Written by Specusphere | 17 December 2007

Fiona McIntosh, one of Australia's most admired fantasy writers and one of several who now have a worldwide following, has just published, through Harper Collins's Voyager imprint, the final book in her third fantasy trilogy. Satima Flavell was delighted to have the opportunity to interview this energetic, popular author.

SF: Congratulations, Fiona, on the release of the last book in your third fantasy trilogy! Percheron is very different from the first two, with its ersatz Middle Eastern setting. Did you enjoy researching it?

FMcI: Easily the best bit! The first two series I wrote were pulled entirely from my imagination and it wasn't hard because growing up in Britain meant that the Medieval UK/Europe setting is in my soul, but I realised from the outset that the sense of place for the Percheron saga was going to be critical to the reading pleasure. The setting took on the role of a character for me and it needed all the same attention paid to it. I am not a lover of world building. I prefer to borrow my landscapes from our own reality and I like to echo history for other aspects of the world. So from the outset I realised that I couldn't just make up Percheron - I needed to see it, taste it, smell it, feel it, hear it. And as Byzantine Constantinople was my role model for the city, I took myself off to Istanbul and got lost for a few days in this stunning part of the world. And even though I could only scratch the surface of the culture, the history, the food, the wares….my story became instantly richer for that background research. I didn't want Percheron to be a copy of Istanbul or anywhere in particular to be honest and so I turned it into a composite of various lands and that's why I travelled to the Gulf, to Greece, and even parts of Tunis, which became models for the subsequent books. All of this travelling and research was enriching, fun, exciting. I hope that comes through in the trilogy.

SF: There has been a bit of a run of fantasy novels with quasi-Oriental settings in the last few years. We've had Lian Hearn's Ortori books, Glenda Larke's The Mirage Makers trilogy; Karen Miller's Godspeaker series and Juliet Marillier's Cybele's Secret - and I’m sure we could think of others. Have you any thoughts on how and why such ideas suddenly spring into the public imagination and are taken up by writers, quite independently of each other?

FMcI: Percheron was written in 2004 and hit bookshelves in 2005 with the release of Odalisque. I think the other stories you’ve mentioned, other than the Japanese influenced Otori, came later and I’d hazard that publishers were probably interested in the more exotic setting as much as the writers. Perhaps seeing other people's settings triggers wonderful landscapes that writers can work with and this is natural and exciting. My reason for writing Percheron was simply that I was given an historical tome about the Ottoman Empire but especially the Topkapi Palace in 2003 by my husband. He thought I’d enjoy reading about its harem. I wanted to start writing the book immediately I was so enthused by the setting but I was busy working on The Quickening and so it had to quietly ferment at the back of my mind until that series was published and I could get busy with the next.

I think also that the genre of fantasy is maturing quickly and is also attracting a breed of new writers, a breed of new readers. With so many new people involved in the genre it's only natural that new ideas will be injected and innovations will occur in subject matter, writing styles, settings, magics and so on.

SF: You now have an international fan base. Do you find that readers in different countries look for different things in their choice of reading? Do they criticise or appreciate different things about your books? If so, are those differences in taste affecting the way you write?

FMcI: Well, let me answer that second part of your question first. I can say with confidence that I’ve only ever written stories that I have in my heart. I simply couldn't write to please a specific geographic audience for instance because I learned a long time ago and in a totally different industry that you cannot please everyone. Everyone's tastes vary- it's what makes the world go round. So my best advice to myself has always been to follow my own instincts. I guess I’m fortunate that my instincts seem to be steering me well at the present time to what the majority of fantasy readers can enjoy, although there is so much on offer in our genre that most are reading across a wide variety of styles, settings, subject matter. And this is what keeps our genre so fresh and exciting.

