{"id":3413,"date":"2010-04-13T01:26:32","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T09:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2010-04-16T08:07:12","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T16:07:12","slug":"interview-ari-marmell-author-of-the-conquerers-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/interviews\/interview-ari-marmell-author-of-the-conquerers-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview | Ari Marmell, author of The Conquerer’s Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ari<\/a>Ari Marmell’s been around the writing scene for years, but his name only hit my ears with the release of The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>, his first work outside the world of Pen & Paper RPGS and tie-in Novels.<\/p>\n

The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> is a twist on the genre, throwing the reader into the story alongside a former ‘evil lord’-type and challenging them to re-consider what it means to be a protagonist… and a hero.<\/p>\n

Intrigued by Marmell’s take on the genre, as well as his experience with the under-explored world of tie-in fiction, I gathered him up and ran him through my gauntlet of questions. Did he survive? Read on and find out.<\/p>\n

The Interview<\/h3>\n

Ari! Welcome to A Dribble of Ink<\/strong>! Anything you’d like to say to set the tone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   To set the tone? F-sharp major.<\/p>\n

   Or possibly just thanks for having me here.<\/p>\n\"Mouseferatu,<\/a>\n

Okay, I gotta get this one out of the way early. Blake Charlton can be found at blakecharlton.com<\/a>. Neil Gaiman can be found at neilgaiman.com<\/a>. Paul Kearney, predictably, can be found at paulkearney.com<\/a>. Starting to see a trend? Ari Marmell can be found at\u2026 wait, mouseferatu.com<\/a>?<\/p>\n

What’s the deal with Mouseferatu?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Way back in \u201999 or thereabouts, I was looking for a handle to use on the White Wolf forums. I came up with \u201cMouseferatu, Rodent of the Dark\u201d pretty much on a lark. But that\u2019s how I became known on the forums, so when I started freelancing for White Wolf, it just sort of stuck. Once I\u2019d had the name on various forums and the e-mail, I just figured I\u2019d run with it, make it sort of a \u201cbrand.\u201d (The awesome logo that my friend Chung-Mau Cheng designed certainly helped, too.)<\/p>\n

   But if people find it less confusing, you can also get to the site by typing in www.arimarmell.com<\/a>. I\u2019m easy.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the online world, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere have changed the way fans interact with their favourite authors, blurring that mystical line that used to separate the two except at conventions and readings.<\/p>\n

What sort of effect has this had on your writing career? Does it make the job easier or more difficult?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Hmm. Some of each, if I may be allowed a wishy-washy answer.<\/p>\n

   I enjoy interacting with fans. It adds a level of immediacy to the process, it can be a lot of fun, and it reminds me constantly that, hey, there are actual people who are part of this great amorphous mass that we call \u201cthe market.\u201d It\u2019s a reminder of one of the main reasons I do this (the other reason being that I love doing it, and pretty much suck at everything else). And it helps me improve; when it\u2019s offered thoughtfully, I really do try to pay attention to criticism, and if I find it contains valid points, to learn from it.<\/p>\n

   But it can also be distracting. It\u2019s very easy for a writer\u2014especially a neurotic one, like me\u2014to get so wrapped up in the social networking that it takes time from the actual, y\u2019know, writing. And it\u2019s very easy for us to forget that the people online still represent only a portion of the audience; we can easily get a swelled head from the kudos, or be seriously discouraged by the complaints.<\/p>\n

   Given the choice between having it or not having it, I\u2019m really glad it\u2019s there. But like everything else, it requires a strong sense of moderation (something I\u2019m still working on).
\n
\n\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

They called him the Terror of the East. His past shrouded in mystery, his identity hidden beneath a suit of enchanted black armor and a skull-like helm, Corvis Rebaine carved a bloody path through Imphallion, aided by Davro, a savage ogre, and Seilloah, a witch with a taste for human flesh. No shield or weapon could stop his demon-forged axe. And no magic could match the spells of his demon slave, Khanda.Yet just when ultimate victory was in his grasp, Rebaine faltered. His plans of conquest, born from a desire to see Imphallion governed with firmness and honesty, shattered. Amid the chaos of a collapsing army, Rebaine vanished, taking only a single hostage\u2014the young noblewoman Tyannon\u2014to guarantee his escape.<\/p>\n

