Interview With Mark James,
(author of The Stoneholding)(added
May 18, 2005)
» Buy
the Book
The interview below may be reprinted
with links and photos and with credit below & permission.
Please email Wendy at Dreamish.com
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] I
have a love for wonderful stories. The most loved stories are
written by JRR Tolkien. The Stoneholding is a new book
within my collection. I enjoyed the story so much that I created
a website for it. www.thelostharp.com
was created to promote, share updated news, and spread the love
of the story.
I have also been in touch with the author of the book. I thought
you would like to read an interview I did for The Stoneholding...
An interview with Mark James, author of The Stoneholding,
the first book of "The Talamadh", an epic fantasy series
that takes its name from the ancient, legendary harp that stands
at the center of this fascinating adventure story.
But first a short introduction to the two guys
who write together as Mark James.
The Stoneholding is the result of a unique
collaboration between Mark Sebanc and James G. Anderson. While
the origins of the novel lie in a story crafted by Mark over several
years, the book itself in its final polished form owes its existence
to their painstaking work together as a team, the way they have
been able to interweave the many rich facets of the story, each
of them contributing from his particular strength. The end product
is a real testimony to their friendship and the creative flowering
that is possible in a spirit of cooperation.
Mark has worked as an editor and translator,
with several books to his credit. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Classics
from the University of Toronto. A teacher, musician, and poet, Jim
earned both Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Franciscan
University of Steubenville. Mark and Jim live with their families
in the Upper Ottawa Valley of Ontario, Canada.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com]
Mark, what inspired you to write the
story of The Talamadh?
[Mark Sebanc] When I encountered Tolkien's Lord
of the Rings as a teenager, I was bowled over by the richness
and depth of the work, the way he recreated a legendary pre-industrial
world. He touched all the chords of nostalgic longing and breathtaking
wonder. Reading him was an incomparable experience. I think in the
back of my mind even then I hoped that some day I might follow in
his footsteps as a writer and sub-creator. You know, some of us
have that bug, the writer's bug. In the same way Tolkien himself
wanted to recapture some of the essence and spirit of the medieval
writers he admired so much as a professional scholar. And this was
not something he did in a spirit of slavish imitation. He brought
his own singular vision and genius to the enterprise. Similarly,
Tolkien opened up the possibility for me to explore the unique aspects
of my own creativity.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Mark,
How long has it taken to create the story?
[Mark Sebanc] Forever, it seems. I spent years
just reading voraciously, building up a library, filing away all
kinds of tidbits of information, the flotsam and jetsam of knowledge,
thinking it might be useful when the time came to bring my world
into being. In terms of actually writing the thing, the first rough
draft took shape about sixteen years ago. I emphasize the word,
rough. Also, it wasn't something I was doing full-time. I had a
young and growing family. I was a city boy getting used to the country.
And I had a day job. The good side, though, is that this long process
of creative ferment has added, I think, to the depth and texture
of the work. Like well-aged wine. It has more body than it might
otherwise have had.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Jim,
how did you become involved in co-authoring The Stoneholding,
the first book of The Talamadh?
[Jim Anderson] Mark originally
invited me to look over his manuscript with an eye to offering some
editorial suggestion. He gave me the first two chapters and it was
with no small amount of trepidation that I turned my hand to the
task. It's quite the thing for an author to invite criticism of
his work; I was deeply honoured to be so trusted by him. In any
case, I set to work on the first two chapters, holding nothing back,
and when we sat down and looked at it together, Mark was enthusiastically
approving of my suggestions. He encouraged me to carry on editing
the work. As we continued to work closely together, we began to
re-examine much of the text – revising, and often rewriting
sections – clarifying the backstory, the setting, characterization
and style. Apart from reworking the text itself, we re-visioned
the cosmology behind the story – the "history" of
the story-world is very involved and rich; I feel it to be one of
the key elements that provides a depth to the work as a whole. Mark
continued to invite me further and further into the creative process
of the work itself and soon it became evident that our work was
collaborative. It is a good fit, we work well together, and the
personal talents, strengths, interests and gifts we each bring to
the working relationship are extraordinarily complementary. It seems
we make a good team. After two extensive revisions of the manuscript,
Mark asked me to consider working with him on the subsequent books
in the trilogy. It was at this time that Mark suggested "Mark
James" as a possible penname for the books of "The Talamadh."
