Orbit Books Interview

This Interview was originally provided by Orbit Books and was taken from SFF World

http://www.sffworld.com/interview/57p0.html

 What inspired you to write the View from the Mirror series?

A desperate creative urge. I wanted to write epic fantasy that wasn't medieval, or Eurocentric, or 'good versus evil'. Most of all, to write fantasy where the female characters had as many adventures as the males, and when they got into trouble, escaped by their own cleverness rather than being helped by a big bloke with a sword.

How would you describe A SHADOW ON THE GLASS, the first book in the View From The Mirror series, in fewer than 10 words?

'Darwinian' epic fantasy. Four distinct human species struggling for survival.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing a multi-volume series?

The freedom to tell a really big story. But The View from the Mirror is 800,000 words; the work required to maintain consistency is awesome. I did more than twenty drafts of the first book. Fortunately all four volumes were written before any were published, a luxury most authors don't have.

Did you know how the series was going to end when you started writing it?

I didn't even know how the first chapter was going to end.

Who is your favourite character in the series, and why?

Probably Karan, because she's everything I'm not.