Writing Fantasy Heroes

by Jason M Waltz (ed)

  Ian C. Esslemont grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, where the flat prairie heartland meets the boreal forest. His first degree was in archaeology and he worked on sites in Ontario and Manitoba. It was on these crews that he met fellow writing and fantasy genre enthusiast Steven Erikson. The two then drove cross-country to Victoria, British Columbia, where they attended a creative writing program, roomed together, and wrote, talked and gamed in the fantasy genre far more than they really ought to have.

  After graduating from Victoria, Ian drove four thousand kilometers from Winnipeg to Fairbanks, Alaska, in a Dodge Colt two-door manual drive subcompact that was nearly flattened by a logging truck outside Watson Lake. In Fairbanks he pursued an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Like many graduate students in Fairbanks, for a number of years he lived in a “dry” cabin outside of town—one without running water or indoor plumbing—using an outhouse all the winter.

  He met his wife, Gerri, in the program and after graduating the two applied to teach English abroad. He and Gerri may have had enough of snow and cold as they accepted positions at a university in Thailand. They lived in Bangkok for four years, Ian taking one year to teach in Japan. While living in S.E. Asia, the two explored Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India.

  In 1998 they enrolled in a Ph.D. program in English literature. During this time Steven Erikson’s Malaz novels found success and Ian was confronted by a difficult decision: seize the moment to pursue his own fantasy writing in he and Steve’s co-created world, or continue pursuing his doctoral research.

  He chose the former because, while he still regards his research topic as valuable and exciting (in brief: desertion and the myth of “going native” in Nineteenth Century fiction and nonfiction of the south Pacific), he feels that what he and Steven have created is something unique: it’s a story that would not be told by anyone else and writing it is an extraordinary privilege. Learn more about his and Steven’s world of Malaz at www.malazanempire.com.

  Novels of the Malazan Empire:

  Night of Knives (2004)

  Return of the Crimson Guard (2008)

  Stonewielder (2010)

  Orb Sceptre Throne (2012)

  Blood and Bone (2013)

  Cecelia Holland

  Cecelia Holland writes historical fiction, because history seems an endless fund of material. She likes novels, because they are long and wide and deep. Every once in a great while, she tries to write a poem, and, now and then, a short story, but she prefer novels. When Cecelia was in college, she took a creative writing course, mostly to get a sure A. Since then, she has written a lot, read a lot, and raised her three wonderful daughters. She lives in the wild country of northern California. Once a week, Cecelia teach creative writing at Pelican Bay state Prison, two hours away in Crescent City, and, every day, she takes care of a small menagerie of little animals. Visit her website at www.thefiredrake.com. Cecelia is pictured above with her grandson Finnegan.

  Corban Loosestrife series:

  The Soul Thief (2002)

  Witches’ Kitchen (2004)

  The Serpent Dreamer (2005)

  Varanger (2008)

  The High City (2009)

  King of the North (2010)

  Selected novels:

  The Firedrake (1966)

  Until the Sun Falls (1969)

  The Sea Beggers (1982)

  Howard Andrew Jones

  Howard Andrew Jones can usually be found hunched over his laptop or notebook, mumbling about flashing swords and doom-haunted towers. He has worked variously as a TV cameraman, a book editor, a recycling consultant, and a college writing instructor. He was instrumental in the rebirth of interest in Harold Lamb's historical fiction, and has assembled and edited eight collections of Lamb's work for the University of Nebraska Press. Prior to their first novel length adventure, The Desert of Souls, his characters Dabir and Asim appeared in short stories in a variety of publications, and most of those adventures have been compiled in the short story collection The Waters of Eternity. He blogs regularly at the Black Gate site www.blackgate.com and maintains a web outpost of his own at www.howardandrewjones.com.

