Interview with The Invisible Order author Paul Crilley
Yesterday I ran my review of new youth fantasy novel The Invisible Order: Rise of the Darklings by South African based author Paul Crilley. Paul was also so kind as to reply to a couple of burning questions I had about being a professional fiction writer, and, more particularly, being a wordsmith far removed from the bustling literary and publishing centres that are the US and UK. Enjoy!
1) Who do you consider to be your writing influences; your author favourites? Who led you down the fiction, and, more specifically, fantasy writing path?
What led me to write? I always liked making stuff up, but the first time I was really proud of something I wrote was during my first year in high school. I wrote a story for English, and my teacher, Mr Davidson, gave me an A. I was incredibly chuffed with that, and it gave me the encouragement to scribble little stories at home. I used to write them out in an A4 book and hide them under my mattress. (I'm not sure why. I think I was slightly embarrassed.)
When I was 13 my family moved from Scotland to South Africa. I carried on my schooling from home, so didn't have much of a social life. Books kept me company. When I was 14 I decided that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to write books. And that was that. I kept it in my sights and didn't look back. Thank goodness I actually managed to do it, because I don't have any other trade to fall back on.
Writing influences: There are a few authors who made an impression on me back when my tastes were still in their formative stage. Lord of the Rings, obviously. I read that when I was 12. I stuck through it, even though I remember thinking there were a few slow bits. Neil Gaiman was another one. I was already aware of him because of my love for Terry Pratchett books. (Another one of the writers who defined my tastes.) Good Omens was a brilliant read and when I found a graphic novel of Miracleman: The Golden Age (the Eclipse edition) in a bargain bin, I snapped it up and then went on to devour Sandman and all his subsequent work.
I've already mentioned Pratchett. I wrote to him when I was about 15 and he was kind enough to write back with a writing tip that I pass along whenever I'm asked. And that advice was to write every day. Even if it's 100 words, just write. You have to keep the story fresh in your mind.
Douglas Adams is another of my favorites. I re-read his work yearly just to pick apart his sentence construction. The man was a genius. Other works that had a huge influence on me were the original Dragonlance Chronicles and also Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I love the epicness (Is that a word?) of those books. The sheer scale of them. I also look on David Eddings' Belgariad and the followups as old friends.
William Gibson was a huge stylistic influence on me. The way he could paint a picture, those "eyeball kicks" that leaped from the page and smacked you across the frontal lobes. I couldn't get enough of his work. Some of my early short stories (hidden away in a tatty folder) are rather shameless attempts to mimic that style.
2) How did you come up with the idea for The Invisible Order?
I'm going to answer this question by cribbing from an article I wrote last year. (Yes, I will steal from myself. I have no shame.)
It all started back in 2004 (I know, I know. In the words of Bernard Black, “Stop right there, David Copperfield! If you’re going back that far we’re going to need popcorn or something.”) Bear with me. I’ll keep it brief.
I’ve always had a fascination for Victorian England and was busy reading up on the period, making vague notes for a couple of ideas I had. (One of them was a steampunk idea, which I’m going to write soon, [Er... hi. This is Paul in 2010 interjecting into the article of Paul in 2009. I finally wrote up the outline of that steampunk idea and sent it to my agent. Although it's evolved somewhat, and is now what I would call Teslapunk.], and the other was something combining Victorian England and faeries. That was as far as I had progressed with any kind of plot. I vaguely remember mentioning it to my better half. “It’s set in Victorian England, right? And it’s got faeries”, and being mildly disappointed at her lack of appreciation for my genius.) This was as far as I had progressed when I got an email from SF writer Julie Czerneda and Jana Picolo, asking if I would like to contribute a story to Under Cover of Darkness, an anthology about secret societies. I said yes, (actually is was more like YES!), and spent the next few days coming up with various terrible ideas before realizing I already had something with my Victorian faeries. So I played around with the theme and came up with The Invisible Order, a secret society of scientists and magicians that worked to stop the creatures of Faerie from wiping out humankind.
After the story was accepted I looked at all the notes I’d made while writing it and realized I had been planning something bigger without really being aware of it. The story just cried out to be expanded. So I cleared off the whiteboard and started jotting down ideas about how I could expand the initial story into something larger.
3) How long did it take to write Rise of the Darklings, as well as the next book in the trilogy, The Fire King (out August 2011)?
