Francis : Where were you born/where did you grow up, did you have an easy childhood? Monrovia, California. Childhood was pretty typical suburban middle-class full of dons memories. It’s when we hit my teen years that things got a bit difficult. My Dad got Parkinson’s Disease when I was about in the middle of High School, and that pretty much defined family life from then on. For the next 25-30 years I helped out my Mom take care of my Dad; it was a little light at first but grew inevitably worse as time progressed.
Give some background information about yourself, are you generally an optimistic person or pessimistic? Well, I got a MS in physics, so I tend to be a left-brained intellectual, but I also have that highly-creative right-brain imagination going on as well. As far as Optimist vs. Pessimist, I guess you might say that I’m a pessimistic optimist; a dyed-in-the-wool optimist that’s run into way too much bad luck over the years. But I keep trying and never give up.
Francis: Tell us your latest news, what are your current projects?
Well, right now I ghostwrite to pay the bills, so my latest projects tend to be what I do for other people. I’m trying to get my book “Maldene” selling enough so I can move away from the ghosting and get back to my own writing. Currently I have quite a lot that I’ve already finished, though. “Maldene” is the first of a 13-book saga, then combined with a few other things of mine, I have someplace around 35+ novels; that’s 9+ million words in all.
Francis:When and why did you begin writing? How does your present day work compare to what you wrote then?
Every time I look at the “What started it all” question I end up going further and further back. My original inspiration was at about 14 when it seemed as every bad guy I ever saw in the movies always wanted to take time to explain his nefarious plans to the good guy, thus allowing the good guys time to stop him. I wanted a REAL bad guy! But then I think and remember that about a year before that I was already taking mental notes about what I did and did not like about particular books I was reading at the time. As for how my present vs. past stuff compares, well I didn’t start out writing right off the bat at 14. For one thing, with no home computers at the time that would have either involved a whole lot of handwriting or typing with lots of liquid paper. I had a story in my soul but I also wasn’t looking forward to cramping up my hands from all that work. So, I simply kept learning, evolving, making some notes, and adding to the plot in my head. Then came word processors and I knew the time was near. I worked on setting up and perfecting my story for about 15 years before I started typing it down, then add in about another 5 years before that observing how other authors did things in the books that I would read. When I finally began writing, at first there was a short story and a couple of poems to experiment, then about a year later it was full-blown novels. One after another in a continuous stream that amazed the few people I had the nerve to show them to. Every so often now I’ll go back and re-read one of them with a highlighter in hand to catch any little errors, but the structure and stories remain unchanged. That which you see me write now IS what I have been writing all along; Present and past alike.
Francis : What genre do you consider books to be? Have you ever thought of writing in another genre, for example if you wrote a Children’s book, how would it turn out?
I love to mix up genre’s a little. I grew up being a fan of both Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the occasional adventure story. So now, when I work on my own stuff, I like to mix them together a bit. “Maldene” for instance is primarily an epic Fantasy, complete with wizards and dragons, but over time I also mix in increasingly liberal amounts of Science Fiction to the story as well. On the other hand, I have another set of stories that works the other way around, being primarily Science Fiction but with accents of magical Fantasy swirled around into it. Then there’s this other set of books that I did with/for a partner that allegedly began as a children’s book project, but when I got to it my partner was very impressed to see that I was writing it to be enjoyed by ANY age group (I don’t like writing down to people; I’d rather they come up to my level where the air is nice and crisp). Then in my ghosting writing I’ve been doing a respectable amount of Young Adult fiction (which is really just a subset of Fantasy or Science Fiction anyway).
Francis: Have you ever been flattered by a comparison to a well-known author or by a review?
Oh yes! Early on when I finished my first short story, a friend read it and compared me to Isaac Asimov, his favorite author. Much more recently a blogger review compared my first “Maldene” book to “The Hobbit meets The Odyssey”, which besides being very flattering is also interesting in that a friend of mine also compared my epic style to Homer, the guy who invented the Epic (He couldn’t think of anyone else that even came close to the epic nature of Maldene).
Francis: What inspired you to write your first book?
This is where we go back to “Why can’t they make villains who are REALLY villainous?!” After that it was simply a matter of looking for the right story. Oddly enough, the right story came from a series of AD&D games I was running (using my own game-system, by the way); the players at the time didn’t realize at first that they were being used as guinea pigs).
Francis : Do you have a trademark writing style, what makes your work recognizable?
