M.R. Mathias is the
best-selling author of the Dragoneers Saga and The Wardstone Trilogy as well as
a number of other stand-alone works. Flurries
of Words (FLOW) sat down with him for a virtual but forthright chat about what
influenced his writing and works as well as his current interests and plans for
the future. What follows is the first of
a three-part series of installments of our interview with this wonderfully
talented author.
FLOW: From your previous interviews, I
see that your time in prison shaped you as an author. How has that experience
influenced your storylines, if at all? Shaped your characters?
M.R. MATHIAS: I tend to think about life from a different
angle than most people who have never done time. I suppose it rubs off in my
characters. I think the idea that a good character has no bad traits and
vice-versa is too prevalent in modern fiction. That evil wizard might have a
daughter he loves. And that righteous King no doubt has a mistress. No
one is perfect, and most bad people have a good side. I just try to keep
things real. Prison taught me that.
FLOW: That sounds like a very practical but unusual
worldview. Can you give us a favorite example from one of your books on how
this outlook changes the plot or characterization from what you might typically
see, particularly in the fantasy genre?
M.R. MATHIAS: I'll
give an example of someone in fantasy doing what I mean. Where most other
heroes are quite noble, honest, and righteous, (Hobbits, Rand, Pug,) Sir Thomas
Covenant, the Unbeliever, the hero of Lord Foul's Bane, was a leper,
and a rapist. How's that for an imperfect hero.
In the Wardstone Trilogy, Pael is the best example. He is an evil
scheming monster of a wizard, but he is doing all these things
for the daughter he fathered. Not until he is overcome with demon lust
does he get off that track and start his insane campaign across the kingdoms.
FLOW: How much
did you base your characters on the people you encountered in prison? The
relationships that unfolded there?
M.R. MATHIAS: In The Butcher's Boy, I based Oliver on
several people I've encountered. Myself included. He has addiction issues and
is as weak as any addict at times. I tried to show how his will was
true in his desire to stay clean, while the temptations of the world are
mighty.
Some of my hard edged fantasy characters are based on the violent guys I
did time with. Prison was a wild place. I fought often and have firsthand
experience with facing men with steel in their hands. I ended up in solitary
because of the fights. I think that was probably the best thing that ever
happened to me. I started writing there in my empty cell. It seems
strange, because it may have been the worst thing to ever happen too.
FLOW: Having experienced combat first-hand, how did
your real-life fights influence your writing of fictional skirmishes?
M.R. MATHIAS: I learned that fights are usually very
fast and decisive. I was stabbed in the face once. The guy's shank got stuck
between my upper teeth. That fight caused my first stint in solitary.
I learned that I am no coward that day. I was 19 years old and I won that fight
with a homemade knife sticking out of my face. I learned that most knife
wounds are not fatal, and long drawn out fights are rare, save for Hollywood,
and boxing. Men, in prison anyway, don’t want to die, so they are savage and
destructive. It's survival in there, because the guards are not always
willing to step in. I saw a man bleed to death while even the guy who stabbed
him pleaded with the guards to come in and help. They wouldn't because they
were afraid.
I LOVED writing the "Brawl" scene with Lord Gregory and the
Seaward fighter in The Sword and the Dragon. It was a dramatic fight, but if
any battle scene was like a real prison fight it’s that one. After reading
several books on sword fighting in large battles, I learned that almost all
sword wounds are fatal. Some men rubbed garlic on their blades to make sure of
this. It’s not superstition. Garlic in an internal wound usually causes gangrene. Medieval battles
are gruesome. Dragons that spew acid are even more so.
FLOW: You mentioned solitary
being ‘the worst thing’ earlier. What did you mean by that? About the writing
or something else? Can you explain?
M.R. MATHIAS: I can briefly explain. After so much time
alone, I find that I come off as egocentric. I'm really not. I'm proud of
what I've done, and usually so surprised by the way my writing is being received
that I talk about it with enthusiasm. Beyond that, I find that life has very
little chance at competing with my imagination. It almost lived up
recently. It was refreshing.
Try this: Lock yourself in a bathroom for 24 hours. Don’t open the door.
Try it for just an hour. Then imagine nearly four calendar years of that type
of solitude. Think of how far and deep an intelligent mind can travel with
so much time. I flew on the backs of dragons and created several worlds.
Imagine how I feel standing in a crowded department store now.
FLOW: Given that
background and the old adage ‘write what you know’, have you ever been tempted
to switch into the crime or mystery genres? Why/why not?
M.R. MATHIAS: Well I have ideas, but until the Wardstone
Trilogy is complete, I am not going to start anything new. But look for more
stuff like The Butcher's Boy in the future. Crime, thrills, violence, and
paranormal freakiness will be featured in more than one future novel.
FLOW: Can you give us any spoilers about the rest of
the Wardstone Trilogy?
M.R. MATHIAS: Remember what Lord Gregory tells Mikahl
as he lay dying in Hyden Hawk's village in The Sword and the Dragon. And sadly,
not all of our heroes will survive the final book. Anyone who reads my work already
knew that though. *He laugh's a laugh very similar to Pael's*
FLOW: What about the future works?
M.R. MATHIAS: Well fans of the Dragoneer Saga will be
glad to know that Jenka and Zahrellion will most likely reunite in The Emerald
Rider. I see that one available in 2013. After another paranormal thriller.
******
Part II of this intriguing interview to follow soon
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