PH: What do you think makes the fantasy genre so appealing? What is it that you like about it?
MS: As a reader, I enjoy the themes usually found in the typical fantasy story. The heroic struggle of good against evil where good is made up of archetype, underdog characters that triumph in the end. It sounds simplistic, and trite, but I prefer it to more complex, “sophisticated,” themes often found other genres.
As a writer, it is just plain fun. The non-fantasy books I’ve written required large amounts of research. The most mundane things demand extravagant investigation. If a character spends even a brief amount of time in a police car, I would need to research what the interior of that vehicle is like. I could make it up, but there are a large number of potential readers who would know the difference. My stories invariably involve law enforcement, hospitals, and other institutions and settings that I don’t have firsthand knowledge of. Before I can write I need to spend lots of time either going to these places, talking to people, or doing research.
Fantasy requires no research at all. As it happens I actually do a great deal of historical study to add realism, but I don’t have to. As long as I am true to the internal rules that I set down, then as the author I can never be wrong. This allows me to jump right in and write, like getting to play without doing the chores first. In addition, as everything in the story world is of my creation there is a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to play god for a little while?
PH: There were several scenes of swordplay in your novel. And there were some instructional scenes in Avempartha. Did you study fencing at all, or get to take a class to understand fencing?
MS: I get this question frequently and I would love to say that I used to be on the US Olympic fencing team, or better yet, that I have a door in my basement that leads to a parallel universe filled with knights and dragons. The truth is, I don’t know a thing about fencing. Everything in the books are a combination of some research and lots of imagination. Everything in The Crown Conspiracy is completely invented, but for Avempartha, as it required an actually sword fighting lesson, I did do research to assist me in creating a believable scene. That I have frequently been mistaken for a fencer gives me confidence that I created a pretty convincing illusion.
That’s the thing about writing fantasy. To do it effectively you need to be able to suspend disbelief. That’s not too hard to do if you are writing a novel about a middle-aged businessman reflecting on his life as he faces the inevitability of death. But there’s a bit more of a challenge in convincing readers that magic really exists, that dragons are real, or that time can stop. Such things take a bit more effort, and if you can do that then inventing a sword fighting scene that sounds plausible doesn’t seem so impressive.
PH: These were some fantastic covers. Can you tell me how they came about? I've read that authors often don't have a lot of input into their covers, but your covers are a little different.
MS: Yes. I created them myself. Writers often have input on their covers, but no control, anymore than they have over the title of their work. I was lucky. My publisher hired an artist and having seen an early sketch, I wasn’t happy. As it happens, I began my professional career as an aspiring illustrator who later drifted into layout design and art direction eventually owning my own advertising agency, which I closed four years ago to write full-time. I quickly did a painting of what I wanted the cover to look like, and the publisher decided to go with it and asked if I would do all the covers. When I was eighteen I dreamed of being a book cover illustrator, so this was my way of backing into that job.
PH: Who do you think you relate to more, Royce or Hadrian? Or could it be Alric or maybe one of the supporting characters? Is this character your favorite, if you have one (or want to admit you have one?)
MS: Royce and Hadrian are like the two sides of my own personality. Physically I am more like Royce and my wife tells me I’m more like him in personality too…I’m not sure what to think about that. Yet I drew both of them out of myself. Alric has nothing to do with me.
Arista, Gwen and Amilia, (who you haven’t met yet,) find their basis in my wife as I drew on her for inspiration building those characters.
I don’t know that I have a favorite character. The most enjoyable to write is either Royce or Myron, although Merrick is fun as well (another character you’ll meet soon.)
PH: Do you have any book recommendations for those waiting for your third book to come out?
MS: I am really not an avid reader of the medieval fantasy anymore. I grew up loving it, but quickly moved on to the likes of Stephen King and historical non-fiction. Most of the fantasy works of the eighties and nineties don’t appeal to me that much. What I call the “Fat-book” era where sword and sorcery fantasy developed into a homogenous world-building formula that seemed to forget about fun interesting characters and strong compelling plots. Still, my favorite books of all time are still pure fantasy, those being: The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, Watership Down and The Stand. These are my tens, and I really don’t have any nines. I’ve enjoyed many books, but only these would I ever consider re-reading which, as with movies, I use as a measurement of appeal.
That said I did very much enjoy Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Pillars is historical fiction while Mistborn is a true sword and sorcery fantasy. Yet to be honest, I can’t name a book I can honestly say is like mine. Some have compared it to George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, but I can’t say I agree. So if you’re really desperate for something while you wait, the closest thing you’ll likely find is the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
PH: Do you have a set writing routine? Do you wake up early or stay up late, have a favorite CD to help the creativity?
MS: I write in the morning. Surprisingly that is what many writers do—full-time writers that is. On an ideal day, I write from 7AM to noon, then take the rest of the day off to do other things. It is very civilized. The kids are off to school, my wife to work, and I am left alone in a quiet house with my dog, Toby. I make a pot of coffee from a special mix of decaf and caf, which I have over the years determined to suit my metabolism. I drink perhaps four cups of strong, black coffee over the course of the morning as I write and if it were full strength, I’d probably have a heart-attack.
I settle in at my desk, with my coffee and my dog at my feet and check email. Then it is time to dig in. I have a playlist on iTunes and a radio station on Pandora both of which are called “writing music.” Fact is, I can’t read or write if someone is singing. The lyrics interfere as I start listening to them. It is like trying to compose a sentence while someone is speaking to you. Still, dead silence is dreadful. Music, I found, greases the skids. Emotional, dramatic, or soft and soothing, music can evoke a mindset for creating. The best I found for this are movie scores. Not soundtracks mind you, not a compilation of songs, but the theatrical, background scores, the music you usually don’t consciously hear in a movie. I find it works the same way while writing.
So with the music playing, and my dog resting on my feet (Toby is an American Fox hound we rescued from a shelter last year), I begin by re-reading the last page or so of what I wrote the day before. I edit it as I read and this gets me in the mood to write, it also refreshes my memory of where I was, the flow and the pace and when I hit the blank edge of the last line, I know just where to go next.
Thanks for stopping by Michael! I'm looking forward to reading Nyphron Rising in a few months. And to those visiting, if you'd like to read about what goes on in a writer's mind, check out Michael's blog.
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