  The Swords and Sands Chronicle:

  The Desert of Souls (2011)

  The Bones of the Old Ones (2012)

  Dabir and Asim Collection:

  The Waters of Eternity (2011)

  Pathfinder Tales:

  Plague of Shadows (2011)

  Harold Lamb Collections (editor):

  Wolf of the Steppes (2006)

  Warriors of the Steppes (2006)

  Riders of the Steppes (2007)

  Swords of the Steppes (2007)

  Swords from the Desert (2009)

  Swords from the West (2009)

  Swords from the East (2010)

  Swords from the Sea (2010)

  Paul Kearney

  Paul Kearney is a Northern Irish fantasy author. He is noted for his work in the epic fantasy subgenre and his work has been compared to that of David Gemmell. He was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, in 1967 and studied Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and Old Norse at Oxford University before spending several years in both the U.S. and Denmark, finally returning to Northern Ireland. He currently lives and writes in County Down in a cottage by the sea, with his wife, three dogs, a beat-up old boat, and far too many books.

  The Monarchies of God:

  Hawkwood’s Voyage (1995)

  The Heretic Kings (1996)

  The Iron Wars (1999)

  The Second Empire (2000)

  Ships from the West (2002)

  The Sea Beggars:

  The Mark of Ran (2004)

  This Forsaken Earth (2006)

  The Macht:

  The Ten Thousand (2008)

  Corvus (2010)

  Kings of Morning (2012)

  Ari Marmell

  Ari Marmell would love to tell you all about the various esoteric jobs he held and the wacky adventures he had on the way to becoming an author, since that’s what other authors seem to do in these sections. Unfortunately, he doesn’t actually have any, as the most exciting thing about his professional life, besides his novel writing, is the work he’s done for Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games. His published fiction consists of both fully original works and licensed/tie-in properties—including Darksiders and Magic: the Gathering—for publishers such as Del Rey, Pyr Books, and Wizards of the Coast. Ari currently lives in an apartment that’s almost as cluttered as his subconscious, which he shares (the apartment, not the subconscious, though sometimes it seems like it) with George—his wife—and two cats who really need some form of volume control installed. You can find Ari online at www.mouseferatu.com.

  Corvis Rebaine series:

  The Conqueror’s Shadow (2010)

  The Warlord’s Legacy (2011)

  The Widdershins Adventures:

  Thief’s Covenant (2012)

  False Covenant (2012)

  Novels:

  The Goblin Corps (2011)

  Selected Tie-in novels:

  Agents of Artifice (2009)

  Darksiders: The Abomination Vault (2012)

  In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (2013)

  Janet Morris

  Janet Morris has published more than 20 novels since 1976, many co-authored with her husband Chris. Her first novel, written as Janet E. Morris, was High Couch of Silistra, the first in a quartet of novels with a very strong female protagonist. She has contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series Thieves World, in which she created the Sacred Band of Stepsons, a mythical unit of ancient fighters modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. She created, orchestrated, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell, writing stories for the series as well as co-writing the related novel, The Little Helliad. Janet has also written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of nonfiction, as well as papers and articles, including the original concept for the U.S. nonlethal weapons program and other papers and articles on developmenta
l military technology and diverse defense and national security topics.

  Silistra series:

  High Couch of Silistra (1977)

  The Golden Sword (1977)

  Wind from the Abyss (1978)

  The Camelian Throne (1979)

  Selected Heroes in Hell series (editor):

  Heroes in Hell (1986)

  Crusaders in Hell (1987)

  War in Hell (1988)

  Prophets in Hell (1989)

  Selected novels:

  I, the Sun (1983)

  Warlord! (1987)

  The Sacred Band of Stepsons series:

  Beyond Sanctuary (1985)

  Beyond the Veil (1985)

  Beyond Wizardwall (1986)

  Chris Morris

  Chris Morris began writing music in 1966, fiction in 1984, and nonfiction in 1989. Much of his fiction and nonfiction literary work, including all of his book-length science fiction and fantasy, has been written in collaboration with his wife Janet, with whom he has also written two novels under the joint pseudonym of Daniel Stryker and one novel under the pseudonym of Casey Prescott. He has contributed short fiction to the shared universe series Thieves' World, Heroes in Hell, and Merovingen Nights. He and Janet have also coauthored six titles in The Sacred Band of Stepsons series. In the realm of nonfiction writing, Chris has authored books and articles on military and defense matters in collaboration with Janet and others.

