Arkopaul Das asked Michael J. Sullivan:

Hello Michael, as you write young adult / fantasy books , do you find it hard to write this kind of books as you have create the fantasy world ,the characters ,with a extraordinary touch , or do you feel it easy to , as you can create and control everything yourself and let your imagination flow ?

Michael J. Sullivan Hey there Arkopaul,
I actually don't write what would be termed "YA" books. The vast majority of YA books feature an adolescent as the protagonist, but the besides that, there is how the book is marketed that determines whether it is YA. The book get classified differently, and are found on different bookstore shelves when they are YA.

That being said, I do write books that I hope will appeal to a wide range of readers and I do hear quite a bit from parents who get both their children and their parents hooked on the books.

As to your particular question, I like creating stories in a fantasy setting. It gives me a great deal more flexibility in crafting a world that will fit the plot I'm unfolding. I can craft a history or insert prejudices against certain types of races to provide challenges to overcome. It does help that I'm "the God" of my world and as such have a great deal of control over the setting. The downside is I know much more about the world than the readers will ever find out. I employ an "iceberg" approach where only a small fraction shows to the reader, and much more is known only to me. It takes a while to compile this rich cannon, but I find that aspect enjoyable so it's not like it's "work" per se. It's really just a lot of fun.

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