Interview with author Mark Nelson

It's my pleasure to welcome author Mark Nelson as a guest today. 

I met Mark through Hadley Rille Books.  Mark is a career educator and for the last twenty-two years has been teaching composition and literature at a small high school located in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains in eastern Washington State.  He is happily married to his best friend and fellow educator, and together they have raised three beautiful daughters and one semi-retired cat.  Words, music, food and parenting permeate his life and serve as a constant source for inspiration, challenge and reward.  To temper such unremitting joy, Mark plays golf: an addition that provides a healthy dose of humility.  You can visit Mark at the Heroines of Fantasy.

I have read Mark's novels Poets of Pevana and King's Gambit, both set in the vibrant fantasy world of Pevana.  Mark is a great new voice in fantasy, and I recommend his work to anyone who enjoys stories with a heavy dose of danger, intrigue, adventure, and romance. 

Now, without further ado, here is our interview with Mark:

Q: Tell us a little bit about your novels Poets of Pevana and King’s Gambit.

The Poets of Pevana and King's Gambit are my first two novels published by Hadley Rille Books. They are set in a mock historical, pre-industrial, medieval region called the Peninsula, which comprises the realm of Perspa and a handful in independent city states. The region is beset by religious and political machination. Some folks care. Some don't. The ones that do struggle to find a voice to protest. Poetry, plans and passion all play a role in the events that unfold.

Q: The world of Pevana is wonderfully complex and very original in the context of fantasy, especially with its emphasis on a culture of poetry.  What inspired the characters and world of Pevana?

The Poets of Pevana started as a result of my online interaction with fans of the rock band Styx on a message board dedicated to discussing the band and music in general. The community quickly morphed into something that went well beyond rock and roll and related topics. I met several fellow poets on the site and one in particular, Joey Barat, aka Devyn Ambrose, became an online friend. We started having these poetry duels on the site where we had to make something out of unrelated terms posted by the other. We posted our results on the website message board and the other community members loved it. We kept it up for months and the seeds for what became the core of Poets were sewn.

I figured out early on that there was a story here. I kept seeing pie-slices of experience all intersecting at certain points--in this case a rowdy festival in a mock medieval city.

King's Gambit got started soon after I finished the first draft of Poets, but I stalled out after a few chapters. I realized the story would be more convoluted, more political, and I was not sure I had the time or skills to pull it off. King's Gambit's plot never changed much from those early whiteboard notes. The people we see in the tale were all laid out in notes jotted down over an extended period of time. What surprised me about King's Gambit is the extent to which the characters took over the story from me. The first draft was heavily dependent on the male points of view. And yet I found myself liking Eleni's character the most after finishing Poets. When my editor TeriLynne DeFino suggested King's Gambit was more of a woman's book, I took a while but then warmed up to the irony of it: a war story dominated by the sensibilities of some cool ladies.

Both novels include my verse. That was always my intention: to find a way to incorporate that part of my expression in a story format. I do not think that has been done seamlessly before--at least not in my reading experience. For me, bard stories all tended to be sword and sorcery tales with only a thin veneer of the poetic sensibility in them. I had a feeling my format would be a little different from the ordinary. So far, I think I have stayed true to my original intent and design. What I find interesting is how people have responded to the various verses that show up. I am told they actually 'sound' like they come from the characters, and I think that is an enormous compliment--and in some ways a happy accident. I'm not sure how much control I exerted there, but eventually, even I 'heard' the characters voices in the words EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THE POEMS IN THE STORY ARE QUITE OLD! Yes, a few pieces actually predate the drafting phase of Poets. Eleni's poem 'Dust' is one of them. Somehow it fit, and as the story grew, Eleni's verse started taking on terse, linear qualities based on rhythm rather than modulated, horizontal cadences based on end rhyme. A few of the bits in Talyior and Devyn's duel, some of the earliest bits of the draft, actually, came from my duels with the real Devyn online, edited for continuity in the story. I didn't go into this thinking to write in multiple voices, creating this buffet-line of poetic line, but in the end the synergy between sensibility and story happened. I rather like the effect.