Seventeen years later, Rebaine and Tyannon are married, living in obscurity and raising their children, a daughter and a son. Rebaine has put his past behind him, given up his dreams of conquest. Not even news of Audriss\u2014an upstart warlord following Rebaine\u2019s old path of conquest\u2014can stir the retired warrior to action.<\/p>\n

Until his daughter is assaulted by Audriss\u2019s goons.<\/p>\n

Now, to rescue the country he once tried to conquer, Rebaine once more dons the armor of the Terror of the East and seeks out his former allies. But Davro has become a peaceful farmer. Seilloah has no wish to leave her haunted forest home. And Khanda . . . well, to describe his feelings for his former master as undying hatred would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

But even if Rebaine can convince his onetime comrades to join him, he faces a greater challenge: Does he dare to reawaken the part of him that gloried in cruelty, blood, and destruction? With the safety of his family at stake, can he dare not to?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What many readers might not realize is that the blurbs they find online, or on the back of novels, are generally not the work of the author, but rather someone at their publisher. So, what can you tell us about The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> that isn’t found in the blurb above?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   First off, this is not particularly a story of redemption. (I won\u2019t say whether or not it ends up that way\u2014don\u2019t want to spoil anything\u2014but that\u2019s certainly not the point.) Corvis Rebaine isn\u2019t necessarily a \u201cgood guy\u201d now, despite being the protagonist, but very much an anti-hero. He\u2019s willing to do some pretty nasty things; he\u2019s just better than the villain, who\u2019s worse.<\/p>\n

   That said, despite the truly horrible things he\u2019s done, I really tried to write Corvis as a sympathetic character. My intent, and my hope, is that even when the reader despises some of what Corvis did\u2014and does\u2014they\u2019ll understand why<\/em> he does them.<\/p>\n

   There are also some very funny aspects to the book. One of my favorite things, as both writer and reader, is the juxtaposition of humor and horror together\u2014sometimes even in the same scene.<\/p>\n

From the sounds of it, subverting the traditional tropes of the genre is a key factor in The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>. Was this a natural story to tell? Or is it the result of a conscious response to your observations of the genre?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Some of each, honestly. I\u2019m certainly very aware of fantasy\u2019s basic tropes, since I grew up on Dungeons & Dragons, and on writers like Feist and Eddings. (Also Brust, but he\u2019s less traditional.) I\u2019m a big fan of those tropes and traditions\u2014but more specifically, in either tweaking those tropes, or starting with them and then moving off the expected course. It just comes naturally to me, and a lot of my fiction goes that route to some extent or another.<\/p>\n

   That said, with The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>, there was deliberate effort as well. When the idea first occurred to me, it was very literally just \u201cHey, wouldn\u2019t it be cool to write a story where a traditional \u2018evil warlord\u2019 had to come out of retirement to deal with someone worse?\u201d So when I first began building Corvis Rebaine, and the plot, I made a concerted effort to include lots of the traditional \u201cevil tropes\u201d\u2014the skull helm, the monstrous allies, the demonic minion\u2014precisely so I could then turn around and come at them from the other direction.<\/p>\n

It’s said by some that writers should write what they know. Blake Charlton claims that you should write about what you fear. This being said, what does Corvis Rebaine tell us about the real<\/em> Ari Marmell?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   I\u2019d disagree with both, and say you should write about what interests you, since if a writer\u2019s not enthusiastic about his work, the readers may well not be either.<\/p>\n

   But that said, what does Corvis tell you about me? Hmm. Corvis is a combination of wish-fulfillment and warning. There are times when I wish that someone with the power and the will really would come along and try to force the world to make sense, to accept some measure of justice, to hold leaders accountable. But I also know that anyone with that sort of power must inevitably turn out to be flawed and quite possibly as bad as what he\u2019s trying to replace\u2014and in any event, would have to commit such horrors in the process as to mitigate any positive results.<\/p>\n

