Next up for interrogation was Warhammer's Robert Earl. This interview was timed to coincide with the publication of his new book The Corrupted in September 2006. As its title suggest it is dark, strange and in places more than a little disturbing.
It is also very funny.
Rob's three previous books chronicle the swashbuckling adventures of Florin, Lorenzo (and Katerina) from the jungles of Lustria (The Burning Shore) to the Ogre Kingdoms (Wild Kingdoms) and the underworld of Bordeleaux (Savage City).
1. How did the idea for your latest book, 'The Corrupted', come about? Could you talk us through the process?
'The Corrupted' all started with a short story I wrote to preface the
WFRP 'Realms of Sorcery' book. The main characters in it were great fun to write about, and so when BL asked me to start thinking about a novel that dealt with chaos I couldn't resist using them.
The next step was to decide on the story itself. I was really keen to deal with the myriad ways in which chaos can corrupt. That being the case, I decided to write about a chase into the chaos wastes. The differing characters and motivations of all concerned meant that no two would be twisted in quite the same way!
After that I spent some time visualising the key scenes. This is fun but it's also useful. For me, good descriptive writing means that you first have to 'see' what you want to describe. Some of the scenes in 'The Corrupted' are like nothing you can see in the real world (hopefully!) so I spent a lot of time visualising them. In fact I still have nightmares about 'Grendel's Bag of Delights' even now.
(Too true. I'll never look at a bag of melted marshmallows in the same way again.)
After that it was a matter of going through it all with Lindsey Priestley, writing it, then rewriting it, then sending it back to Lindsey, then rewriting it again. At the beginning and end of the project BL novels become a real team effort between writer and editor, and they definitely benefit because of this. I also took a month out and then helped proof read this one, which I hadn't done before.
2. With 'The Corrupted', you have stepped away from writing a further adventure of Florin, Lorenzo and Katerina (boo, shame). Will there be one?
Yes, there will be another Florin and Lorenzo story in the upcoming Warhammer anthology. I'm not sure about another novel. I think the ending of Savage City tied things up neatly, and there are so many millions of other characters in the Warhammer world. On the other hand, who knows?
3. Have you always been a writer? How much of a struggle is it to become one? How did it all come about?
Becoming a writer (in the sense that you enjoy writing stories) is either easy or impossible. You either like to do it or you don't.
4. So when did you realise this? And at what point did you decide to make a living out of it?
I've been a writer ever since I learnt to write. In fact, I have an old school report complaining that I didn't do anything apart from write Lord of the Rings style stories (which was quite true).
Getting published, on the other hand, is just plain hard. I'm sure that there are guys as good as me who haven't been published yet purely because them's the breaks.
Before BL I had bits and pieces published in small press magazines and local papers, but nothing that paid professional rates. Even now I don't send out a lot of the stuff I write because I'm too lazy to find a market for it.
5. Who are or were the biggest influences on your writing?
My hero has always been Steven King. Reading his novels makes me feel like a mechanic listening to a perfectly built, perfectly tuned and perfectly maintained V8 engine. Although critics can be a bit snooty about genre fiction I think that he is the best writer alive today.
I'm also a great fan of Tom Sharpe. I like his black sense of humour, and although his characters are grotesque he manages to make them believable. Then there's Raymond Chandler, who wrote similes like stand up one liners ('Crazier than two waltzing mice' springs to mind).
I'd have to say that James Herbert is probably the biggest influence, though. I read his books at school, and he's the first author whose work I analysed to try to understand why I liked it so much.
At the moment I'm reading the short stories of Roald Dahl. They're OK, but I can't help comparing them to Somerset Maugham's which were much better. Both men are good at doing the vicious side of human nature, but Maugham can do the noble side too.
6. How wide do you range as a writer? Do you principally see yourself as a novelist?
I wrote a lot of content for political leaflets in the last election, but I do see myself as being mainly a novelist. I really love writing short stories, although I need to make more of an effort to find markets for them. I'm also working on some radio sketch material at the moment, which is a new area for me.
