On the Spot at BSC – Mark Robson interview

BSCreview presents an interview with author Mark Robson. He is the author of the Darkweaver Legacy series and the Imperial series

Rune - Did your career in the RAF influence your stories?

Mark Robson - Yes, very much so. In my first book, The Forging of the Sword, much of the story revolves around a Baron’s private army. Although a medieval army, there are certain aspects of military life that have been consistent throughout history. The sense of camaraderie and the discipline involved in being a part of a military force were the elements that I sought to shine through. Many of the patterns of training that the troops are forced to go through during that story were taken directly from my own training and “translated” into the feudal system found in my fantasy world. I have always looked to include something of a military element to my stories since, though not always so strongly as in that first book. It has become something of a trade mark.

Rune - I believe your navigator suggested you go write a book. Did you think about a writing career before your navigator’s suggestion?

Mark Robson - No, it had never crossed my mind. Indeed, even after writing the first quartet I did not consider a writing career until it was put to me by the senior buyer at Waterstones that I should look to take my work more seriously.

Rune -What publishing route did you take and why?

Mark Robson - I started the normal way, by stacking up a pile of rejection letters! However, I have always looked to see progression in everything I do, so when I realised I was getting nowhere with the traditional press, I actually had a single copy of my first book made up in hardback for me and I used to lend it out to people who demonstrated an interest. When it was suggested that I self publish, I did not really understand what was meant by this, so I took the suggestion literally – I started up my own publishing company from home.

I treated the self publishing as a hobby, people spend money on hobbies, so I was not averse to losing money for the satisfaction of getting my book into the public domain for people to read. When I started getting a growing wave of positive feedback, I began to write more and more, self publishing a new novel each year until the quartet was complete.

It was the fact that I was selling so many that brought me to the attention of firstly, the big book chains, and ultimately the mainstream publishers. Simon & Schuster UK signed me for a two book deal initially, (they’ve now signed me for 4 more with first option on a fifth) at which point the possibility of a career as a writer began to take shape.

Rune - When writing your stories, do you aim for a particular age group?

Mark Robson - I look to write the sort of stories that I would have enjoyed reading in my early teens. I did this with full knowledge that the cross-over market between YA and adult material is very strong at the moment. I still read many of the same authors now that I did as a teenager, so I was looking to catch my readers young and keep them into adulthood. It is interesting to note that many of the books I particularly liked from the adult section when I was younger are now being re-released as YA titles.

Rune -Where did you get the ideas to write your first series, Darkweaver?

Mark Robson - The initial ideas that I had were very weak, but as I began writing the stories the characters came to life in such a way that they began dictating the story to me! Once the full cast had been introduced, I found the progression through the books seemed to slot naturally together as if they had always been there in my head just waiting to leak out onto the page. I drew ideas and concepts for the story from many sources, but in particular from works by Tolkien, David Eddings, David Gemmell and Elizabeth Moon. Although in many ways The Darkweaver Legacy series is a traditional good verses evil struggle where good eventually triumphs, I like to think that I have managed to weave a certain amount of originality into the way I approached the storyline.

Rune - Do you have a favourite character in the Darkweaver series?

Mark Robson - It’s very hard to just pick out one, but I suppose the fact that I went on to write about Femke in Imperial Spy does show a particular love for her as a character. She was such great fun, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, poisoning people and generally into everything that I just knew I had to give her a story of her own at the end of the first quartet.

Rune - The Darkweaver series included a lot of detailed sword fighting scenes. Where did you get the ideas for those and are ancient forms of fighting something you are interested in?

Mark Robson - I did do some fencing when I was younger, though I had very little talent in that area. I was much better with a longbow, as it happens. Having gained some experience with both sword and bow, I found it a big advantage when looking to bring at least an element of reality to the fight scenes. I have subsequently learned the basics of knife throwing and now attend martial arts classes twice a week (Tae Kwon Do) where I shall soon take my first grading. I suppose I shall then qualify as very slightly dangerous! It certainly helps to choreograph fight scenes if you understand the balance/skills involved and practicalities of fighting with certain weapons.

Rune - What made you choose Fantasy as a genre to write for? Would you like to write in a different genre sometime in the future?

