AISFP 240 – Tad Williams — Adventures in SciFi Publishing

Moses Siregar III interviews author Tad Williams at World Fantasy Con, 2013. His latest novel, Happy Hour In Hell is the second volume in the Bobby Dollar series.

More about Tad Williams:

Former singer, shoe-seller, radio show host, and inventor of interactive sci-fi television, Tad Williams is now a full-time writer. His ‘Memory, Sorrow and Thorn’ series established him as an internationally bestselling fantasy author. The series that followed, ‘Otherland’, is now a multi-million-dollar MMO launching in 2012 from dtp/realU/Gamigo. Tad is also the author of the fantasy series, the ‘Shadowmarch’ books; the stand-alone Faerie epic, ‘The War of the Flowers’; two collections of short stories (‘Rite’ and ‘A Stark and Wormy Knight’), the Shakespearian fantasy ‘Caliban’s Hour’ and, with his partner & collaborator Deborah Beale, the childrens’/all-ages fantasy series, the ‘Ordinary Farm’ novels. Coming in September 2012 are the Bobby Dollar novels, fantasy thrillers set again the backdrop of the monstrously ancient cold war between Heaven and Hell: the first is ‘The Dirty Streets of Heaven.’

Tad is also the author of ‘Tailchaser’s Song’: his first novel spawned the subgenre of cats and fantasy that we see widely today. ‘Tailchaser’s Song’ is currently in preproduction as an animated film from Animetropolis/IDA.

Discussed:

Bobby Dollar appeals to crime fans and fans of his other stuff, nice world building
Bobby Dollar books are standalone books
Likelihood of movie for Tailchaser’s Song being made
Working on multiple projects and hints at his next epic series
Writing toward a market and how you learn by just writing what you want
“Learn how to turn an idea that seizes you into an idea that seizes other people. That is the most important. That is what will make you a successful writer — more so than trying to find a niche and exploiting it.” Tad Williams (17:40)
How to make your genre blend unique by reading widely
How political views can affect your sales
Funny story about meeting George RR Martin
Allowing your subconscious to plot future books
Funny story about his first novel acceptance

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Moses Siregar III
Co-Host, Interviewer, and Producer

Moses Siregar III is the author of THE BLACK GOD’S WAR, a dramatic epic fantasy novel inspired by Homer; you can sample it for 99 cents at Amazon or Smashwords. He lives with his family at high elevation in Prescott, AZ, and blogs about passion for the writing life at Moses and Dionysus Walk Into a Bar …