Firstly I would like to thank you for your invaluable time in answering these questions for our humble metal webzine, I deeply appreciate it.
Well let us start from the beginning. If you could please give us a quick look into the youth of Robin Hobb and what first started the love affair with writing?
[Hobb] I think the easiest answer to that is that I grew up in a house full of books and readers. Somehow the step from reading a great deal to wanting to write books myself was a very small one. I remember working on stories when I was probably about eight years old.
What was your first piece of published writing and what are your thoughts on it now?
[Hobb} Well, if we are including publication in the school newspaper, that would have been an essay on Christmas in my home published in the Monroe High School newspaper in about 1967. I still have a copy around somewhere, and it isn’t too bad. My first paid publication was in 1970, I think. It was a short story in a very small children’s magazine. It was a bit sentimental, but it worked on that level. And it made me a ‘pro.’ I’d done it. I’d been paid for my words.
The 'fantasy genre' most will argue started with Tolkien, and in my eyes really came into its own (popularity wise and quality works) in the mid seventies-early eighties, and has enjoyed a loyal fan base ever since with numerous works enjoying nearly biannual reprints. What attracted you to the realms of the fantasy-based genre, and who/what was your inspiration?
[Hobb] Tolkien. A single word does it. I don’t think readers just now coming into fantasy can imagine the impact that he had on me. I’d always loved traditional fairy tales and myths and legends. But he broke trail in that, for me at least, he showed the depth and breadth that fantasy was capable of achieving. I’ll try to think of some comparisons: perhaps it could be like encountering the very first ‘graphic novel’ ever conceived, if all you’d ever known were comic books. Or encountering electronic music for the very first time. Once you’ve seen it, or heard it, it seems obvious. But before that, it sure wasn’t.
[Hobb] Actually, Megan Lindholm is something of a pseudonym as well. So taking on another pseudonym was easy and natural and fun. My writing really belongs to me. It has very little to do with the rest of my life, and I feel very free as to how I arrange it. The only surprising part of this for me has been how shocking it has been to some people. For me, it’s an extra level of characterization, as if I said to you, “Let me tell you this story about my Grandpa, the way my Irish Grandmother would have told it.” And then I used her brogue and her idiom and her choice of words to tell the tale. Robin Hobb is like that. Robin tells stories in Robin’s way, stories that Megan probably wouldn’t select to tell. Vice versa, too.
Your most recently concluded series 'The Liveship Traders' was based around the creation of an almost sentient being (the ship) through the
[Hobb] More life experience than mythology. My husband has served on a number of ships in his merchant marine career, and I’ve lived aboard several with him and visited others. When he and his friends sit down and talk about the ships, each vessel seemed to have a unique personality. On some, nothing really awful ever went wrong. On others, the simplest problem always seemed to escalate to a near disaster. Crews changed, but the ships themselves seemed to keep their characters. So. The germ was there.
I found the trials and tragedies of the gallant FitzChivalry Farseer to be rather refreshing after the worn out and flogged 'hero wins the day' cliché. Was this a deliberate approach or was it something that developed in his character as the story unravelled?
[Hobb] I did want to take the stereotypes, hammer the rust off them and see if they still worked. But, that said, my characters seem to come to me as functional entities. I have no idea where they come from, but for the most part, when they step out into the spotlight and introduce themselves, they know who they are. Fitz was like that.
A major part of being a successful author also lies in the marketing of ones product. Firstly how much input do you have into the creation of cover artwork for your novels and do you think it plays a major role in enticing readers?
[Hobb] Good artwork helps tremendously, and I have been exceedingly fortunate in all my Robin Hobb covers, both in the US (art by Michael Whelan and Stephen Youll) and in the UK (John Howe’s work). I also believe that is something is not broken, you don’t fix it. Although I’ve been offered the opportunity for input into my covers, I look at the beautiful art that has already been created and wonder why I’d want to tamper with a creative process that seems to be working amazingly well.