7. Tell us more about the radio scripts.
I'm hoping to get some stuff commissioned for a Radio 4 sketch show which is going out next year. The more time I spend doing this, though, the more I miss having somebody to work with. I think that writing comedy is something that is best done in a team, which isn't the case in prose.
8. Why Warhammer? Are you a gamer?
A player. I've played Warhammer on and off since I was a teenager. I've also just started collecting a 40K army.
Orks.
Thahsands of 'em.
9. Your books seem to explore the fringes of the Warhammer world. Is that a fair comment? If so, was that your decision or did BL suggest areas not yet written about?
Yes, it's a fair comment. I like to write about areas that haven't been covered before, and BL seem quite happy to leave me to it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I write what I want to read, and for an old Warhammer lag like me the unexplored fringes are the most interesting bit.
10. What did you do before you became a writer?
Taught English overseas, worked in marketing for a bit, worked as a labourer. You know, usual shiftless author stuff.
11. Have your Romanian life, love and adventures proved useful when it comes to writing gothic fantasy?
I'm sure it's all played a part. Even now life can be pretty brutal for many Romanians, and they have a history of real gothic horror.
For example, the communists would punish dissidents by stealing their children and putting them into hellish 'orphanages'. Another beauty was the way that Christians would be put through a torture regime, then be given the chance of becoming torturers for the next intake or going through it all again.
Compared to the reality of stuff like this, vampires look pretty tame. At least, they will until I get my hands on them. Bwahahahaha . . . Ahem. Excuse me.
12. Your highest profile work for BL is in the WFB genre, so do you see yourself as a fantasy author? Would you ever be tempted to write 40K fiction?
Absolutely. The great thing about 40K is that it's one of those universes that pretty much defies genres. It's a real mixture of fantasy, sci-fi, war and horror which is why it's so distinctive and so powerful. For example, I've just finished writing a 40K version of the 'Marie Celeste' which is basically a horror story.
13. So where will we read it?
Don't know, to be honest. I'll send it in after I edit it and see if BL want to buy it.
14. What do you think is the most common misconception of a writer's life?
It's hard work, and it's quite lonely. Also, I've noticed a distinct lack of chicks tearing their clothes off and throwing themselves at me. Although, of course, I'm not Dan Abnett.
15. What are the emotional high-points and nadirs of the novel writing cycle?
The high points are many. At the beginning I love the way that characters and images sort of knit themselves together into a synopsis. During writing, the best parts are when characters take on a life of their own, or when events kind of create themselves.. I really enjoy reading through the day's work, too, and just tweaking it here and there.
Nadirs are when I find that the word count won't allow me to include characters or subplots that are extraneous to the plot. I also hate waiting for stuff to be approved. I like to strike while the iron is hot, but as BL do everything by committee this rarely happens.
16. Any practical advice for aspiring BL writers?
Don't write BL stuff just for the sake of it. BL is just one small market, and trying to shoehorn ideas into it is a waste of time.
Better to concentrate on reading and writing, getting good, and entering the competitions when they come along.
17. Do you have an agent?
No, I don't have an agent. I probably should try to find one, though.
18. When you become Evil Overlord for the day, what rule would you impose on the genre?
I would give authors total executive control over what goes on the covers of their books. Most of mine have been OK (and the cover of 'The Burning Shore' was absolutely brilliant) but every now and again you see a cover and you just know that it's taken six months off the author's life.
19. Apart from the short stories you mentioned, what's next?
The Strigany. The fact that they live in permanent, persecuted exile means that they are perhaps the most evolved of all the Warhammer nations. There is also a ferociously gothic secret which underpins their culture. Up until now this has been masked in the tales that they tell, or hidden in the passing shadow of their caravans.
The question is, what happens when this persecuted folk decide not to be persecuted any more?
I'd like to thank Rob for such a forthright interview.
- Martin Belderson
