Sep 25, 2011

Rekindling first loves

My first love in a literary sense was speculative fiction.  I can vaguely remember writing a Dr Who story called “Dr Who and the Volcano Men” when I was eight (seriously it was cool, about 4 pages long and illustrated) my mother probably still has it somewhere. 

Then it was Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings which I started at age nine and finished about age 13.  It was the first time I experienced a strong emotional connection with character.  Then it was Weis and Hickman’s Dragonlance Chronicles followed by almost everything written by David Gemmell.

Somewhere between high school and university that love departed, I think reading for study killed the joy that I experienced from reading good fantasy fiction.  It was Robin Hobb that brought me back though through her Farseer Trilogy .

Rowena Cory Daniells has just interviewed Robin over at her blog.  Said interview has rekindled a bit of nostalgia.

Below is a short interview with Robin snipped from the bottom of Rowena’s post.  It has two important lessons for writers – that you can’t protect your lead characters from misfortune and that they must have changed or grown by the end of the tale.

Enjoy and go and read Rowena’s interview.  I think that Robin’s answer to the last question is the beast I have read yet.

And for those of you interested in my progress on the novel.  It’s sitting at around 25,000 words and I have a short horror story that I hope to finish and sell, nearing completion as well.


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