   So I guess there is, indeed, an element of what I fear in Corvis\u2014even if there\u2019s also an element that the angrier parts of me might occasionally long for.<\/p>\n

So writing is a way for the meek, antisocial writer-type to unleash the emotions roiling in the deepest pit of their soul?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Uh\u2026 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d quite<\/em> put myself into either the \u201cmeek\u201d or \u201cantisocial\u201d categories. (And if someone else puts me in them, I\u2019ll quietly sulk away to sit by myself. Oh, crap, wait a minute\u2026) But yes, writing certainly can be a way to formulate or express thoughts and opinions that the writer might otherwise not express.<\/p>\n

   On the other hand, it\u2019s dangerous to assume that all writers do that, or that any<\/em> writer does it all<\/em> the time. There are plenty of things in my books that I absolutely don\u2019t<\/em> agree with, and plenty more than have no deeper meaning (at least in my own thoughts\/psyche) one way or the other.<\/p>\n

The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> is your first step outside the deepest, dirtiest gutter of Fantasy: shared-world and tie-in fiction. There’s a common misconception that tie-in fiction is to Fantasy as Penthouse is to Playboy: enjoyable, dirty and rough, but ultimately unsophisticated. This perception is beginning to shift, with names like Tobias Buckell, Greg Bear and David B. Coe stepping into the game. Dan Abnett, who works in the Warhammer 40k<\/em> universe, writes some of the finest military fiction on shelves today. Hell, even Robert Holdstock, author of the classic Mythago Wood<\/strong>, has written tie-in.<\/p>\n

How working in shared worlds has help craft you as a writer? Was The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> ultimately a better book because of your experience with tie-in fiction?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Agents<\/a>   I think working in shared-world properties is a valuable experience for any<\/em> writer, and yes, it definitely helped me. I learned to stretch certain creative muscles I otherwise might not have\u2014specifically, the ability to still be creative when working within someone else\u2019s parameters. If I can learn to write a pre-existing character from Vampire: the Masquerade<\/em> or Magic: the Gathering<\/em> that I didn\u2019t create, but still get their \u201cvoice\u201d right, then I\u2019m that much more likely to be able to remain in a consistent voice even for characters of my own creation. Similarly, writing in shared worlds teaches how to focus on specific aspects of plot and setting. If, for example, I\u2019m not allowed to change certain details, it means that my story needs to zero in much more intently on those that I can<\/em>.<\/p>\n

   Plus, of course, when you\u2019re dealing with an editor and\/or creative team who are saying \u201cYou must<\/em> do X,\u201d you learn very quickly how to work with other people. It\u2019s not always fun, but it\u2019s something you\u2019ve got to know how to do.<\/p>\n

   As far as The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>, it absolutely helped. Granted, the very first draft of the book was written before any of my tie-in materials, but it\u2019s changed dramatically<\/em> since then. Partly due to my experience on my Magic<\/em> novel, Agents of Artifice<\/em>, I was able to seriously tighten this one up and give a more coherent look into the world in which the story is taking place.<\/p>\n

   And of course, by studying what you\u2019re asked to do in a tie-in novel, an author can start to get a sense of where the market is at the moment. Obviously, any given tie-in property doesn\u2019t represent the market as a whole, but if it\u2019s at all successful, it obviously appeals to at least a significant niche. Figuring out why that is\u2014what it is about a given setting or character that the IP owner wants to focus on\u2014is a good data point to any growing understanding of the market as a whole.<\/p>\n

Would you say it’s as hard to break into the tie-in fiction market as it is to publish an original novel? What is the process for getting involved in tie-in fiction like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   I think it\u2019s probably no easier and no harder, just very different. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any specific process; I can only talk about how I did it myself. In my case, it came about as a result of my RPG writing. The people at White Wolf liked my work on the Vampire: the Masquerade line enough that, when it came time to end that line, they offered me the final novel, Gehenna: the Final Night<\/em>. I realize that sounds like it just fell in my lap, but I\u2019d spent the prior four years doing freelance writing for them, so I\u2019d definitely paid my dues.<\/p>\n

