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Interview

Priscilla Fagan

Tad Williams

Tad Williams is not just a room name at F2K. No, he's a flesh and blood real honest-to-goodness writer. Author of several books, including his first, Tailchaser's Song. His protagonist? A cat! (And they said it couldn't be done.) You can read more about Tailchaser and Tad's other books by going to his site

Tad and his wife live in London and the San Francisco Bay Area. He is cofounder of an interactive television company, and is currently writing comic books and film and television scripts as well as novels. Always on the go, but you can track him down through a schedule of his personal appearances and booksignings, as well as at the above link.

I am grateful Tad has agreed to take time out of his busy life and answer some of my obtrusive questions.

Priscilla

T-zero: How did you get into writing and do you have any particular background or creative writing courses that you draw from? I know you've had lots of jobs and music was a big part of your life.

Tad Williams: As a writer, I'm largely self-taught, which actually means I've been in love with books and storytelling since I was a small child, and have been telling stories in one fashion or another as long as I can remember. But my main guide for writing has always been to write something I would want to read. I don't know if there's a better teacher, actually, although it helps if you develop a pretty good nose for whether your own work measures up to a professional standard. Then you just have to hope you're representative of at least a decent-sized audience.

T-zero: Has fantasy always been your genre and would you consider OTHERLAND to fit into science fiction more than fantasy?

TW: OTHERLAND is definitely science-fiction, in that the mysteries and seemingly magical events in the book all have to have at least a pseudo-scientific explanation. That said, I'm willing to stretch the bounds of known physics a bit. After all, I'm not a fanatic, I'm a storyteller.

T-zero: Seeing some of the obstacles you put in your hero's way, do you use the Mythic Structure of Jung and Campbell in your writing?

TW: No, nothing so formal, although anyone who writes the kind of thing I do and is familiar with Jung and Joseph Campbell can't help but see that there are many areas of overlap. But in my case, that's largely because I'm reaching back to old stories and myths anyway, so if there's a pre-existing congruity of structure in such things, then it's bound to show up in my work.

T-zero: Reading some of OTHERLAND I can't help but think of the old TV show 'Quantum Leap'. You must have to do a tremendous amount of research even though you are writing fantasy. How much time do you spend on research? And how important is research in fantasy or science fiction compared to other genres?

TW: Speaking of quantum leaps, OTHERLAND has been that for me as far as research goes. Not only is there the quasi-scientific aspect of it, there's all the real-world settings (which are only a generation or so removed from now, so they have to be researched just as though the novel was using contemporary settings), not to mention all the virtual simulations, many of which are supposed to represent multi-billion dollar attempts to create perfect versions of real historical settings. I must have read more than a dozen books just to do the chapter and a half set in World War One.

T-zero: We at T-Zero and WVU are learning the craft of writing and honing our skills. How do you prepare to write a novel? Do you use an outline in preparation or do you sit and begin to write?

TW: Books like mine couldn't be written without some kind of outline -- they're just too big and too complex, not to mention that the foreshadowing I'm doing in the first part of the story is going to be published (and thus beyond re-editing) long before the foreshadowed events actually get written, so I have to have a decent idea of what I want to have happen. That said, I also like to keep some freshness and discovery in the process, so I'm not a puritan about sticking to my outline. A story like OTHERLAND takes years to write, and I make lots of discoveries and change as a person and a writer in the process. It would be sad if that weren't reflected somehow in the story.

T-zero: You mentioned your mother being a driving force behind your creativity. Was there anyone else who influenced you?

TW: Certainly some teachers -- I was introduced to Shakespeare in a big way by a high school English teacher, and a junior high social studies teacher first sparked my interest in the Kalahari Bushmen, who play an important part in the OTHERLAND books. Most of my other influences are writers, especially those who grabbed me when I was young: Tolkien, Bradbury, Moorcock, Leiber, Sturgeon, and P.K. Dick, just to name a very few. Some others, like Thomas Pynchon and Russell Hoban, have even influenced me as an adult writer.

T-zero: What type of books do you like to read when you find the time after "engineering world peace?"

TW: A little bit of everything. At the moment, as a father of two young children, who also has to read a lot of non-fiction for research, I find myself re-reading old favorites in the few minutes I get per day for sport-reading. Just in the last week or so I've gone through BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, some T.H. White short stories, and RED SQUARE (third book in the Arkady Renko books by Martin Cruz Smith), all for at least the second time. I read some new stuff too, but I'll be able to do that more easily when the kids aren't quite such a 24-hour job.

T-zero: What advice would you give first-time authors?

TW: Write regularly and often. If you want to write genre fiction, don't read too much in the genre -- it will make your ideas small and derivative. And don't keep writing the beginning of something over and over, trying to get it perfect. Finishing is much more important than a perfect beginning, if such a thing even exists, and it's a lot easier to rewrite when you know the shape of the whole piece.

T-zero: You have one book left to write in the series "OTHERLAND." What will come next for Tad Williams?

TW: I'm doing a couple of stand-alone books (notable because I'm fairly known for huge multi-volume stories), one a sort of modern dark fantasy, the other a bunch of linked short stories set in my fantasy universe.

T-zero: I always like to end an interview using some of James Lipton's questions for fun. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

What is your favorite word?
Don't know, but a reader pointed out that I use "vast" a bit too much.

What is your least favorite word?
"Had" after "had", as in, "He had had one too many."

What turns you on?
Making things. Finding out that people like the things I make. My wife and kids. Basketball. Anything that makes me laugh.

What turns you off?
Cruelty, bullying, failures of responsibility and empathy.

What sound or noise do you love?
Cellos and other stringed instruments. My kids laughing. Good singing voices.

What sound or noise do you hate?
People honking car horns for no useful reason.

What profession would you be in if not this?
Teacher, film director, musician, carnie.

What profession would you hate to be in?
Anything where I have to show up on time or wear a suit, and I can't stare into space, thinking.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive?
"We're a little overcrowded. Why don't you go back and have fun for another couple of centuries and we'll find a spot for you later."