In the end I wanted to tell a story about how politics can suborn faith and twist it into a false expression. I wanted to write a story about small lives that intersect with great ones and great events. I wanted to write a story that paid homage to the power of words and the need to comment on life. I wanted to write a story relating how the choices we make ultimately shape our character.

Q: Do you have a favorite character (or characters)?

I love all my characters, even the detestable Byrnard Casan and the corpulent Sevire Anargi. Early on, obviously, Devyn and Talyior claimed my attention, but as I mentioned above, Eleni Caralon grew on me, as did Prince Donari. Hence their intensified roles in King's Gambit.  I loved developing the notes for Sylvanus Tamorgen, the Tyrant who wanted to be a grandfather. But the two who I really took a liking to over the course of King's Gambit were Lyvia, Sylvanus's daughter and Demona Anargi, Sevire's estranged wife. Both gals more than hold their own in King's Gambit. Kembril Edri still haunts my sleep. I hated what happened to him, but Devyn's character is an outgrowth of Kembril's persona. Eventually, I'd like to codify the folk tales of the region, as told by Kembril as he sat there beneath his oak tree in the holy dust of the Maze.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of writing Poets of Pevana? King’s Gambit?

The most challenging aspect of writing both novels has been getting stuff past my editor! Terri-Lynne DeFino took a chance on Poets, but since then we have become adept at working with each other. I have a number of bad habits, and she consistently points them out to me when I write them. I have learned how I compose from going through the editing/publishing process. These have been hard but great lessons. I've taken them back into the classroom with me to good effect. I thoroughly enjoy writing. One of the reasons I started Poets was to see if I could gain the discipline needed to see a story through from beginning to end. I love keeping track of my word count, pushing myself to keep aware of my flaws, to keep track of cliche and repeated language. Writing makes me a sharper thinker. I love the medium as a mode of expression.

King's Gambit is a much larger story. It also ended up being a bit longer than Poets. But the ideas were big, the risks greater both for me and the characters. I had to juggle points of view in Gambit, had to concern myself with pace and event more precisely. I had to let some characters tell the story and let go of the narrative control--with happy results, I think. I had to gain and lose some people. I'm no GRRM: that stuff still hurts.

Q: Do you have any new projects underway?  What can we expect for the future?

I am currently editing/revising book three in the cycle, tentatively titled Path of the Poet-King. It relates the events that happen just after the close of King's Gambit. I am slowing down a little in an effort to smooth out rough spots and make adjustments to the plot necessitated by things that happen in King's Gambit.  Demona's character is much more fully realized now, and that has forced me to re-do chunks of the new book for continuity. It helps that I am working from an already completed draft. Book four is yet to be written. In fact, I was settling down to begin book four two years ago when I looked at the pile of story I had on my lap and decided to try and shop the first book. I felt I owed it to myself to at least try. DeFino liked Poets,and the rest is now my future: writing.  Book Four, King's Peace, is heavily noted, plotted for the most part and might conclude the story arc with my Pevanese characters. And yet even as I type this, I am not so sure. I keep seeing a line at the end of this as yet unwritten book: "Come, let's go find that shade of green..."  So, you never know. THAT is another reason why I love writing: there are surprises behind every verb, metaphor, and sound.  If my work ever receives a box set treatment, I would like to call it Pevanese Mosaic. Just saying...

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

My advice to aspiring writers is to stop posing as what they think is a writer and actually write. Finish something. Tell the truth--even if it’s a made-up truth. Search out and accept constructive criticism. Feedback is vital even it if rips apart your illusions. You write better when you understand the depth of the contract between writer and reader. And I think it is ok to write for pleasure alone or for close friends and family. An audience, no matter how small, is a cool thing. In the end what we produce adds to the collective experience.

The publishing adventure has changed my life and how I see the rest of it passing. Words are now more important to me than ever, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I feel lucky to be part of the HRB family. Good friends, great writers, awesome people. I am glad to be a small part of it.