\"Gehenna:<\/a>   It happened similarly with WotC. It was a combination of the freelance work I\u2019d done for them, and a copy of Gehenna<\/em>, which I\u2019d sent them, that convinced them to give me a shot on the new Ravenloft line. (That resulted in Black Crusade<\/em>, which is a novel that\u2019s only available online, because the new Ravenloft line was canceled by management before the book could be published.) And that<\/em>, in turn, is what convinced them to give me a crack at the book that became Agents of Artifice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

   I think the bottom line is that you can\u2019t usually just come up out of nowhere and expect to be given the opportunity to write a tie-in novel. (There are a few tie-in properties that accept unsolicited submissions to their \u201cslush pile,\u201d and a few success stories have come out of those. But as I understand it, those represent a minority of properties.) Usually you have to prove yourself with other sorts of writing\u2014be it original novels, short stories, RPG writing, or other sorts of freelancing\u2014before an IP owner is going to give you the keys to their property.<\/p>\n

Interesting. That’s one side of the industry that is often left in the dark, which, I believe, is part of the reason that tie-in authors don’t get the level of respect that they may deserve (well\u2026 the good ones, at least).<\/p>\n

Going in another direction, in this interview with Matt Staggs<\/a>, you mention David Eddings and his The Elenium<\/em> series as a decent extension for those who enjoy The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>. From my experience with Eddings, his stories are very much about good versus evil, a theme you heavily subvert in The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I’m curious where the similarities lie between The Conquer’s Shadow<\/strong> and Eddings work (along with other works of ’80’s Fantasy, an era which seems to be a strong influence on your work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Well, I don\u2019t plot the way Eddings did. His stories tended to be fairly straightforward, whereas I prefer more intricate plots; not necessarily convoluted, but not quite straight lines.<\/p>\n

   It\u2019s true that Eddings definitely didn\u2019t go for the antihero\u2014but he does have characters who are often of the \u201cI\u2019ll do minor evil if it accomplishes major good\u201d variety. So in that sense, I guess there\u2019s a continuum of characters that I just took a lot farther than he did.<\/p>\n

   Eddings was, if I remember correctly, my first introduction to the concept of a truly older hero. The knight Sparhawk is not a young man, and I think a lot of that image stuck with me, and came back up when I developed Corvis.<\/p>\n

   And while Eddings overdid it at times, his characters have a certain sort of sarcastic sense of humor that really resonates with me, and that can be seen in a lot of my work, including The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

   (At this point, I should offer a confession. I probably overdid it myself in The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>, if only just a bit. As I said, I really<\/em> like that sort of sarcasm, but several people have pointed out that I probably gave it to too many different characters. I\u2019ve tried to rein it in a little in The Warlord\u2019s Legacy<\/strong> and other, more recent books. My main characters will almost always be smart-asses\u2014that\u2019s just who I am, as a writer\u2014but not all the secondary characters need to be. See, guys? That\u2019s the sort of feedback I wouldn\u2019t have gotten, and a lesson I wouldn\u2019t have learned, in the days before all the online interaction.)<\/p>\n

   In a more general sense, the fantasy of the 80s is where many of the common tropes of fantasy were established, and while some people are tired of them, I still enjoy playing with those tropes. Now, I prefer to twist them\u2014as you say, subvert them\u2014or at least to examine them from a different angle. You wouldn\u2019t want a book of just<\/em> tropes, offered plainly, after all; but they\u2019re still present, for all that.<\/p>\n

   Back to Eddings, I think he was, for lack of a better way to put it, very aware<\/em> of the genre. He knew the tropes and standards of the field, and he used them in very deliberate ways. While I choose to use them in very different ways than he did, I think that general awareness of them is something I picked up, in part, from him.<\/p>\n

