| Interview: R.A. Salvatore |
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Page 3 of 5
I’ve always been a fighter. If you tell me I can’t, I’ll die trying to prove you wrong. So, while I gave up the notions of publishing at that time, I never stopped editing and refining that book. A few years later, in 1987, I thought I had it ready to go out again. By this time, I was trying to build a career in finance and was married with two young sons. Back to the library I went, to see the updated market information for publishing. One of the places I sent the book was TSR, who had done the Dragonlance novel line, among others. Fortune was with me; not only did I land the book on the lap of an editor who liked my writing, I happened to land it at a time when TSR was looking for someone to write the second Forgotten Realms’ novel. They rejected my book, as they had no room in the schedule for original works, but they offered me the chance to audition for the second novel. “The Crystal Shard” and my writing career were born.It’s continued to grow and evolve, to places I never imagined. Right now I’m working on the forward for the first Everquest book, by Scott Ciencin, and, well, I’m working on an interview….this interview. Do you find that the worlds that you write tend to "write themselves," or do you write more to a well-planned or highly structured story? Definitely they write themselves. It’s an amazing experience. It’s like the characters have come alive and are sitting on my shoulder talking to me, telling me their tales. I do my homework – when I wrote DemonWars, I spent six months just building the world – and I outline every book, but when I get rolling, the story takes on a life of its own. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Writing a book for me, I expect, is very similar to the experience of reading the book for my readers. I don’t often know exactly what’s coming next, and that makes it more fun. And you know, for me, this entire genre is all about that; it’s all about having fun and getting away from the mundane world for just a little while. In "The Dark Elf Trilogy, Collector's Edition" you mention that Drizzt (who practically invented himself) underwent the transformation from sidekick to primary hero the moment you began to write him in. Did Wulfgar undergo a similar transformation? It seems that earlier in the Icewind Dale Trilogy that he shows more potential for intelligence than he actually ends up having in the later chapters and books. I’m trying to make all the characters change and grow, or regress. I’m trying to make these “real” people, even if they happen to be dwarves or elves. People are not static; I’ve seen formerly liberal-minded people become rabid conservatives, for example. I’ve seen people find themselves in stressful situations and undergo huge changes in their outlook and mannerisms. With Wulfgar, the problems began when his relationship within the group shifted. Here was a guy trying to see the world in a manner similar to Drizzt and Bruenor, his primary adult mentors. However, then he was confronted with a situation where his only examples were the long-standing values and mores of a barbarian people whose traditions were far more narrowly defined. This woman Wulfgar had fallen in love with would not be acceptable to the tribes of Icewind Dale. Wulfgar closed up, and he paid for his mistake. Then he went to the Abyss – and this is where I found a real disconnect to some of my fans. It was an amazing experience to read some of the fan letters coming in after “Spine of the World.” Here was a guy who was put in the clutches of a demon, who was tortured not just physically, but emotionally, for six years. Here was a guy whose entire version of reality was manipulated by illusions designed to foster and then destroy hope itself. I remember one letter asking why Wulfgar was acting like a jerk. After all, the letter argued, “he had all of his hit points back.” I was never really sure whether Wulfgar had died in “The Legacy,” or whether he had just gone away to the Abyss and would return. I always leaned toward the “leave him dead” side of the argument, and it was nothing short of a war between me and TSR that brought me to the other side. I was leaving TSR after “Passage to Dawn.” My contract was up and I had no intention of re-signing after some particularly contentious moments regarding the number of books, the speed with which I would need to write them, and my creative control of the series. