{"id":40786,"date":"2013-12-03T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=40786"},"modified":"2013-12-02T21:13:43","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T03:13:43","slug":"a-word-in-edgewise-with-erin-m-evans-author-of-the-adversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=40786","title":{"rendered":"A Word in Edgewise… with Erin M. Evans, Author of The Adversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RPC-Word-in-Edgewise\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

with Erin M. Evans, Author of The Adversary<\/em><\/strong>
\nBy Cape Rust<\/em><\/p>\n

The following interview was conducted via e-mail by correspondent Cape Rust, speaking with Erin M. Evans, author of The Adversary<\/em>, part of The Sundering<\/em> series of novels from Wizards of the Coast.<\/p>\n

\"Erin<\/a>1. Erin, first a few personal questions, how would you describe your childhood?<\/p>\n

Chaotic Neutral. I grew up with two sisters\u2014and we all shared a room. For around the first half of my childhood, we moved around a bit\u2014my dad was in the Army. Then my parents got divorced, and I lived with my mom, while my dad moved to Texas. I\u2019m related to some really smart, creative people\u2014we always played really zany games and had lots of projects going on at once. We\u2019re always talking over each other, especially when we\u2019re working on something. A great environment if you want to be a writer.<\/i><\/p>\n

2. How did growing up in the Midwest influence your writing?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible growing up in the Midwest made me gravitate toward characters who aren\u2019t as open about what they\u2019re thinking or feeling. I think that\u2019s very much my expectation\u2014that people aren\u2019t going to unburden all their thoughts and feelings when they decide to talk\u2014and that\u2019s the \u201cMidwest style.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

3. If you could pick one thing about St. Louis and transplant it to Seattle what would it be?<\/p>\n

The museums. Forest Park in St. Louis has an amazing zoo, a great art museum, cool science center, outdoor theater, etc. (plus, there\u2019s the off-the-wall City Museum downtown). They\u2019re world-class and, in Forest Park, they\u2019re all paid for by taxes\u2014no admission. So it\u2019s common to see people jogging in the zoo or sitting on a bench just taking in paintings on their lunch break, or taking a picnic and sitting in the free nosebleed sets of the Muny. I miss that ability to enjoy attractions without needing time to make a day of it.<\/i><\/p>\n

4. What made you decide to study Anthropology?<\/p>\n

I have always been fascinated by cultures and by what makes people tick as a group. I think it\u2019s part of that \u201coutsider\u201d feeling you can get as a geek\u2014why do those kids do what they do? Why does this behavior that makes no sense to me happen? What do they get out of it? What makes us \u201cus\u201d and them \u201cthem\u201d and all of us the same and different?<\/i><\/p>\n

5. Do you ever watch the show Bones, and if so what do you think of it?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a show I\u2019ve caught, but I can\u2019t watch it\u2014though not for the reasons you\u2019d think. I\u2019d moved away from home by the time <\/i>Bones was airing and several members of my family told me they liked watching it because Emily Deschanel\u2019s character looked like and reminded them of me. <\/i>They liked watching it because of that\u2026but that made me feel really odd watching it. <\/i><\/p>\n

6. Could you tell our readers a little about your big road trip?<\/p>\n

After I graduated from college, my now-husband and I bought a 1983 Minnie-Winnie RV \u00a0(which we named \u201cThe Chairman\u201d) and drove around the country for nine months. We saw a lot of really amazing sights, met interesting people, and eventually drove The Chairman up to Seattle when my husband got a job at Xbox Live. For me, it was not only a really amazing experience but a kind of chrysalis for me as a writer\u2014I had time to write, and time to read. I ended up reading everything I could get my hands on, since I was buying paperbacks at thrift stores (10 for $1 or 25 cents each means if there are six books you want, you find four more you could stand to give a whirl). That broadened my horizons far beyond just following my own taste and I\u2019d like to think I learned a lot about writing.<\/i><\/p>\n