Savegre Lodge and Ballena Marine National Park

The resplendent quetzal, king of the highland forests
of Talamanca, is set to make a cameo appearance in
Eolyn's third companion novel, Daughter of Aithne.

This week Avila University professor Amy Milakovic and I did a scouting trip for a new course we plan to offer next spring, entitled Ecology through the Writer’s Lens.  The course was inspired during my residency for the Long Term Ecological Reflections (LTER) program at Andrews Experimental Forest in the mountains of Oregon (see my May 2011 posts). 

Like the LTER project, our goal is to integrate scientific and literary approaches to understanding the forest. Of course, we will be working on a much shorter time scale than LTER.  The program at Andrews Experimental Forest is set to run about 300 years; our course will run about 10 days.  Still, it’s going to be a fun and memorable experience for us as professors and for all our students.

On the scouting trip, we visited Savegre Lodge, nestled in the oak forests of the Talamanca Mountains, at about 2300m elevation.  Fans and followers of Eolyn know by now that these are the magnificent forests that inspired Eolyn’s childhood home in the South Woods.

Ballena Marine National Park, Costa Rica

After a night in Talamanca, we visited La Cusinga Lodge in the Pacific lowlands, surrounded by tropical rainforest and overlooking the stunning Ballena Marine National Park.  Along the way, we saw quetzals, monkeys, whales, and all kinds of other wildlife.   We travelled with long-time friend and colleague, Jose Rogelio Vargas, owner of Ruta Verde Tours.

While I was off the grid, Mark Nelson wrote a wonderful reflection for Heroines of Fantasy, marking our 100^th post for the blog.  Mark contemplates the same question we will be asking in our upcoming course:  How do the landscapes we encounter inspire the stories we write? Please stop by to read Mark’s post and share your thoughts on this topic.



A howler monkey in the lowland rain forest

Next week, I’ll be starting a blog tour with Orangeberry Book Tours.  The tour will last through September, including guest posts, interviews, reviews, giveaways, Twitter views and Twitter blasts.  Eolyn will also be one of the featured titles for the Orangeberry Book Expo, which runs through the end of August. For the full schedule, visit my author page at OrangeberryBook Tours. I will, of course, post events as they occur here, as well as on my Facebook page and Twitter account for Eolyn.

That’s the news for now.  Enjoy the sunny weeks to come. Autumn is on its way.

Members of this week's tropical expedition (from left to right):
Dr. Amy Milakovic, Rafael Aguilar, me, Jose Rogelio Vargas

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

I’m officially on break this week, enjoying the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica, so I’m going to direct you to other places where interesting things are happening.

EOLYN has a new review from the Masquerade Crew: 4 out of 5 stars! And this from a reviewer who says fantasy is not her first choice in genres.  To read the review, and enter their scavenger hunt to win Amazon gift cards, visit the Masquerade Crew web site.

Our guest on Heroines of Fantasy this week is author Rosamund Hodge.  Read about her favorite heroine, and tell us who is your favorite and why.  (And yes, I’m secretly hoping to garner a shout out or two for my favorite heroine, Eolyn; but if that doesn't happen, I'll still be happy you stopped by HoF to join the debate.)  

Speaking of shout-outs, let me include one for Joshua B. Palmatier, who has undertaken a kickstarter campaign to fund the small press anthology featuring Steampunk vs. Aliens.  Find out more about the project and how you can support it by visiting Joshua’s kickstarter page for Clockwork Universe.

That’s the news for the moment.  I’ve arranged for a very special guest author in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.

Now, back to the beach.

Pura Vida!

San Pablo de Heredia



Iglesia Vieja de San Pablo de Heredia

I’m checking in from my husband’s home town in Costa Rica this week. 

The urban experience of Costa Rica runs polar opposite to the forest experience (which I documented in detail during the summers of 2010 and 2012).  Costa Rican cities are noise and chaos, a constant roar of cars and buzz of human activities.  Streets are friendly (if somewhat dangerous), the people conversational and fun. 

