Your Questions for the Author Answered

What do you think about this issue raised in a recent Salon article: https://www.salon.com/2023/08/05/why-america-is-going-backward-being-the-richest-nation-in-history-isnt-enough? https://www.salon.com/2023/08/05/why-america-is-going-backward-being-the-richest-nation-in-history-isnt-enough

The article makes some good points, and there’s no doubt that, for the average person, our so-called health system is an expensive nightmare, partly because it’s run by accountants for the benefit of health care executives and the profit maximization of medical supply companies and the pharmaceutical industry.

But the article misses the one critical point. What improves longevity statistics the most is improving the health and health care of the poorest segments of society. Our system improves the health of the wealthiest in society while making healthcare increasingly expensive and hard to get for the poorest segments of society, as well as for the working families. Add to that the fact that the right-wing anti-abortionists have enacted in a great number of states measures that effectively limit care for poor women who are pregnant (willingly or not) by making medical practitioners criminally liable for providing care that could save women with problematical pregnancies. Then add to that the unwanted children who seldom get adequate food and medical care, which increases the death rate and shortens their life spans, not to mention the years they can work productively.

By making healthcare a government responsibility, the European and other countries have lifted a huge financial burden off companies and individuals, and also removed the “need” for healthcare to be “profitable.” The result is that a greater percentage of the population gets “basic” health care, and wide-spread basic healthcare improves overall longevity more than does high-tech healthcare limited by cost to the upper-middle-class and upper class.

—:  August 7th, 2023 05:55 pmFeed     2 Comments »
July 29th Question

I came across this article and wondered if there was a connection to your THE SPELLSONG CYCLE Series. If not then you may find this take on Archaeoacoustics interesting. Megaliths, Music & the Mind – The Latest in Archaeoacoustics Linda Eneix, The OTS Foundation for Neolithic Studies Academia Letters, December 2021 https://www.academia.edu/63669239/Megaliths_Music_and_the_Mind_The_Latest_in_Archaeoacoustics Also free at: https://otsf.org/megaliths%2C-music-%26-mind

No, there’s no direct connection to that finding. My speculations come from a more direct source — being married to an opera singer and director and seeing the effect that music can have on people. Also, from various other archaeological observations on structures, not to mention how societies and rulers have employed music as a tool for affecting their people.

—:  July 29th, 2023 09:02 amFeed     1 Comment »
July 10th Question

Have your works been localized outside of English, and do you know of any good resources for finding such editions?

Various books of mine have been printed in other languages — German, French, Polish, Dutch, Czech, Russian, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian, and Swedish, but how many books were printed in what language varies. In general, however, the Recluce books are those most translated, but unevenly. For example, the first eleven books of the Recluce Saga were printed in German before the publisher went bankrupt, while only The Magic of Recluce was printed in Spanish. The first three books of The Corean Chronicles were printed in Italian, but no Recluce books. Several SF books were printed in Russian, but no fantasy. Three Recluce books were published in French, as was The Elysium Commission. There were also three Recluce books in Swedish.

As for sources of foreign versions, I’m afraid I can’t help with that.

—:  July 10th, 2023 05:14 pmFeed     1 Comment »
First July Question

Have you considered a novel connecting the founding of Fairhaven and how it became “the city of white”? As I reread the Cerryl books I wonder how the city Beltur created became the city Cerryl lived in.

I’ve certainly considered writing such a novel, or even more than one, but for the immediate present, I’m working on something that’s not in the world of Recluce. After that, we’ll see.

—:  July 4th, 2023 10:41 amFeed     No Comments »
June 24th Question

I am wondering if you have noticed how much you use “slip” or “ease” when describing motion. People slip in or out of places; they ease things in or out or off.

My editor has pointed out that I do have a tendency to overuse particular words, and I try to avoid doing so. Part of the problem is that there aren’t that many convenient synonyms for either “slip” or “ease.” “Steal away” carries implications not suited for some characters. So do “sneak”, “sidle,” and “slink.” Some repetitions don’t bother readers, such as “says” or “said,” but others, even if only used a few times in an entire book, stick in readers’ minds.

—:  June 24th, 2023 12:19 pmFeed     No Comments »
June13th Question

I am really enjoying The Grand Illusion series, and re-reading the first two whilst waiting for the third. I just wondered if there was a map to go with the books?

There isn’t a map for The Grand Illusion books, except for the rough one I drew for myself, largely because the majority of events take place in Machtarn. I realize that many readers like the maps, but they’re expensive from a production point of view, and publishers are reluctant to pay for something not considered vital.

—:  June 13th, 2023 09:36 amFeed     1 Comment »
June Question

I have read and re-read your books “Saga of Recluce” several times, and it seems to be that Hamor is ruled by 1 Lord but there used to be 4 separate rulers, what am I missing?

