DL: Does writing a travel magazine help inspire your writing or change it in any way?
FM: Yes. I've been trained over 20 years to write short, punchy sentences and I notice that I often fall into this same style in my creative writing. Just habit probably and quite a good one to have. It makes the pace of the tale rattle along and prevents long, rambling prose. Also when you write for any publication which is going to be read by the public, you have to produce work which is not embellished with elaborate, florid language. It needs to be simple and convey quickly the gist of your story, be it a cruise on the Mediterranean or exploring the Pyramids, walking down an avenue in Paris or taking tapas in Barcelona. Sights, sounds, smells, all come into it but user friendly language that everyone from a teenage travel consultant to an old experienced pro of 40 years in the business will understand and enjoy. The same goes for my books. I have readers who are 13 and I have readers who are 83 and they come from all walks of life and all levels of education. I approach my work as a journalist approaches their article in the daily newspaper - everyone must be able to understand it and read it with ease. It is important to me that language never gets in the way of the story. One other point I think which is not connected with the writing itself but the production of the novel. When you work for any periodical, you have been trained to having your work edited from very young editors. I've never been shocked by scrawls in the margin or requests to shift around chapters or delete great chunks from the ms. And deadlines. I'm so used to working to a deadline in magazine publishing that I'm not daunted by the notion of having to create a first draft of a novel in 10 weeks or so. I prefer the pressure of a deadline or nothing gets written!
DL: What authors, Fantasy or otherwise, influence your writing?
FM: Guy Gavriel Kay is my great benchmark. His work can actually derail me as much as inspire. I read his work sometimes and wonder why I'm bothering to even try and follow this path and on other occasions I just flip through Tigana - my favourite book of all time - and it gives me this adrenalin rush and that I can produce books to charm a wide audience. His is great writing and I just want to keep reaching for a similar richness of world, language, characters and above all, storytelling. The other author who constantly inspires and influences me is Robin Hobb. I adore her work and her characters have kept me company for many years now in stories I've never wanted to end. She wrings out my emotions and the power in her stories just carry me away. Fitz and the Fool have to be two of the best characters in fantasy and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to getting a bigger kick out of seeing her name on my than my own. I should mention the work of Sharon Penman (historical fiction) who has brought medieval history alive for so many readers. She's a great writer and storyteller so I just give myself over to her and she transports me back in time and I can learn plenty from her work.
