Still, as everyone seems to be migrating their way to new formats, and authors are pressed into releasing their works online at next to nothing, it really is a case of “You can’t beat them so join them.” Hence, the release of my works and future works in digital format.

I guess in a way I’d prefer that people buy physical copies of my books because it leaves a kind of legacy of my work- I like the idea that many years after I’m gone, there will still be shelves with my books on them (not many, admittedly, but some) for people to look at and maybe ponder about the author. Clearly that’s a triumph of the ego over rational thought- why on earth should it matter to me what people are doing in 100 years from now?- but it’s a strangely comforting thought nonetheless. And it has to be said, the idea that 95% of copies will simply be digital files floating aimlessly around in cyberspace, being passed around and copied probably far more often than they’re actually opened and read, is a bit saddening. Then again, if I shouldn’t care about the physical copies, I shouldn’t really care about the digital ones either.

Maybe it’s that I have this idea of a physical book acting as a kind of headstone- my marker on a shelf stacked with other long-gone writers one day, perhaps. It’s a way of being (possibly) remembered for those of us who won’t be remembered in any other way particularly. And now I have in mind an actual graveyard where the gravestones are in fact actual books… cue for a story of some sort perhaps…

I spent a great deal of the last decade attempting to climb the greasy corporate pole, although I never got quite as high as the glass ceiling before something or someone would drag me back down. I certainly wasn’t cut out for the corporate environment, and I was generally pretty unpopular- in retrospect, I suppose that especially during the final few years of it, I cared less and less, and I certainly didn’t care enough to at least hide my contempt for that particular world.

So I guess that would be one regret, although I don’t really think about it that much- like everyone else I had to get a job of some sort, after all, and like everyone else I tried to get promotions (or rather, I tried to get a higher salary. The promotion was the penalty I had to pay for that salary). But, not being much of a team player, and detesting having to put on a cheerful, helpful face every morning to all my co-workers, it eventually became clear that it wasn’t for me.

My main regret is that I would have wanted to kick on with my books and get them “out there” whilst I was still young. Everything becomes more of a struggle as you get older, and seems to sap your energy more and more. The one thing that does seem to have increased with age is my willpower (in terms of sticking at my writing tasks). Sometimes it even wins the constant struggle against the inevitable monster, Decrepitude. But that’s just as well, when physically and mentally you know you’re way past the cusp of the hill and freewheeling down into the shadowy valley.

You could say the two regrets are linked. The path of corporate mediocrity diverted me from the one thing I’ve always wanted to do- and although I can forgive the daily commute with identikit office drones, the tea rounds, the endless capacity for spiteful gossip, the not-compulsory-but-really-they-are drinks after work (when all you want to do is get the hell home), I really can’t find it within myself to forgive that choking, demeaning world of absolute dullness for causing me to stray from my real path.

But of course, I don’t think about it much. No, really.

Oddly enough, it was the publication of Oblivion’s Forge that really spurred me on to other projects- not just the sequel, and hopefully others in the series, but the anthology of short stories, and another novel which I’ve started work on in the last few weeks. I think partly it was because it generated a certain level of expectation amongst readers, and the feedback was so encouraging. Being on the path is one thing, but being on the path and being encouraged all the way is quite another- you feel that much lighter.

Speaking of which: words to write before I rest…

It’s a little longer than the first book, although of course length isn’t everything.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m pretty happy with it, especially from a character development point of view, and it works as a good launching pad for the third book, The Endless Shore, which I’ve started working on.

I also finally sorted out the stories to include in the new compilation of short stories- the title of which I just know will be a troublesome problem- and even had a dream the other night which actually works as a short story with very little adaptation needed- a pretty rare occurrence.

Finally, I thought I’d drop a link to Ross Kitson’s blog in here: http://mousesroar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/oblivions-forge-by-simon-williams.html

Ross interviewed me about the Aona books and the whole exercise was very thought-provoking, mainly because the questions posed were excellent. Anyway, the interview gives some additional insight into the whole philosophy behind the Aona series so if you’ve read Oblivion’s Forge but not Secret Roads, or if you’ve just read the intro on CompletelyNovel.com (here it is if you haven’t – http://www.completelynovel.com/books/oblivions-forge–2/read-online) then why not have a read of it sometime.

The book has two maps included- really for reference rather than artistic merit of any kind. I wanted to provide some geographical reference points, but without burdening the reader with too much to look up- so the maps are fairly sparse and really show the relationships between different areas rather than anything more complex. I don’t know any cartographers!

There are three projects now in the pipeline:

1. Book III of the Aona series – current title is The Endless Shore. Parts of this have “sort of” been written (as in they will need to be re-written half a dozen times before attaining any sort of respectability). I’m planning to have this ready by the end of the year. I can promise more witchy stuff, and a few more steps towards explaining the whole theory / background to Aona, which as you may have gathered is a, shall we say, special world.

2. The compilation of short stories- some of these will be re-writes of old works, but there will be some new stories too. I haven’t completed a new short story in many years so this will be a significant challenge- but I’m keen to figure out if I can still write fiction of that size. I have absolutely no idea what to call the anthology though.

3. A short novel which will partly be a re-write of Shallowdeep, an experimental work that I wrote back in ’98. I thought it had some ideas that were definitely worth exploring further and improving on- the original work was severely flawed but I think it has enough going for it to be re-made (although I’d describe it as a half-rewrite, half new write). Who knows how that will turn out.

Anyway, Secret Roads should be available from next week or week after- once I’ve had a good look through the proof copy which is apparently on its way.

