For writers.

Q: When you look back at the first Stonesinger novel, are there any sources you feel you are obviously drawing from?

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Of course. I've read it probably 20 times now as I've gone through various rounds of edits, and I can't not think of Robert E. Howard's Conan, Brendan Fraser in The Mummy (1999), and The Nameless City by H.P. Lovecraft. There are probably a hundred other things wrapped up in there, since I read or watched anything and everything that was set in the desert - Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, George R.R. Martin - but those first three are the ones that I can't shake.

 

Q: So you sought out these sources?

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I felt I needed to seek out certain writers as I refined my voice and writing style. I don't think you can write fantasy if you haven't read the spectrum of Harry Potter to Sarah Maas to Patrick Rothfuss. Same way you can't write a barbarian without reading Howard. I think it's important to really understand what's out there, not just in your genre or what's selling, but in similar settings and biomes as well. I'll read anything if I think it will make me a better writer, but when it comes to getting inspiration for setting, or absolutely guzzling a single sub-genre, movies and tv shows can be great too, as long as there's a balance.

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Q: Are there any sources of information you think any writer could benefit from, especially new writers?

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Steven King's On Writing is table stakes. Of course that guy can rip you through a horror story. But I found myself on the edge of my seat as he walked me through his journey of almost giving up writing. Other than that, I think Brandon Sanderson's early seasons of Writing Excuses are a great entry point. That podcast covers the basics and gives you some great homework if you're serious about writing. And if you ever feel like you're missing something in formal education he put his entire BYU Creative Writing class up on youtube. Very few writers are as clinical as Brandon Sanderson, when it comes to what it takes to write a good fantasy book. John Truby's also got a pretty good study of plot structure in his Anatomy of Story, but it reads a bit like a powerpoint.

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Q: Any other, perhaps less standard, sources of inspiration for writers.

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No such thing as a standard source of inspiration! If you're reading this, you probably already have a story in mind. I'm a firm believer that everyone's got at least one great story concept, and it's probably based on experience. Robert Jordan was a helicopter gunner in 'Nam. Steven Erikson was an Archaeology Professor. If you want to write cool stuff (believably) you have to do some cool stuff. I haven't done nearly as much as those guys have done but the point stands that you can't sit in a dark room and hope inspiration finds you. You have to find it.

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Q; Once you have a story concept, is there anything you do (other than what Brandon Sanderson and Steven King say) to flesh out characters or plot?

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Plot, not really. I think you know if you have a good beginning and end that will rip people through. Sarah Maas rocks at writing the last hundred pages if you want an example. Otherwise it's a Writing Excuses tip that helps me write Act 2. "This is where the movie trailer is made." Your most stunning scenes - either from a "visual," action, or worldbuilding standpoint - have to live in Act 2. But when it comes to developing characters I do something a little bit strange: I build character sheets for main characters as if I'm about to play them in a tabletop RPG. Sometimes I even get to play them. Now not everything in a character sheet makes it into the book. It's really hard to write an honest character with 50 spells and 10 magic weapons. But I find that the limitations of their skills are as interesting, if not more interesting, than their strengths. Romond, for example, often misses the big picture, and he doesn't trust himself to talk his way out of a situation, because his base intelligence and charisma scores are low. And he knows that, so he seeks out allies like Anighito (Battle master), Pop (probably some sort of Ranger or desert Druid), Canto (Bard, for sure), and Addy (something like a Rogue with the Grappling feat). But Romond is strong, survivable as hell, and he feels things deeply. Plus there are some cool spells or abilities in most tabletop RPG's that I'm just dying to write about.

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Q: So classic fantasy is always just beneath the hood. Are there any other themes or through-lines in your works?

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I've grown up playing RPG video games, too, and a lot of... I won't call it depth, but... playtime in video games is added by some staple mechanics. For instance, there's always some sort of "collectible" quest that you can play long after you beat the campaign, running around the map looking for some obscene number of feathers or question marks that give you incrementally more information on the world or story. I don't write it, but its fun for me to imagine Romond running around the desert in his spare time looking for cackling jackal skulls, or Wayfarer trying to collect keys to Phantom Chests for better loot. It's an easter egg for myself and I don't care if anyone gets it.

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Other than that, I love a good physical transformation to mark an internal revelation. Sarah Maas knocks it out of the park with the first book of ACOTAR in this respect, and I'm sure a lot of other authors do too. But the instance that really gets me going is actually from an anime. Goku going Super Saiyan as Freiza destroys planet Namek will always and forever be the hardest glow-up in popular culture. And Super Saiyan 3 just to flex on Buu is another youtube clip I have bookmarked for when I'm looking for a boost. Maybe this ties back to the video game thing, where leveling-up should be obvious in story telling, and you have to find creative ways to do that since you don't get an XP counter in a novel.

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Q: That's a wide swath of references. I don't think anyone who reads fearie hookup stories also watches Dragon Ball Z, or visa versa. Any other references we should look out for in Stonesinger?

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Maybe Rocky. I love a good training montage. I see a lot of writers, novelists or otherwise, slowing down their story to "lay character pipe" at exactly the time they should be ramping it up. If the point is that your character is in pain, or they're motivated, just show them lifting weights and gritting their teeth or whatever. We don't need ten chapters of them feeling sorry for themselves. We get it, they're angsty. A montage is also something that everyone recognizes, and signals to the reader that the big battle is coming. 