When I write for myself (as opposed to ghostwriting) the answer is a definite yes. I’ve remarked that you can probably see my style for “Maldene” from space, it’s so much my own. But then for my Inspector Flaatphut series I developed another style to better suit that series of stories, and for my Cyberdawn series tweaked my Maldene style a bit for something else to stand out as different from the rest. Basically, when deciding how I would write Maldene, I realized that I needed a bit of quasi-poetic style into some of the descriptive elements. Something to make it stand out with a bit of an alien feel, almost like the sort of thing you’d expect a Shakespearean actor to recite. This was inspired by what became the opening line of Chapter One: “Distant crack of thunder. A portender of events awaiting the eccentricities of mortals.” I don’t think you’ll find anyone else writing quite that way.
Francis : Do you write short stories? If so how do they differ to your novels?
My short stories are primarily in my Inspector Flaatphut series, and yes they’re different. Inspector Flaatphut is the narrator of each story, much like the detective noir stories of old, only this is a futuristic setting… with anthropomorphics. So it’s a lot of first-person-narrator, complete with colorful commentary. Of course “short” here is relative. The first Flaatphut story, “Project Looking Glass” is only around 6000 words, so it definitely qualifies, while the next one “The U.M.I. Corp Connection” comes in at about 60,000 words, which makes it a novella or novelette. After that none of them get past 101,000 words– which for everyone else would be a full novel, but the average length for my Maldene books is around 375,000 words. I also wrote a cute little 4-page story entitled “The Man In The Red Suit” that answers the age-old question (at least for me, it is) of “What if Santa Claus is actually an alien from another planet?”
Francis: How did you come up with the titles of your books?
I remember laying back in my bed pondering what to name my world, and just started rolling syllables off my tongue until I came up with “Maldene”; it just sounded right. The book names then would be much like a lot of classic novels like Dune where you have the one-word title that was also the name of the planet. Add in the subtitle that points to the basic plot for that novel and there you go. My Inspector Flaatphut stories tend to be a little goofy (but never in sacrifice of the story), with world-threatening plots, and our hero detective. Sort of like Bond if he had a 5’5” orange-furred manx cat as a girlfriend and a 300 pound badger as a boss. So my titles for these stories tend to sound kind of like case files. For Cyberdawn (not out yet), since it’s a series of stories that occur at the Dawn of the Cyber age in response to a threat of fantastical creatures, then you naturally have “Cyberdawn”.
Francis: Are there any messages in your novels, if so what? First off, let me tell you my Rule Number One: Story First! If you have a message or point to make, it should come second to the plot. If you make your message first before plot then you run the risk of the reader getting bored by something with little plot or enjoyable characters in exchange for what is obviously a message-story being delivered as a punch to the face. No one by the university intellectual will read it and your message will never get to the ones you want to read it. That said, yes Maldene at least may have a message or two snuck around in there. I’d already had my plot worked out and was in the middle of writing one of the later novels (book 9 or 10) when I realized that I had a perfect opportunity in the story to make a point. Just a little bit of tweaking here and there, nothing to do anything but enhance the plot, and my message was infused into my work. Then in the earlier books, someone noticed other themes when doing a review; themes and messages that I had not intentionally interjected, but when you write a story with the intend of making it as realistic as possible in every detail of world, plot, and characterization, then there are a few such themes that can create themselves out of your words.
So just what ARE my messages? Ah, my fine fan, that is something you’ll have to discover along the way as
you read. It’ll have much greater impact and import that way.
Francis: How much of your books are based on reality, how much are based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Well, in that my stuff is SF and Fantasy, it’s probably safe to say that none of it is based on reality. There are, though, select elements that are inspired by one thing or another; ingredients I took from other sources to spice up my recipe. And when you have a 13-book epic with some 250 characters in it, it’s a sure bet that a few of them are going to resemble someone you have known or seen (and yes, you read those numbers right). To know the full list of what inspired one thing or another in just the Maldene series alone, you would have had to watch the same fifty movies, read the same hundred books, seen the same cartoons and television series that I have, and grown up in the same environment as I have. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of things clicking all into their perfect positions.
Francis : What books have most influenced your life the most? Are some of these books, different to your own genre of writing?
I read a LOT growing up. In Elementary School we had Tab and Lucky books that you could order through school, then when they all arrived the teacher would call out your cane to walk up and pick them up. Well, while everyone else had the 1 or 2, I’d have an armload every single time. Then starting in my later teen years there was the Science Fiction Book Club, from which I got a few Golden Era stories. In total I’ve read hundreds of books before I graduated High School. Of those that influenced my writing, I could maybe whittle it down to about 50. Nearly all of them were either SF or Fantasy, with a few of what would now be classified as YA adventure books– not specifically my genre of writing but there definitely is adventure in my writing.
