For some reason, there was a moment when Jay and I found ourselves alone in the back of the moving truck. The silence was awkward; so, I took advantage of the opportunity to spot check my hands. Blushing, I confessed that I was a bit overzealous about my fingers and that I often felt like a character from a series of novels I had read back in high school. At that, Jay interrupted. Obviously relieved – we had something to discuss, after all – he said, ‘Thomas Covenant, Steven Donaldson’s hero.’ And so it began; we had known each other for about two hours at the time.
Jay was a fascinating guy. A technology specialist from the early days of the personal computer and corporate network avalanche, Jay was a consultant who seemed to enjoy many things more than he ever enjoyed going to work. One of his most ardent passions was for epic fantasy, science fiction and horror stories. He had read everything and would troll through the bookstore every couple weeks to see if the next volume in any one of eight or nine different series had hit the shelves.
We joked often about writing an epic fantasy series but never got around to it. When he became ill in 2001, it was apparent that we needed to get started. He had gone to scores of doctors and had entertained almost as many diagnoses. Things were not going well. The Hickory Staff emerged as something enjoyable that he could do, something to engage his imagination even as his body was breaking down beneath him. Jay never said as much, but I think he was thrilled to have helped tell this story. In the end, it was definitely about the journey. The fact that the book was picked up for publication was a wonderful, but unexpected windfall.
Q: Why this genre of fantasy, what is it that attracted you to the displaced person(s) idea?
There was never any question that we would write a traditional epic fantasy piece. It was Jay’s favourite genre, and he especially loved the stranger-in-a-strange-land stories he had been reading for decades. I liked the idea of working with malleable characters. At some point early in the process, I came up with the idea of creating people (and places) trapped between who they had been and who they would eventually become. In turn, the town of Idaho Springs, Colorado became a perfect starting block.
Article comments
1 - pam holby
I was wondering if you could give me the e mail of Robert Scott the author of Like Father Like Son This is in regards to the crystal stedman murder. Thank you very much
2 - Margaret
Good review. Good interview. Thank you. I am waiting in impatient anticipation of Lessek's Key and the Larion Senators. The Hickory Staff I read over a week-end; could not put it down.
Thanks for your review.