Ask Nicholas Kotar discussion

Nicholas, what gave you the idea to write Raven Son? And how long did it take to write?

Thanks for the question, Claire! The initial idea is an old one, that had been nagging at me for a long time, even before I started to write the novel. It was a question: "what if a world that had gotten completely used to the idea of an absent God was suddenly faced with supernatural forces whose existence couldn't possibly be doubted". It started to write itself as Raven Son proper in Amsterdam airport, on a 13-hour layover on my way to Cairo for a summer-long journey through Egypt, Israel, Russia, and Romania. I was very jetlagged, drank a lot of coffee, and just opened up a blank moleskine. The first page of Raven Son appeared very quickly, and left me a little bit dazed, almost like it wrote itself. Unfortunately, that meant that it took me a long time, years even, to actually let go of that first page (it wasn't very good). As for the actual writing, if you count all the rewrites, revisions, and edits, it took me almost seven years to write this published version of Raven Son.

After this long, but what seems to be a delightful process, are you planning a sequel? Will it be the same main character or on another character in your book? You've created a delightful world and was wondering if you would expand on it.

Yes, there's definitely going to be a sequel. I don't know if you'd quite call the end a cliffhanger, but very nearly so :) There's a lot that still needs to happen, many more places and characters to be explored, before this particular story ends. I also have a sense that there's a lot of potential for this world in other storylines, other directions. It's been with me for a long time, and I think it will continue to be with me for a very long time. And it's a lot of fun, allowing the world to develop on its own, with only gentle nudging from me :)

With your background in choral music, I'm wondering if singing and music in general play an important role in Vassylian culture? Are there other ways in which your musicality has influenced the book?

That's a very interesting question, one which I think I'm going to answer in some detail in a future blog post. The inciting event of the novel has to do with a song, but that's all I'll say for those who haven't read it yet. Vasyllian culture is very musical; the singers of Vasyllia are held in equal regard as its warriors, and Vasyllian warriors are given honors equal to the nobles. I've tried to integrate that in the book's imagery. I was interested to see if language could be not only visual, but auditory as well. Can words give one an impression of a specific sound? I think so, and some of the most important, critical moments in the novel have explicitly vocal imagery. I even had specific music in mind when I described certain scenes. Not only Vasyllia, but the other lands, who are mentioned only in passing in Raven Son, have their own rich, unique musical traditions. But more on that in detail in a future blog post. Stay tuned :)

Thank you so much for replying Nicholas. I'm watching this thread with interest. And I'm excited about your career. I have your book earmarked to read next after I've finished the mania of Philippa Gregory.

It's my pleasure, Claire! I understand about manias. Trying to limit them at the moment :) Hope you enjoy the read! And good luck with the Snare of the Fowler!