[Hobb] We still don’t know how to utilize it. When we figure it out, it’s going to be a monumental change, not just to marketing, but also to how we all consume ‘story.’ Aha. I was looking for a comparison for Tolkien’s influence on fantasy, and here it is. Twenty years from now, when we have finally figured out exactly the best way to mix this media with fiction books, we’ll all be wondering how we couldn’t have seen the possibility before.
(if any)?
[Hobb] The CD rack is right by the desk, and the most frequent use of the CD drawer in my computer is to provide music for me while I’m working. So, in no particular order, the partial contents of the rack, listed by artist only: Fleetwood Mac, Sarah McLachlan, Lee Ann Womack, Tina Turner, The Eagles, Leonard Cohen, Marc Cohn, Depeche Mode, Carole King, Melissa Etheridge, Enya, Tori Amos, James Taylor, The Chieftains, Loreena McKennitt, Crash Test Dummies, Prince, Clannad, Gordon Lightfoot, Alanis Morissette, Heart, Al Stewart, REM, Sheryl Crow, Sting, The Police, Boiled In Lead, Dire Straits, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffet, Train . . . Okay, I think that is enough. Bear in mind, this collection spans a number of years, and there is a lot of vinyl in the basement. Not much metal there. I think that lyrics are tremendously important to my choice, but don’t seem to be given that much prominence in metal. So that might be part of the reason. It also would not be something that I’d write to, so it wouldn’t be in my office rack.
On to movies, what are your thoughts on high profile author's using their names and reputations as selling points for movie based novels? eg Terry Brooks rendition of Episode I: the Phantom Menace' which was no better than a direct rehash of the screenplay.
[Hobb] Actually, I’d flip that, and say that movie marketers seek high profile writers to write the movie-based novels. That way they gain a readership of the author’s followers as well as people who love the movie enough to want to have the gaps in it filled in. I should also add that I’ve never read a book based on a movie, so I’m not too qualified to have an opinion on them.
The big talking point the world round has to be the release of 'The Lord of the Rings' as a feature length and its comparisons to the great Tolkien's work. Have you seen the movie and what are your thoughts on the matter?
[Hobb] I’ve seen the movie. It’s a compromise. Any movie is a compromise. That said, I think this is the best compromise that could have been made. You can’t go to a movie and come out with the same knowledge and sensations as if you’d read the book. All you can do is go to a movie and come out with your interpretation of the director’s interpretation of his experience of the book. A movie is not a book; a book is not a movie.
A big question I guess you would be asked is 'what do you as an author read'? Could you list five essential authors and their works for our readers as a starting point for getting into Fantasy based literature.
[Hobb] Well, the first is already obvious, isn’t it? JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, including the Hobbit. Second is George RR Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice. I know it isn’t finished yet, but read A Game of Thrones, and then the following volumes and you’ll know you’re witnessing a masterwork in creation. After that, things get harder. Hm. Read any and all Fritz Leiber you can get your hands on. Classic Stuff: Jack Vance. (The Dying Earth) Ray Bradbury (Dandelion Wine) Roger Zelazny. (Nine Princes in Amber.) That’s all solid foundation stuff, works you’ll never regret reading.
Are there any future collaborations with fellow authors or other projects on the horizon for you? A computer game perhaps (eg like Raymond Feist).
[Hobb] Nope. Not that I know of, but those things always blindside me. I’ve collaborated with absolute joy with Steven Brust, but a good collaboration is a little like a wild infatuation. If you could predict it happening, it wouldn’t be the same thing at all. As for computer games, the creation of those is outside my field of expertise. I wouldn’t mind learning how, except time spent learning how to do that is time not spent writing. And writing is what I love best.
Any last words for your fans or soon to be?
[Hobb] Many, many thanks. And drop in at my site, Robinhobb.com and visit the message boards. It’s not near as flashy as this site; it’s more like sitting around a kitchen table and talking, but you’re welcome anytime.
Robin Hobb's Official Web
http://www.robinhobbonline.com