It was slow going, I'll admit. The problem with a book such as this is that it relies heavily on the research, and I had to stop frequently to check facts etc. On top of this was the fact that our first daughter was born that year, and I was working about three other writing jobs to try and make ends meet. (One of those jobs was working on a soap opera, the other was writing my first book set in Wizards of the Coast's Eberron world – Night of the Long Shadows, a noir/fantasy/crime thriller -- and the other was writing Zulu language sitcoms.
So it took me about a 20 months to write Rise of the Darklings. The second book was much quicker. I think that one took me about 10 months.
4) You’re a speculative fiction writer based outside the main literary centres of the US and UK. Yet you’ve got The Invisible Order coming out, you’ve written Eberron-set novels for Wizards of the Coast (the latest here), AND worked on upcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. How have you accomplished this despite your “out of the way” location in sleepy Hillcrest, KZN?
The internet. Networking. Being polite. Three things that have helped me immensely. Seriously, if it wasn't for the internet, I'd be screwed. I wouldn't have had access to the people and opportunities that I have. My first Eberron book came from reading about an open call on the Wizards of the Coast website for a short story anthology set in their Eberron world. I got the book contracts on the strength of that short story. My other short stories have come from me politely emailing people and asking if I could show them my work, and if they liked it, if would they consider putting me on their contributor's lists for future projects. That's the kind of thing you have to do. Just be polite and don't make a nuisance out of yourself.
Star Wars came about because fellow Eberron author, Matt Forbeck knew I had an interest in writing for games. He does a lot of work in the field, so when he was contacted by Bioware asking if he knew of any writers who might be interested in trying out for an unnamed game, he passed on my name. I mean, that got my foot in the door, but I still had to pass the Bioware training program, (one of the toughest in the field.) It took me 4 months before they'd let me work on the actual game, but passing their training program is one of the things I'm proudest of. Hell, I got to work on Star Wars. How cool is that? My earliest movie-going memory is my dad taking me and my brother to see Empire Strikes Back.
5) Do you have any advice for aspiring fantasy writers out there?
Write. Read. All the time. Read outside your comfort fields. Terry Pratchett's advice is still the best. Write every day. A lot of people want to have written, but don't really want to write. "I've always wanted to write a book, but I don't have the time." If you wanted to write, you'd make the time. It's as simple as that. You don't expect to become a boxer without training every day. It's the same with writing. Nothing is every wasted. Every piece you write is teaching you something.
Oh, and there was also something Margaret Weis said in her reply to a letter I wrote. She said it takes 10 years or 1 million words to produce a publishable writer. (Whichever comes first.) I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was 14 and I sold my first short story when I was 24, so she was spot on.
1) Who do you consider to be your writing influences; your author favourites? Who led you down the fiction, and, more specifically, fantasy writing path?
What led me to write? I always liked making stuff up, but the first time I was really proud of something I wrote was during my first year in high school. I wrote a story for English, and my teacher, Mr Davidson, gave me an A. I was incredibly chuffed with that, and it gave me the encouragement to scribble little stories at home. I used to write them out in an A4 book and hide them under my mattress. (I'm not sure why. I think I was slightly embarrassed.)
When I was 13 my family moved from Scotland to South Africa. I carried on my schooling from home, so didn't have much of a social life. Books kept me company. When I was 14 I decided that this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to write books. And that was that. I kept it in my sights and didn't look back. Thank goodness I actually managed to do it, because I don't have any other trade to fall back on.
Writing influences: There are a few authors who made an impression on me back when my tastes were still in their formative stage. Lord of the Rings, obviously. I read that when I was 12. I stuck through it, even though I remember thinking there were a few slow bits. Neil Gaiman was another one. I was already aware of him because of my love for Terry Pratchett books. (Another one of the writers who defined my tastes.) Good Omens was a brilliant read and when I found a graphic novel of Miracleman: The Golden Age (the Eclipse edition) in a bargain bin, I snapped it up and then went on to devour Sandman and all his subsequent work.
I've already mentioned Pratchett. I wrote to him when I was about 15 and he was kind enough to write back with a writing tip that I pass along whenever I'm asked. And that advice was to write every day. Even if it's 100 words, just write. You have to keep the story fresh in your mind.
Douglas Adams is another of my favorites. I re-read his work yearly just to pick apart his sentence construction. The man was a genius. Other works that had a huge influence on me were the original Dragonlance Chronicles and also Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I love the epicness (Is that a word?) of those books. The sheer scale of them. I also look on David Eddings' Belgariad and the followups as old friends.
William Gibson was a huge stylistic influence on me. The way he could paint a picture, those "eyeball kicks" that leaped from the page and smacked you across the frontal lobes. I couldn't get enough of his work. Some of my early short stories (hidden away in a tatty folder) are rather shameless attempts to mimic that style.