  Selected Merovingen Nights:

  Fever Season (1987)

  Troubled Waters (1988)

  Divine Right (1989)

  Janet & Chris Morris Joint Titles

  Selected nonfiction:

  The American Warrior (1992)

  Weapons of Mass Protection (1995)

  Selected Heroes in Hell series (editors):

  Lawyers in Hell (2011)

  Rogues in Hell (2012)

  The Sacred Band of Stepsons series:

  City at the Edge of Time (1988)

  Tempus Unbound (1989)

  Storm Seed (1990)

  The Sacred Band (2010)

  Tempus with his right-side companion Niko (2011)

  The Fish the Fighters and the Song-girl (2012)

  Cat Rambo

  Cat Rambo lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest. Her collection, Eyes like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, was a 2010 Endeavor Award finalist. Explore more of Cat’s writings at www.kittywumpus.net.

  Collections:

  Eyes like Sky and Coal and Moonlight (2009)

  Near + Far (2012)

  Brandon Sanderson

  Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He writes Epic Fantasy, loves mac and cheese, and lives in Utah with his wife and kids. Check out Brandon’s online presence at www.brandonsanderson.com.

  Mistborn:

  The Final Empire (2006)

  The Well of Ascension (2007)

  The Hero of Ages (2008)

  The Alloy of Law (2011)

  Alcatraz:

  Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (2007)

  Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones (2008)

  Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia (2009)

  Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens (2010)

  The Stormlight Archive:

  The Way of Kings (2010)

  Select novels:

  Elantris (2005)

  Warbreaker (2009)

  Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time:

  The Gathering Storm (2009)

  Towers of Midnight (2010)

  A Memory of Light (2013)

  Jason M Waltz

  Jason M Waltz still lives in the state he grew up in, after a brief interlude out West—where his heart really lies among the silent deserts and mountains with the lone warriors of blade and bullet. He is an ardent fan of heroic tales and founded Rogue Blades Entertainment with the goal of delivering action adventure with an Extreme Edge. One of his greatest desires is that people rediscover the honorable code of heroics through reading his titles, and become inspired to reach beyond themselves and grab that sword in the stone before them.

  Anthologies edited:

  Return of the Sword (2008)

  Rage of the Behemoth (2009)

  Demons: A Clash of Steel (2010)

  C. L. Werner

  C.L. Werner holed up in the desert wastes of Arizona, where he pens his poisonous prose with the fang of a ten-button rattler and the gizzard of a Gila monster. In addition to his work for the Black Library, his short fiction has appeared in Rogue Blades anthologies, Cthulhu Codex, Midnight Shambler, and Inferno! magazine. He is currently head background writer for AE-WWII, the Darkson Designs' tabletop war game of alternate history and supernatural evil. Visit him anytime at www.vermintime.com.

  Brunner the Bounty Hunter:

  Blood Money (2003)

  Blood and Steel (2003)

  Blood of the Dragon (2004)

  Thanquol and Boneripper Trilogy:

  Grey Seer (2009)

  Temple of the Serpent (2010)

  Thanquol’s Doom (2011)

  Chaos Powers:

  Palace of the Plague Lord (2007)

  Blood for the Blood God (2008)

  Mathias Thulmann, Witch Hunter:

  Witch Hunter (2004)

  Witch Finder (2005)

  Witch Killer (2006)

  The Black Plague:

  Dead Winter (2012)

  Select novels:

  Vermintide (as Bruno Lee) (2006)

  Forged by Chaos (2009)

  Wulfrik (2010)

  The Hour of Shadows (2011)

  The Red Duke (2011)

  Siege of Castellax (2012)