The Gnole

[greenknight]

This phenomenal book came across my path and has since gone on to many more hands but not before it left a huge imprint on me. Something that I've wondered awhile is the roles each credited author played in crafting such a beautiful work of fiction as you all have very different backgrounds. Any chance you could shed some light on the subject?

Since I've looked you up, I'm also going to check out the rest of your stuff on amazon. Any personal favourites I should start with?

[steveboyett]

The general storyline was Alan Aldridge's. I would meet with him weekly, he'd give me some idea where he wanted to go next -- really just a couple of lines -- and I'd write it. It was basically a work-for-hire deal, but Alan made sure the credits didn't realistically reflect the contributions (and an enormous number of people who provided artwork for the project got no credit at all). Maxine Miller, who seems to share equal billing with me on the cover, was Alan's colorist.

The book sold ridiculously well across Europe but we could get no North American interest. The feeling at the time was that there was no market for an illustrated book for adults, and that no one would pay the necessary $30 for such a thing. I urged them to try the new Turner Publications, to no avail. Then Turner put out Jim Gurney's Dinotopia and it made a fortune. Clearly I am a prophet of the Cassandra variety.

I never even saw a royalty statement, don't have many of the foreign-language editions, and in general got fairly hosed on the whole deal. It instituted a no-work-for-hire policy that I really should have abided by when I wrote Toy Story 2. Duhh.

[steveboyett]

Sorry; I just saw I left some questions unanswered. Writers will usually tell you that the book they're working on right now is their favorite. In that vein, the book most recently published is the one I'd recommend (and conveniently it's the one most easily obtainable): ELEGY BEACH. It's a sequel to ARIEL, but you don't have to read ARIEL; it's self contained.

I'm glad you liked THE GNOLE! On the creative (as opposed to business) side, it was a lot of fun to write.