Ask the Author

[Red Phoenix]

ahhhh not the long words...


have you started writing the plot for imperial traitor Mark? or are you waist deep in editing right now?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Red Phoenix

ahhhh not the long words...


have you started writing the plot for imperial traitor Mark? or are you waist deep in editing right now?

Editing is complete, Red. I've drafted the first quarter of Imperial Traitor as well. I thought I'd progressed Dragon Pact a fair way, but it looks as though I'll be starting that story from scratch. I'll tell more on that next week.

[lea27]

hi i have started to read 'the forging of the sword' and would just like to comment on some of the words used. this is totally a personal thing and im probably on my own with this one but i dont like when authors use modern words like, alphabet and beer which were both within the first chapter. i would prefer 'ale' and 'letters'. again i would just like to say maybe its just mean but wondered if anyone else finds this irritating?

[Mark Robson]

Hello, Lea, and thank you for posting. I must admit that I look back at that first book now and I cringe at some of the writing. I hope that my turn of phrase within that first book does not put you off my writing, as I think I have progressed hugely since that early work.

Choice of words is often a personal thing. At the time I wrote it, I felt those were the most appropriate words for the story I was trying to write. If I were to write The Forging of the Sword again, knowing what I know about writing now, the story and the writing would probably come out very differently. There are weaknesses there - I'd be the first to admit it, but I hope you will be able to get past those and enjoy the story.

Welcome to my forum and I look forward to seeing what you think by the time you finish.

[Patrick Mahon]

Lea,

It's an interesting point you make, but I'm not sure I'd necessarily agree with your choice of words. After all, alphabet is derived from the first two letters of the greek "system of letters" (to avoid being circular ), so hardly represents a modern concept.

More generally, isn't your concern based on the presumption that the world that Mark has created is just a thinly veiled copy of mediaeval England? As it's not, but a completely new fantasy world where magic exists, Mark could have made up completely new words for every single "thing"; but that would be hard to follow. So whether he uses "ale" or "beer" to describe the alcoholic beverage that people drink there is, to some extent, irrelevant, since the stuff is not necessarily the same as either Elizabethan ale, or a modern bitter or lager .

I'd be interested to know what others feel - do you prefer language that relates a fantasy story to a period setting in the real world, or does the language not matter to you (except if it is inconsistent with the world described)?

[Joel007]

Unless an author is deliberately trying to write inside a world that already exists, they can do what they like. Although it makes it easier for the reader to have words used that give you an idea of what is meant: As long as it is explained or makes sense in context, new words or re-invented words are perfectly acceptable.

[scalem X]

yeah I think consistency is the key. Know what you are doing. Mixing up medieval terms and technological terms at the same time, for example, might be weird in most cases. As in:
A-What doth thou say ye scavenger?
B-The hyperdrive was overheated, I had to disconnect it manually.
A-good now get the QRL prepared.

I think it's one of them issues where the choice is not the most important part. It is how you write it down.
simply: If you're not good at inventing languages then don't

[Threddy]

I just read somewhere (wikipedia if you must know) that there is a new series being written called Dragon Orb by you, Mark Robson. What's that going to be about, sounds interesting, I thought you were going to write about Darkweavers rise to powere and another series with Calvyn.

[Joel007]

Its here, Threddy
http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...rb-series.html

The Origins of the Darkweaver Legend is planned for a later date i think.

[Mark Robson]

Joel is quite correct. I still plan to write Darkweaver's Rise to power in the future, but for the time being it's all Dragons and biplanes. I'm having a huge amount of fun researching and writing the Dragon Orb series. If you want to keep up to date on how I'm doing with it, you can follow my progress on my blog: Mark Robson’s Blog

Taking a break from Thrandor and Shandar is proving to be a relief, as it was becoming hard to keep track of all the characters and details. Starting a project from scratch again is giving me free reign to build a world with a lot more scope.

[scalem X]

nearly 50,000. You probably didn't really think you would get that far right?
If so comes my question: how far did you think you could go?

When it all started you must have thought: well if I can sell ... (insert number) in the first year and... Then I will be allright and satisfied.

[Mark Robson]

To be honest, Scalem, my first thought when the initial print run of fifteen hundred copies of The Forging of the Sword was dumped on my driveway in 66 boxes was 'If I sell all these, I will have done well.' This thought was reinforced when, after the initial surge of sales to friends, family and work colleagues had died away, the sales dropped to a slow trickle. Selling anything without a proper sales strategy is never easy, but I'm glad I persevered and expended the time and energy to learn how to make the most of my time and efforts.

[Threddy]

If you don't mind me asking, how much money have you made from selling the books?

Also, if you haven't made enough money, maybe you could try and persuade some film producers to make some films of your books! Is this likely?

Threddy

[scalem X]

Talking about blunt threddy .
Yeah if you try, maybe then Mark you could compare the hard editors to the fierce producers .

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Threddy

If you don't mind me asking, how much money have you made from selling the books?

Also, if you haven't made enough money, maybe you could try and persuade some film producers to make some films of your books! Is this likely?

Threddy

I'd rather not answer that question directly on the net, but if you're really that interested, then I would tell you a rough figure by email. The exact figure is a bit nebulous due to the nature of self publishing and the expenses you can claim back from the tax man through being self employed.

As with anything else, when is what you've made ever enough? I will need to make a lot more money to become financially independent of my writing, if that's what you mean. When I reach he point at which I don't need to write any more in order to live from the proceeds, then fine, but until then I will continue to work hard. How many authors ever achieve this? Very very few, I'm sure.

Would I like to have a film made of my books - yes, I would. Am I going to try? Yes, I am. My agent is due to talk again with various companies in the summer time. You can be sure I'll post something on the matter if it ever progresses.