From Fantasy's Fair Freelancer: An Interview with S. I. Williams (Excerpt from The Writer's Block Weekly)
It really was an honor to interview the best selling fantasy novelist, Sarah Williams. She was kind enough to host the interview at her house, and I remember commenting on the décor while she sipped her tea.
"Obviously, you don't limit your love of fantasy to your books," I remarked. Miss Williams looked a little surprised, but then noticed the bookshelves and the figurines scattered upon it. An odd expression crossed her face, and she sipped her tea before replying.
"They are amusing, though, aren't they? They almost seem alive, if you look at them just so." An even odder expression crossed her face, but Miss Williams turned the conversation back to business.
"As weird as it may sound, a lot of my characters are people I know," Miss Williams confided. She smiled and continued, "In fact, my most prominent characters are always asking about what they're doing in the books, and influencing the plot by just being themselves."
"Who do you think is your favorite character?" I asked.
She seemed to ponder that one longer than all the others. She looked thoughtfully at her shelves. Following her glance, I had to look twice—I could have sworn that statue had been a shelf below where it was now.
"Kiper," Miss Williams says softly. "And Hoggle, and Didymus, and Ludo. And the Muse, of course."
Although I didn't write it into my article, Miss Williams seemed to be talking to… No, warning, one of the Goblin sculptures on the shelves.
"Ah, the Muse, the King, right? I'm sure I speak for all your readers when I say we hope to hear more from him."
Miss Williams smiles mysteriously and sips her tea again. "Trust me; the Muse has many more stories to tell. You will be hearing a lot more from him, even if it takes me a few years to get to his story."
"Then we will get to read his story?" I found myself unable to stop the question, and Miss Williams nodded.
"You most certainly will, Mister Bennett. He never shuts up and he never stops going on new adventures, so I am sure that I have at least two books to write centered on the Muse."
"The King is a major character. Is he one of the characters you modeled after a real person?"
The look she shot at her figurines was almost acerbic, but when her gaze returned to me, it was as kindly as it had been before.
"The King, my Muse, is a driving force behind all the books, even the ones he doesn't appear in. Yes, he is a real person. I cannot tell you who, of course…"
Again, I remember the queer expression that crossed her features, but she caught herself and continued—
"…And yes, he really is that arrogant, and mischievous, and devious, and petty, and ridiculously amusing. I've kept him, as a character, as close to real life as possible."
There's a playfulness in her manner as she divulges this information, as if she knew the Muse would hear what she said of him. I continue on, spurred by the unfortunately quick passage of time. "Right, then, I have two… No, three more questions for you."
"I am listening."
"Is it true you wrote under the pseudonym Aelfric Garrit before you chose to write under your real name?" I watch as she walks over to the shelf, carefully pushing a Goblin statuette aside to pull out a worn notebook. She passes it wordlessly to me, and I am shocked to find the first chapters of Aelfric Garrit's Dragons and Demons: The Bard's Song. It is handwritten, and there are scribbles in the margins, not to mention editing marks all over the pages.
"Yes, I wrote as Aelfric during college."
I flip through it to find my favorite passage, then remember I am supposed to be working. Miss Williams watched with amusement as I purposefully shut the notebook.
"Why did you start using your real name instead of your pseudonym?"
How very expressive her face is, I remember thinking. I could tell she was remembering what occurred, and I could tell she would be having a serious discussion with whomever pushed her out of using the pseudonym.
"The Muse decided that writing with a pseudonym was too much like hiding, and sent my next three books to various editors under my name. Since I signed a contract for all three of those books, and their sequels, I just… got used to it, I guess.
"You said you had three questions. What is the third?"
I also remember that the way she looked at you was… piercing. She had the ability to concentrate so completely upon a person that it was both comforting and unnerving.
"Will you write again as Aelfric Garrit?"
A wistful expression shadows her grin. "No, I'm afraid not. I just don't have the time to write stories for that universe anymore, and the series ended anyway. If I had written more, it would have been about different characters, anyway."
She was very polite in thanking me for taking the time to interview her, even though I insisted it was an honor. We made our goodbyes, and as we departed, I felt inspired with the knowledge that the future of fantasy and fiction was safe in the hands (and books) of authors like Miss Sarah Williams.
I also distinctly remember, despite this being nine years past, one of the statues winking at me.
Oro: Inspired by a random scene in my head depicting Sarah hissing at the Goblins to "sit still, the guests are noticing!"
Disclaimer: I am hiding here to keep from making a disclaimer in Thy Bog Overfloweth, do you really expect one? If I owned it, why would I write fanfiction?