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Jim,
What types of modifications did you bring to the story?
[Jim Anderson] Apart
from the work already mentioned? I think the most important "modification"
of the original story was a re-orientation of the whole work.
Fantasy tends, by nature, to be somewhat imitative, or perhaps
I should say, derivative; that is, as with any genre-fiction,
works of fantasy can appear "cut from the same cloth"
as that which has come before. Needless to say, a comparison of
any piece of epic fantasy to Tolkien's work is one that most people
will make. I think this was one of the biggest jobs that faced
us in the reworking of the text, to take several large steps away
from Tolkien to establish the work as unique in itself while remaining
in the tradition of the literary epic established by Tolkien.
I would contend that we
push the boundaries of the 'fantasy' genre. While The Stoneholding
draws on Celtic and Norse tradition (also Canadian, especially in
the description of landscape – we both, Mark and I, deeply
love the rugged wilderness of the Canadian Shield on the edge of
which we live), it is not mythic per se. We have deliberately tried
to move away from the sense of myth with its allegorical connotations.
Rather, we have striven for a sense of the legendary, for while
a myth-world tends to be by nature removed and disconnected from
our own experience, a legend-world has an immediacy and connection
to our understanding of the world in which we live. Myth speaks
of what is imagined at a more remote and intangible distance, at
a greater remove from the reader; whereas legend captures a sense
of the historical, it's a might-have-happened that yet permits imaginative
embellishment. King Arthur, for example. Did he exist? He may well
have. He and the knights of the round table, and, by extension,
their feats and adventures, are the stuff of legend and as such
are in a sense more "real" to us than mythical characters
and events are. Somehow Arthur, Launcelot, Kay, Bedevere, Gawaine,
and crew – even Merlin – seem a part of our historical
patrimony. Even though they are said to have fought dragons, giants
and headless foemen, I am not wont to question their having existed.
Thus are the figures of legend figures with whom I can more readily
identify than those creatures of myth. It is the sense of immediacy
to our understanding of reality that we've tried to capture in fashioning
the world and peoples of Ahn Norvys, the world in which our story
takes place – after legend rather than myth. It may seem that
it is splitting hairs to make the distinction between myth and legend;
however, I think is is an important distinction as we attempt to
make the story more present to the reader. In doing so we perhaps
bend the rules of what might properly be understood as fantasy,
but I prefer to look at it as making the work unique.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Was
the Talamadh meant to be a trilogy from the beginning? Do you have
an idea of how long before the next two books are finished?
[Mark Sebanc] Yes, it was meant to be a trilogy
from the beginning, but only in the sense that I figured I would
need the space and breadth of at least three books to build and
elaborate my alternative world. And three seemed like a good number,
if you use Tolkien as a benchmark, and he's not a bad benchmark.
But even in his case the three books of Lord of the Rings
were the result of an arbitrary decision by his publisher Unwin.
Lord of the Rings was originally conceived by Tolkien
as one book, but it was much too long and too big to be published
in one fell swoop.
As for the next two books, Jim and I have extensive,
indeed exhaustive, outlines. We've begun work on The Hidden
Kingdom, the second book of the trilogy, and have a really
good idea where the whole thing is headed. All things being equal,
we hope to have it done sometime in 2006, with the third following
the year thereafter.
[Jim Anderson] Yes, but it
really depends upon the success of this book and how soon we can
move our attentions from promoting The Stoneholding to
writing the next work. Right now it's a bit of a juggling act! But
life's like that, eh?
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] The
cover art for "The Stoneholding" is done by Ted
Nasmith, JRR Tolkien Illustrator. How did he become involved
in doing the painting? Will he be doing the cover art for the next
two books as well?
