Interview: James Wyatt

We caught up with James Wyatt, who is usually engulfed in story each day, and asked him a few questions about his novel. Take a look at what he said!

Wizards of the Coast: Dragon Forge is the second volume in your trilogy. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, give us a few basics on the story setup. Does Dragon Forge pick up right where Storm Dragon left off, or has some time gone by?

James Wyatt: A little time has gone by -- long enough for the main characters to get where they need to be. In the case of Gaven and Rienne, that's on a ship bound for Argonnessen!

Wizards: Are all of the characters from Storm Dragon -- at least those who survived -- coming back in book two?

James: All but two. There's one pretty significant character who has disappeared without explanation, though she'll reappear with some explanation in book three. And there's a minor character who has also gone off stage, her fate as yet undecided.

Wizards: Storm Dragon marked a big change for you in that it was the beginning of your first trilogy. Dragon Forge marks a big change for the Eberron setting, because we are in the midst of the D&D conversion from 3rd to 4th Edition. Are any of those changes reflected in the book?

James: Yes, though it's an interesting sort of transitional novel. There are a lot of ideas germinating in Dragon Forge that reflect my thinking on where Eberron might have gone if we had decided to heavily revise the setting for 4th Edition. I introduced dragonborn in this book (a new race in 4th Edition), and feature both a tiefling (a race with new prominence in 4th Edition) and a group of eladrin (a race that has been significantly recast). I'm writing another article for the website that talks a little more about the rules shift and its effect on these books.

Wizards: I've heard many other authors say that the middle act is always the hardest. Act one is fun because you are introducing everything. Act three is fun because you are tying everything up and finally coming to the big climax. But act two can't do either of those. You have to maintain enough conflict not only to keep readers interested, but to bridge act one and three. Did you find the second book difficult in that regard?

James: Yes. That said, I'm finding the third book even harder, because I have a lot of things to tie up!

Wizards: Is there any particular scene or part of the story that was your favorite?

James: I'm very, very happy with how the changeling's story came out in this book -- it's what I can only describe as his spiritual journey. That comes to a head in a scene in chapter 35* . As I think about it, there are a lot of scenes in that whole arc that I'm very pleased with, but I think that one's my favorite.

Wizards: Storm Dragon probably did more than any other Eberron book to "shake things up" in the world itself. How do you plan to top that in Dragon Forge? Are the surprises in book two more a matter of plot, setting, character, or something else?

James: All of the above? There are some big plot things, but more that sets the stage for book 3. Setting-wise, I got to take Gaven to Argonnessen, which was fun. In character terms, both Gaven and Aunn get shaken up pretty significantly in this book, and several people do some surprising things.

Wizards: We've seen that gnomes are no longer available as a player race in 4th Edition. Is it true that the title Dragon Forge refers directly to the plot, wherein the dragons of Eberron use every gnome in Khorvaire to light their barbecues? Is this the book that will remove gnomes from Eberron?

James: I'm worried that if I play along with your joke and say yes, which was my first inclination, I'll get roasted for my insensitivity to gnome supporters. So instead let me clarify that gnomes are not yet available as a player race in 4th Edition, not "no longer." We're not taking them out of Eberron, and by the time the Eberron Campaign Guide comes out next year, gnomes will be a fully-supported race.

Dragon barbecues. Heh.

Wizards: So when an author says "such and such" was a big influence on me, what exactly does that mean? Obviously you've enjoyed the author's work. Are you trying to emulate the style of prose, the types of characters used, the plots, what…?

James: I think it means that I would like to be able to tell a story in such a way that I can give a reader an experience as valuable and memorable as the experience that, say, Tolkien gave me. I certainly don't want to emulate his prose style. I don't particularly want to write about characters like his halflings, retiring homebodies thrust into adventures much bigger than themselves. I aspire to tell stories that give my readers a similar sense of wonder to what I experienced when I read The Lord of the Rings. When I hear Yo-Yo Ma play the cello, I have no dream of being able to play the cello as well as he does. But he's an influence on my singing, because I would love to be able to sing with as much sensitivity and musicality as he plays with.

Still working on both...

Wizards: Stephen King says that good stories are like a car. On the one hand, you've got the story itself, which is the engine that makes the car go. On the other hand, you've got all the chrome and paint and rims and pretty stuff, which is like a story's prose. Ideally, you want a great story with great prose. But if you have to choose, a good story always trumps pretty words. Pretty words without a good story is dead. But you can still drive an ugly car down the highway. Do you, O James, concur?

James: No, I don't think I do. Story is important, but so is beauty. Nobody wants to drive an ugly car down the highway, and with good reason. It's an unpleasant experience. I don't want to suffer through ugly writing just to get to the end of a compelling story. While I was writing Storm Dragon, I read a wonderful little book by Francine Prose called Reading Like a Writer. The book spent chapters dissecting the art of writing by looking at examples from all sorts of great literature, and it really inspired me to pay attention to the poetry of my writing.

Wizards: With the summer movie season in full swing, have you seen anything yet that just blew you away? Anything up and coming that you're looking forward to seeing?

James: I enjoyed Iron Man (even more the second time) and the new Indiana Jones movie, but I wouldn't say I was blown away. The family is gearing up to see Kung Fu Panda!

Wizards: What about TV? Any TV shows you particularly enjoy?

James: We don't have cable, so the only TV shows I watch are the ones we buy from iTunes or get on DVD, and those are entirely shows my son chooses. My whole family really enjoys Avatar: The Last Airbender, though.

Wizards: Your stunningly handsome editor told me that your preferred place to write is the local Starbucks. Is that true?

James: Is it true that my editor is stunningly handsome? I'll reserve judgment for now -- I hear he cut his hair.

Is it true that I write at Starbucks? Yes, it is.

Wizards: So do you plug in headphones, or does the constant white noise actually aid your concentration?

James: It depends. Most of the time the ambient noise gives me energy, and I enjoy the music they play. The only times I plug in headphones are if (a) I really don't like the music they're playing, (b) there's a really loud conversation going on near me, or (c) there's a conversation going on that I'm too tempted to listen to, like when two Wizards VPs have their weekly meeting at the next table.

It has actually been interesting for me to realize the extent to which I'm energized by being around people, out in public. And here I always thought I was an introvert!

Wizards: Okay, interviewer-to-interviewee, gimme the skinny. One of Eberron's Dark Six is the Traveller. Is it true that this is in actual fact a reference to Ghostbusters?

James: No, it's actually a reference to the original science-fiction roleplaying game (published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop), spelled with two Ls. Wait, no…that's not true either.

*Just in case you don't want some details of the scene described to you before you have a chance to read the novel, it's down below a bit of spoiler space:

…where Aunn wrestles with a demon and ultimately gives himself up to a divine power that helps him escape…

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