Q: Who if anyone has inspired your writing?
Jay was a fiction junkie for most of his life. I know he was inspired by Steven Donaldson, Katherine Kurtz, Robert Jordan, Melanie Rawn and Raymond Feist. He is also one of the only people I’ve known to have read the Silmarillion from start to finish. Although he didn’t read Tolkien as much in his later years, Jay had been through the Lord of the Rings enough times to know even the most obscure characters on a first-name basis. He read hundreds of books; he had one with him all time. An avid sports fan, Jay would watch the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four and all with a book open in his lap. He never minded traffic jams, waits for restaurant tables or long lines at the DMV. Jay was the quintessential escapist reader, and writers of traditional epic fantasy were his inspiration.
For me, writing inspiration comes from a curious place. I started working on The Hickory Staff right after completing my dissertation. An unnecessarily complicated study of school principals and role-related stress, it was a monstrous document with enough bibliography pages to wallpaper my children’s bathroom. All the while I was working on the final draft, I imagined the published manuscript there on the shelves next to the non-fiction works of William Manchester. (Yikes, I’m blushing on the Internet.)
About 100 years ago, I had a chance to travel as a concert soloist. It was a wonderful experience for a young guitarist, but most of the time I was by myself. William Manchester’s works kept me company for years, and I suppose that most days when I sit down to write, I wish I could scribble even a few paragraphs with the skill he would brandish over eight hundred pages. Now that I’m writing fiction every day, I’m still inspired by the sheer volume of his work and the discipline that went into his research. There are thousands of academics out there writing non-fiction, but for me, Manchester made his research read like a novel. His books (and Howard Zinn’s) remain the best history classes I’ve ever had.
Q: Some of the creatures you have invented for the books are quite unique, especially the thing inhabiting Nerak. What did you use as inspiration for these ghoulies?
That’s a tough question to answer without spoiling aspects of Lessek’s Key. However, there is a place near the end of The Hickory Staff where Mark Jenkins is wrestling with deductions about Nerak and Nerak’s abilities. Mark is convinced that most of the demons, monsters and creatures hunting the partisan group have a few key elements in common. He struggles to put his finger on it but by the time the book ends, Mark is certain he’s making headway. He discusses it with Steven and Brynne on the shores of the underground lake, but it continues to bother him throughout his time in Orindale. What those creatures have in common is a critical question that must be answered before the band of freedom fighters can defeat Nerak.
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.