Francis: Are you sometimes shocked by some of your own writing/ideas?
Actually yes. This happens when I go back to re-read something and come across some half-forgotten one-off passage, or even one of the major ones I remembered ahead of time, and I’ll read it and think for a moment “Hey, the guy that wrote this is really great!”, and then I’ll go, “Oh yeah; that’s me.” It helps the battered ego to be reminded of how good one is in their craft– especially if you want to maintain the spirit to continue– but once you’re back into it, once you’re back at the keyboard working on that next story, then it’s time to leave “reader/fan mode” and go back into “author mode” to get the work done. Time enough for self-appreciation later. I can’t help but be enthusiastic about what I’ve done and will continue to do, though; it’s the kid in me. And if you can be enthusiastic about what you write– or whatever else it is that you do, for that matter– then why the heck are you a writer. You HAVE to be your own Number One Fan, though a critical one at the same time.
Francis: Do you see writing as a career?
That ship has loooooooong since sailed! It is my soul, my goal, my reason for being. That, and some scientific theories I’ve come up with, but that’s an entirely different story.
Francis : Is there a character in one of your books that really stands out for you? Could he or she be compared to any well-known literature character?
Oh, so many; some comparable, some not. There’s Mauklo who everyone’s always trying to guess who’s side he’s on and gets all the good lines. There’s Eldar for whom I had to invent a Maldenese word that means “Chutzpa.” There are a couple that qualify as The Intellectual, one guy who is The Strong Man type, and the list goes on. My Big Bad is named Miro, and you might compare him to Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars… times a thousand. But if there’s a standout character in a menagerie of standouts, that would be Po-Adar: I can’t think of anyone to compare him to save to say that he and his future sidekick Eldana might be compared to the Joker and Harlequin, only not nearly as well adjusted as that DC pair. Old Po is a crazy wizard with issues… really severe issues. Add to that his power and knowledge of a wizard and the fact that he’s one of the two best alchemists on the planet, and things can get a little… creative. A question amongst those that have encountered him would be to ask if it is more hazardous if he likes or does not like you.
Francis: Were your parents avid readers, have your family played a part in your writing career? How do they feel about your work?
My parents are both gone now, but while they were not avid readers, they recognized the fact that I was. They always wondered where their brilliant boy would end up, then when I began writing they both had their answer (I’d never told them I’d been planning my story for the previous 15 years). Supportive? Yes. The fact that it kept me in the house and available to help care for my Dad was big bonus points. My Mom kept trying to sneak a look over my shoulder when I was working; I think she read about a third of the novels from 4 feet away.
Francis: What makes you proud of your books/life as a writer?
My books I’m definitely proud of, though the life I’m currently leading trying to get recognized could certainly use some work. I have written perhaps the biggest epic around– 13 books, 5.2 million words, and 250 characters. It is a story that goes to places I have seen in no movie or television series, and no book that I have read (there might be something with similar scope out there, but it’s not something that I’ve personally read). When you write a story that spans many worlds, several alternate planes of existence and parallel universes, tens of thousands of years of time, with hundreds of characters, a small multitude of interweaving themes, and enough background detail to make it seem as a world that really could exist, well then… wouldn’t you be proud as well? But I guess what makes me most proud is that I still have it within me to do it all again for another world… once I get people to be reading this one.
Francis: How do you come up with the initial concept of a book?
Well, like I said I wanted something with the baddest villain I could think of, and a large enough canvas to pain the picture of a story on. Then I got into gaming, but being the detail-oriented person that I am, even at the outset it wasn’t simply enough to draw a quick and dirty map, I had to draw the whole stinking planet. From there I began adding other details that my players never really knew about, but details that would make sense from the point of view of writing a full novel. Then it sort of… evolved itself.
Francis: Who is your favorite author and what is it about them that you admire?
This is another one of those “too many to name” answers. Asimov, Heinlein, Tolkein, A.E. Van Vogt, Zelazny, Herbert, Williamson, Clarke, Bradbury, Donaldson, and many more. Each had one thing or another that I liked or admired, and all of them were my teachers and mentors.
Francis: Who designed the covers for your books, were you happy with result?
