My guest this week On the Spot is an author I have had the privilege to correspond with quite a bit in the last few months, as we frequent common online genre communities. He is the author of the GemQuest series, an ongoing fantasy series of the High Fantasy/Epic tradition that features 3 already released installments: The Twins, The Awakening and the The Shards. Book 4, the forthcoming Revenge of the Elves we expect to see in 2006, and he currently is working on the 5th book in the cycle, ominously dubbed When Monsters Call Out the Names of Men.

What struck me immediately about the work is although a traditional fantasy saga, the sequence should not be mistaken as one you may already read. The author brings a refreshing lyrical style to his narrative, and introduces elements with significance, showcasing content and powerful themes both directly, and more enjoyably between the lines. There is a noticeable passion emanating from the pages, and here to discuss that with us, along with the future of GemQuest, is Gary Wassner On the Spot:

Jay Tomio - Mr. Wassner, your series GemQuest thus far has 3 installments, The Twins, The Awakening and The Shards. Can you give FBS readers a synopsis of what to expect from the series thus far?

Gary Wassner - The world of GemQuest is a threatened one. From the very beginning of the first book, there is an implicit sense of being at risk and that risk grows and transforms itself often as the series progresses. Personally, I have always had a very unusual relationship with nature, an odd and intimate one, and I often perceive that the separations that rationality creates between the individual and the environment are not as definite and clear as they appear. So much influences us aside from our individual will and so much moves us to action in addition to volition. I have done and taught yoga for more than twenty five years now and I truly believe that the closeness one develops with one’s own body and the world around it by virtue of the exercises and introspective nature of it is illuminating on many levels. The books I write are my attempt at bridging that perceptual gap or at least explaining it, and the magical system in my books, though certainly not systematic in any formal sense, looks to the organic and the unconscious and finds its basis and power therein. But, as I mentioned, existence itself is in jeopardy during the evolution of this series. My characters are attempting, from the onset, first to save the world that they live in, then to understand it, as it appears to them to be tumbling faster and faster toward disintegration and dissolution and they seem less and less in control. They are each simultaneously trying to understand their individual place in this world as the things that they had always relied upon both materially and spiritually, begin to break down. Some things remain strong though. Friendship, loyalty and honor, human bonds based upon common sensibilities and goals, are important characteristics to me, and thus to my characters. What does it mean to be evil in a world where the pillars of ultimate value are beginning to appear as unstable as nature itself? Does evil become just another perspective? Those questions become more and more relevant as time passes.

Do you want a more simplistic response now? After all, there is never just one answer to a question like that. My books are quest books. They are filled with heroes and villains, elves, orcs and wizards. There is even a pair of twins who were separated at birth, one of whom is the heir to the throne of a once grand kingdom and the boy of legend who is destined to save the planet. The good guys are searching for the Gem of Eternity, the font of power that sustains the spiritual life of all living things. The Gem is nestled in the trunk of the First, the greatest of the Lalas, and its whereabouts is of course unknown to all, even the other Lalas. The Lalas are the great, sentient trees, who are bonded to humans, Chosen, who act as their voices in the world. But, the Lalas are dying, and with each death of a great tree, depression sweeps the land. No one, even their bondmate, knows why they are suddenly and mysteriously abandoning the people. Simultaneously, an evil Dark Lord is also searching for the Gem, though not to possess it but rather to destroy it. A prodigious group of individuals gathers in the face of impending doom to assist the Twins on the Quest for the Gem. That just about sums it up.

Jay Tomio - The next two GemQuest novels are titled The Revenge of the Elves and When Monsters Call Out the Names of Men. What kind of timetable are we looking at in regards to their release? Furthermore, can you tell us how far your going to extend the GemQuest series.

Gary Wassner- The Revenge of the Elves is finished and already edited. But since my publisher released the first three books in the series all at the same time, I do feel as if I am a bit ahead of the normal publishing cycle. I would like ultimately to see Book IV released sometime in 2006, but no date has been confirmed yet. In fact, I have not even signed the contract for the fourth and fifth books, though it has been sitting on my desk for a number of months.