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that if I left, they’d find someone else to write Drizzt. Well, there was nothing I could do about that, but I was damned well certain that I wasn’t going to give another writer the hook of bringing back Wulfgar, which I knew TSR wanted. That would have guaranteed a New York Times Bestseller; I wasn’t going to hand that over. So I brought him back, and was ambivalent about it, but not really too concerned. I was certain that “Passage to Dawn” would be the last Drizzt book of mine, after all. Then, surprise, Wizards of the Coast bought out TSR and coaxed me back into the fold. So I found myself having to follow the course of Wulfgar’s emotional resurrection. I’ve come to appreciate him again by watching that journey; he’s come full circle and is stronger than ever. I've read many accounts of authors totally avoiding discussion and speculation of their writing on the internet. What makes you different in deciding to surf websites that contain fans discussing your work? Masochism? Great question, but not really accurate. I can almost guarantee that there are many lurking authors; it’s like a car accident. You keep telling yourself not to look, because if 99 people say wonderful things and 1 person says something horrible, guess what you remember? Guess what goes to bed with you at night? I’ll tell you flat-out that I know many, many authors, and I don’t know a single “happy” author. Also, there are authors and publicists using the Internet to manipulate opinion, both positively for a work and negatively against the competition. I don’t do this and can’t stomach it, honestly. I never have looked upon other authors as “competition.” Never once. Sure, I get jealous of J.K. Rowling! But I thank her from the bottom of my heart for teaching millions of kids that it’s okay to read escapist, fantasy fiction. For me, exploring the new world of the Internet was a way to take ownership of it. Understanding the mentality of on-line communication was a way to get me out of a depression that was being fed by that car-wreck mentality. In 1999, right as “Vector Prime,” the controversial Chewbacca-killing Star Wars’ book, came out, I lost my brother, my best friend, to cancer. I used the Internet to get away from the pain of the real world, but in there, given the tumult around “Vector Prime,” I found little solace. There were days – many days – where I thought I’d never be able to write again. I didn’t understand the context of a message board, and so I let things get to me that really shouldn’t have bothered me in the least. When I finally took emotional ownership of all of that, I began to smile about my career again. Also, I enjoy the interaction on the web. It’s as simple as that. Writing is an incredibly lonely job. When people used to tell me that they wanted to be a writer, I would say, “great!” Now I ask, “For God’s sake, why?” Okay, I’m exaggerating, but the truth is that the Internet can be a powerful tool, both positive and negative, to a writer’s career. Not so much in sales; if sales were any indication, then all of the most attacked writers in the genre would not be the top-selling authors in the genre. Perception is important, however, since many editors frequent the sites, as well. I know of one book series that got cancelled in no small part because of misinformation that was spread about it before the books were even turned in to the editors. But none of that really answers the question, so much as frames the issue. I didn’t and don’t go to Internet for any business purposes. The book sales for me by this point are way beyond any influence I might have, positively, or others might have, negatively. If I were a beginning author, either with a small press or with print on demand, I certainly would be aggressively frequenting sites. As it is, I don’t even like to talk about my books on the Internet, unless it’s in response to specific questions asked of me. The few Internet discussions I join as R.A. Salvatore (I fight on a political board under a screen name) are about the perceptions of the business. I do that mostly because I believe that the fantasy business is in terrible trouble right now, for several reasons, not the least of which being the almost Democrat vs. Republican mentality of readers on the Internet. It’s not enough to trumpet someone you like; you have to destroy authors you don’t like, and even worse, you have to denigrate any readers who dare to post a positive remark about said authors as “fanboyz” or the like. What brought me to Terry Brooks’ site was a request by a couple of regulars on my own site that I chime in on an essay written by China Mieville. I read it and found it somewhat offensive – though nothing terribly new. I’ve been in this business for seventeen years now, and for all that time, I’ve heard about new, maverick fantasy writers who will “save” the genre from the likes of “Tolkienesque” and irrelevant tripe. I find it funny that the same bashed authors back then continue to roll along merrily on their way, telling stories, selling books and answering bags of mail from satisfied readers. So I put my .02 in, and made an offhand comment about the WotMania Quickpolls in the retort, which I wrote off the top of my head in about fifteen minutes. That comment led to some confusion, so I came over to clarify my position – and found myself in a flame war with one of your regulars. Pretty funny and ironic, actually, when I step back and think about it. |
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