2) How did you come up with the idea for The Invisible Order?
I'm going to answer this question by cribbing from an article I wrote last year. (Yes, I will steal from myself. I have no shame.)
It all started back in 2004 (I know, I know. In the words of Bernard Black, “Stop right there, David Copperfield! If you’re going back that far we’re going to need popcorn or something.”) Bear with me. I’ll keep it brief.
I’ve always had a fascination for Victorian England and was busy reading up on the period, making vague notes for a couple of ideas I had. (One of them was a steampunk idea, which I’m going to write soon, [Er... hi. This is Paul in 2010 interjecting into the article of Paul in 2009. I finally wrote up the outline of that steampunk idea and sent it to my agent. Although it's evolved somewhat, and is now what I would call Teslapunk.], and the other was something combining Victorian England and faeries. That was as far as I had progressed with any kind of plot. I vaguely remember mentioning it to my better half. “It’s set in Victorian England, right? And it’s got faeries”, and being mildly disappointed at her lack of appreciation for my genius.) This was as far as I had progressed when I got an email from SF writer Julie Czerneda and Jana Picolo, asking if I would like to contribute a story to Under Cover of Darkness, an anthology about secret societies. I said yes, (actually is was more like YES!), and spent the next few days coming up with various terrible ideas before realizing I already had something with my Victorian faeries. So I played around with the theme and came up with The Invisible Order, a secret society of scientists and magicians that worked to stop the creatures of Faerie from wiping out humankind.
After the story was accepted I looked at all the notes I’d made while writing it and realized I had been planning something bigger without really being aware of it. The story just cried out to be expanded. So I cleared off the whiteboard and started jotting down ideas about how I could expand the initial story into something larger.
3) How long did it take to write Rise of the Darklings, as well as the next book in the trilogy, The Fire King (out August 2011)?
It was slow going, I'll admit. The problem with a book such as this is that it relies heavily on the research, and I had to stop frequently to check facts etc. On top of this was the fact that our first daughter was born that year, and I was working about three other writing jobs to try and make ends meet. (One of those jobs was working on a soap opera, the other was writing my first book set in Wizards of the Coast's Eberron world – Night of the Long Shadows, a noir/fantasy/crime thriller -- and the other was writing Zulu language sitcoms.
So it took me about a 20 months to write Rise of the Darklings. The second book was much quicker. I think that one took me about 10 months.
4) You’re a speculative fiction writer based outside the main literary centres of the US and UK. Yet you’ve got The Invisible Order coming out, you’ve written Eberron-set novels for Wizards of the Coast (the latest here), AND worked on upcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. How have you accomplished this despite your “out of the way” location in sleepy Hillcrest, KZN?
The internet. Networking. Being polite. Three things that have helped me immensely. Seriously, if it wasn't for the internet, I'd be screwed. I wouldn't have had access to the people and opportunities that I have. My first Eberron book came from reading about an open call on the Wizards of the Coast website for a short story anthology set in their Eberron world. I got the book contracts on the strength of that short story. My other short stories have come from me politely emailing people and asking if I could show them my work, and if they liked it, if would they consider putting me on their contributor's lists for future projects. That's the kind of thing you have to do. Just be polite and don't make a nuisance out of yourself.
Star Wars came about because fellow Eberron author, Matt Forbeck knew I had an interest in writing for games. He does a lot of work in the field, so when he was contacted by Bioware asking if he knew of any writers who might be interested in trying out for an unnamed game, he passed on my name. I mean, that got my foot in the door, but I still had to pass the Bioware training program, (one of the toughest in the field.) It took me 4 months before they'd let me work on the actual game, but passing their training program is one of the things I'm proudest of. Hell, I got to work on Star Wars. How cool is that? My earliest movie-going memory is my dad taking me and my brother to see Empire Strikes Back.
5) Do you have any advice for aspiring fantasy writers out there?
Write. Read. All the time. Read outside your comfort fields. Terry Pratchett's advice is still the best. Write every day. A lot of people want to have written, but don't really want to write. "I've always wanted to write a book, but I don't have the time." If you wanted to write, you'd make the time. It's as simple as that. You don't expect to become a boxer without training every day. It's the same with writing. Nothing is every wasted. Every piece you write is teaching you something.
Oh, and there was also something Margaret Weis said in her reply to a letter I wrote. She said it takes 10 years or 1 million words to produce a publishable writer. (Whichever comes first.) I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was 14 and I sold my first short story when I was 24, so she was spot on.
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