Ask the Author - MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Andrew wrote: "Great interview, Lancer!

Michael, I loved the casting choices you had. They all clicked quite well for me! While I was reading I pictured Matthew Fox for Hadrian and Dominic Monaghan (with black h..."

Dominic Monaghan looks like a what I pictured Royce to look like, very small in stature and a bit shifty.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Ever since reading his answers I have been picturing a Riyria set a couple decades after the stories with Mel Gibson as Hadrian and Jeremy Irons as Royce. That would be soooo awesome. It is making it hard to picture anyone else.

[Freya, Dragon Rider]

Paul wrote: "Full credit to LAncer fotr picking the unusual questions and full credit to Michael for getting into the spirit and letting his inner nerd out so well."

Absolutely! Really enjoyed reading it :)

[Margo]

Great questions sis lancer. You outed him as a nerd :-D

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

We all got a little nerd in us :p

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Cool!

[Margo]

sir Lancer wrote: "We all got a little nerd in us :p"

It's my best part!

[Dawn]

Some of us more than a little!
(she says, going shopping with her Star Wars shopping bag ;-)

[Michael]

sir Lancer wrote: "Death of Dulgath was just as fantastic Audrey. You will be able to jump right back in no problem."

Hey there - so glad you enjoyed it. Sorry for the lateness in the reply. I've not been on for a bit.

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

We'll forgive you as we know you're finishing up the next series

[Michael]

Audrey wrote: "I'm eager. I got my signed copy that I can start as soon as I finish Uprooted, which should be in a day or two. Then I'll have to get the First Empire series. "

Hey, thanks for the support. Uprooted is such a great book. I'm so glad it was picked for a BOTM. And thanks for support of the First Empire!

[Michael]

Andrew wrote: "Michael, I loved the casting choices you had. They all clicked quite well for me! While I was reading I pictured Matthew Fox for Hadrian and Dominic Monaghan (with black hair) for Royce. With Lost on the brain, I conjured up Jeremy Davies for Myron haha.

I can get behind those choices!

[Michael]

Paul wrote: "Full credit to Lancer fotr picking the unusual questions and full credit to Michael for getting into the spirit and letting his inner nerd out so well."

I agree. Lancer picked some great questions, and I really enjoyed answering it. Especially the Hans Solo one!

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

When I was working in an elementary school years ago I got into it with some of the kids. They had never seen the original versions of Star Wars and wouldn't let it drop that he didn't shoot first. Something about how he was a good guy and wouldn't just shoot someone. I referred them to a youtube video of the original and they were rather upset. Not sure if it was because he actually did shoot first or because Mr. Cairns showed them up.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I just finished Death of Dulgath -- very fun -- and I pre-ordered Age of Empire or whatever it's called.

[Robin P]

Audrey wrote: "I just finished Death of Dulgath -- very fun -- and I pre-ordered Age of Empire or whatever it's called."

Michael, I am a huge fan but I also have trouble remembering your titles. The ones from the double books are so generic, I am never sure if it is Rise of Empire, Rise of Nyphron, Heir of Empire, etc. I wondered if it was the publisher's attempt to imitate GRR Martin titles (since you had more distinctive titles for the individual books) And I never can spell Ryiria / Riyria?

[Michael]

sir Lancer wrote: "Not sure if it was because he actually did shoot first or because Mr. Cairns showed them up. ."

Haha - probably a bit of both!

[Michael]

Audrey wrote: "I just finished Death of Dulgath -- very fun -- and I pre-ordered Age of Empire or whatever it's called."

Nice - thanks for that - the new book is Age of Myth. Thanks for the support.

[Michael]

Robin wrote: "Michael, I am a huge fan but I also have trouble remembering your titles. The ones from the double books are so generic, I am never sure if it is Rise of Empire, Rise of Nyphron, Heir of Empire, etc. I wondered if it was the publisher's attempt to imitate GRR Martin titles (since you had more distinctive titles for the individual books) And I never can spell Ryiria / Riyria?."