I wish I could say endless good things about it, but the truth is cities are not my favorite place to be, and this is no exception. 

Still, Costa Rica, with all its faces, is a place after my own heart (quite literally).  I’m very much enjoying our stay with my husband’s family.  It’s been a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and new dreams.

While enjoying life in the tropics, I’ve been taking advantage of my summer break to get things in order for High Maga. We put the manuscript through a first round a copy edits.  It will likely go through a second round in the not-so-distant future, thanks to some additional changes I made. 

I have to admit, I very much like having a generous lead time between now and when the novel hits the market next spring.  I like being able to mull over things, to revisit the manuscript after having been away from it for a while, and to have a chance to find fixes for that handful of sticky paragraphs that still nag at me. 

My most exciting email this week came from Thomas Vandenberg, who has finished the backdrop for the cover art for High Maga.  It is, in a word, stunning.  I have seen Tom’s work and I know he is a great artist, but I never imagined he would capture the look and feel of the South Woods so completely.  I cannot wait to share it with all of you, though I will wait, since the cover art is still a work in progress.

The noise and activity of Heredia is not particularly conducive to writing, so I’ve focused mostly on finishing copy edits and attending to other tasks that don’t require large blocks of quiet time.  Even so, I’ve made some progress on Daughter of Aithne.  The manuscript topped 40K last week. I’m in the middle of crafting the novel’s first climactic event, a sequence of horror and tragedy for almost everyone involved.

That's all the news for now. On Saturday, we will break free of the city and head for the beach. With any luck, I will have spotted some dolphins -- or at the very least, a few monkeys -- next time I check in.

Hope you all are having a good summer!

On Writing and Life

The creek that runs behind our property in
Costa Rica.  This is our personal mountain
refuge, and a place where I hope someday to
have my own version of Ghemena's cottage.

Hello, again.  I've been absent for a few weeks from this blog, and from the internet in general.   What can I say?  Life sometimes demands attention in ways that don't involve a computer network. 

The last time I posted, we had recently learned of the death of my father-in-law; the latest in a series of losses that have marked the first months of 2013. 

I was worn out by then, physically and emotionally., and I decided to shut down everything to accompany my husband to Costa Rica, where we participated in the novenario, a 9-day ritual of mourning, with his family. 

On the heels of the novenario, I attended the annual conference of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in San Jose, Costa Rica.  This was the 50th anniversary of ATBC, and so the conference brought together a lot of friends and colleagues, some of whom I had not seen in a very long time.  It was a fun and inspiring conference, yet sobering at the same time.  I realized that in my relatively short (25-year) career as an ecologist, the field has been transformed. 

A quarter of a decade ago, we still had our eyes on exploring and deciphering pristine ecosystems.  Now out of necessity, the bulk of our research has turned to rescuing what we have lost, managing what remains, and understanding what we have created.  Ecologists are tackling a host of new questions: restoration of degraded environments, patterns of diversity in urban areas, and so-called "novel ecosystems" -- never-before-seen assemblages created by a combination of native and introduced species.  It's not that there is nothing pristine left to explore, it's just that there's so much more now outside of those pristine areas that demands to be understood and fixed. 

I'm certain I'll come back to this topic, because it hit me in a deep way and continues to simmer in the back of my thoughts. 

As soon as the conference came to an end, I was on a plane back to Kansas City to enjoy a short but wonderful visit from my brother and his family.  They live in Hong Kong, so it is always a special joy to see them, especially my nieces, now 6 and 2 years old.  We've been blessed with particularly lovely summer weather, sunny and cool all this week, so we've been out and about exploring parks and playgrounds almost every day. 

Now July has begun, and I see half my summer has already flown by. 

What have I done with my time? I ask myself, and I feel like I have done very little.

A new helper joined me in the garden this
summer. I think I will call him "Mr. Guende".

Even though I've been to Costa Rica and back.  Even though I've had invaluable experiences with my family, friends, and colleagues.  Even though my garden is looking better than it has in years.