I feel very fortunate that what originally pleased Australian audiences and went to #1 in this market, seems to be following a similar path in UK for instance. France seems to be loving The Quickening – my first series released over there. I gather the Netherlands fantasy community is also really enjoying The Quickening and are now moving onto Trinity, whereas France has decided to go with Percheron next. Russia, Poland, Czech Republic are really into Trinity. The U.S. is intriguing. Readers over there can find my work a bit brutal but have loved The Quickening. And I could be way off the mark here but Percheron's exotic setting might have been challenging in terms of what the US is going through at present. I think the release of Valisar next year across the US might be back to a more familiar and comfortable world to get lost in but if I was to generalise then I think fantasy readers around the world do want much the same elements from their stories. And they tend to come to different writers for different experiences – from me they know they’ll get a relentless adventure that moves fast, is brutal, with plenty of characters and although not loads of magic, will always have that ethereal quality. They won't come to me for a cerebral read for instance – they’ll find that with someone else. I demand their imagination and especially their emotion rather than their rationality or intelligent thinking.

SF: From reading your descriptions of how you set out to write a book, I can see that you are an "organic" writer, or a "flimmerer" as some people call it. Yet your stories never seem to flounder while your characters find their way. In fact, your plots, despite their complications, give the impression of being tightly constructed, with each cliff-hanger leading to the next. Do you ever have to stop and do a stocktake? Do your plots ever take wrong turnings so that you have to re-write sections?

FMcI: No, I never stop and do a stocktake. I write a set number of words daily with no idea what the content will be and I only stop when I’ve reached what I feel is the natural end to that volume. It's quirky but it just seems to work for me and having produced 10 adult fantasy books this way I’ve learned to simply trust myself. Usually, the first time I read my manuscript is when it's finished, has cured for a little while and I begin the editorial process. I’m always surprised by what I find in it because I often forget what's gone before but as I’m always moving forward, never looking over my shoulder, I do rely a lot on back of brain to take care of business in advance of my march. Does any of that make sense? I try not to rationalise it! I think only once – in Blood and Memory – did my editor feel I was going off on a pathway she felt was distracting. It was not a wrong turn because we used the same event but we just substituted an existing character to live through the same drama. She believed that by my introducing three new characters to care about I was diverting readers from the key protagonists. I understood her thinking and quickly re-wrote the same event from an existing character's perspective and we were fortunate that it worked seamlessly.

I think because I write in my strange organic way that there is no such thing ever as a ‘wrong turning’. I’ve never reversed or hacked a scene out because of that. I just keep writing and whatever corners my characters get backed into or whatever hurdles they suddenly discover, I force them to find their way out or over them.

SF: Your earlier works were occasionally criticised as lacking depth of characterisation. It is apparent that you are now rounding your characters out more and we can even see growth in some of them over the course of a trilogy. This is especially noticeable with Herezah, the main female antagonist of the Percheron books. Have you worked in this rounding and growth deliberately or is it just part of your natural development as a writer?

FMcI: I have not consciously worked on any aspect of my writing because to become too self conscious or analytical would certainly cramp my freedom to write in the manner that I do, but I am aware of myself maturing as a writer. I have had a very public apprenticeship because the first ever manuscript I attempted I was so incredibly lucky to sell to HarperCollins in Australia/NZ. It's a fairytale start to a career but it has the downside that you then have to then learn your craft on the job and everyone gets to witness the learning process. I consider myself blessed to have won that opportunity with my first book so you’ll hear no complaint from me – I’ve been prepared to roll with any criticisms knowing I could only get better. I hope each book I write shows more maturity, more sophistication.

SF: Are there other ways in which you feel your writing has developed in breadth and depth over the years? What other dimensions, of any, would you like to explore? Have you for example, considered challenging yourself by writing a book in the first person or a tight third POV, rather than the qualified omniscient that has characterised your work to date?

FMcI: I write only in the voice that occurs to me at the time. I actually really like the omniscient view – I want to know what everyone's doing. I also believe writers naturally fall into their approach. Some instantly hear the first person. I didn't in my fantasy books. I used to be nervous of first person because I didn't like the notion that I could only show the reader what the POV character was experiencing. However, I no longer feel daunted by it and have already had a book published that is partly written in first person (in a different genre). You see I think at the heart of what I do I’m a storyteller, not a technician. I am all about story and character, so to the style of telling takes a far lesser priority in my mind that how that story and its characters impact emotionally on the reader and indeed on me as the creator. I never get too strung up about style or POV. Story is king!

