With his latest, Daughter of Crows, prolific author Mark Lawrence – the man behind series such as The Broken Empire, The Red Queen’s War, Book of the Ancester, and the Library Trilogy – returns to dark fantasy featuring, he says, “an older female protagonist, some academia, and a fair dose of violence!”.
Name: Mark Lawrence
Based in: Bristol
What genres/subgenres are you drawn to?
Fantasy
The Book: From Pen to Print
What was the genesis of this book? Where did you get the idea from?
I seldom know where any given idea comes from, and this book is a rubber band ball of many ideas. Generally, I stare at the screen and demand ideas, which helpfully supply themselves.
I’ve always tried to avoid repeating myself, so each trilogy is led by a very different character. In this case I decided that an older/old female lead would be interesting. Older women are generally underrepresented in fiction and film—I thought I would try my hand at writing one, and in the perhaps unusual setting of a dark and violent fantasy world.
How many drafts did you go through before you felt it was ready to query? How long did that take you?
My first book (Prince of Thorns) and my seventeenth book (The Bookshop Book) are the only ones I’ve written before getting a contract on them. Daughter of Crows was sold (along with the other two books in the trilogy) on the basis of a chapter or two. I’d guess that probably took a week or so.
Having the faith of my publishers in this way is a privilege that allows me considerably more security than many authors get. Writing is a precarious business and being constantly on the edge of losing your livelihood can be harrowing. But I’m sure that I’m only one disappointing trilogy from standing on that precipice with the majority.
Once it was in the hands of your publisher, what was the process to get it ready for release?
It’s a pretty standard process that I’ve been through at least once each year for the past 16 years. A structural edit, fix a few issues, a copy edit, fix some grammar, commas, and phrasing, a proofread, print. In the background there’s cover art happening—in this case, by the excellent Tom Roberts who also did the amazing covers for my Library Trilogy.
And now your book is about to be unleashed on the world! How are you feeling?
The same low-key stress as usual, somewhat multiplied since it’s the first book in a trilogy, which is make or break for the next two really. It’s a strange way to pay your bills. Everyone always seems to like a book all the way to publication, but it’s only when the general public get to have their say that you know whether what you wrote is commercial, or just what you wanted to write. So far, I’ve been very lucky in having what I’ve chosen to write also overlap with many readers’ personal tastes.
What would you like us to know about this book?
Daughter of Crows is a dark and brutal read. Despite the beautiful cover it’s about as far from romantasy as you can get. That’s in no way whatsoever a dig at romantasy—just letting potential readers know what they’re considering.
It’s a book that focuses on character. Together with the rest of the trilogy it shows a woman’s life from childhood to old age. Despite the darkness, it’s a thoughtful book that considers time and memory and how the years change us and how they don’t.
Who’s the ideal reader for this one? What sort of things do they like to read about?
That’s a tough one. My books are very varied in character and tone, and yet they’re all written for me. I’m my ideal reader: a man who—like my main character—is rocketing towards his twilight years. And yet I get messages from people of all ages telling me how various of my books reached them and made an impact. I’ve been at signings where almost everyone in my queue is a young woman; in other venues it will be mostly men in their 40s and 50s who come to speak to me.
I guess my ideal reader likes a slightly literary edge to their fiction, is open to innovative structure in storytelling, and doesn’t need a character to be a paragon of virtue in order to be interested in following them across the pages.
Your Writing Process
Are you a plotter or pantser or somewhere in between? How do you do your first draft?
Definitely a pantser. I start at the beginning and keep writing until I reach the end. Generally, my first draft is my only draft.
How do you approach writing? Are you the type or writer who needs to treat it like a job? Is there a particular time of day you find best for you to write?
I’ll write any time of day, but certainly not all day. I take lots of breaks and move back and forth between writing and all the other things I have to give time to, or want to give time to.
Geek out about stationery: do you use a notebook? A specific type of pen? Or are you computer all the way?
Computer. I like its handwriting better than my own scrawl, and the ability to delete and search are ones I value.
Where do you work? Do you have a comfy, creative space at home or are you someone who has to grab the moment wherever it comes?
These days I have a booklined office. And because I’m in front of my laptop most of the day regardless of whether I’m writing or not, I can always grab the moment. I don’t have a soundtrack other than YouTube’s random walk through the sort of music it knows I like. I don’t have a ritual. I can see that those sorts of things might help some people, but I just want to get on with the writing.
Where can we follow you / find out more about your work?
My blog is the best place – and it has this helpful guide.
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