In the endlessly running sitcom ‘Friends’ there was an
episode where Joey was in Vegas and saw a croupier with the same hands as him.
He dubbed him his 'hand twin.'
In a similar fashion, via the medium of Tweet I have located my author twin-
Gary Vanucci.
Gary writes
fantasy with an unashamedly DnD influence, focusing on detailed action and
intricate world building. His Wothlandia books are set in the Realm of
Ashenclaw, a land populated by adventurers, dwarves, elves, demons and dragons.
Gary has
developed a wealth of material to support his books- a DnD sourcebook, a great
web-site, and a fantastic partnership with author-artist William Kenney. The
covers are fantastic, bringing to mind the classic sixties and seventies styles
that adorned sword & sorcery classics by Moorcock et al.
But a book is far more than its cover, and Gary's work doesn't fail to impress. My first
exposure was one of his prequels (now collected in a single volume) and from
that I went on to read Covenant of the Faceless Knights.
Covenant tells the tale of Garius, a rather dour Inquisitor, who assembles a
group of disparate heroes to accompany him on a mission to rescue some priests.
The heroes struggle to integrate initially - as you'd expect from a barbarian,
a thief and an elf alchemist. However their journey brings out their
extraordinary talents and they knit together as the story progresses. In the
backstory we have a demonic warlord making alliances with succubi queens, evil
dwarves and a lich. Yep, a lich! Only one down from a beholder for sheer
classic DnD! The main purpose there seems to be to set up books 2+, which is
something that I (as well as authors like Martin and Erikson) like to do.
The characters are great: lots of fun, interesting, with abilities verging on
super powered. In fact I could pick up a big comic-book influence in Gary's style ( just like
me :-D ... Truly we are author twins).
I felt genuinely curious about what happens next when the book finished, and
look forward to reading the sequel. I interviewed Gary about being a self-pub author, so
without further ado, over to my US 'twin.'
Me: Where did you draw the inspiration for the
Wothlondia series from?
Gary:
I wanted to do a series of prequel short stories that actually added not only
history to my world, but character development. I am attempting to set the
characters up in the mind of the reader to allow them greater depth, motivation
and a sense of what makes them tick. The whole series came to me from decades
of writing my own D&D adventures, campaigns, etc. Most of the story,
background, maps, etc. came from those years with quite a bit of tweaks and
changes to give them the feel of the Realm of Ashenclaw setting. All of the
characters are my own creations. They are not old characters.
Me: You've assembled
a great cast of characters. Who do you like writing the most out of them all?
I can’t choose that! It’s like asking “who is your favourite
child?” I do enjoy writing them all. Orngoth to me is kind of like the Hulk. I
picture this massive monster of a man and go from there. Garius is your typical
leader-type with very little in the way of emotion or humor. He is slightly
emotionally stunted I guess, though this is a kind of social impedance in that
regard. He puts his work and his devotion above all else. Saeunn is a cold,
heartless warrior with a chip on her shoulder. She has suffered great loss
early on, especially if you have read Tears of Blood, and it continues in
Covenant. She has become very callous and guarded emotionally, aside from her mother.
Elec is a kind of young adult to me. He is very naïve and growing, kind of
inexperienced and yet, extremely intelligent and full of potential. He is
becoming more and more addicted to the adrenaline rush of combat as well as his
elixirs. It should be a very relatable tale with him moving forward. And Rose
is really developing on her own, moreso than any of the others. She started out
with a rough childhood, got used to a certain lifestyle afforded her by
Ganthorpe and the Thieves’ Guild and currently, she is realizing that she was
missing out on the action. She has a hidden side that really enjoyed working
hard and she misses the ‘thrill and excitement of her youth. And, above all
else, I try to write my characters so that they seem real, with real emotion
and motivations.
Me: How much has
playing (and presumably DMing) role-playing games influenced your writing? Do
you worry that such influences may pigeon-hole your work amongst fantasy
readers?
