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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