Ask the Author: Lian Tanner
Answered Questions (26)
Lian Tanner
Hi James, no, we never found him, though we spent three days searching, along with a special team from Japan and a large contingent of PNG police officers. Personally, I doubt that he existed, because that part of the Gazelle Peninsula is quite heavily populated and there would surely have been rumours of his existence beforehand. Still, it's not entirely out of the question - this was in 1976, only two years after Hiroo Onoda was found in the Philippines. And no, I've never written about it.
Lian Tanner
Hi MM, no, just the three books in that series.
Lian Tanner
Hello Mandi, I'm so glad you loved Secret Guardians - thanks for letting me know. Book #3, Haunted Warriors, is coming out in October this year. You can read a little bit about it here. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/...
Lian Tanner
I'm glad you liked Sharkey, Sumayyah. He's one of my favourites too. But there just wasn't room to show his perspective in the third book. I needed to show Petrel's and Fin's perspectives, because they've been in the story since the beginning. I needed to show Dolph's because she's somewhere else doing different things. And I needed to show Gwin's because she's the main character in the third book. If I'd added Sharkey's perspective as well, it would have got too confusing, imo. A pity, but when you're writing a book you have to make these choices. Some people will agree with them, some won't.
Lian Tanner
Hi Ava, thanks for your very nice comments – I really appreciate them. One of the most important things if you're writing fantasy is to ground your work in reality. You have to convince people that the world you've created is real, so you use real details. And you do a lot of research. For example, I read a fantasy a while ago where the heroine – who had already been established as not particularly strong – tossed a broadsword up into the air and caught it. I pretty much stopped reading at that point, because I had lost confidence in the author. If they had done their research, they would have known that broadswords are HEAVY.
I've read any number of books where the hero or heroine is galloping a horse across country on a moonless night. Again, that's not going to happen, which the author would have realised if they'd done their research and actually gone out into the countryside when there was no moon.
Of course you can't research things like brizzlehounds, but you can research Great Danes. You probably can't research your terror at the thought of having your hometown invaded by a violent army, but you can remember a time when you were frightened, and what that felt like, and magnify it ten times.
The other way of grounding a fantasy is to use real sense details. So this may be a strange world, but there will still be smells and sounds that we recognise. The wind will feel the same on our skin, and the sun and the rain. In fact, in a fantasy these things are more important than ever, to make the reader feel as if they are in the story.
So they would be my two main tips: 1, get your sense details right – not too many of them, but just enough to make the reader feel as if they are there. And 2, do your research.
I hope that helps!
I've read any number of books where the hero or heroine is galloping a horse across country on a moonless night. Again, that's not going to happen, which the author would have realised if they'd done their research and actually gone out into the countryside when there was no moon.
Of course you can't research things like brizzlehounds, but you can research Great Danes. You probably can't research your terror at the thought of having your hometown invaded by a violent army, but you can remember a time when you were frightened, and what that felt like, and magnify it ten times.
The other way of grounding a fantasy is to use real sense details. So this may be a strange world, but there will still be smells and sounds that we recognise. The wind will feel the same on our skin, and the sun and the rain. In fact, in a fantasy these things are more important than ever, to make the reader feel as if they are in the story.
So they would be my two main tips: 1, get your sense details right – not too many of them, but just enough to make the reader feel as if they are there. And 2, do your research.
I hope that helps!
Lian Tanner
It's a winter reading list for me, because I'm in Tasmania. Top of the list is the new Robin Hobb book, 'Assassin's Fate'. I've heard really good reports about it, so am really looking forward to reading it.
Lian Tanner
Hi Larissa, yes, they're the same book. My American publishers thought that 'Fetcher's Song' was a bit too obscure, so they changed the title. I rather like 'Battlesong', but it's too late to change the Australian title.
Lian Tanner
How nice of you to say so, Joanne! I agree that it would make a good movie, but it's not something I have any control over, unfortunately. And the movie-making people have not shown an interest. :(
Lian Tanner
I once had the police turn up at my door and demand to know where I had been on a certain date, because someone had reported that a woman answering my description, with my name and my car registration number, had stolen jewellery from her home. As it happened, I'd been in bed with back problems at the time, so it was pretty easy to prove it wasn't me. But who was the accuser? (It wasn't anyone I knew.) And why did she blame me? And where did she get all the information that identified me?
I write kids' books, but this would be a thriller for adults, something to do with stolen identities and stalkers.
I write kids' books, but this would be a thriller for adults, something to do with stolen identities and stalkers.
