Q: You write epic fantasy. What got you interested in sword-and-sorcery stuff?
A: As a kid, I loved anything about King Arthur, and I read every book I could find about Arthur, Merlin, Morgan LaFey, and the Round Table. I know all the words to every song from Camelot! That got me interested in real history, and I read a lot about kings, castles, wars and then of course, magic. Then I got into reading mythology and folklore, and when you put it all together, I started thinking up stories of my own!
Q: Please tell us about your other books and where to find them.
A: The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven and Dark Lady’s Chosen make up my Chronicles of the Necromancer series. The Sworn and The Dread are books one and two of my Fallen Kings Cycle, which continues the characters and setting from the first four books. Ice Forged, and in 2014, Reign of Ash, are the first two books in my Ascendant Kingdoms Saga series, which is an entirely different fantasy world from my first books. All of these titles are available wherever books are sold as paperbacks, ebook and audiobook.
Every month I bring out a new short story on Kindle, Kobo and Nook for just .99. It’s a cheap thrill, and a good way to get to know my writing if you haven’t read one of my books. In the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, so far we’ve got Raiders’ Curse, Caves of the Dead, Storm Surge, and Bounty Hunter. In my Deadly Curiosities Adventures, so far the titles include Vanities, Wild Hunt, Steer a Pale Course. You can find these online wherever ebooks for Kindle, Kobo and Nook are sold.
Q: Ice Forged started a new series for you, with a different world and all-new characters from what you’ve written before. What made you decide to write a different series instead of continuing with your other characters?
A: I still have plans to write more stories in the Chronicles world, but I had reached a good place to take a break and do something different for a while. There’s a natural break in the plot line after The Dread that makes a logical resting point. So while my characters are taking a much-deserved vacation, I had the opportunity to write some new stories that had been banging around in my head.
Q: You’ve also begun to bring out short stories on ebook. How did that happen?
A: I started doing short stories for anthologies, and discovered that it was fun. Since my Chronicles world is on hiatus for now, I decided to bring out some of Jonmarc Vahanian’s back-story, since he’s a character everyone wants to know more about. I created my Deadly Curiosities world for my anthology stories, and enjoyed writing about that world so much I decided to create more stories on my own. I’ve found that switching up which world I’m writing about keeps me sharp and it’s like a mini-vacation. I’m having a lot of fun!
Q: What’s the best part about being a writer?
A: For me, there are two “best” parts—getting to tell the stories and getting to meet readers. Writing is a lot of fun for me, even though it is a lot of work. It doesn’t feel like work! It’s so exciting to share the stories that bounce around in my head and make them real to other people. Then meeting other people who love to read is also wonderful. Book people have so much in common, even if we don’t always agree on our favorites, we do agree that books are fantastic!
Gail Z. Martin is the author of Ice Forged in her new The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), plus The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven & Dark Lady’s Chosen ) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn and The Dread). She is also the author of two series on ebook short stories: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures and the Deadly Curiosities Series. Find her online at www.AscendantKingdoms.com.