Q&A with Michael J. Sullivan

[Sarah Elizabeth]

A chance for you to ask Michael J. Sullivan any questions you may have about his books ☺
Please post any questions here ☺

[Michael]

Hey all, I'm the author of Age of Myth and I'm so glad to hear it will be one of your buddy reads. I'm here to answer any questions you may have -- and those can be on just about anything.

* Questions about Age of Myth
* Questions about my other books
* Questions on being a writer
* Questions for aspiring authors who need advice on writing or publishing

Looking forward to hanging with you guys for a while and don't be shy. I promise I won't bite.

[T.J.]

Michael wrote: "Hey all, I'm the author of Age of Myth and I'm so glad to hear it will be one of your buddy reads. I'm here to answer any questions you may have -- and those can be on just about anything."

Hey, that is so cool! Thanks, Michael.


We've decided to push this buddy read back to May 24th -- real life is getting in the way of my fantasy life... again. (Hate it when that happens!)

Now I hope I can think of some half-way intelligent questions to ask you...

[Emelia]

Michael J. SullivanI have a question for you if I may? Make that two questions.

First let me say I am a huge fan of your writing. And when I say huge, I mean probably your biggest fan. Especially of the Riyria series.

What intrigues me most is your dialog. To me, dialog is the most important part of a book, and you Sir are the Master.
How do you write such great dialog? To me dialog in a majority of books loses its umph, and gets taxing to read sometimes and often gets skimmed over for that reason, or the reader falls asleep. There are so many characters in your books and for you to keep up with them and their speech is an amazing thing to read.
You go from witty and smarmy to heartwarming and serious.

Example; "But there's nothing here, sir," he insisted.
"Don't be absurd; of course there is. You're here, aren't you? And so am I." Arcaduis pulled open his bag. "And look, there are some nice trees and this excellent road we've been on."
That cracked me up !

And this happens right in the middle of a nail biting chapter. How do you keep up with each personality and their dialog so flawlessly? Any tips for future writers ?

Secondly, will there be more of Hadrian & Royce? After the first book I built a shrine to Royce lol. Yes, Hadrian has a huge following, however Royce is my fave for many reasons. I won't name them because of spoilers. Just want to know if I need to build a bigger shrine. ;)

[Michael]

@TJ - no worries about pushing back the read - I know how life can get in the way of reading!! Any question is welcomed, and I'm a firm believer in the old adage "There's no such thing as a dumb question." So anything you come up with will be just fine.

[Michael]

@Emelia asked, "How do you write such great dialog?"

Well, first off, I want to thank you for the kind words. Writing is an interesting thing as the "experience" is a combination not just of the "writer" but also of the "reader." So each experience is (a) unique and (b) based on the likes and dislikes of the one doing the reading. I've always found it interesting that an aspect that one person loves, is the same one that someone else will hate...and I have certainly had people who despised my dialog...so I'm glad it worked for you.

I will say that for me it all starts with KNOWING your characters really well. When I started the series, (and for a long time into it) Royce and Hadrian were almost indistinguishable but once their individual aspects became more solidified in my mind, they became distinct and then I had to go back and re-write much of the early dialog where they didn't come off with their own personalities. Nowadays I'm merely "listening in" on conversations as they play out as I'm doing the writing. And so that makes it really easy to do. That said, when an editor (either my wife or one of the publisher's) touches my dialog I almost alway have to revert the change as it "doesn't sound like them." So maybe part of what you are seeing that you like is how consistent I am with their individual ecentricities that might have the rough edges rounded off if I didn't watch the edits so closely. In any case, I'm glad it "works for you." I write books that I want to read so it "works for me" as well.

@Emelia asked, How do you keep up with each personality and their dialog so flawlessly? Any tips for future writers ?