Lian Tanner
Hi Grace, thanks for letting me know that you loved the Keepers. I'm writing a new series at the moment that's set in the same world, but a different part of that world, and a few years later. There's at least one character who reappears - I'm not sure about the others. I doubt if I'll do a whole new series with Goldie, Toadspit, etc, but you never know! The working title of the new series is The Accidental Bodyguards, and the first book will be published at the beginning of October next year.
Lian Tanner
Hi Kasey, thanks for the question. No, I don't have children. If I did, I would certainly hope that they would love reading and writing as much as I do, but you can never be sure that will happen. A writer friend of mine has four kids, and despite her best efforts, only one of them grew up loving books. The others just weren't interested in reading at all.
Lian Tanner
It's a great fantasy name - sounds a bit steampunkish to me. But I never make any promises to anyone about what names I'll use in one of my books. It depends on the book and on how I'm feeling at the time, and on what sort of world it is. And besides, I like to find my own character names. I reckon you should use it instead - see what sort of story you can write about the amazing Alia S. :)
Lian Tanner
Always, Alaa. I was just saying to someone last night that I'll probably keep writing until I die at the keyboard - which is hopefully quite a few years away yet! In the meantime, I'm just starting a new series. Talked to my publisher about it two days ago and she's very keen, so it looks like it'll go ahead. But that's a long way off yet - the first book won't even be delivered to the publisher until the end of next year.
Lian Tanner
I'm very pleased to hear it, Alaa. Thanks for letting me know - I depend on people like you loving my books. :)
Lian Tanner
Do you mean ordinary like, or romantic Like? Definitely the first one. I'm not sure about the second one.
Lian Tanner
I agree, Anna. I can picture parts of the books very clearly in my mind (especially the bits with Mister Smoke and Missus Slink), and it would be fascinating to see how they turned out as part of a movie. However this is not something I have any control over. It all depends on a producer or a director reading the books and loving them and thinking (like us) that they'd make a good movie. Who knows? Maybe one day. :)
Lian Tanner
Hi Lang, my favourite children's book of all time is 'The Power of Three' by Diana Wynne Jones. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3.... It's one of those books I reread every few years and never get sick of.
Lian Tanner
Hi Hannah, it can be quite hard to tell where an idea came from, but one of the first things I wrote in my 'City of Lies' notebook was, 'People in this city are renowned liars. They have Liars Week, when everything has to be a lie.' So the idea of the Big Lie obviously came from that, but where did the original idea come from? It probably just popped into my head when I was walking along the beach one day.
A bit later in the notebook I've written, 'There's a Curtain of Lies that marches through the city like a wave. And everyone's watching out for it.' And later still, 'The first part of the week is just ordinary lying, but then comes a time where you start to live your lie. And if your lies are interesting enough, the city picks them up and draws other people in.'
So you see, I started with a small idea, and it gradually changed and grew more interesting. That's how things seem to work for me.
A bit later in the notebook I've written, 'There's a Curtain of Lies that marches through the city like a wave. And everyone's watching out for it.' And later still, 'The first part of the week is just ordinary lying, but then comes a time where you start to live your lie. And if your lies are interesting enough, the city picks them up and draws other people in.'
So you see, I started with a small idea, and it gradually changed and grew more interesting. That's how things seem to work for me.
Lian Tanner
Hi Alissa Mai, I thought I'd answered this question, but Goodreads is insisting I haven't, so just in case they're right and I'm wrong, I'll answer it again. :) 'Fetcher's Song' was originally going to come out this November in Australia/New Zealand. But the publishers have decided (for mysterious publisher reasons) to hold off until the beginning of 2016. I don't have an exact date yet, I'm afraid. But they're talking summer holidays. Meanwhile 'Icebreaker' will come out in the US/Canada in August of this year.
Lian Tanner
I guess it's like anything else - sometimes I love writing and sometimes it drives me crazy. :) - the first draft of a book can be pretty exciting because I'm discovering things about the characters and the story as I go, and sometimes things go off in weird and interesting directions. And I like the third draft too, because that's when things begin to fall into place and it starts to look more like a proper book. But corrections and edits get a bit boring.
I realised recently that I no longer write just for fun, like I used to. I guess that's inevitable when I'm doing it for a living, but it's a pity - which is why I've recently started a blog for my cat, Harry. There are no deadlines, no plot, and I have no idea where it's going. It's just a chance for me to play. You can read Harry's blog at http://vampiremice.wordpress.com.
I realised recently that I no longer write just for fun, like I used to. I guess that's inevitable when I'm doing it for a living, but it's a pity - which is why I've recently started a blog for my cat, Harry. There are no deadlines, no plot, and I have no idea where it's going. It's just a chance for me to play. You can read Harry's blog at http://vampiremice.wordpress.com.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Feb 25, 2024 02:41PM · flag
Feb 25, 2024 03:21PM · flag