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 (Original interview posted February 15, 2010)

TROI: Congratulations on publishing your eighth book in the Runelords series:  Chaosbound. There may be some people who may not have read this series but have read some of your other books. Can you tell us a little about the series and then a little about Chaosbound?

DAVID: Sure, the Runelords series is an epic fantasy. It’s similar to Tolkien’s work in that it is set in a medieval world with knights and monsters and magic, but the similarities end there. For example, you won’t find elves or dwarves in my world.

Instead, in the world of the Runelords the kings and queens are able to use sorcery in order to draw attributes from their vassals. They can take a commoners strength or beauty, speed or wit, sight or hearing. They do it through the use of magical branding irons that can suck the attribute from the giver and then bestow it upon another.

The people actually encourage their lords to do this because their world is fraught with dangers. Chief among them are giant subterranean monsters called reavers. A single reaver can wipe out an entire village, and so the people need “supermen” to protect them.

So my story revolves around a young prince who is a conscientious objector. He doesn’t want to take attributes from others. One day as he is visiting a princess with similar ethics, her kingdom is overwhelmed by an evil lord who demands tribute in the form of
attributes.

Thus, my prince suddenly finds himself embroiled in a war for control of the world even as the reavers are preparing to destroy the world.

TROI: Taking on an epic series has got to have its challenges; what have  you learned that you wish you would have known before you began Runelords and what would you advise someone about to write and epic series of their own?

DAVID: It’s much harder than I’d imagined. You don’t get paid for writing a lot in this business, you get paid for writing well. So you have to work hard at figuring how to tell an original, powerful story that will take place over several books–and then you’ve got to try to get them in on schedule. I know that it sounds like it should be easy, but I’ve been working on this series now for fourteen years, and believe me, it’s a bigger job than I’d imagined.

TROI:  Why did you choose to become a writer?

DAVID:  No one would hire me to be a movie star! Seriously, though, I did it because I love telling stories. I think I would do it even if I didn’t get paid.

TROI:  What habits do you have as a writer?

DAVID:  You have to be a self-starter. I know writers who say that they “hate” to write, that the work is so difficult that they can’t do it unless their editor is holding a gun to their head. I don’t think that that would really work for most people. You have to love to
write, and of course the love of the work is what makes you a self-starter.

TROI:  Do you outline or free write?

DAVID:  I’ve tried both, and found that I prefer to write with what I will call a fairly “loose” outline. I usually know where my next ten chapters are going, but I don’t outline a whole novel at once anymore.

TROI: Do you have specific goals that you try to hit in regards to pages or word count each day/week?

DAVID:  Nope. When I get rolling on a project, I generally write an average of 24 pages per day, but that can go up to 40 pages in a day and as few as 6 or 7. Still, if you average it out over a week, I’ll hit that 24-page mark.

TROI:  Most people will know you from Runelords what other works have you done that your fans may not know about?

DAVID:  My given name is Dave Wolverton. I began writing under that name in science fiction, but when I started writing fantasy, I wanted to do it under a pseudonym, primarily so that my science fiction fans wouldn’t feel cheated if they picked up a novel and found out that it was a fantasy instead of SF. Hence, most of my writing today is written as David Farland. (Farland was a maternal great, great grandmother’s last name.) So I have perhaps a dozen adult science fiction novels under the Wolverton, along with some young adult books. I wrote a number of things set in the Star Wars Universe for middle-grade readers, and I wrote a YA series based on the Mummy movies.

Other than that, I have a fun little series called “The Ravenspell” series that is aimed at the middle-grade market. It’s a story about a
young boy who desperately want a pet, but when he buys a mouse that has magical powers, he gets far more than he can handle.

One of my most recent books, IN THE COMPANY OF ANGELS, tell the story of the Willie Handcart Company, which crossed the plains in 1856.  This is my first historical novel.

TROI:  You were involved with L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest for a number of years. How did you see the stories evolve  over the years?

DAVID:  When the contest first began, it seemed to me that we got a lot of submissions that were very idea oriented–much as SF stories were in the 1940s. Nowadays, if you want to win the contest, you need to write something that is more mature. You have to write a story that brings intriguing characters to life, one that explores interesting settings and then melds the ideas behind the story with other elements to create something that is more powerful, more mature, than a simple idea story alone.

TROI:  In the NFL Bill Walsh is talked about having a significant coaching  tree, meaning many of today’s NFL coaches have been influenced by Bill Walsh. You have a significant “coaching tree” as well. You have influenced many authors that have appeared on the New York Times best seller list. Not only have you influenced many people  with your writing. You have influenced other writers that have influenced millions of people. When you began writing did you foresee yourself becoming such an influence on the genre?