You can blame me for the titles. The publisher had nothing to do with them. When they decided to release the books into 2-book omnibus they asked me to come up with new titles and it was me that decided to go with xxxx of xxxx. Each one really incapsulates what happens.

Theft of Swords - has R&H stealing one sword from a castle and one from of tower.

Rise of Empire - shows how the Nyphron Church comes back into power as the royalists are swept aside for the monarchists.

Heir of Novron - is all about finding and the return of Novron's long lost Heir.

As for Riyria. Best way to remember it is that it's two groups of three letters and the first two of each pair is RI so RIY RIA. And yeah, had I ever anticipated the series would have "become something" I probably would have picked something easier to remember ;-)

[Robin P]

Michael wrote: "Robin wrote: "Michael, I am a huge fan but I also have trouble remembering your titles. The ones from the double books are so generic, I am never sure if it is Rise of Empire, Rise of Nyphron, Heir..."

Thanks for clarifying, Michael! If it weren't for the audiobook, I would have looked at the spelling & pronounced it "Rye-ear-ee-ah" or Ree-eye-ree-ah" or maybe "Rear-ee-ah". Tim Reynolds says "Rye-ear-ah". With a print book, people don't know how to pronounce something - JK Rowling had to add a note on how to say Hermione's name, for instance. But when we do the audio, we can say names but not spell them, so our reviews might look odd!

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Finished the book Yesterday and loved it.
I really enjoy how you focus so well on a small set of characters and really develop them.
It really helps you associate with the book.

[Michael]

I definitely had problems with the Hermione when I was reading that Rowlings. As for Riyria - Yeah I've heard about six different pronounciatins and maybe even more spellings. The truth is if I had thought the series was going to go anywhere (or get published at all) I probably would have selected something easier ;-) Tim does a great job with getting with me before recording to make sure he has the words down just right - and I'm usually in studio for the first few days. Fun times.

[Michael]

Paul wrote: "Finished the book Yesterday and loved it.
I really enjoy how you focus so well on a small set of characters and really develop them.It really helps you associate with the book."

Thanks Paul. My Riyria books pretty much focus on 4 main characters: Royce, Hadrian, Arista, Thrace/Modina. And for Age of Myth I wanted to have more of an ensemble cast. Some of the characters that become really important int he series, were only briefly introduced (Gifford, Roan, Moya, Brin), so it will be expanding a bit in future books - but it'll still be a fairly tight group.

Thanks again for reading.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I remember looking up the pronunciation of Hermione in some baby name book. I was getting tired of stumbling on it.

I got to hear Lloyd Alexander speak in college, and people always asked him how to pronounce the Welsh names he used. He'd just say you could pronounce them however you wanted.

[Michael]

Audrey wrote: "He'd just say you could pronounce them however you wanted. "

That's pretty much the camp I'm in. My pronunciations are n't meant to be "gospel," they are one person's take on it - and I want people to be comfortable with whatever way makes them enjoy the books.

[Ryan]

I used to pronounce Drizzt to rhyme with the savoury cracker.

[Michael]

@Ryan - Me too! And for years I wanted to see the Harry Potter books made into movies so I could figure out how Hermione was pronounced.

[Ryan]

Haha yeah - hermi-wun

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I think I always get the pronunciations wrong.
I suppose thats the part where every reader reinvents a book in their own head anyway.

[Sarah]

I pretty much always assume I'm pronouncing names in books wrong, but I pick one that works and just roll with it from there on out.

That is the good part of audio books. Someone else has to make the choice!

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

I had the hardest time with pronounciations in Bernhard Cornwell's The Winter King because everything was in old Welsh. It helped a bit when I read online that "dd" was actually pronounced like or "th" but that was obly a small victory. If I heard an audio version I would likely not even know which characters they were talking about.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I've done quite a bit of work on that period of history in the past, Lancer, and I still struggle with some of the names sometimes!