In terms of 80’s-style-fantasy, authors such as Ken Scholes<\/a>, Blake Charlton<\/a> and Brandon Sanderson<\/a> have been doing their damnedest to keep it going strong. In your opinion, which of the young writers working in the sub-genre are most worth keeping an eye on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   You know, I\u2019ll be honest; I haven\u2019t found<\/em> a lot of newer writers who I feel are keeping the 80\u2019s-style-fantasy going. That doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t exist (and I\u2019m actually going to check out some of the ones you just named), just that I haven\u2019t stumbled across them. But to be fair, I\u2019m very<\/em> picky about how I choose books from authors I\u2019m not already familiar with. For instance, if a book is the start of a series\u2014and if that series is a single long story (like The Belgariad<\/em>, for instance, as opposed to a line of semi-standalone books like The Dresden Files<\/em>)\u2014I often won\u2019t pick it up until the entire series is already out and on shelves.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>   That said, I\u2019ve enjoyed what I\u2019ve read of Tom Lloyd; he has a lot of the \u201cold-fashioned epic\u201d feel going, while adding some more \u201cmodern\u201d touches in terms of storytelling technique. I\u2019ve heard great things about James Enge\u2019s sword-and-sorcery, though I haven\u2019t had the chance to read any of them yet.<\/p>\n

Well, to broaden the question, every reader’s got those authors who they love, but no one else ever seems to be aware of them. Who’re some authors you feel deserve more exposure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Well, in addition to the guys mentioned above, I\u2019d love to see Chris Roberson and Jim Hines get more attention. (They both have a solid fanbase, but I\u2019d like to see them get bigger.) I\u2019ve really enjoyed the first of Laura Resnick\u2019s \u201cEsther Diamond\u201d series. Not sure if Paul Kidd\u2019s still writing, but I\u2019d love to see more from him\u2014and more attention paid to him. I\u2019ll admit I haven\u2019t had the chance to read his stuff yet\u2014it\u2019s in my \u201cto read\u201d pile\u2014but from everything I\u2019ve heard Matthew Sturges deserves a pretty sizable following.<\/p>\n

   And uh, well, me, of course. Duh.<\/p>\n

   Okay, seriously, I\u2019m actually struggling to think of others, just because a lot of the books I\u2019ve read lately are by writers who are already very well established. (When I\u2019m working on my own novels, I tend to read books I already know, rather than new material\u2014and these days, I\u2019m working on my own novels more often than not). I\u2019m also quite sure that as soon as this interview goes live, I\u2019ll think of half a dozen examples I meant<\/em> to mention.<\/p>\n

Though there’s a sequel slated for 2011, The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> more or less stands on its own. Did you have to make any sacrifices to ensure the story didn’t grow beyond the bounds of a single volume?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   I didn\u2019t, actually. In fact, when I first wrote The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>, I\u2019d never intended to write a sequel, so the book really was designed from the get-go to stand alone. The idea for the sequel\u2014or possibly even sequels<\/strong>, if the opportunity and the interest are there\u2014came later.<\/p>\n

What can you tell us about the sequel,The Warlord’s Legacy<\/strong>? Does it stand alone as well, or will is it necessary to have read The Conqueror’s Shadow<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   It\u2019s certainly stronger if you\u2019ve read the first one, since it builds on characters and events introduced therein. But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary<\/em>. I really did my best to make sure that everything the reader must<\/em> know is explained in the book. So while certain details, revelations, and plot points won\u2019t have the same emotional resonance if you haven\u2019t read The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong>, The Warlord\u2019s Legacy<\/strong> should still be a perfectly good\/enjoyable fantasy novel.<\/p>\n

   As for what I can tell you about it\u2026 Hmm. I obviously don\u2019t want to spoil anything, or go into too much detail before the publisher\u2019s ready. So let me say this: It takes place several years after the end of the first book, and it showcases the consequences\u2014mostly negative\u2014of Corvis\u2019s past actions, not only during his days as the Terror of the East, but over the course (and at the end) of The Conqueror\u2019s Shadow<\/strong> as well.<\/p>\n

