Robert’s Comments (group member since Aug 31, 2009)

Robert’s comments from the Q&A with Lorina Stephens group.

That's very reassuring. But I would really like to see a larger audience for both your novels. Is there anything readers can do to help spread the word, other than just old fashioned word of mouth?

Oh oh! Is the current recession a similar problem for you?

Do you think the recession is having an impact on book sales, or does that only apply to book sales in airports and drug stores -- i.e., the impulse buyers? My theory is that the type of reader likely to be attracted to your novels is the type of reader for whom books are not a luxury, but a necessity like food and shelter.( In my family we currently have a moratorium on buying anything in order to cut back -- but it doesn't apply to books. Well, I've had to cut back on the limited editions, but that's a different category.) But I could see that if people had less disposable income, they might not be seeking out new books on line quite as much as before, which would clearly slow down the sales of your books and the growth of your press. So what's it been like?

"Is it the environment? If so, examine how the writer made real that environment." Well, I have certainly been examining the heck out of how you manage to pack in so much description without actually having pages of description -- I can't remember the last time I have seen the setting so integrated into the action, or so few words providing such a detailed world. It's mind boggling to me how you manage to make the setting so real to the reader without any digressions.

Do you rewrite/polish as you go, or do you let a story sit for awhile between re-writes so you can come to it with fresh eyes? How many rewrites do you usually do?

But where did you learn how to write like that? Any English degrees or journalism classes we should know about? Some inspiring high school teacher? Or is it just from being an intense reader?

And as an aspiring writer myself, I have to ask -- have you ever read any of those "how to write your novel" type books? Or workshops? Useful or a waste of time?

Interesting list, and not necessarily what I would have expected.

I get about the picky response to historical movies, because it's pretty obvious that you research the heck out of your books. One of the things that drew me into your first novel, Shadow Song, was the completely detailed historical setting -- it was fascinating to me how you were able to bring the period alive for the reader and really make them experience being there -- the level of detail on every level, from social mores to milling technology to transportation to being in the bush was exquisite without ever getting in the way of the story. Similarly, even though the setting in From Mountains of Ice is imaginary, it's also obviously very well researched and consistent within a Italian Renaissance framework. How much time do you invest in research for each book, and how much is just your general knowledge of these periods? (I take it that you and Gary are something of experts on topics such as cooperage -- you used to give demos for museums and such, riight?

Yes, I love Wolf's stories too, and see her as another archetypal Canadian author -- in a good way!

(And my daughter's name is Tigana, so I'd have to agree on Kay. I guess I should get around to reading some Hardy!)

So what about media? Watch any TV shows regularly? Any memorable movies? Or are your mostly a reader?

So who then are the big influences on your writing? Who do you read? Mostly Canlit? Mostly Fantasy? or do you read a variety across genres?

One of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much. I saw your depiction of the protagonist(s) as very Canadian; and there were a number of very Canadian themes that really resonated with me. The setting is the Italian Renaissance, for example, but I really identified with a country of artisans overrun by its larger militaristic neighbour: the issues of national identity and betrayal by one's own leadership, the depiction of a liberal from the imperial power who feels the takeover is a mistake -- so many parallels with contemporary politics that made the whole book feel 'relevant' and powerfully evocative, without any of that being 'in your face' the way it would be in a contemporary novel. Similarly Sylvio's character and the solution he comes up with are very Canadian -- I love that the climax of the book is a proposal for a committee on parilmentary reform! How Canadian! (How wonderful!)
Can I ask, how conscious were you of writing a Canadian novel, and how much is it just a matter that as a product of Canadian culture, your writing (if it is to be authentic) cannot help but reflect that culture? Or do you not buy any of that?

Speaking of his unwillingness to take immediate action... I kept thinking how we're taught in school that Hamlet's hesitation/indecision over whether to take action to avenge his father the king is Hamlet's 'fatal flaw'. Here, on the other hand, we have a similarly honourable individual hesitating to avenge a regicide he similarly suspects, tipped off like Hamlet by ghosts, but here, delay and hesitation turns out to have been the right thing to do. I'm guessing you didn't set out with that parallel in mind or to refute Hamlet, but it's interesting how you've set up a hero who has to resist the easy way, the way to quick action urged on him by everyone, assumed by everyone to be the only course open to resolve the nation's difficulties. You painted a hero in which it takes more courage to do nothing than to do what is expected. And in the end he chooses a path that is more difficult, more personally demanding of him, but which ensures the integrity of his nation and its culture,

Patrick Stewart would be good. Though it would be hard not to think of STNG.