That's because for an author, what one has done is not measured in people and places, but in words and revisions.  This is at once the strength and weakness of being a writer -- the drive to tell stories keeps us writing, but the drive to write can sometimes keep us from living. 

Maintaining a balance between writing and living is such a fundamental challenge.  Like many authors, the pull toward writing tends to be stronger in me than the pull toward experiencing life.  So when life demands my attention, I often have to order myself to STOP writing, editing, marketing, and so forth.  To let it all go for a few days, a week, a month or more if need be, because in the end, some things are simply more important than getting out that next scene. 

Of course, there are many professional writers who cannot approach their craft in this way.  They must maintain their routine of writing at all costs, because if they stay away even for a day, it's that much harder to 'get back into it'.  I guess I'm lucky not to have that issue.

After the world settles down, after the heavy emotions of death and loss recede, after my beautiful nieces give their good-bye hugs and board the plane to China, I can go home to my computer confident that I will be able to continue the story from where I left off. 

Indeed, the sadness, tears, joy, and laughter that life has given me add dimension and texture to my words.  True, I may have to adjust my personal deadlines, and it may take a little longer than anticipated to finish the work in progress, but I truly believe the story I tell will be better, not worse, for the time I've spent away from the computer. 

So this weekend, after a long break, I will be getting back to narrating the gripping events of Eolyn's third and final novel, Daughter of Aithne. 

If instinct serves me well, next week I'll have a report for you on the cover art for the second novel, High Maga, still on track for a spring 2014 release.

After that?  Only time will tell. . .

Together with my nieces, parents, sister, and brother (and Duke!)
for the 4th of July.  This was the first time in at least a decade
that I've been in the United States for Independence Day.

Death and Mourning in Eolyn's World

Lear and Cordelia by Ford Maddox Brown

I suppose this seems like an odd topic to write about on a sunny June day, but 2013 has been a year in which death has touched my family in many ways, taking both relatives and friends, in some cases expected, in others not so much. 

As I've mourned these losses, and supported others in their mourning, I've realized that this is one of the many themes relevant to Eolyn's world that I haven't yet touched upon in my blog. Rites and beliefs concerning death are a fundamental part of any culture, so the fantasy author must give some attention to death when building her world, whether or not the rites in question will be a part of the story.

According to the tradition of Moisehén, death entails the passage of the spirit from the living world into another reality called the Afterlife.

The nature of the Afterlife is almost impossible to decipher or understand through the lens of the living.  It is thought to be a place of relative peace, yet of greater challenges.  Spirits that enter the Afterlife gain a larger perspective on the conflicts of the world of the living. If those same spirits are particularly rich in magic, they can, under special circumstances, intervene in the living world.  How and why they do this is not well understood.

In order to reach the Afterlife, a spirit must first pass through the Underworld.  Unlike the Afterlife, the nature of the Underworld is fairly well understood by the people of Moisehén.  This is because on very rare occasions, particularly powerful mages and magas have sent their spirit into the Underworld and returned to the world of the living to tell what they experienced.

The Underworld is a place of constant decay.  Many souls get trapped here, fettered by their own illusions and fears.  Spirits confined to the Underworld are known in Moisehén as the Lost Souls. Eventually, the Lost Souls fade into nothing.  Their slow decay ignites a hunger, of sorts, for the light and magic of souls that have recently been released from their living bodies.  As a result, the Lost Souls prey on spirits attempting to make the journey to the Afterlife, and they can quickly drag others into the same state of decay. 

The rites of death in Moisehén are mainly focused on helping the recently deceased navigate the dangers of the Underworld.   The basic idea is that a bridge can be created between friends/family in the living world and friends/family in the Afterlife. 

At the time of the person's death, certain herbs are burned, such as winter sage. These are believed to help strengthen this bridge.  Loved ones who accompany the dying person will also sing songs of passage, the lyrics and melody of which are crafted to alert helpful spirits in the Afterlife of the pending descent to the Underworld.