You mention that the concept for follow-ups to The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong> came up later. Not surprisingly, then, you’ve got a couple of other projects slated for release that have nothing to do with The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>. Can you tell us more about The Goblin Corps<\/strong> and Household Gods<\/strong>, the first Young Adult<\/em> acquisition by Pyr Books<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   The Goblin Corps<\/strong> is even more of a \u201cflipping\u201d of traditional fantasy tropes than my other books. This book is about a squad of goblins\u2013an orc, a troll, etc.\u2013in the service of an undead tyrant called the Charnel King. It\u2019s kind of a look at what the villains are doing while the heroes are running around in a story that they (mistakenly) believe is a very traditional, Tolkien-esque epic fantasy.<\/p>\n

   And make no mistake, this is a book about the villains<\/em>. Corvis Rebaine, of The Conquerer’s Shadow<\/strong>, is anti-hero, but these, despite being the protagonists, are straight-up bad guys<\/em>, and unapologetic about it. The book\u2019s funny enough that you sometimes forget how nasty these characters are\u2013until they do something to remind you. (Some readers will be bothered by that, and that\u2019s understandable, but I think most will find it a blast to read.) The novel is sarcastic, brutally gory, and foul-mouthed enough to make Eddie Murphy or Quentin Tarantino cringe.<\/p>\n

   Household Gods<\/strong>, on the other hand, is about a character who\u2019s actually mostly a good guy. (Yes, I can write those; try not to act too shocked.) Granted, she\u2019s a thief, but she\u2019s basically a good person. She also has a god, that nobody else in the world worships, watching over her shoulder and kind of living in her head.<\/p>\n

   The book\u2019s set in a Renaissance-style city, rather than the more traditional medieval setting of most fantasies. It\u2019s not nearly as dark as the others, or as wide-ranging; it\u2019s very much an urban romp of an adventure (though it does have its dark elements; this is still me, after all). Actually, the funny thing is, I didn\u2019t deliberately set out to write a YA-novel; I just produced a novel that, my agent and I realized after the fact, was a perfect fit for YA.<\/p>\n

Ahh, I’m always a sucker for Renaissance-era Fantasy, though there’s not much of it.<\/p>\n

You make an interesting distinction between ‘hero’ and protagonist. Can you think of any novels that play with the idea of casting a truly villainous character as the protagonist or narrator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   It\u2019s a more common tropes in horror than in sci-fi or fantasy, and a huge number of vampire novels (such as Anne Rice\u2019s) do so, of course. In terms of fantasy\u2026 Some years back, Eve Forward published Villains by Necessity<\/em>, which centered on a band of villains. But I felt that, by the end, most of the \u201cvillains\u201d (but one or two) had actually revealed themselves to be really not all that<\/em> bad, so I\u2019m not sure the book fully qualifies. I think one could argue that Elric is, depending on which particular book you\u2019re talking about, at least borderline villainous. I personally found Thomas Covenant utterly despicable, enough that I couldn\u2019t finish the book\u2014and given the sorts of characters I often write, that\u2019s saying something. And there\u2019s a surprising amount of villain-oriented tie-in novels, from Ravenloft to a few scattered Forgotten Realms novels to Star Wars novels focused on Sith or Imperial characters.<\/p>\n

   What\u2019s more common are amoral characters, rather than immoral\/truly villainous ones. And you\u2019ll often find characters who are evil in some respects\u2014Vlad Taltos is an assassin and crime lord, during some of his earlier novels, and the members of the Black Company certainly aren\u2019t exactly good guys\u2014but neither are such examples bad enough to be called \u201cvillains.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Lord<\/a>\n

I’m with you on the Thomas Covenant angle. I finished the first book, as a favour to my Mom and a friend, who love the books, but that was the end of my relationship with Donaldson’s novels.<\/p>\n

On a brighter note, Ari, it was a pleasure! Any final words?<\/strong><\/p>\n

   Well, assuming you want something a little more meaningful than \u201cEverybody please buy my stuff!\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

   Seriously, thanks. Thank you for the opportunity, and thanks to everyone who was interested enough to read what I had to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ari Marmell’s been around the writing scene for years, but his name only hit my ears with the release of The Conquerer’s Shadow, his first work outside the world of Pen & Paper RPGS and tie-in Novels. The Conquerer’s Shadow is a twist on the genre, throwing the reader into the story alongside a former… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n