So what's the significance of the title?

Hmm, well how about you franchise it out to other writers? I could see a lot of fan fiction coming out of this novel, because one's fingers just itch to type those characters into new situations....I must say, one sure sign that a book is exceptional is not just that desire for more, but the sense that the characters have more to do and say -- have lives that started before the book in front of us and that their story/lives continue on even after we close the book.

And it's not just the complex and compelling characters. You've also created a world with real depth here. One of the things that struck me about the world that Sylvio moves through is the sense that it extends beyond the immediate description of where your characters happen to be standing. I always had the sense that there was a whole city/countryside full of life just off stage. There's one scene, for example, when Sylvio is listening carefully for the voices of the dead he thinks maybe he can hear, but instead hears the voices from the market next door, and someone handling a horse, and so on, so we have this whole panoramic description of everything within a couple of blocks radius, even though its all off stage and out of Sylvio's sight. So there is a 'depth of field' here that I don't remember encountering before in a fantasy novel.

Oh, Russell Crowe! That makes better sense!

I agree that Judi Dench isn't quite right, particularly if one is thinking of the James Bond movies -- I've seen her in some British shows where she would have been closer. But it's hard to think of appropriate older actresses because -- how many older actresses are there available? Hollywood figures women are over the hill at 35, and the number of roles for older women is vanishingly small.

That's one of the reasons I enjoyed From Mountains of Ice so much...that there were so many interesting older characters. Usually in fantasy, the only older characters are stereotypical doddering wizard mentors or cackling crones. It was so refreshing to have protagonists over 25! Indeed, the Adonis figure in your novel is the bad guy! Its great.

Of course the character of Passerapina is also one of the most interesting children to pop up in a long time -- she's tons of fun! I wish we could have seen more of her in the novel.

Indeed, the cast of From Mountains of Ice is so wonderful, I'd love to see more of them. I know you have written elsewhere your distain for the neverendingFantasySereies or publishers' insistence on everything being a trilogy, but have you considered doing a sequel?

Ciaran Hinds, certainly. But Craig Russell the famous Canadian female impersonator?! Apparently there was a whole subtext there I missed!

And isn't Liam Neeson way too young for Aldo? and Ilaria Borrelli, too young for Aletta? I was thinking Judi Dench for Aletta.

But John Rhys-Davies is who I had for Portelli too! That's definitely who I saw when reading the novel.

What about Violina's butler?

Okay, change of pace. Let me ask, if they were making a movie based on From Mountains of Ice, who would you cast for the lead characters. (I'm thinking Charlton Heston for Sylvio, but he's no longer available....)

I certainly empathized with the protagonist, Sylvio. It was refreshing to read a fantasy novel with an older, more thoughtful hero. And I particularly liked his relationship with his wife. So often in fantasy novels, the romance focuses on the young hero/heroine completing the quest/slaying the dragon, and winning the prince/princess. At best, after their first kiss, the scene fades to "happily ever after." It was great to get a novel in which the protagonist and his wife have been married for 30 years... to see a portrayal of romance and passion over the long term. It made me feel like I was finally reading a fantasy intended for adults.

Was developing this relationship necessary to the development of your central theme about honor -- e.g., forcing Sylvio to choose between keeping friends and family safe or doing the 'right thing' and/or having his wife as an alternative view point character when Sylvio is out of the picture there for a bit -- or is it just a bonus piece of backstory/character development?

Where did the complex characters come from in this novel? Did you model the characters on people you know, or are they entirely from your own imagination?

Let me rephrase the questions slightly -- given your expressed intent to address issues of male honour that would be 'relevant to modern readers', why a fantasy novel set in an imaginary, historical world? Why not the same novel set on Bay Street or government, or some other contemporary setting?

Okay, given that you started with the themes, why did you choose an Italian Renaissance setting?

Your first novel, Shadow Song, was based at least in part on an actual historical event. Your current novel, From Mountains of Ice takes place in a fictional setting -- so what was the initial stimulus for that novel?

So, if you're intrigued by people, why not write straightforward contemporary novels? What draws you to fantasy?