Gary: Playing and DMing has given me more to draw on and
opened my mind, as has everything else I have ever done with regards to
creativity and exposing myself to other imaginary worlds. All of my past
hobbies have influenced me greatly. I feel that I can place a spin on the
typical good vs. bad and make it unique, fun and even engaging enough to make
people want to read it. I don’t think that pigeon-holing is what I would worry
about. I am telling high fantasy and a reader comes along with certain
expectations in that genre, which I am fully capable of providing. However, I
feel that I can place an exceptional stamp on my characters, my writing and my
world that will make the experience very unique.
Me: What are your big
literary influences?
Gary:
R.A. Salvatore. He is amazing. I have never read an author that can put so much
detail in the world, speak so uniquely, introduced so many awesome characters
and still give you a fight scene that is incredibly written. I also enjoy
Michael Moorcock, George Martin, Terry Brooks, Robert E. Howard, Frank Miller,
Peter David, and Alan Moore. There are really too many to name. Also, I must
say that there are seriously tons of good fantasy writers on the indie side
that need to be read as well. Mind you, there is also a lot of garbage, which
is the con about self-publishing, but there are quite a few gems out there as
well. Visit
Skulldust Circle
and you very well may find some good ones there! *hint-hint* As a side note, I
am currently reading your Darkness Rising novel and feel that I must say, your
writing is brilliant and elegant, and more people really need to discover your
prose as I believe they will greatly enjoy it. As a fan of epic fantasy, I
would recommend it!
Me: The covers are
amazing- tell us something more about them.
Gary:
They developed from my mind and I give Mr. William Kenney (also another
Skulldust Circle
author and my artist!) the descriptions and he churns out something amazing for
me. It is truly amazing to work with someone who shares your vision on what the
quality of the covers should look like, what the characters need to look like
and the overall feel and ambiance of the world I am trying to create. If you
need some amazing, character-focused artwork, please look him up!
Me: Fun question: in
the Hollywood blockbuster who would play your
main characters?
Gary:
I’ve been asked this before and still have no good answers. I’d really love
Olivia Wilde to play Rose in my movie. I think she would be amazing as a
smart-ass rogue-type. I think I’d like Karl Urban to play Garius. The dude is
extremely intense and his scowl is unmatched. Imagine him shaved bald with a
long beard…lol. The elf-like character that appeared in Hellboy 2 might make an
awesome Elec. Aside from a few stars to carry the movie, I’d try to introduce
some new actors in an attempt to give some fresh talent a chance to make it in
the big town of
Hollywood!
Me: With the advent
of e-publishing, people have been predicting the end of print. I recall the
same predictions with the boom of multi-player Internet based gaming that the
same would happen with RPG. What are your thoughts on this?
Gary:
My opinion, albeit a strong one, is: It will never happen. Never. Mark it down.
There will always be a want and therefore a need for publishing houses to
continue on in print. It may never be lower than it is now, but it certainly
will never disappear completely. I think it would be foolish, irresponsible and
short-sighted. What if something happened to the internet? All we would have
left would be print.
Me: So what are your
current projects?
Gary:
I am currently writing Book 4 in my series, called Dance of Deceit, which
continues the saga of my heroes and which I expect to be released by this
Christmas…if all goes well. There will be quite a few reveals and (teaser)
quite possibly a death of a character in there. (WHAT?!)
I also have a short story that will be out shortly with some
of the guys from Skulldust Circle!
You may have heard of them. My story is the Legend of Ashenclaw (the giant
red-dragon queen whose namesake is the branding of my world!) IT should be epic
for any fans of my world and there are several other amazing short stories in
there that need to be perused as well. I think this cross-promotion anthology
will be an awesome endeavour that introduces many readers to our work that otherwise
may not have taken the chance.
Thanks for having me and I look forward to an interview with
you as well!
Thanks,
Gary,
especially for the mention of my work!!! The Skulldust anthology will be out
soon, and in the interim check out
Gary’s
excellent style at the links below and on his website.
Gary's Amazon page
Realm of Ashenclaw website
Covenant of the Faceless Knights
