s about it. She doesn’t even wear a ring. Bling is not her thing. But it does have sparkling prose.

Kristen: Werewolves that don’t sparkle. Okay, got it. Besides writing, what do you do in Minnesota? Doesn’t it snow there like every day? Are there a lot of werewolves in Minnesota?

Amanda: It snows quite a bit in Minnesota and I have a huge hockey rink in my backyard every winter to prove it. Thankfully it doesn’t snow every day. Just every other. There are actually a lot of wolves in Minnesota, including the Timberwolves—Go, Wolves! (There’s some good basketball if you’re a fan.) I’ve yet to see an actual werewolf here, since they’re make believe, but I always have my fingers crossed when I’m hiking in the backwoods.

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Gail Carriger interviews Lilith Saintcrow

Lilith Saintcrow launches  a new steampunk series this August with THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR (US | UK | AUS).  Adventure and intrigue lie in wait for detective duo Bannon and Clare as they try to unravel the mystery behind a string of murders targeting London’s geniuses. You can read the first chapter here and get a sense of  Emma Bannon’s sharp wit.   This novel is a ton of fun so we thought: what could be more fun than bringing two charming ladies like Gail Carriger and Lilith Saintcrow together to introduce this new novel?

Read on to find out several fun and interesting facts about Lilith and THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR and find out which character(s) Lilith would most like to slap.

About you, the Author!

Gail: Tea or coffee and how do you take it?

Lilith: Yes to both. Coffee I take as espresso with a little heavy cream, tea I take mostly with gingersnaps. But there’s nothing like a cuppa when the day’s going dreadfully.

Gail: Describe your personal style for author appearances.

Lilith: You mean other than the perfume of complete terror? I have dreadful social anxiety. Normally I’m in jeans, a T-shirt with no holes, boots, and eyeliner. I agonize over appearances, they’re nerve-wracking. I have to wear something I can run in if the zombie apocalypse occurs.

Gail: If I were to observe the writer beast in its native environment, what surprising thing might I see? What does the environment look like?

Lilith: A tall glass of water with a squirt of Key Lime juice in it. That’s my preferred drink while writing. Also, a statue of Ganesh the Remover of Obstacles as writer right next to my computer, and on the other side a bonsai tree. It used to be the Saddest Little Bonsai In All The World, because the cat wanted to chew on it, and on my desk is the one place the cat can’t get to it. So the bonsai is recovering now. Also, there are a bunch of 3×5 notecards with different notes and page numbers on them, and a Keep Calm and Carry On paperweight.

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