The design for the current edition of Maldene is based on my own idea and actually includes elements from a previous edition when it was published in two separate volumes. It was always meant to be a single-volume first novel but (insert story about nogoodnick ex-publisher here) things happened and suddenly I had to come up with a second cover. Then when I could more recently pull it back into a single book as intended, I sort of spliced the two together so as to (hopefully) avoid confusion that this was an entirely new story people might have to by (it’s not; just the same as the older editions). The artwork itself is good, but if I had to do it over again I’d try to find a different publisher that knew what they were doing.
Francis: What was the hardest part of being a writer?
Reality. The writing part is really easy for me. I can crank out 12,000-15,000 words a day and feel refresh at the end of a session. The hard part comes in having to deal with the real world, getting people’s attention, getting published and selling my book, and finding a way to live until that happens.
Francis: Do you have any advice for other writers? My favorite notable quotable that I came up with myself: They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but the goal of a good writer– the goal of a great writer– is to make one word worth a thousand pictures.
Francis: Other than writing do you have any other interests, do they connect up with your writing? EVERYTHING connects up with my writing sooner or later. I’ve been doing yoga for about 26 years and that keeps me healthy to keep on writing. I know physics and that sometimes creeps into my stories. I never know when one of my current or past interests might find a place in one of my stories.
Francis: Are there any films that have influenced your writing? What kind of films do you like?
See my previous comment about how many how many films and books from which I’ve taken some influence. Sometimes something very small, sometimes something that ends of having a lot more significance in my stories. For instance, if you’ve ever seen Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger, there’s a visual in there that I took and sort of ran with and in fact plays a really important part of the overall story. I tend to go for fantasy and science fiction movies, though I’m not past the occasional action or comedy if it’s good enough.
Francis: If your books were adapted into being films, which director dead or alive would you want to direct them? Which actors would you like in the films? What would be the overriding mood of the film? Well, sticking with the Maldene books, the director would be a tough call. The harry Potter films had several directors throughout the various movies, and considering my series is about twice as long that might be the way to go. Though Peter Jackson did a great job with LOTR and that’s a good place to start. Actors would probably have to be a lot of new faces for the main group, but the important one to get nailed down would be my villain Miro. It would have to be something that can get lost in the role, not someone for whom you would go “Oh, it’s a so-and-so film.” As far as the mood, not as somber as LOTR- though in places it might be even more so. There are places where it’s a grand adventure, but there are losses as well, as there are happy times, people joking around (ever see a character make a joke or laugh in LOTR?), and so on. This story is Life itself and in Life moods shift. You should be cheering as many times as you worry for the characters, and at times even cry. But overall… is remaining on the edge of your seat for two hours a mood?
Francis: Do you socialize with other writers or creative people? Do you know any obscure or up and coming authors/or perhaps other creative people who deserve recognition? Only the last few years. I’ve written the bulk of my books stuck in my own little corner of the world, then a few years ago finally came out of my shell and joined LinkedIn, where I found a writer’s group. I thought I’d pick up some tips, but I ended up being the one giving tips. Surprised me. In general I don’t socialize much, being the shy introvert that I am. If I’m at a party I’m the quiet one in the corner you don’t bother noticing. But then the one way of getting me to speak is to talk about something interesting, be it science, the types of books and movies I like, or even to compare books we’ve written (then you can’t shut me up). Obscure up and coming, hmm… I’m probably the obscure one in my haunts. I know one guy who does horror screenplays and books, but he’s a lot more vocal than I am and probably gets more air time. If curious though, look up Kurt Miller and The Wastelands Of Orange County on FB.
Francis: which theme (for example death, misery, and torture) is most prevalent in your stories? Hmm, there’s a bunch of them really. Friendship, Good vs. Evil (including which is really which), the problem with religion, ethics, and a bunch more. Life has many themes.
Francis: Which method of death would you choose out of the following A being ripped apart by lions B facing a firing squad made up by shadowy figures, who you suspect you have had major altercations with, during the course of your life. C you find yourself in a hospital, in a country far from home, with doctors and nurses you can’t communicate with, attached to devices that indicate you are in a critical condition. You don’t know how you got to the hospital/country. Death is inevitable however.
D: There’s always a way out. Never try to pigeonhole me; I don’t think outside the box so much as I keep wondering why people trap themselves in boxes in the first place.
Francis: Do you have a blog/website? Or other important links?
You can find all things Maldene at http://www.maldene.com Or if you’re on Facebook, look for “Mark Tierno Author Of Maldene: at https://www.facebook.com/Mark-Anthony-Tierno-Author-of-Maldene-117102904979088/ Then there’s also my Amazon Author’s Page at: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007PTKI74