As part of the Magic Appreciation Tour, I was given the opportunity to interview Mark Tierno, author of two epic fantasy works, Maldene (Volumes One and Two). A blend of science and sorcery, these books are set in "a world of magic and ancient secrets" where a band of mercenaries find themselves at odds with a dark wizard who may just be "the most evil being ever known."
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| Volume One |
Mark lives in Monrovia California and has earned a
Masters in Physics and a second degree in Math. He's a lifelong reader of
fantasy and SciFi and started writing his books with the
help of his "trusty old Amiga computer." Talk about old school!
I found him to be a very interesting fellow and I'm quite sure you will, too.
Here now, my 7 Questions for Mark Tierno:
Your Maldene novels are a mix of science
and fantasy. What inspired you to blend
the two genres?
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| Mark Tierno |
I've always loved reading both SF and
Fantasy. Couple that with a mind that's
always asking "What if?" and it wasn't long before I began asking
myself "Why can't you combine the two?" After all, a high enough level of technology
begins to look like magic anyway. Magic
plus Science, Fantasy plus SF; such a combination could yield some very
interesting environments. The trick is
avoid the sledge hammer approach in combining the two; something more subtle
than just "He's got the blaster and the other guy has the magic
wand." A more subtle blend is
required.
Maldene
starts off as looking like pure high fantasy; the SF elements begin to peek
through as the series develops until by the last books you would be hard put to
tell where one ends and the other begins.
And yet, even in this first book there are clues, subtle hints that
something beyond the norm of mere Fantasy may be at work.
There's
enough people that write either straight SF or straight Fantasy. I'll leave that to them and handle the mixed genre
stuff.
Does your background in science and math
affect how magic works in your stories?
My background gives me a logical and informed
mind. So when it comes to magic, I treat
it as just another force in the universe, though one that allows quite the
range of fantastic capabilities.
Nevertheless, like any force it would have its rules, as well as its own
logic. For instance, a wizard uses his
mind to channel the forces behind magic, which means he can get tired after a
while and would need to rest. And if a
magic spell conjures forth something physical then the normal physical laws
would still apply. A conjured lightning
bolt is still electricity and could be conducted away by something like a
lightning rod. If there is a cave in
which the conjuring of magic is prevented, one could still conjure forth a ball
of fire from outside the cave then hurl it inside; it's simple fire at that
point and not magic and would still burn even with the magic-nullifying field
present.
It is
this insistence on logic and the remembering that there are other physical laws
present that the laws of magic must interact with that can make even a world of
magic believable within its own context; provide that suspension of belief
required for a reader to believe in the circumstances, feel as the characters
would, and enjoy the story.
Are you still using your trusty old Amiga?
If not, what hardware and software do
you use to write your novels?
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| Volume Two |
My Amiga still lives, though two years ago I
had an offer from a friend to buy off his G5 MAC tower. Having a need to interact with the real world
a bit more- in such things as being able to read the PDFs my publisher gave me
as the galleys for my book, and having web browsers that can actually fully
load up thew social media sights that I need to promote Maldene with- I took
him up on the offer. Currently my trusty
old Amiga lies silent but simply because I need to re-seat the graphics board
and don't want to do it when I'm in a hurry lest I let something slip the wrong
way and find myself in need of a very expensive repair.
For
the record, it's an Amiga 4000/060.
During the course of writing the Maldene series I went through three
keyboards and two motherboards. Just
wore them out from the pace of my typing.
What are your thoughts on the overall trend
toward digital publishing?
Digital publishing will make it possible for
the unknown author to at least get a start and have a chance at becoming
known. However, like in any field, there
are both the good and bad. One has to
beware of a poor quality product in something as new as digital publishing with
its dozen different formats and lack of any real industry standards. Likewise for the digital publishers
themselves, most of them with a track record of no more than 3-5 years instead
of being spawned off an older traditional publisher with more publishing
experience in general.
I
also do not think that the traditional published novel is dead (at least not
yet). There are still some of us that
like walking into a bookstore, taking one glance at a wall full of 50 or 60
books, and spotting that one that stands out enough for us to pull it
down. You still can't do that with even
the best broadband (not to mention you'd need a screen the size of a wall to get
the same view). Tablets are getting
pretty good, but they aren't flexible enough to stuff in a back pocket like an
old paperback, not to mention if you ever lost it on the buss you'd be out a
bit more than 2 dollars.
What's a typical writing day like for you?
I have a three day cycle for each
chapter. Day One begins the new chapter;
I start at 7:30 in the morning and finish someplace around 5PM, give or
take. I will have written between
12,000-13,000 words in that time. Then
it's off to the length club for a bit (must maintain the body supporting the
brain) then back for dinner, at which point I edit what I wrote that day. Usually finish up around midnight. on Day Two, I finish up whatever's left of
that chapter; usually around 3000-5000 words.
Done by Noon (leaving me enough time to run those mundane daily
errands), edit what I wrote later on.
Day Three is what I call a Chapter Edit.
I go through the entire chapter one more time, checking for plot and character
stuff, then run the spell checker. Once
done with that chapter I then outline the next one that I'll be starting, so
the day after that it's back to Day One on the next chapter.
My
books are typically divided up into three sections, so at the end of a given
section I also give the whole thing the once over to make sure that the plot
elements from one chapter to the next are consistent and flow properly. Likewise at the end of the book, I give the
entire novel one last once over.
Who are the authors on your "inspired
by" list and what about their lives or works
inspired you?
Growing up I read quite a few; from Robert
Heinlein and Issac Asimov, to Andre Norton and A.E. Van Voght, from Frank
Herbert to Greg Bear. From each one's
works I took a little something; it could have been some element of style of
writing or the way the story was constructed, or something about their world as
written or one of the characters. I have
been inspired by many authors, and taken something from all of them. To get a full view of how I developed my own
style, from whence come all my ideas of story and character, you would have to
read through about a hundred different books, twenty different authors (some
rather obscure), and have seen a selection of as many movies.
Any "wish I would've known that when I
started" advice you'd like to share with
beginning authors?
I know writers are a solitary lot, but learn
to socialize, to "network".
Agents are lazy by nature and will usually reject a new author because
it's too much work and risk to promote them.
Publishers too are usually rather conservative and need a better reason
than "but it's a really good book".
Now in this day and age of online networking, a writer can start forming
useful contacts from the comfort of his own home and maybe drum up enough
interest amongst the right parties to have a potential publisher by the time
he's finished his book.
You
will also need one of two things. Either
a supportive family or patron that knows you'll be a starving artist for a
while before succeeding, or a day job that works with your writing schedule.
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Thanks, Mark!
