Ask the Author: Jonathan Mills
Answered Questions (9)
Jonathan Mills
Probably to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea. It's such a fully realised world, magical and yet wholly believable, and the detail Le Guin puts in to it is extraordinary, without overburdening the reader. Her love of the landscape and nature, and of a simple life well lived, makes Earthsea a place I would love to visit. And I can, in my imagination.
Jonathan Mills
Congratulations Allison! And thank you for your kind words. One paperback copy of "The Witch of Glenaster" will be winging its way to you in the next few days.
All the best,
Jonathan.
All the best,
Jonathan.
Jonathan Mills
Hi Debbie,
All copies should now be in the post - apologies for the delay. If it hasn't arrived in the next few days, let me know and I'll send you another copy.
Thanks for your patience,
Jonathan.
All copies should now be in the post - apologies for the delay. If it hasn't arrived in the next few days, let me know and I'll send you another copy.
Thanks for your patience,
Jonathan.
Jonathan Mills
"The Witch of Glenaster" came about because I was trying to write another fantasy novel, one that was way too ambitious and complicated, with multiple plotlines and points of view, until I soon got lost and abandoned it. I turned instead to an idea that had been rattling around my brain for a while, about some children whose home is destroyed by a witch, and who then go on a quest to destroy her. It's a revenge fantasy, essentially. Pretty much the first thing I came up with was the first line - "I was five when I first heard of the witch of Glenaster" - and I went from there, only what I thought would be a relatively simple story to write turned out to be anything but. But it was worth it!
Jonathan Mills
Ideas can strike at any time - when I'm out for a walk, at work, asleep and dreaming - and like any sensible writer I always keep a notebook handy. The hard part is forming those ideas into a workable story - it never quite looks on the page the way you imagined it in your head, but you have to work with your own limitations, just keep working away at it till it starts to resemble what you originally had in mind. Then work at it some more! You never finish a novel, you just stop writing it.
Jonathan Mills
I'm working on the Difficult Second Album, i.e. the sequel to "The Witch of Glenaster". It picks up about a year after the events in the first book, and follows Esther and her companions through new dangers, and a quest to rescue an old friend. It has dragons in it (good and bad ones), necromancers, shapeshifters, a sorceress, and a socking great castle. Plus joy, grief, sorrow, and some up-close-and-personal fighting. It will be out by the end of this year. Promise.
Jonathan Mills
I've read so much advice to aspiring writers - some of it useful, some of it less so, and some of it plain contradictory.
But two things stand out that had a big impact on me -
Kate Mosse's advice that it's better to write at least once a day, even if for only 5 minutes, rather than "binge" and try and write loads at the weekend after doing nothing all week - the habit of writing is important.
And (specifically for aspiring fantasy authors, though it applies to other genres too) the late Terry Pratchett's excellent, concise little essay, "Notes from a Successful Fantasy Author - Keep It Real", in which he offers a handy guide of Do's and Don'ts. One of the Do's is - read. A lot. As he says: "Read with the mindset of a carpenter looking at trees." Wise words.
But two things stand out that had a big impact on me -
Kate Mosse's advice that it's better to write at least once a day, even if for only 5 minutes, rather than "binge" and try and write loads at the weekend after doing nothing all week - the habit of writing is important.
And (specifically for aspiring fantasy authors, though it applies to other genres too) the late Terry Pratchett's excellent, concise little essay, "Notes from a Successful Fantasy Author - Keep It Real", in which he offers a handy guide of Do's and Don'ts. One of the Do's is - read. A lot. As he says: "Read with the mindset of a carpenter looking at trees." Wise words.
Jonathan Mills
I don't think you can just "be" a writer - you have to do it, it's a discipline as much as anything. Ideas are great, that's the fun part - but then you have to somehow turn them into a 70,000-plus-word (readable) novel. But you get to roam free over the landscape of your imagination, and in a utilitarian age like ours, you can't put a value on that. And you get to share the contents of your head with others, which is slightly demented, but a privilege too!
Jonathan Mills
Fortunately I've never experienced serious writer's block, at least not for any extended period of time (though I don't want to tempt fate here...).
I think like most people, I write best when I'm relaxed - a long walk in the country usually does the trick, though sadly my day job currently keeps me yoked to the city, so Hampstead Heath is the closest to countryside I get most of the time.
I think like most people, I write best when I'm relaxed - a long walk in the country usually does the trick, though sadly my day job currently keeps me yoked to the city, so Hampstead Heath is the closest to countryside I get most of the time.
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