7. Other than slowing things down a bit, has being a mother changed how you write?<\/p>\n

It makes me much better at grabbing the time I do get!<\/i><\/p>\n

As far as what I write, I think it\u2019s actually made me a little more ruthless. There\u2019s a saying that I always thought was kind of hokey, about how having a child is like wearing your heart on the outside of your body? But now that I have a son, I get it. It\u2019s terrifying to think about all the new ways the world can hurt you now that you love this very vulnerable person so much. And as awful as it sounds, it gives me such good ideas for how to put characters through the wringer. <\/em><\/p>\n

8. At what point did you decide that you could and should be writing fantasy?<\/p>\n

When I was fifteen I read a book that I really hated\u2014pretty much the first time I can remember that ever happening. So I chucked it and wrote a book of my own. Which was terrible, because I was fifteen and I\u2019d never written a book before, but it was a start! And it turned out to be something I loved enough to keep on doing for all the years after.<\/i><\/p>\n

9. Were you a gamer growing up?<\/p>\n

I played a lot of board games and eventually we had a Sega Genesis (and much later a computer!), but no one really ever introduced me to things like RPGs growing up. Which at times I regret so much\u2014and others I am really glad, because when I consider how much of my time was used up writing fantasy stories and drawing all sorts of heroes and monsters and mythical characters, I\u2019m pretty sure D&D would have booted out things like \u201cschoolwork\u201d and \u201cfresh air.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

10. What are your first memories of D&D?<\/p>\n

My first memories are of the cartoon! I wanted to be Uni.<\/i><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t play my first game of D&D until I was twenty-three, and a friend decided to run a game for a group of us. I dove right in with a neutral evil half-elf sorceress, not realizing that was probably a little advanced. The game folded pretty quickly (I think there were eight or nine of us trying to play), but I loved it. I\u2019m starting in a new game of D&DNext this week\u2014my first paladin.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Erin<\/a>11. \u00a0How did you feel when Wizards asked you to contribute to The Sundering<\/em> series?<\/p>\n

Gobsmacked. It\u2019s a huge honor to be included in the series with such fantastic and well-respected authors. I had to read the email inviting me a few times to be sure it was real. As you can imagine, it\u2019s really gratifying to know that Wizards believes in my stories enough to include me in this project, when I\u2019m such a relative newcomer.<\/i><\/p>\n

12. How much of you is in Farideh?<\/p>\n

I think there\u2019s a kernel of me in every character. I\u2019d say at times Farideh is like the serious side of me, aged down. She\u2019s very much the \u201colder sister\u201d in the dynamic, and I\u2019m the oldest of three girls. (It\u2019s hard to shake the sense that you\u2019re responsible for your younger siblings even when they\u2019re thirty and twenty-eight.) Farideh\u2019s a worrier, much like me, and like I was at seventeen, she\u2019s pretty self-conscious about her looks. I think she\u2019s far braver than I am, far more heroic. She makes decisions a <\/i>lot quicker, and I\u2019m 100% sure Farideh would not have moved to the other side of the continent without her family.<\/i><\/p>\n

13. How important is it that she is a twin?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I think it\u2019s fairly critical to the character. I\u2019d say the most important part is that she has a sister she\u2019s so close to\u2014Farideh and Havilar identify themselves in a lot of ways based upon who and what the other is or isn\u2019t. Farideh\u2019s \u201cthe smart one\u201d so Havilar feels like everyone thinks she\u2019s dumb. Havilar\u2019s \u201cthe cheerful one\u201d so Farideh is more sedate. They rotate around each other in a way, trying to break apart but trying to keep each other near. Making them twins, in my mind, amplifies that. Not only do they want to have each other to lean on while still being their own person, but the people they interact with frequently can\u2019t tell them apart\u2014it would make things that much more complicated. They\u2019re a unit and they\u2019re individuals, which can be their strength or their weakness depending on the situation.<\/i><\/p>\n