When I began this series I did not even know if it would be a series. I simply started to write a book. Since then, the story has evolved so much, and with each new book, it gets more complicated and more convoluted. As soon as I start the next book, I think it may be the last one. I am now about half-way through When Monsters Call Out The names of Men and like usual, I am now having my doubts about that. There are many issues that have to work themselves out, and strangely, as each one resolves, another becomes evident. Besides, the world and characters have become so much a part of my life, I do not really know what I would do without them at this point. I suppose I could begin a different series or write a stand alone book, but honestly, I am almost afraid to think about leaving this behind. How do you just say goodbye to people whose lives and crises you have shared for so many years? I would miss them all so terribly.

Jay Tomio - Even if I hadn’t been able to formulate an opinion of your regard for fantasy from reading various comments by you on various messageboards- just reading your work it is easy to sense a strong, almost tangible passion that permeates from your work. When reading novels I often attribute a theme (admittedly as many times wrong as I am right) to the author that I feel resonates. China Mievlle’s love for the weird and the power of the word, Terry Goodkind loves himself, and from you, your passion for fantasy itself seems evident. Is this something that resonates in all your activities (including fantasy), and if not where did this seemingly immense love for fantasy start?

Gary Wassner- I am sincerely glad that you recognize that in my books. I always hope that the extent of the emotion I write with comes forth in my books. Passion is the word I would use to describe the state I am in when I write. I genuinely love what I am writing about. I am a very sensitive person, not just emotionally. I often consider myself to be hyper-sensitive and hyper-aware in many respects. That might be a good trait in an author, but it can make ordinary life extremely difficult at times. I am easily moved by simple the things that I see around me; by a mother touching a child’s face, by a homeless person on the street, by a lonely looking individual sitting on the subway, by an old woman carrying her life in a shopping bag, by two lovers sharing a moment on a busy corner, by a tired messenger shuffling off to work. I relate to music and poetry that captures those fleeting feelings, those glimpses into the private joys and sorrows of individuals, and I admire a lyricist who can so simply, in one line, create a person with an entire past and a future that I can easily envision from their few words. I too imagine lives for these people I see by virtue of their expressions and their movements, the clothing they are wearing or the things they might be carrying with them, the lines on their faces or the way the heels on their shoes are worn down, their odor or the dirt under their fingernails. I notice the smallest movements and the expressions on a person’s face when I speak to them, as well as the quickening of the pulse, the reddening of the skin, the hand movements, whether they bite their nails or not, all the little things that we do unconsciously, and I often believe that I know when my friends and associates are concealing something or lying to me. Whether true or not, I imagine it and fantasize all the time. I used to read tarot cards and palms for people, not because I believed in the castings but because I was so often right in what I said by virtue of my other observations of their behavior. I could read them, the individuals, and therefore I could easily read the cards or their palms for them. All of this has made me, even as a child, somewhat self conscious because it feels to me as if people are inadvertently telling me things that I should not be hearing. I also assume that they are seeing the same things in me; the unspoken words, the thoughts and ramblings of my imagination, my concerns, my issues.

My character’s emotions also become my own and I feel them when I write. Whenever one of them is involved in the use of magic or engaged in a serious conversation, I type with my eyes closed and immerse myself in the scene and in the passions of that particular moment. I am there with them and I am walking the paths that they are walking. Writing fantasy for me is real, if that makes any sense. Though the world is made up, the emotions and struggles that I am writing about are as real as anything else in my life. But there is always something so sweet and so redeeming in the worlds that I create, often unlike the world that I live in. Friendship is genuine and total, love is pure, courage is selfless and honor is uplifting. But betrayal is genuine as well and death is still so resoundingly final. My heart beats fast when I write and the words flood the pages. If I am not emotionally immersed when I am writing then I probably will not love the chapter when I go back over it, and particularly when I write shorter verse for my books, I struggle for the perfect word, the perfect phrase that will generate the most dramatic impact; the image that combined with the word’s internal resonance when read to oneself, renders it all so fulfilling. The process of writing without restraint is a thrill for me. I try desperately to convey the passion that I feel, and creating a fantasy world where anything is possible gives me the most leeway to do that.

Jay Tomio - I have read you have written several novels aimed at children. Tell us about them, and is this something you continue to pursue?

Gary Wassner- I love writing in a child’s voice and from a child’s perspective. There is an innocence about the process that makes me feel so good. The world looks totally different from that point of view. Small things become big, and the imagination, much like in fantasy writing, can simply take off. To a child, a tree can come alive, a cloud can be a monster, a person can be an alien all in one instant, and then it can be forgotten in the next. For children, fantasy is hardly different from reality. There is a very fine line between the two in the mind of a child. Games feel thoroughly real, and yet children know instinctively when they have to return from that world. They pass in and out of their imaginary worlds fluidly and effortlessly.