Of course, not everyone dies in the company of friends and family, so the rites of passage are adjusted to fit different circumstances.  Warriors, for example, will burn winter sage and sing the songs of passage on the eve of battle, so that the foundations of their bridge are already laid in case they meet their doom in combat.  High Mages accompany every army and cast sacred circles on the edge of the battlefield to help guide the souls of the fallen safely into the Afterlife. 

Death of Elaine by Thomas Hovenden 1882

Despite these precautions, it is understood that an individual who suffers a violent death runs a higher risk of becoming one of the Lost Souls.  For this reason, battlefields and any other site where a soul was torn violently from its body are considered dangerous places where the curtain between the world of the living and the world of the dead is ominously thin.  Mages and magas will often return to battlefields weeks, months, or even years after the conflict to attempt to 'seal' these holes by casting spells and planting new life in the form of trees or wildflowers. 

One of the dangers of the Underworld that I haven't yet talked about are the Naether Demons.  But they are complex enough to deserve their own post, so I'll come back to them later.

The people of Moisehén do not believe there is a god or any other entity that sits at the gates of the Afterlife and decides who is worthy of entering.  Rather, they believe that one builds a bridge to the Afterlife by living well in this world, by establishing positive relationships with others who will sustain one's spirit in the moment of death, and guide one safely into the hereafter.

It is the quality of those relationships -- not the quantity -- and the strength of the magic held within them that matters. Even one person well-loved has the potential to redeem a lifetime of wrong-doings and ensure a safe journey to the other side. 

A picture worth 120,000 words

Cover art for Louise Turner's new novel, Fire and Sword.
copyright 2013 by Thomas Vandenberg

I just had to share this latest masterpiece from Thomas Vandenberg. 

The artwork is for the cover of Fire and Sword, a new historical fiction novel by Louise Turner that will be released this fall by Hadley Rille Books.

The novel is set in the late 1400s and recounts the story of John Sempill of Elliotstoun in Scotland.  Sempill became a sheriff, and then through many struggles rose to knighthood (and beyond).  His rival, Lord Montgomerie, the antagonist of the story, both aided and hindered John's success. The novel features lots of great battles and conflicts, and promises to be an all around awesome read.

The author Louise Turner has met John Sempill's descendent, the present Lord Jamie Sempill.  She has done a lot of historical and archaeological research in order to show in vivid detail what life was like back then for nobles as well as for the common people.

I am very excited about the release of this novel, so you'll be hearing more about it during the months to come, both on this blog and on Heroines of Fantasy.

Most of all, I am delighted that this same artist, Thomas Vandenberg, will do the cover for High Maga! 

Tom finished reading the manuscript for High Maga last weekend, and is very excited about the novel.  Right now, the key word we're working with for the cover art is sinister.  Our goal is to craft an image that will communicate the very deep and harrowing conflicts of this next stage in Eolyn's life.  In looking at Tom's work with other Hadley Rille titles (check out Poets of Pevana and King's Gambit, both by Mark Nelson), I know he will not disappoint.

In other news, please stop by Heroines of Fantasy this week, where I've written a post about publishing choice.  With self-publishing, traditional publishing, and everything in between, options for authors have rarely been as diverse (and confusing!) as they are now.  I point out some of the costs and benefits of each route, and talk at length about why I chose the small press option for Eolyn.

This weekend, I will be at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas.  Woohoo!  This is one of my favorite conferences: small, relaxed, entirely focused on talking about science fiction and fantasy, and on celebrating the best science fiction of the year.

If you happen to be in Lawrence this weekend, stop by the All Season's Den in the O'Read Hotel from 12:45pm to 1:30pm to meet all the authors in attendance, including a good number of award-winning heavy hitters in science fiction and fantasy.  Their books will be available for purchase  in the adjacent bookstore. 

That's the update for this week.  Summer has arrived in Kansas City, hot and fierce, so I will try to get out and enjoy some sun this afternoon.  Hope you are able to enjoy some sunshine as well, wherever you are!