When I started writing fantasy, the villains I created tended to be very much in this mould. I grew bored with them though; as time went on I started to think more about what it was that made them tick. Were they just sadistic? Were they insane? Or did they actually think that their behaviour was for the greater good?

People seem to be infinitely complex. The world (any world) is a challenging, chaotic place for that reason. In Oblivion’s Forge I set out to show a little of the complexity that multiple races of very diverse beings bring to the created environment, particularly when that environment is under great stress from external influences (as is the case here). Ordinary folk, placed in extraordinary circumstances, react in ways we might consider strange. Ancient beings, older than any of the other races that roam the world, grow in strength as a response to a threat that could destroy Aona forever. Once, they enslaved the younger races- yet they also consider themselves to be the protectors of the world.

Perspective…

In Secret Roads, there are a number of new characters, many of whom are deeply flawed in some way (clue: one of them is actually introduced towards the end of Oblivion’s Forge and has become possibly my favourite character… and I can assure you I never saw that coming). These are the type of people I love to write about. They display the full spectrum of emotions given sufficient time (even those whose preferred method of survival is to wrap themselves up in sullen silence, ever suspicious and non-committal). It’s difficult to know how they’ll eventually work out (often even I don’t know at first) because they themselves don’t know. Much of the time they try to not even think about the balance between what they could do and what they should do. They’re not necessarily morally weak either (whatever that may mean); they simply don’t know which path to take much of the time- or they take a path and then curse their choice, looking back in jealousy or in guilt.

Anyway, these are often the most important people in the world; ordinary people, complete with issues, upon whom important decisions suddenly may fall.

I don’t really do heroes either, by the way.

I – The River Runs Black

II – Dreams and Ambitions

III – Winter’s Eyes

IV – Dark Movements

V – The City of Dreams

VI – The Last Light Burning

VII – A Quiet Malevolence

VIII – Threads in the Earth

IX – Treachery

X – All Swept Away

XI – Possession

XII – In Motion

XIII – The Heavens Burst

XIV – A Path Inside the Pain

XV – Dust in the Sunlight

(Bizarrely, I also realised later that three of these titles are also songs by various bands… I’d be impressed if someone could identify them. I’d be even more impressed if someone corrected me and said “Actually, six of them are the titles of songs…”)

People who like to ask “Why do you bother?” type questions always amuse me. Well okay, they actually annoy more often than they amuse me, but oddly enough they also stir me into a more determined mood- which is odd, because someone who forever questions the point of doing something they haven’t tried themselves (or indeed “can’t be bothered”) tends to be the sort of person who gets up in the morning wishing the rest of the world could be dragged down to his or her level.

One could suggest to them that they “get a life” but you just know they won’t.

Anyway, to answer the original question, I write because that gives more purpose than any other activity. All other things are pretty much a means to an end, but writing is itself a means and an end- by which I mean the journey and the destination are both (if you love doing it) self-fulfilling. It’s occasionally frustrating, but I can’t imagine not doing it.

And why bother writing fantasy?

Well that’s not so much a philosophy as much as a way of life, or a way of helping to rationalise and make sense of life through writing. It might sound odd that a genre as (apparently) far removed as possible from the grim grind of everyday life helps rationalise and make sense- but somehow it does. There are events and scenarios I write about which are in one way or another lifted from real happenings (although I have to say I’ve never gone on in detail about the worst things I hear about in the real world or used them- at least not graphically- in my books). Fantasy is a genre that allows an incredible amount of freedom- using as much as you want of the real world and transplanting it into an exotic, alien environment.

I’d be hard pushed to create a world with more greed, disillusionment, despair, hate, fear, paranoia and extremism than Earth 2012 (nor would I want to), and although the Aona books are pretty dark, I think (certainly I hope) that their character-driven nature  is a source of some inspiration. Whether or not it’s fantasy, tales of ordinary (and some extraordinary) people grimly determined to survive tend to have a resonance with readers.

Winter is a good time for writing; the grim, cold, short days somehow lend themselves well to the pursuit. There are distractions as always, but particularly during the Christmas holidays one tends to at least know when these will be.

Writing and travel pretty much form the basis of my goals for this year. Publication of two more books, especially when the first one took so long to complete, would be a good achievement, but travelling to a few more interesting parts of the world (those that haven’t yet succumbed to chaos) during the year, and for as long as possible after that, would be a good bonus. I don’t think I’ll ever be a travel writer, but I do like to write whilst outside my usual environment- different surroundings often lend a certain freedom and liberation from the usual mindset (at least that’s what I’ve found). I can even do it whilst flying, although if I have a window seat then I sometimes just stare at the clouds for ages.

Easily motivated but easily distracted. ; )

Book I – Oblivion’s Forge

Published and available from completelynovel.com – http://www.completelynovel.com/books/oblivions-forge–2/buys/new

Book II – Secret Roads

Final draft in progress. I expect it to be available around March.

Book III – The Endless Shore

First draft being written. Should be completed and possibly even published by the end of 2012.

Book IV – The Spiral Heart

To be written

Book V – Salvation’s Door

To be written

I suspect some of the stories I’ve included may need a bit of reworking, but that’s an altogether easier task than coming up with something entirely new.

Most of them were published previously, in various fairly small-circulation magazines.

Stories chosen for inclusion so far:

Inward Bound

Opening Night

Season of Alteration

Morning Assembly

Aphrodite Takes a Fall

Perfection

Remembrance

Forgotten Sounds

Death in Bloom

Unmade

Some unfinished works that I may complete (one way or another) and also add:

The Switch

Safe Harvest

The Attractions

Another little problem… I have absolutely no idea what to call this anthology…