I write mysteries by default. Though I loved Agatha Christie, I was not particularly influenced by any specific books or authors. I actually began with the intention of writing a short, young adventure based upon the experiences of two six year old kids growing up in a suburban setting. I wanted the book to have an old fashioned feel to it, one that invoked the innocence of The Hardy Boys and Leave It To Beaver, but not necessarily a mystery. When my son was young I used to swing in a hammock in my backyard with him and his best friend and tell them stories in which they were the main characters. I made them up on the fly and it soon became a habit. They quickly expected me to continue the story each weekend and so I did. Many years later, I decided to use them as my main characters and write some of those stories down. After I wrote the first forty pages or so of the first book, I sent the incomplete manuscript to an editor at Mondo Publishing in New York City, a children’s publisher, and he purchased it immediately. As we began to work on it, he shortly decided that he wanted a ‘page turner’ rather than a simple adventure, and asked me to turn it into a mystery for a slightly older reader. My characters aged a few years and the adventure, which had some elements of a mystery already, morphed into a full blown mystery. The second and third in the series were then easy to write once the first was completed. As in a fantasy series for adults, the first book requires the majority of the world building work. The subsequent ones can focus entirely on the characters and the story.

Jay Tomio - I was wondering as a relative new genre author, can you share with us some publishing truths that you think prospective authors may want to be aware of: perhaps an experience different from your previous experience in other genres?

Gary Wassner- My road to publication in the fantasy market was not nearly as simple as it was in the children’s market. But what I have learned from my experience in the children’s market is that if you find an editor who sees talent in you, then listen to that person closely and you may have a chance. If you trust that editor, then let him or her guide you. They know their markets. A good agent can help you in similar ways as well. I did not have an agent until after I had a book contract so finding a publisher for ‘GemQuest’ was not that easy. I did not want to spend years knocking on doors and sending out query letters. I found the process so frustrating, and I never truly believed that unsolicited manuscripts ever got read closely. The few times I did send out a query letter or sample chapters to either agents or publishers, the responses, when they were not form letters, were so disingenuous that I lost faith in the process quickly. I very well could be wrong about this, and I hope that I am, but it would probably be more productive to send unsolicited queries to agents and publishers if you have the backing of another author whom they know. I didn’t know too many people in the industry then and I wasn’t sure at that point what I was going to do next with regard to my manuscripts, when Kevin Radthorne, a fellow fantasy author whom I had met through my association with Science Fiction and Fantasy World, advised me of Windstorm Creative’s interest in my work. I did not know who they were at the time, but I learned that they were an independent, author friendly publisher on the west coast of the U.S. I sent them a package and they offered me a five book deal. I was reluctant to commit to five books at the time without knowing anything much about them, but I was very excited about their concept of releasing three of my books at the same time. They told me that shelf presence for a fantasy author lends credibility to the series, and that so many readers of fantasy are hesitant to purchase the first book in a new series by an unknown author in fear that if they like it, the second may be a year away if it ever comes out at all. They also have a policy of never back-listing their titles, which seemed to make a lot of sense to me, as it gives the author much more time to develop a following, particularly in a genre like fantasy. In the end, they produced three beautiful books for me, each of which I am very proud of and very grateful to them for.

The drawbacks of publishing with an independent press can be serious as well. Distribution and marketing is not nearly as strong as it is with a major imprint. It’s a struggle to get into the chain stores and the process is time consuming and difficult. Much is left to the author when it comes to promotion, and I am particularly bad at promoting myself. Though many small presses have a cache today that far exceeds that of the majors, it is hard for them to compete financially. My children’s books will be in every school and every library and most of the chain stores. Mondo is a corporate press and their strength is the schools and libraries around the US. They get no returns and the discounts are minimal in that market. They distribute packages of twenty titles at a time, grouped by age. With ‘GemQuest’ it’s a slow process. But for all prospective authors or published authors who feel like Sisyphus half of the time, it is not hopeless. With persistence and patience, if your books are good, the word will spread. Last week I was informed that Barnes and Noble’s small press buyer read and liked The Twins and The Awakening and has decided to place an initial order for their stores. If it sells well, they will then purchase and The Shards. For me, that was a major breakthrough. I browse the shelves at the chain stores and the number of books on them published by small and independent presses is very low, so I feel honored.