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Q: Got it. Is there anything you think you do particularly well in your writing?

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Pantheons of gods and magic systems. Tolkien said he was always jealous of the huge body of lore in Greek mythology, and I've made a bit of a study of mythology, Greek or otherwise. But I've also looked for ways that the structure inherent in a pantheon can improve a story rather than limit it. If you think of something like Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's so simple and effective to have four elements that a lot of people can manipulate. You implicitly ask, when you meet a new character or enter a new area, what elements are going to be in play, and how will it effect the characters. Simple systems can create a a lot of cool interplay in the margins. Can a waterbender bend any liquid, even blood or the moisture in a plant? Do firebenders spontaneously create heat, or is heat a byproduct of friction, like lightning is? And of course Zuko and Katara are in conflict from jump street! Their elements are exact opposites. A good, structured magic system, once established, can immediately have a reader ask and answer questions about the world and the people that populate it without the writer having to be explicit. The difficult part is establishing it without info-dumping.

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Q: Anything you think you do particularly poorly, or need to work on, as a writer?

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Lots of things I need to work on. I work so hard on making my worlds deep, that sometimes I forget that not all of the information is relevant to the action. Because I love Erikson so much, I constantly ask myself what happened here 10 years ago, 100 years ago, 1000 years ago. Sometimes I get lucky and all three are relevant to Romond's current struggle. Sometimes none of it is, and I need to leave a lot on the cutting room floor, or in a world bible that never gets published. I'm also still working on being subtle when it comes to fantastic things. There are instances where I feel I'm really out on a limb when it comes to the magic of the Stonesinger Saga, and every reader needs to be able to understand whats going on, in order for them to enjoy it. There are other times where I want readers to figure something out on their own, or find a rare easter egg. No one reads an Agatha Christie book and doesn't try to guess the killer before the big reveal in the parlor. It's fun to outsmart the author, and its very unfun when the author pulls something out of thin air. I'm constantly working with alpha readers to strike that balance of just enough information to fairly guess something early, and an obvious enough reveal that the casual reader (or the nightime audiobook listener) doesn't get left behind.

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Q: How do you approach difficult or complex reveals?

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Rule of three. Every big reveal gets at least three hints, of increasing obviousness, before it's explicitly stated. If I'm worried about those three hints being too subtle I add it to a "Fears List," before I hand the text off to alpha readers. But I don't mention my "fears" to anyone. If a lot of early readers come back and corroborate a "fear," I rewrite, ramping up the hint a bit, making it more obvious. Without getting into Stonesinger spoilers, a "fear" on the "Fears List" looks something like: "I'm worried that readers won't understand that {insert magical system] is causing {insert character] to act in this way." Then sometimes I'll tag the three hints in my own manuscript so that I can come back to them quickly and easily.

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Q: What about developing your voice as a writer? Did you take any active steps to get to what you consider "your voice?"

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I worked really hard on setting description. The books I love reading paint a really vivid picture in only a few sentences. Did you know that Hogwarts Castle (in the Sorcerer's Stone anyway) is depicted in only three sentences? More of it is fleshed out throughout the series, but only as it becomes relevant to the plot or characters. Your first glimpse into one of the most iconic settings of our generation is only a handful of words! Part of creating setting was imitation for me at first, but I also made a conscious decision to layer in some non-literary influences. Songwriters are actually incredible at painting a picture in very few words. Taylor Swift is a master at this: She could feel the flames on her skin!? "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is also an insanely depictive four letter phrase. Your voice is a reflection of what impacts you most deeply, and if you appreciate pithiness, or high romance, or alliteration, it will come through in your writing if you work at it enough.

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Q: Are there any habits you feel helped you as a writer?

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I spend a lot of time not writing. I think to be an interesting writer you have to have interesting experiences, which means you need to do interesting things. You don't necessarily have to operate a helicopter gun, but you do need to spend some time out in the world, meeting people and seeing things. But you have to experience things through a writer's lens. If you're not also asking yourself, "how can I incorporate this into my world," or "would that person make an interesting character," or "how would I describe that sound" then you might be wasting your time. Sometimes the best scenes are sitting right at your fingertips, other times you have to think about a scene for weeks before it feels ready to write, or you have to consciously go seek out unique sources. I find that getting my blood pumping, either with a workout or a Discover Weekly playlist, helps get the thoughts flowing too. Just don't forget to sit down and write once you've got at least the basics down. And when you have a thought, write it down immediately, no matter how sketchy or fragmented.

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Q: Ok, now for the fun stuff. Who would you cast as Romond in a feature film?

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Oh, I don't know. Romond's a pretty young guy, but I don't know of anyone his age who has enough soul for the job. Maybe it's just that Hollywood wants all their young guys to be peppy and charismatic. Or maybe you just don't get any 20-year old Forest Whitakers. It takes time to get to where Romond's at, emotionally.

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Q: What about the audiobook?

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I think David Draiman, the lead singer of Disturbed, would crush it. I don't know if he does any voice acting or if he even has any acting background, but I would be willing to risk it based on their cover of Sound of Silence. In fact, Simon and Garfunkel's lyrics have some uncanny resemblances to the Stonesinger Saga...

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Q: Anyone else you'd cast in the Stonesinger Saga?

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Taylor Swift is Stonemother. I don't care if I have to wait sixty more years for her to get there. The stones sigh at her presence and the mountains bow to her.