14. \u00a0In The Adversary<\/em>, who was the character you were most drawn to and why?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s such a hard question! Many of the characters are continuing from my Brimstone Angels series, and I\u2019ve grown fond of them all in different ways. Farideh is always my girl\u2014and I love watching her react to the obstacles I throw her way. Lorcan is always a challenge, but when things sort out he\u2019s the character I\u2019m most proud of. Havilar always has the best lines. Dahl always has the strongest arc. Mehen always surprises me with how much more depth he has. Sairch\u00e9 is wicked, good fun.<\/i><\/p>\n

But there are new characters too that made me a little giddy when I came up with them. I adore Khochen, the Harper spymaster from Westgate, who\u2019s also a shameless gossip, and Lord Vescaras Ammakyl, who makes me think of James Bond, if James Bond got into pissing matches with Dahl. I can\u2019t wait for people to meet Oota and the Nameless One and Vanri and Samayan. (It was a lot of fun populating this book)<\/i><\/p>\n

15. \u00a0How hard is it to jump into a series like The Sundering<\/em>, knowing that you are writing about world changing activities?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s daunting. Changing the world is simple. Living with the results can be hard. This is an enormous event for the Forgotten Realms, and one I think makes the world even more vibrant\u2026but anytime you change something, you choose a path and pass up another. I think the end result is a great bunch of books, but the process of getting those books together had some nail-biting moments for me.<\/i><\/p>\n

16. During the course of writing this novel was there anything that you really wanted to do, but couldn\u2019t because of the ramifications it would have on the over-all Sundering storyline?<\/p>\n

When I was first trying to come up with a story that would involve Farideh in the Sundering, the biggest issue I had was the timeline. <\/i>Brimstone Angels: Lesser Evils ends in 1478 DR, in late summer. The Sundering begins in 1484 DR, and I was given a time slot that fell between 1485 and 1486 DR. So right away I had to look at ways to fill that time and move my characters ahead. Given the option? I probably would have preferred to set my next book in 1478 DR and continue right along. But the timeline was one thing that was not negotiable.<\/i><\/p>\n

Fortunately, I like a challenge.<\/i><\/p>\n

17. \u00a0What has changed about Farideh, has she grown up at all?<\/p>\n

I like to think that she grows up more every book. Just like all of us, she\u2019s adapting to her experiences. <\/i>The Adversary runs her through a gauntlet and makes her re-evaluate some of her past choices. <\/i><\/p>\n

18. What has surprised you most about The Sundering<\/em> series, and why?<\/p>\n

Historically, the way of things has generally been that decisions were made about the role-playing game, which were then handed down to the novelists. This time, the effort has been to involve all aspects of the Forgotten Realms in these decisions\u2014that\u2019s a huge change and it\u2019s been wonderful too see how smoothly it\u2019s gone. I think that conversation has really shown in the products.<\/i><\/p>\n

19. \u00a0If you could have changed one thing about this book what would it have been?<\/p>\n

Truly, I wish it could have been longer. At the outset, I really wanted to show more of people\u2019s lives in the internment camp\u2014how much of it is so surprisingly normal. You get snippets here and there, but not as much as I was hoping for. The reality is, however, that it\u2019s already longer than the standard Realms novel, so things had to go. <\/i><\/p>\n

20. What does the future hold for you as a writer?<\/p>\n

I just turned in the first draft for the next Farideh book, which should come out in Fall 2014, and I have a few personal projects in the works.<\/i><\/p>\n

21. Finally here is a chance to pimp yourself out, feel free to provide links to your web site and anything else that you think is cool.<\/p>\n

I keep a blog at slushlush.com<\/a>, where I\u2019m holding an e-signing for <\/i>The Adversary! You can also find me on Twitter as @erinmevans and on Facebook (https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/brimstoneangels<\/a>)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

with Erin M. Evans, Author of The Adversary By Cape Rust The following interview was conducted via e-mail by correspondent Cape Rust, speaking with Erin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1770,1935],"tags":[55,56],"class_list":["post-40786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-in-edgewise","category-headlines","tag-dungeons-dragons","tag-wizards-of-the-coast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}