Jay Tomio - Mr. Wassner, both our presences are not uncommon in several online genre communities. What is your opinion of the impact such communities, and online discussion in general has on both you and your work, and on the genre as a whole?

Gary Wassner- For me, my association with Science Fiction and Fantasy World has been a long and fruitful one. Being an author can be a very lonely profession and the availability of others who critique, support and discuss your books is invaluable, particularly when they know you as more than a name on a book jacket. I cannot speak highly enough of the people I have met, both authors and readers of fantasy, through my on-line associations. I met you there Jay, after all.

On the practical side, the various forums that I post on are frequented by the most avid readers of fantasy, and so many of them are intelligent, stimulating, interesting people. The discussions I have participated in with regard to books, cover art, writing styles, and so much more have been incredibly informative. I recently was given an author’s forum of my own at SFFWorld.com and it has been very active and a thoroughly illuminating experience. I can raise issues that interest me and participate in a dialogue with people on all sides of the religious, economic and intellectual spectrum. In turn, they learn about me and my books. I believe that the internet has given the genre author a unique opportunity to introduce his or her work to the end user, a user who was previously a victim of the buying decisions of the stores that he or she shopped in. The availability of titles through great online genre bookstores like Clarkesworld Books has opened the world up to readers, and when booksellers participate in the forums it renews my faith in the entire system. New channels have been opened up which only enhance the choices that readers can now make. If you write something today, there is a much better chance that someone will read it.

Jay Tomio - Recommendations time. Mr. Wassner, who are other authors or works do you recommend for those reading this interview?

Gary Wassner- By far, the best fantasy series that I have read in a long, long time was R. Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing. I thought it was brilliant and I was thoroughly enthralled by the first book particularly. It had been a long time since I lost myself so totally in a book of any kind. Philosophically and literarily it was an absolute pleasure for me; an orgasmic joy to read.

I read a lot of philosophy still and every once in a while I will also pick up a book of mainstream fiction. But I am a true lover of the classics. I can read and reread Dickens, Twain and Wolfe. I also love moody books, odd and unusual ones, as well as period books and historical fiction. I loved the The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Styron’s Sophie’s Choice affected me intensely. Mann is incredible and his Magic Mountain never fails to astound me. Though I haven’t picked them up in many, many years, I remember enjoying very much Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game, Narcissus and Golmund and The Journey to the East.

Jay Tomio - You are a published Fantasy writer, and mystery writer. Any secret manuscripts laying around? Any work you really always wanted to do in mind? Perhaps already completed, or in the process of?

Gary Wassner- I have three different book projects in mind right now, but I never seem to have enough time. One is totally distinct from anything I have ever done before, and I intend to co-write it with an investigative reporter. I am not yet convinced that I want to start it though, because I become so consumed by my work, I know I will not be able to do much else until I finish it once I do start to write it. I wrote the first chapter and the proposal, and I told my agent that I won’t write the book unless she sells it first. That way, I will have no choice but to start it. When Monsters Call Out the Names of Men is my priority at the moment, so I won’t be able to begin anything else for a while anyway. I derive a different kind of pleasure and satisfaction from each type of book that I write. Fantasy for me is still the most fulfilling though, and despite the fact that I love writing children’s books, the gratification is different. Each and every time I sit down to write GemQuest, I am thoroughly absorbed by it and it never fails to move me both emotionally and intellectually.

I completed three books in a young reader fantasy series last year and I wrote a cyber adventure for a young reader as well in a mad burst of energy last year, but I haven’t had the time to edit it and do the rewrites that my agent requested. I finished the second and third books in the mystery series that Mondo is publishing next September and after the first one, The Mystery of the Jubilee Emerald, is released, I will have to go back and do some editing work on the next two. I would really like to write two more in that series before the year is out, but that will depend upon how long it takes me to finish book V in GemQuest.

Jay Tomio - That’s the end of this week’s edition of On the Spot. I want to thank Mr. Wassner for joining us today, and remind everyone that The Twins, The Awakening, and The Shards are available now, the beginnings of what has proved to be a thus far a wonderful, and thoughtful example of epic fantasy. We hope Mr. Wassner decides to join us when the next installments Revenge of the Elves and When Monsters Call Out the Names of Men are released, and wish him good luck.

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