Over the course of history, Hamor has changed. There was one ruler who claimed to be an emperor of Hamor in the time of Lorn [Magi’i of Cyador and Scion of Cyador] but he didn’t rule the entire continent, just Afrit, while Atla was a loose confederation of tribes, and Merowey was independent. After the fall of Cyador [The Chaos Balance], the survivors of the emperor’s family fled to Hamor and began to carve out a land for themselves on the border between Merowey and Afrit [“Heritage” from Recluce Tales]. That land became the fourth country in Hamor. In Cyador’s Heirs and Heritage of Cyador, Lerial begins the process that will result in all of Hamor being unified, which occurs just before the beginning of NaturaL Ordermage.

—:  June 2nd, 2023 02:00 pmFeed     2 Comments »
May 5th Question

I have been reading your Recluse series since they started coming out moving on to the Imager Portfolio and Corean Chronicles I have now started with your Grand Illusion series. Throughout the other books I am able figure out the monetary system, distance, and a bit of at least the hours of the day, for that I just tie it to a 24 hour system. But what I would like to know is at least the age of the main characters. I feel when politics are involved age is a big factor. Also even thought all your books are fiction they have opened my eyes in how I look at our world and even try to see how our timeline fits in with the others.

Steffan Dekkard is roughly 27 at the beginning of Isolate, and Avraal Ysella is roughly three years older than Dekkard. The age of majority is 20 in Guldor.

—:  May 5th, 2023 05:08 pmFeed     1 Comment »
April 19th Question

How do you pronounce your name? Is it Mo-dee-sit or is it Mode-sit or something else?

The “family” pronunciation of my surmname is MODD [rhymes with “odd”] ess-it. That, of course, breaks every rule of English pronunciation, but it’s what I inherited.

—:  April 19th, 2023 07:10 pmFeed     1 Comment »
March 2023 Question

In various fantasy works, you often have “lancers” as one of the primary types of troops. I’m not aware of any time in history when lancers were that prominent, although I am certainly not familiar with every era of history. Is there a reason, possibly related to how you picture the various magic systems impacting war, for the use of lancers so commonly?

The magic system was certainly the reason for the use of Mirror Lancers in the Recluce books, because in the time of Cyador, firelances were a stand-off weapon. Another factor is that the population density, especially in Candar, is comparatively low and the distances between communities, except along the Great Canal, mitigate against infantry… and there’s a lot of grassland.

In the Corean Chronicles, rifles and magic were both stand-off weapons, but magic definitely precludes large massed armies. In the Imager Portfolio, the fighting forces in the early years were more like mounted infantry.

Historically, there have definitely been notable eras where the predominant military force was mounted, but such forces work better in areas of lower population density, and where forage is abundant, similar to the lands I’ve created.

But I suppose part of the reason is that, as a former Naval officer and pilot, I prefer not to deal with the grinding brutality of soldiers on foot making mincemeat out of each other, and I’ve created worlds where it’s not quite as necessary or workable.

—:  March 16th, 2023 08:09 pmFeed     3 Comments »
March Question

Tor just revealed a new set of covers for the first three Recluce books. Was this really necessary?

Necessary? Perhaps not, but covers are one of the reasons why readers buy some books and don’t pick up others. The artwork on the early Recluce books was painted, and it was indeed painted by Darrell Sweet, more than twenty-five years ago. The marketing people tell me that it doesn’t have the same appeal to present-day younger readers as it once did. In addition, I personally believe that the new covers show more of the sweep of the Recluce books as well as provide a bit more accurate “feel.” In the end, the readers will determine whether marketing people and I are right.

—:  March 15th, 2018 05:21 pmFeed     24 Comments »
January Question

Stylistically, are there things you did that you’ve changed over time? Or things you wished you could change?

All writers change over time, sometimes in significant ways, sometimes in very small ways. There are stylistic “innovations” that I tried and largely abandoned. In the early Recluce books, I included more “sound effects.” Readers HATED them. So I seldom use that technique any more. I also used “majer” as an alternative spelling of the rank “major,” but a number of readers simply thought it was an error or a typo. For consistency’s sake, I still use that spelling in the Recluce books, but if I had it to do over, I probably wouldn’t do it. Thanks to readers and friends, I now write more knowledgeably [or less ignorantly] about horses, and, of course, my knowledge of music has continued to increase, thanks to my wife, the music professor.

—:  January 15th, 2018 12:03 pmFeed     11 Comments »
December Question

Will you ever write more books in the Spellsong Cycle?

I don’t have any immediate plans to write more Spellsong books, but I haven’t foreclosed that possibility. What I can say is that, if I do, it won’t be soon, since I’m committed to finishing the book I’m now working on and one other before I can consider what I’ll write then.