I think it helps if you are constantly putting your characters in various situations and thinking about how they would respond. They can be scenes that you have no intention on writing, but because they are "in your head" it's quick and easy to do. The more of these "what if" scenarios you do, the more you'll become familiar with each character, and then it'll flow when you are ACTUALLY writing a scene that will go into the story being told.

[Michael]

@Emelia asked, "Secondly, will there be more of Hadrian & Royce? "

That question really depends more on people like you than it does me. When I wrote the Riyria Revelations I hadn't planned to EVER write more with the pair. I had a very carefully crafted story with a given start and end and I was done.

That said, my wife, and more than a few fans, became depressed after finishing Heir of Novron and wanted more. During the time when my self-published books were taken off the shelf to make room for the Orbit editions, I had nothing available for readers, so my wife asked me to write a short story with the pair so there would be something "out there."

That short story was The Viscount and the Witch and it told the tale of how Royce and Hadrian met Albert Winslow (their liason with the nobles for getting "jobs."). Anyway, that short became the seed that grew into The Riyria Chronicles. in fact, it actually shows up (with only a few changes) as the second chapter in The Rose and the Thorn (Book #2 of that series). Anyway....so I wrote that book, and realized I hadn't gone back far enough in time (as I didn't show how the two "actually met"...so then I wrote The Crown Tower. Those two books nicely fleshed out their "meeting" and again I felt I could be done with the pair, but if people wanted more I was certainly willing to write more. Well, it didn't take long for the jury to be in so I wrote The Death of Dulgath...and like before, I waited for the response. People still hadn't tired of the pair, so starting in October of last year I started writing The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter and I just finished it a few days ago. There is still much to do, but I have a hard deadline since the recording studio and narrator is already booked and so that will be coming out late this year (December 5th to be exact).

That will be the 4th in the series. Will there be more after that? Well, I can't say until I hear from the readership. I have the outlines done of many more stories with the pair, but I won't start writing of them until I get the feedback. I'd rather have the pair "leave too soon" than "overstay their welcome." So, for that series, I won't know how many tales there will be. I "could" have as many as 11 total. But I'll stop sooner rather than later.

[Emelia]

Michael wrote: "@Emelia asked, "Secondly, will there be more of Hadrian & Royce? "

That question really depends more on people like you than it does me. When I wrote the Riyria Revelations I hadn't planned to EVE..."


Thank you so much for your response.
I have ordered more of your books today!
How anyone could dislike you dialog is beyond me. It seems at times as if you know your characters personally. And it is exceptional the way you write the feelings and dialog of women. But I am sure your wife comes in handy there!
It is like you are there when certain situations actually happen, and we, as readers, experience them right along with you which is what I like about your books.
I am sure Hadrien and Royce will be back again and again, especially if I and the " Riyria posse" have anything to do with it.
There is a huge readers page that I am a member of on Facebook (40,000 members) where 3 of us have been singing your praises so I do hope it will skyrocket your books!

Again, thanks you so much for taking the time to respond when so many writers would not !
I really hope you will continue writing more books of any kind, not just ones with Hadrian & Royce. You are an epic Wordsinger Michael. Thank you for your gift of books to the reading world!

[Michael]

@Emelia - you are very welcome...and thank you for picking up some more of my books. I do hope you like them.

Well, luckily the people who like the dialog are in the majority by a huge margin, the people who it "hasn't worked for" is definitely a small number (at least of the people I've seen posting about such things.

I certainly hope there will be many more Royce and Hadrian tales. I enjoy writing about the pair so much. Every time I return to start a new one, it's like a I'm being re-united with old friends.

So glad to hear that you and some others have been recommeding the books - it really helps a great deal.

I'm always glad to hear from people - especially those that lie the books! You honor me with your very kind words.

Michael

Recently Released: Age of Myth (Legends of the First Empire Book #1)
Coming Soon: Age of Swords | The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter
Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords | Rise of Empire | Heir of Novron
Riyria Chronicles: Crown Tower | Rose and the Thorn | Death of Dulgath