Mark Robson - I’ve always loved fantasy from the moment I started reading. Whether it was Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair, (in the very early days) or Lord of the Rings, I was entranced by anything with a magical edge. I have read a vast number of books in the genre, though still hardly seem to have scratched the surface of what has been written. I recently wrote a science fiction short story which is due for publication in November 06 as part of an anthology, but other than that have written exclusively fantasy to date.

I do have ideas for a great modern thriller, which I may eventually commit to paper, but if I were to get it published, I would probably do so under a pseudonym.

Rune - Please tell us a little about your new project, Imperial series?

Mark Robson - In some ways the Imperial series is a direct follow on from The Darkweaver Legacy, however, the cast for the stories involves a lot of new characters and looks at a whole different side of society. Where the first series concentrated on one nation’s military and the world of magic and magicians, this new series sees life in the neighbouring Empire’s military and examines the shady world of international espionage and assassinations.

I had been challenged by a lady in a bookshop one day that fantasy writers were only ever interested in stories focused around magic and magicians, so to take a series along a different track, with a heroine spy, seemed a fun and different approach to a fantasy plot. There is still a magical element to the story, which does come to the fore in the final book with a most explosive finale, but for the most part, the story concentrates on spies, assassins, murder and mayhem!

Rune - How many books will Imperial series have?

Mark Robson - The Imperial series will be a trilogy. Imperial Spy launched in February this year (06), was re-printed in May, and I’ve just heard will be re-printed again before Christmas. Imperial Assassin launches in November 06 and I’m just drafting the final chapter of Imperial Traitor, which will launch in late summer 07.

Femke is the main character of Imperial Spy. Femke was first introduced in the Darkweaver series, what made you decided to develop her into a main character for your new series?

I just really liked her as a character. She was fun to write about because she did lots of exciting things. Tracking assassins, killing off unwanted troublemakers and even directly influencing who would be the next Emperor. Not bad for a 19 year old girl! Despite her many talents and her chameleon style changes of appearance, she does make mistakes, which takes away any super-human feel that she might have otherwise developed. I think this fallibility was one of her more endearing characteristics. From the feedback I’ve had so far on Imperial Spy, it seems that my instincts were correct and others like her too.

Rune -Are there any authors that have inspired you to write? And which authors books do you enjoy reading?

Mark Robson - I’ve already stated some of my major influences, but Anne McCaffrey, Julian May, Freda Warrington, and many, many other fantasy writers have contributed to my love of fantasy and my ability to construct storylines that work.

Rune - Do you do anything special after a new book is published? E.G. to celebrate.

Mark Robson - I normally indulge in a few glasses of a particularly fine red wine, but aside from that, not much. Whenever a new book is published, my feet don’t really touch the ground for about 3 months with all the promotional work I do. You only need to take a look at my events diary on the News section of my website to see how busy I am with events for Imperial Assassin.

Rune - Your website mentions your work with schools, doing talks for children. How did you get involved with schools and what are you hoping to achieve?

Mark Robson - My main aim when going to schools is to inspire the children to look to the future to set themselves goals and targets that will lift their enthusiasm for their time in school. I tell them how I overcame the odds of becoming a pilot by setting short term goals and pursuing them with relentless energy, and how I have used the same techniques to become recognised as an author. Alongside this is the desire to encourage reading and creative writing. I rarely use my own work as examples when running creative writing workshops, but look to enthuse the young people about a whole host of great YA writers in all different genres: Rowling, Phillip Reeve, Garth Nix, Echo Freer, Louise Rennison, Mary Hooper, Malorie Blackman, Eoin Colfer, Jacqueline Wilson and Joseph Delaney are just a few of the other authors I promote.

Rune - What other book plans to you have in the pipeline?

Mark Robson - I have recently signed a contract, again with Simon & Schuster for what will eventually be a quartet of fantasy books set in a whole new world. For the first time since I started writing I am going to draw on my flying experience and write about dragons and aeroplanes, specifically the bi and tri-planes of World War I. My story will begin in a fantasy world, but flit in and out of our world during the early 1900s, eventually seeing dragons battling aircraft over the trenches. I’m really looking forward to getting into the writing phase of this new series as just the thought of it sets my creative brain cells tingling! The series will be called The Dragon Orb series, the first of which will be published in Spring 08.

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