—:  December 1st, 2016 04:08 pmFeed     16 Comments »
September Question

Will you continue to write Recluce novels and fill in the gaps in “history”?

The forthcoming Recluce Tales will fill in some gaps in the history of the world of Recluce, as will The Mongrel Mage, scheduled for release a year from this November, and its sequel, which I’m currently writing. After that, we’ll just have to see.

—:  September 19th, 2016 12:19 pmFeed     14 Comments »
July Question

Am I correct in assuming that you are as dissatisfied as I am that the editing and proofing process failed to change “effect” to “affect” on page 27, line 35 of Madness in Solidar?

While I would prefer all of my books to be error free, or at least typo-free, as would any author, that’s an unrealistic expectation for several reasons. First, as an author, I do occasionally make typographical errors, and since I submit my books in electronic format, the initial typographical error is mine, not someone else’s. Second, although that book was read before publication by two editors, a copy-editor, and a proof-reader, errors still occasionally occur. Third, as upsetting as such errors may be, they tend to represent a very small fraction of the words in a book. Madness in Solidar is 180,000 words long, roughly, and an error in one word still represents a typographical accuracy of 99.99945% on the word level.

I know that such typos can be upsetting, but all I can say is that a great number of people do their best, and I doubt very seriously that there are many books published totally free of typographical errors.

—:  July 1st, 2016 03:04 pmFeed     10 Comments »
June Question

Are you a Mormon?

No. I’ve actually mentioned my semi-religious affiliation in several past blog posts, but I’ll give a more complete explanation. I grew up in a household that was nominally Methodist, decided when I was about thirteen that I wanted to be an Episcopalian, and spent about ten years as a relatively devout Episcopalian — youth group president and acolyte/altar boy — until I went to college. The subsequent events of my life made me increasingly wary of organized religion, and at present, I describe myself as an agnostic Anglican, because I can neither deny nor affirm the existence of a deity and because I love the language and liturgy of the original King James Bible and the original Book of Common Prayer. Because my wife and I have lived in Utah for well over twenty years, have an above average number of children, and because I’ve occasionally written about the LDS faith, both in the future and in alternate worlds, as in The Ghost of the Revelator or The Parafaith War, and because I eschew strong profanity, graphic sex, and excessive and gratuitous violence in my writing,there has been occasional speculation that I might be LDS. I’m not.

—:  June 1st, 2016 05:50 pmFeed     15 Comments »
May Question

Have you thought about writing a sequel to the first three Imager Portfolio books? Possibly one about Rhenn’s daughter?

Actually, I have thought about writing some sort of follow-on to the first three Imager books, but, if I do, it will have to be a little while, since there are two more Imager books coming — Treachery’s Tools in October andAssassin’s Price in July of 2017, and since I’m committed to finishing another Recluce novel next. After the current writing projects we’ll see.

—:  May 2nd, 2016 10:53 amFeed     10 Comments »
October Question

In seeing that Solar Express is about to be published, I realized that I only see SF books by you every few years. Why don’t you write more science fiction?

Unfortunately, the answer is simple and boils down to two words — time and money. A good science fiction novel takes me more time and pays me considerably less than a good fantasy novel. Now, some people have said that, well, if I wrote more S.F., more people would buy it. What they have forgotten or never knew is that for the first twenty years of my publishing career, I wrote ONLY science fiction. I couldn’t afford to become a full-time writer until I started writing and publishing fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I still love science fiction, which is why I continue to write it, but I can’t afford to write much more than I do, because I don’t want to take a drastic cut in income, especially not with the way the U.S. economy is teetering today.

—:  October 16th, 2015 05:50 pmFeed     13 Comments »
May Question

Where do you get all your ideas?

Pretty much from everywhere, but a high percentage of ideas are derived from what I read. My wife jokes that the postman heaves a sigh of relief after leaving our house, because we subscribe to so many periodicals. And yes, I read hard copy because I’d rather not waste computer time on reading, when there are times I can read when I’m not near the computer, and I hate reading anything off a cell-phone screen. Often, I’ll get a delayed reaction, as for example, I had read about the fascinating behavior of active galactic nuclei in an astronomy publication… and that fit right in with something in my forthcoming SF novel — Solar Express, except I didn’t realize it immediately, but later when I was taking my early morning walk with the energetic Aussie-Saluki.

—:  May 2nd, 2015 05:22 pmFeed     1 Comment »
April Question

I’ve had trouble reading some of the sections on your website with my smartphone. Have you thought about making the site more mobile friendly?

This is actually one of several questions I’ve had along this line, and I’m happy to announce, thanks to my webmaster/designer and general trouble-shooter, Eric James Stone, who is also a noted F&SF short story writer when he’s not at his day job, the site is now much more mobile friendly.

—:  April 16th, 2015 10:35 amFeed     3 Comments »
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