[Mark Sebanc] Ted has been my good friend and supporter
for well-nigh a decade now. It was my deep admiration for his
work, and one painting in particular – "Rivendell"
– that first brought us together. I thought that Ted captured
the essence of Tolkien better than any other illustrator I had
seen. In this I'm not alone. Apparently Christopher Tolkien, JRR's
son and the executor of his estate, is of the same mind. Ted is
the only artist whom the estate has allowed to illustrate The
Silmarillion.
Through me Ted was introduced to Jim several years
ago. Anyway, when we were ready to publish The Stoneholding
ourselves, Ted offered to illustrate the cover in token of our
friendship. What a splendid job he did! Everyone remarks on the
cover. As you can imagine, being a world-renowned Tolkien illustrator,
he's extremely busy and much sought after. I do hope nonetheless
that we will be able to have him do the next two covers.
[Jim Anderson] I hope
that readers find that The Stoneholding is a book that
can truely be judged by its cover! Ted's artwork is wonderful, but
even more remarkable – and deeply appreciated – is his
constant and unfailing support of the work itself, his belief in
it. It's been a rare pleasure for me to get to know and work with
Ted.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Has
JRR Tolkien or any other fantasy story influenced the writing
of The Talamadh trilogy?
[Mark Sebanc] There was Tolkien,
of course, as I've already mentioned. Also I've been influenced
by older writers of fantastic adventure like Rider Haggard, who
wrote the classic King Solomon's Mines and many other great books.
Also Richard Adams. His Watership Down is a stunningly evocative
and brilliantly crafted novel, sometimes mentioned in the same
breath as Lord of the Rings.
[Jim Anderson] Naturally,
Tolkien is a great influence, we all walk trails blazed by pioneers,
but apart from Tolkien, the only fantasy I've ever read was Conan
the Barbarian when I was a teenager. My tastes always tended
toward a different type of speculative fiction, namely early science
fiction, often British, stuff by the likes of Jules Verne, John
Wyndham, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle and C. S. Lewis and the
like – I thought Lewis' "Space Trilogy" was brilliant.
I just recently re-read A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter
M. Miller, enjoying it again. In somewhat the same strain are the
dystopian works like 1984 and Brave New World. And I'm
a fan of John le Carre – good spy novels!
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] The
Stoneholding features a few maps as well as songs. Was it
easy to imagine the journey and tunes for the songs? Would the
music be of a Celtic nature? Do your personal talents play a role?
[Mark Sebanc] The maps were absolutely necessary
in keeping the plot and action of the novel coherent. They were
fun to do as well, although Jim carried most of the burden here.
He's got superb draftsman's skills. Since he's a poet and musician
too, the lyrics of the songs were mostly his doing apart from
a couple traditional English folk dittys which we adapted to fit
the story. We didn't really dwell on the tunes. I wouldn't say
the feel of the lyrics or music is necessarily Celtic. Jim's tastes
are quite wide and eclectic.
[Jim
Anderson] Yeah, I was thinking of a Bob Dylan / Polka feel for
the "Lay of Investiture" . . . No, really, the tunes
never really occurred to me. If we were to set the verse to music,
I think I'd be inclined to avoid an overtly Celtic flavour to
the tunes as I'm afraid that the whole thing might seem a bit
hackneyed. I would imagine them to have more the feel of the medieval
English ballad. No doubt I'll try setting a couple to music at
some point; however, I think working on the next book is probably
of more pressing urgency at this time. But, you never can tell,
can you? . . . so keep an ear out for the soundtrack!
The maps were great fun
to work on. The maps mentioned in the story itself were drawn by
scribes, so I drew the maps for the book in pen and ink in an attempt
to capture something of the feel of the story and remain true to
its spirit. I found as I read and re-read the manuscript I was doodling
maps on various bits and scraps of paper just to keep straight the
story in my mind, these eventually worked into the maps you see
in the book. I have a couple other maps partially done for the next
book.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Who
is your favourite character? Why?