DAVID:  Hmmm . . . interesting question. I recall thinking that it would be fun to be a writing instructor when I was young, but I really had thought that if I influenced the genre, it would be through my own work. Now I have dozens of New York Times bestsellers who have taken classes from me, people like Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Eric Flint, Sean Williams, and many more. To tell the truth, I guess that it surprises me even now. Yet I recall Algis Budrys, the literary critic who wrote for the Chicago Sun Times and THE MAGAZINE Of FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, saying something that led
me to believe that he thought I would have a huge influence on the writing world. He said when I was quite young that he thought I had one of the best critical minds to come along in several hundred years, and that he thought that there was no better person in the world to be running the Writers of The Future Contest. He said he thought that I’d have a big influence on the writing world. I appreciated the vote of confidence, but I just didn’t see it back then.

TROI: One last question which is the question that authors get most often that it’s almost a cliché but what advice would you give someone who wanted to become an author?

DAVID: Read widely. Find something unique in yourself to bring to whatever genre that you want to write in. Don’t pressure yourself to write, just learn to do it out of love for the craft. Practice often, because just as a pianist needs practice, so does a writer.

TROI: Mr. Wolverton, thanks for your time.  Hopefully we can do another interview in the future.

DAVID:  Absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity!

(Original interview posted February 17, 2010) 

TROI:  Thanks for this opportunity to interview you.  First off tell us a little about yourself, what projects you have worked on and how you got into writing comics.

JAKE:  I started on the writer’s intern on the TV series SMALLVILLE, and thanks to DC Comics’ heavy involvement in the project, built some contacts there. I published a Smallville comic and from there expanded my resume into some indie comics as well as more for DC and the other bigger companies.

TROI:  The 50th issue of Supergirl is coming out February 17th.  Who were you able to work with and how did this collaboration come about?

JAKE:  I co-wrote a story that appears in Supergirl 50 with Helen Slater who portrayed the Girl of Steel in a 1984 movie. She and I had met at a Superman event in Metropolis, IL, a couple of years ago, and became friends. We wanted to tell some Supergirl stories, and were delighted when DC approached about doing this one.

TROI:  I’ve seen some of the artwork and it’s fantastic.  How does the process of writing a comic work?  Do you write the script and give it to the artist and they come up with the artwork that best fits the dialog/narration or do you have more control and give the artist directions on what should be in the panels?

JAKE:  I’m pretty specific in my panel descriptions and page layouts, but I’m also very flexible. I write the full script, captions/dialog and all, before it goes to art. I trust the artists I work with and know if they feel there’s a better approach to a page or panel, they’re probably right. 

TROI:  How is the process different when working by yourself versus collaborating with someone?

JAKE:  It takes a little longer. That’s the main thing. In every circumstance, I try to play ball. I want my collaborators to feel invested in the stories we tell, and work really hard to make their vision my own. 

TROI:  Are you doing any signings to promote this issue, if so where?

JAKE:  I’ll be appearing at Dr. Volt’s Comics in Salt Lake City on the 17th 3-7. Not sure of exact address, but it’s around 3300 South and 2200 East. 

TROI:  What character would you like to write a story for that you haven’t been able to yet in the DC Universe?

JAKE:  I’ve been really fortunate as I’ve been able to play with my favorite toys in the DCU. I would love to do a Green Arrow story at some point, though.

TROI:  Another project you recently release was the Authorized Ender Companion, how did you get involved in that project?

JAKE:  Long story short, Orson Scott Card asked me to do it. He wanted it created, and felt like I could do it justice. 

TROI:  I can’t imagine how much time and work this must have been, what was the process like and how long did it take you?

JAKE:  It was over two years from the time I started to when the book was published and released. My degree is in history, so I treated it like a historical research project. Yes, it’s set in the future, but the research process is the same. 

TROI:  What other projects are you currently working on?

JAKE:  I’m doing some TV for Cartoon Network (Batman: Brave and Bold) as well as writing some licensed comics for DC–Ben 10, stuff like that. I also write the “DC Comics Super-hero Collection” which is a series of biographical magazines on DC characters that come attached with small metal statues of the profiled character. Also finishing up some work on a couple of Smallville DVD features that will be on the next DVD set. 

TROI:  Is there anything else that you would like to promote about yourself?

JAKE:  You can find me online at jakeblack.com and twitter.com/jakeboyslim

TROI:  Thanks for your time.

JAKE:  Thanks for having me!