My writing has certainly matured but continues to improve as my characters take on more dimensions and my stories start to embrace more complexities. The breadth of what I do has exploded. I am now writing adult fantasy, children's fantasy and crime thrillers and yes, the occasional travel article. I will likely expand into new areas in years to come and juggle all of these genres because I enjoy them so much.

SF: You might be seen having something of a penchant for including gods as characters in your books. Does this grow from in interest in religion or is it that you feel their inclusion adds another dimension to the tale and its characters?

FMcI: You know, I just write stories. I think others analyse them far more than I do. It's only recently I’ve realised that I always include at least one bird in every one of my tales. And I’m aware that I use possession in all my stories but that's how it's evolved rather than being deliberate. I hadn't yet caught onto the notion that I have a penchant for gods. But <shrug>, I think you’re right, I do! Gods add a mysterious and powerful dimension to my stories that will allow me to play with characters we don't find in real life. It's one of the reasons that fantasy is so compelling for me – I love that characters in SF can be so much larger than life.

SF: You're writing a new trilogy with the working title of Valisar. That also has a Middle Eastern ring to it. Will it have a similar setting to the Percheron books?

FMcI: Does Valisar have a Middle Eastern ring? How interesting. I think I was actually fiddling around with the word of valise, which is French for suitcase/briefcase <grin>. I got the word Percheron from a carpet manufacturer but everyone accuses me of lifting it from the horse breed! Words arrive in my mind from all sorts of strange places and my Valisar is actually a royal dynasty and the setting is very much medieval Europe with strong Brit overtones. That said, I like to think that all my settings belong in the same world. So this story's landscape is all part of the same world that included Tallinor from Trinity, Morgravia and Briavel from The Quickening and Galinsea from Percheron. Rest assured Valisar is returning readers to my favourite stomping ground of medieval Europe with castles and inns and screams from dungeons!

SF: For all your busyness with writing, you still find time to work in the travel industry with your husband, rear a family and participate in the SpecFic scene by attending conventions and leading a live group for fantasy readers and writers. And here we are with the holiday season looming and you've just returned from a busy publicity tour! Fiona, however do you fit it all in? You must have the most amazing time management skills!

FMcI: I think I just move very quickly! I know I write quickly but then I also eat fast, walk fast, sleep fast, think fast. I’m always hurrying up everyone around me and I’m horribly impatient with life. Not a good way to be let me add. However, it does mean I can cut through my workload faster than most and might explain why I will juggle three new novels in 2008. Wish me luck. Can I also say that I can achieve what I do because I have amazingly supportive people around me. My family is exceptionally patient, tolerant and understanding of the maelstrom that is me but I am surrounded by generous draft readers, a great publisher that understands my quirks, and sons, bless them, who know that I’ll only say something once!

SF: Adult speculative fiction isn't your only genre, is it? You've already had – is it five? – kids' fantasies published and now, writing as Lauren Crow, you've branched out into the popular Britcrime genre. I believe you've written travel articles as well. Is there any end to your versatility? Anything else you'd like to turn your hand to? Any other future plans?

FMcI: Plenty of future plans, none that I can talk in any depth about at the moment. In 2008 I’ll be finishing off a new children's fantasy novel called The Whisperer, writing the next in the crime series and of course producing volume two of Valisar, all for release in 2009. It's Year 12 for us with twins and so the household is going to be under stress. I’m cutting back all travel until the end of 2008 when I head off to Europe to research a new fantasy series but I will also begin research on a new standalone novel and I have endless desires to do everything from be a guest on UK's Top Gear to having a regular radio slot on the ABC! I never run out of goals or desires – that's why I have to keep moving so fast.

(The Specusphere would like to thank Harper Collins for giving us the opportunity to interview such a delightful and dynamic lady. The three Percheron books - Odalique, Emissary and Goddess -are readily available in Australian book stores. )

 

 

 

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