[Mark Sebanc] Hard question. If I had to choose
a character, it would probably be Wilum. He's weathered more than
his share of storms, but he stays the course. He's aspired to
be wise and hasn't always been understood by his own people. In
the end he manages to achieve a kind of ripe serenity.
[Jim Anderson] My favourite?
I could probably better tell you my least favourite! I've never
really thought about it. Mark and I were once asked which of the
characters most reminded us of ourselves. I suppose I find the characters
in the story to be more like friends to me – people I know,
and, like friends, sometimes I see things of myself in them, and
sometimes I see things I don't like in them. They're characters
– but aren't we all! You spend alot of time with them through
the creative process of writing a book. It was strange, but when
the writing and revising was finished, and the manuscript had remained
closed for a couple weeks, I found I actually missed the characters,
missed spending time with them, like I would miss absent friends.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Why
did you decide to self publish The Stoneholding?
[Mark Sebanc] Well, we had a top-flight
agent and we came so very close to selling the book to one of
the biggest publishers in New York. In the end they passed, arguing
that they didn't know how to slot it, whether it should be classified
as Adult or Young Adult. At the same time Jim and I were honing
and revising the work, bringing it to an ever higher level artistically.
We could have stayed with an agent and had another go at selling
it in New York, but then decided we wanted to get the work out
there in the marketplace, to have the thing judged by actual readers,
especially now that the internet and modern digital technology
have made it possible to bypass the big players.
Recently I read part of an interview with mega-bestselling
author Dean Koontz that appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
He says:
"I would say the biggest problem is underestimating
the reading audience. I've always written cross-genre books: a
suspense novel with a love story inside and some comedy. But publishers
resisted this strenuously. Everything has to be labeled, and sold
that way. If you're writing a series, there is pressure to keep
things narrow and not break out. Books like Herman Wouk's "The
Winds of War" and James Clavell's "Shogun" have
largely disappeared from the bestseller list. The common wisdom
is that readers don't have the patience they once did. But underestimating
the reading public is a very big mistake. If there was more trust
in the public, it would pay off. An editor once told me that if
I didn't keep my vocabulary to 500 words I'd never make the best-seller
list."
Koontz also endorses the internet as an important
tool, seeing it as "a low-cost way of generating a connection
between writers and their audience."
His words seem like a striking confirmation
of our decision to self-publish.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Is
it difficult to self publish a book? What tools did you use to
get the book ready for publishing?
[Mark Sebanc] No, it's not that difficult
to self publish a book these days. There's so much software and
resources out there that weren't available a generation ago. Things
that have evened out the playing field.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Have
you found it easy or difficult to market the book? Do you have
outside help?
[Mark Sebanc] Marketing
remains a huge hurdle despite the marvellous advantages of the
internet. It's very labour intensive and very taxing, especially
as we both have day jobs. But it's great to get outside help from
people like you, Wendy. You've been a tremendous source of support
and encouragement and marketing expertise, helping to spread the
word about The Stoneholding on the web.
[Jim Anderson] Promoting
the book has been by far the most difficult task so far. It doesn't
help that neither Mark nor I are particularly skilled in that aspect
of the whole project. However, the enthusiasm of readers like yourself,
as Mark says, is a great boon. When someone gets excited by the
project, it's contagious, and we find ourselves more enthusiastic
about the leg work. We've thought of the marketing like rolling
a large boulder – it takes a fair amount of rocking the thing
back and forth to build up the momentum to get it moving, but when
it does . . . well, then! I feel like we're starting to get to that
moment of movement. Certainly the internet exposure has been very
beneficial, but word of mouth is far and away still the best advertising
and support we could get for the book.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] What
would it take to get a big publisher interested in the book?
[Mark Sebanc] Selling a large number of
copies on our own would definitely grab their attention. Seeing
the enthusiasm and endorsements of our growing fan base might
also sway them.
[Jim Anderson]
Yeah, the boulder rolling down the hillside might attract
some attention . . . anyone want to lend a hand pushing?
