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by Marci Baun © 2006
Wild Child Publishing.com © 2006
 In high school, I was an avid reader of Piers Anthony, as were several of my friends. The vivid description, the depth of his characters, and the humor in his novels appealed to me. I loved his novels.
As I grew, my reading material changed, but I never forgot Mr. Anthony's works. It was with great pleasure that while doing research for Freya's Bower, I stumbled upon an e-book by Piers (Relationships at Venus Press). A different kind of book than what most Anthony fans would expect, Relationships delves into our propensity and desire as humans to connect with each other. One of our staff reviewers has given this e-book a "recommended reading" rating.
Mr. Anthony was very honest with his answers and is very supportive of authors trying to break into the industry. If you choose to visit his website, you will find he has a list of publishers with ratings on the publishers.
WILD CHILD: When you were writing the Apprentice Adept and Incarnations of Immortality series, you used to write in a shack out in the pasture. Do you still?
PIERS ANTHONY: No. Now I have a wing of the house.
WCP: Do you write every day?
PA: I would if I could. Some days are filled by letters, appointments, or reading. I don't read for pleasure.
WCP: Do you have a more productive time of day for writing?
PA: No. I write whenever there is time available for it.
WCP: Some writers have rituals they do before sitting down to write. Do you?
PA: I make notes in my personal-life file. That clears my mind of distractions.
WCP: You have more science fiction/fantasy books published than anyone else alive. While many authors struggle to write one novel, currently, you have two works in progress and three proposed. (I have two novels and three screenplays languishing on my hard drive perhaps never to be finished.) How do you maintain such a pace?
PA:I'm not sure I've published more genre books than anyone else. I love to write, and do it constantly. What bothers me is when I lose writing time.
WCP: Have you ever started a manuscript that you couldn't finish?
PA: Yes, rarely. Sometimes I realize the story isn't good enough to finish.
WCP: One of your proposed novels is for the Incarnations of Immortality series. Your last book came out in 1990. When you have such a large gap between the last book and a new one, how do you approach the new novel of the series?
PA: I review the timeline, and check relevant scenes in the published books.
WCP: You have written over thirty books in the Xanth series. What is it about Xanth that inspires you?
PA:The readers' continuing demand for it.
WCP: Humor is an integral part of your fantasy novels. Does this humor also carry over into your own life? Or is it real life that inspires your humor?
PA: I don't think of myself as a humorist, but I do tend to make people laugh. Things just seem to occur to me. Here is an example: When my wife, almost paralyzed by nerve damage, had to have a series of four-hour IV treatments, it was serious business. We didn't know whether they would work, or whether she would continue to slide toward oblivion. They did work, restoring her mobility, but we did not know it then. They were very expensive - over $2,000 per treatment, covered by Medicare. As the nurse was hooking her up, I said "Wouldn't it be awful if this turned out to be the wrong treatment, and they had to cancel it? Especially if it was working." That made the nurse laugh.
WCP: A friend of mine attended one of your seminars and credits you for setting her on the path of writing. (Or, more appropriately, setting her free of the limiting world of outline writing.) Many teachers claim that there is only one way to write, and any one wishing to create a novel, or story, worth reading must follow their guidelines. What do you say to this?
PA: Baloney!
WCP: How different is the finished product from the manuscript you submitted?
PA: Pretty damn close, now, because I no longer tolerate abusive editing.
WCP: How do you know if you've done enough editing on a draft? Do you do several revisions or only a few?
PA: I write the novel, or story, or whatever. Then I edit it, start to finish. That's it, generally. There always seem to be one more thing to change, so I stop.
WCP: You are known to love history. Do you have a favorite time period or country?
PA: Ancient history, before the history books begin.
WCP: A number of authors use under pseudonyms in order to be able to write in different genres as the publishing industry often pigeon holes writers. Have you considered doing this?
PA: I have considered it, but never done it. What stopped me was one fan's plea: how could she find me if I used other names?
WCP: If there were one thing you could change about the publishing industry, what would it be?
PA: Only one thing? Its money-oriented arrogance toward writers.
WCP: You are very supportive of electronic publishing and even have a book of short stories, Relationships (insert review link), available through Venus Press. What made you to decide to publish electronically?
PA: I support electronic publishing for the sake of other writers, many of whom may find success there after getting brushed off by traditional print publishers. I maintain a candid list of electronic publishers and related services at my website www.hipiers.com, that has helped many writers find publishers. I posted a negative report about Venus - I can do so, being essentially immune to blacklisting - but then became satisfied that it was a false charge, and retracted it. Venus appreciated that, and said if I ever had anything in their line, they'd be interested. As it happened, I had this story collection which had not placed at a traditional publisher and did have erotic elements. So - there it is. It was chance. Neither I nor Venus saw it coming. It was more like an accidental meeting.
WCP: In an interview you did at Writing World, you spoke of a novel no publisher would touch due to a sympathetic rendering of a Nazi SS officer. Now that you've ventured into electronic publishing, have you considered trying submitting the novel in this venue?
PA: I self-published Volk at Xlibris.com, where an electronic edition was available. I think they are stopping electronic publishing, which means I may have to consider trying it elsewhere. I hadn't thought of this until encountering this question.
WCP: How do you see electronic publishing changing the publishing landscape?
PA: It is opening publishing up to new writers, giving them their chance. That's great.
WCP: I have met a number of talented un-represented authors, all of whom are trying to get signed with an agent. Many big publishers will no longer accept unsolicited material or material not presented by an agent. What are your thoughts on this aspect of the publishing industry?
PA: I hate its closed-shop nature. But electronic publishing is open-shop and I think represents the true future of publishing.
WCP: Do you have any advice for an aspiring writer?
PA: Keep writing, keep trying the market. You never can tell when you'll score.
WCP: Is there anything else you would like to say?
PA: I'll be at Oasis con in Orlando in late May, my wife and dog's health permitting, so if anyone wants to meet a 71 year old writer with a ponytail, that's where.
WCP: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions and allowing us to interview you. |
Interviews 
