Questions and Answers Is there a book or story you wish you had written? The Arabian Nights - Well, most of it. Is writing your full time occupation, if not what is? I have been a full time writer since 1995. At the time I was 26 and had published four or five books. I was a journalist on one of the bigger tabloids here in Germany, but I had more or less lost any interest in the job. One could argue that tabloid journalism is closely linked to a talent for fiction writing! Although the paper I was working for was actually quite serious for a tabloid. However, the space around my desk was always littered with fantasy action figures, comic books and movie posters, and I guess nobody was surprised when I finally became a writer of fantasy novels. What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance? The first book I ever wrote was a true crime novel – I'm not too proud of it today, and I declined the offer to write another one when the first book sold very well (and for some reason it still does, fourteen years later, although I recently asked my publisher to stop doing reprints). It was supposed to be my foot in the door, nothing else. I was 22 at the time, still an apprentice journalist, and I knew I could do it. But it was hard and mostly very unpleasant work. In the early Nineties nobody in Germany wanted to publish fantasy or horror by local authors – all we got were translations from the US and UK, with Wolfgang Hohlbein the only local exception, so when I asked my editor about writing genre novels, he said the only thing he could publish would be a thriller. So my second novel was an espionage thriller, very Gothic, mostly set in old monasteries, dark woods, places like Prague etc. Finally the third one – my first hardcover – became a historical fantasy, a cloak and dagger adventure with the Brothers Grimm as protagonists. (Obviously that was more than ten years before the Terry Gilliam movie). If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be author, what would it be? Besides lots of reading? My main advice would be to finish everything you write. If you begin to write a story – finish it. When I wrote my first short stories, back when I was a teenager, I made the mistake of losing interest much too soon. But even if you think your story might not be the best or most original in the world – and that's a very common thought for first-time writers – you have to try to finish it. To actually have a whole story with a beginning and an end will give you enough courage to try a new and maybe even better one. When did you first decide that you wanted to be an author? I decided very early on that I wanted to be a storyteller, no matter what medium I would be telling those stories in. Movies, comics, whatever. Novel writing seemed to be the easiest in terms of lack of funding for a movie or finding a great artist for comics. A novel I could do all by myself. That was, of course, before I discovered the advantages a great editor can give you. When did you first feel that you were an author? When I was nineteen I sold a few short novels to the pulp market, which we still have here in Germany. Gothic romances and crime novels that were (and still are) published in magazines on cheap paper, with awful cover artwork and clich้d titles. Stupid things, actually, but fun to write when you are nineteen and a university student. They were published under an English pseudonym, and although today I find them impossible to read I still learned a lot about storytelling from writing them. And I got the feeling that this might be something I could do for a living. Are you a music fan? If so, what? I still listen to a lot of Prog Rock from the Seventies and Eighties, bands like IQ, Pallas, Twelfth Night, also the classics, of course, like early Genesis, some Pink Floyd. I always hated Yes, though. While I write I listen a lot to soundtracks. Basil Poledouris' music for Conan the Barbarian is still my all-time favourite soundtrack album. On some days it's on endless repeat while I'm working. Obviously that depends on what kind of book or scene I'm writing. Mostly I try to find something that suits the mood or the setting of the story. And it must not have any vocals, I find them to distracting. With the exception of Dead Can Dance, probably. Do you have a favourite place to write? In my garden during the summer. I write on a laptop most of the time, so I like to work outside if the weather is good. Why do you like SF/F/H? I could give you lots of clever anwers about symbolism, hidden truths about our reality, etc, etc. But the shortest and most honest reply is: For its sense of wonder. Definitely my number one reason to write fantasy. John Clute might call those elements‚ "big dumb objects" in his genre encyclopedias, but I love them all. Is there anything more that can be done with Wizards, Elves and Dragons? A few years ago I vowed I would never write about dragons. But then I got the idea for a fantasy trilogy set in ancient China. And you cannot write a Chinese fantasy without dragons – that would be like a Western without any horses. Obviously they are totally different from European dragons, very wise, very articulate, mostly quite friendly and HUGE. So now I have written my dragon books, and, yes, they also have Chinese wizards in them. No Elves, though. Not even tiny ones. The dragons would squash them, anyway. As a reader do you prefer Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? Mostly Fantasy, sometimes Horror, and very little Science Fiction. I like classic Space Opera now and then. No Military Sci-Fi. I still like the old-fashioned planetary romance. Leigh Brackett was wonderful. I've just re-read some of her short stories set on Mars and Venus. Beautiful and very evocative stuff. Her plots might have been standard adventure fare, but the way she created a believable exotic atmosphere was perfect. And just a few days ago I re-discovered my soft spot for early Michael Moorcock. Do you use myths and ancient religions for inspiration? All the time. I love mythology. My favourite non-fiction writer is Mircea Eliade, an Romanian scholar on religion, anthropology and philosophy. He has written the most amazing books about myths. Joseph Campbell, of course, has made some great observations about mythology and religion as well, but for my taste he became too much of a Hollywood phenomenon – most blockbusters today are based on his theory of the Hero's Journey and it's gotten to a point where you can just guess what will happen next in any big Hollywood movie if you know a bit about Campbell. The Matrix, for example – I could tell what was going to happen because I had just read Campbell's Power of Myth and parts of Hero with a Thousand Faces. On the other hand, Eliade still is a bit of a well-kept secret, at least in regards to his importance to modern storytelling. I actually discovered him years ago when Alan Garner – the writer of The Owl Service and Elidor - mentioned him in his autobiography The Voice That Thunders. What book are you reading at the moment? Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. I was at one of his readings two weeks ago when we were both at the Leipzig Bookfair here in Germany. I've been a Gaiman fan since the early Sandman days, and I especially love his short fiction. But who doesn't? How does your approach to the editing role differ from that of writing? I like to edit my own writing. Especially cutting whole chunks of description and dialogue out of a manuscript to make it faster and leaner. I hate re-writing, though, and I won't do it very often. But throwing out page after page – I have no problem with that. Do You Always know a Story's Ending When You Begin Writing? Usually I do. I always write from very detailed outlines. What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work? The most bizarre observation ever was made by the New York Times, and I have to quote that: "No American children's book would take such a derogatory view of fat people. Fat characters are baddies and thinness is usually a sign of virtue". I love that. And it's even part of an otherwise absolutely POSITIVE review! So I have to make sure the next plucky young heroine in one of my books is over-weight. Do I have to make her American, too? Have you won any awards for your writing? The most important one probably was the Corine in 2005 for Frostfeuer (which is also one of my favourite books and just sold to Egmont in the UK). The Corine is huge book award here in Germany, with lots of publicity, a TV gala thing and so on. Also The Flowing Queen has just been given the Marsh Award in England for Best Children's book in Translation. Plug away - what do you have coming out? The next novel published in the UK is called The Wave Runners, the first book in a fantasy trilogy set in the Caribbean of the early 18th century. In Germany it's been out for several years and was actually written before the Pirates of the Caribbean movies – although my American publisher called it Pirate Curse – anyway... It's about pirate kids who can walk on water and their quest to save the Caribbean sea from a huge Maelstrom, that was once magically imprisoned in a huge shell on the ocean floor but has now opened up again and threatens to swallow up the ocean. Relevant Links Kai Meyer's Main Listing Kai Meyer Website