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Who
would love reading The Stoneholding? Adults? Children?
[Jim Anderson] We've
had positive feedback from all age groups. My twelve year old
niece read the manuscript and loved it as did my wife's fifty-something
uncle. It's the kind of story that naturally has broad appeal.
It is highly unfortunate, however, that so many folks in the business
try to catagorize novels which will only tend to limit and narrow
a reader base. I suppose that's the trouble with a marketing strategy
– what's the target demographic? It would be good to break
away from that mindset; much could be gained for both readers
and writers. So far as this book is concerned, The Stoneholding
has been shown to have broad appeal.
[Mark Sebanc] As is the case
with Lord of the Rings or Watership Down or the
Harry Potter books, our audience covers the whole spectrum of ages
and intellectual background. We have teenagers and young adults
who love The Stoneholding. We have just as many adult fans.
Just recently, for example, we received a rave review and endorsement
frrom Guy Trudel, who is a professor of medieval English at the
University of Toronto, with a doctorate from Oxford. So we have
a very broad reader base. Echoing Dean Koontz, I think it's a matter
of not underestimating your reading public, particularly young adults,
who, in my experience, enjoy the challenge of a work that stretches
them. There's altogether too much rigid pigeon-holing in our culture.
The realm of books is no exception.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Would
you like to see the story made into a movie or video game?
[Mark Sebanc] That would
be great. Any movie people or game developers out there who are
reading this?
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Do
you have any memorable moments that you would like to share since
you started this journey together?
[Mark Sebanc] For my part,
there are many memorable moments. So often when Jim and I would
sit down to discuss plot or the shape of some passage or other
in the book, there would be eureka moments, moments of stunning
illumination, leading to outbursts of creative energy that were
much more than the sum of our individual parts, yielding solutions
that were more vibrant and satisfying than anything we might have
devised on our own without the benefit of collaboration. As far
as I'm concerned, working together sure goes a long way towards
eliminating that perennial problem of the solitary scribbler:
writer's block.
[Jim
Anderson] Indeed, the forge-sparks of creativity have been incredible,
those moments of raw excitement in the work together. But I think
one of the best moments was when someone – and I can't even
remember who it was now – but someone casually said "Briacoil"
to us as if it were an everyday word to them. You see, "briacoil"
is a made-up word in the story, it's a word of friendly greeting
like "Hi" or "How're you doin'?" and it came
so naturally out of this person's mouth . . . At that moment I knew
that the story had stuck. It worked! Someone had connected with
it and taken the story on as their own. That was a great moment.
[Wendy
at Dreamish.com] Thanks
Mark and Jim. I have really enjoyed The Stoneholding
and sharing information about it with our readers at Dreamish.com.
[Jim Anderson]
You're welcome, Wendy, and thank you!
[Mark Sebanc] Before we sign
off, Jim and I would encourage your readers to learn more about
our work by visiting our website: www.stoneharp.com.
We would also welcome their comments and suggestions.
» Buy
the Book
This interview may be
reprinted with links and photos and with credit below & permission.
Please email Wendy at Dreamish.com
Wendy Shepherd is the owner and creator of a multitude of
websites on the internet since 1997 . She also has a love for
wonderful stories. The most loved stories are written by JRR Tolkien.
The Stoneholding is a new book within her collection
and www.thelostharp.com
was created to promote, share updated news, and spread the love
of the story.
Wendy's own testimonial for The Stoneholding : I
thought “The Stoneholding” was exceptional!
It quenched my thirst for good literature. It is a creative new
wondrous tale that I found hard to put down. I am happy to add
it to my treasured collection of books that include JRR Tolkien’s
writings. I look forward to reading the next two books that continue
the quest. In the meantime, I will be re-reading “The
Stoneholding” I am definitely a fan!
To learn more about Wendy Shepherd, please visit the website at
www.studiomatrix.com
.
________________________
Submit
Dream
Copyright © 2003 - 2007 http://www.dreamish.com - Privacy Policy