SFX Magazine interview

Hey gang! SFX Magazine, the UK's biggest sci-fi/fantasy mag, did an interview with me a few months ago, and they'll be sharing that interview with its readers in their next issue. They actually shared a teaser in the most recent issue, but the full interview is coming out next month. In case you don't buy the mag (but you follow my blog), I thought I'd share that Q&A with you now!

SFX Magazine: "Tell us about your protagonist. What’s their story?"
Annev has a complicated life. He spends half his days training at the Academy to become an Avatar of Judgement (a warrior-thief that steals magic artifacts), but a dodgy old priest is also trying to teach him to use magic. To make matters worse, he’s in love with the headmaster’s daughter and he’s just been tasked to kill a stranger in the woods. Adolescence can be brutal.

SFX Magazine: "How does magic work in this world?"
In Luquatra, people with the blood-talent can manipulate three elemental magics: skywater, lightfire, and earthblood. These are accessed using different art forms that relate to the mind, spirit, and body (respectively) and have a cost that is either subtractive, additive, or transmutative.

SFX Magazine: "Was there anything particular that sparked the initial idea for the novel?"
I’ve always been fascinated by villains in novels, and I’ve often wondered what a coming-of-age series would be like for a protagonist who fits the mold of a traditional villain but who also believes he is the story’s hero. This is that series.

SFX Magazine: "Did you need to do any research for the book? Discover anything surprising?"
Research is part of any book, but most of mine came from knowing the tropes of the genre and finding ways to subtly subvert them. I mostly read a lot of old folklore and modern fantasy. I also studied languages, foreign cultures, and human psychology.

SFX Magazine: "Did your experience as a games designer map well onto writing a novel, or did you need to discover a different skill set?"
Yes, I think being a game designer helped, particularly when it came to designing my magic system (which has twenty-two primary mage castes); it’s forced me to spell out the rules for my world and then attempt to find ways to break those rules.

SFX Magazine: "How long did the book take to write, and did it evolve much?"
Truthfully, I spent over a decade refining the mythology for the series, as well as outlining its major plot points and character arcs. Writing Master of Sorrows took me about a year (once I got started), and it’s evolved quite a bit, despite its core remaining the same.