‘The Black Prism’ is a story about two brothers who respect and fear and admire and contend with and shape each other. In other words, it’s a story of normal brothers – who happen to be in extraordinary circumstances.
‘The Black Prism’ is a story of emperors and prisoners and magic set in a Mediterranean, 1600-esque world. It’s a fantasy story; it’s fast and fun and inventive.
I believe that it’s an author’s job to cast his imagination into the far spaces. Your life should – and I think it’s inescapable that it will – inform your work. I’m all for using anything that can make your art better, but your intuition should be an equal partner.
I think that fiction is an excellent place for us to struggle with questions of good and evil, and humanity and inhumanity.
It’s easier for me to write certain character types because of my own life experiences, but I find it too artistically limiting to only write about red-headed kids who grew up in small town Montana. That’s really part of the fun of fantasy, I think. Our imagination is basically unlimited. Okay, that’s a terrifying thing about fantasy, too.
My writing has a lot of surprising twists.
Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I’m asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.
Telling a story is like trying to eat grapes with a fork. It’s always trying to get away from you. And if you’re a good author, and you’ve challenged yourself, and you’re telling big stories, there’s more and more that’s trying to get away from you simultaneously.
