Imperial Spy

[Patrick Mahon]

Mark,
This is great news! If they're doing a reprint, does that mean they will do some more promotional work? That would (obviously) be great news too...

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Patrick Mahon

Mark,
This is great news! If they're doing a reprint, does that mean they will do some more promotional work? That would (obviously) be great news too...

There will be more promotional work on the series - the second book will no doubt generate a lot of further interest in the first one. I really tidied the second book up a lot after the comments of the proof readers - yours included. I'm very confident that we've barely scratched the surface of the sales of Imperial Spy yet.

[Brown Rat]

I just finished reading Imperial Spy, Mark. I enjoyed it.

**SPOILERS**

I like Femke; I like that she makes mistakes. Her mistakes make sense, given her young age. She's thinking, she's clever, she's trying to do her best. But sometimes she lacks the experience to succeed. And I admire you for letting her make those mistakes; that makes your book different from so many others, whose protagonists are often perfect Know It Alls.

Likewise, I enjoyed that King Malo, who could so easily have been written as a truth-blind, grief-addled antagonist to Femke in order to ratchet up tension, is protrayed as thoughtful and wise enough to see that not everything adds up. And Shalidar is a suitably skillful (and dangerously experienced) villain--a more-than-worthy opponent to Femke. The scene when he and Femke battle on the castle's roof is scary!

I also very much appreciated that important characters die, and that those deaths have meaning and consequences for the other characters. That makes the stakes matter and adds to the emotional punch. In fact, I was particularly intrigued by Danar's death, since it is a result of Femke's mistake. I would have liked to see her struggle to deal with that mistake even more fully--along the lines of Ennas's heartfelt remorse for killing the prison guard. And I would have liked to see Ennas live, if only so that he would have to deal with the killing of the guard. Ennas's death seemed a bit too neat: he dies, so no one has to put him on trial or remonstrate with him.

I must admit that I wasn't particularly sad that Danar dies. I like Reynik much better than Danar and felt dissatisfied that Femke has feelings for Danar. (I chalked her feelings up to another one of her youthful mistakes.) Certainly, Danar pursues Femke doggedly and gives up his life for her cause, but there is just something about him that doesn't warm my heart. Reynik seems more alive, more lively than Danar, and Femke seems more herself when she's interacting with him than when she's interacting with Danar. I also love the fact that Reynik is silent about his attraction to her, because he thinks that Danar is a more admirable suitor; I'm a sucker for a male character who thinks less of himself than he deserves. So, hooray Reynik!

[Mark Robson]

Thanks, Brown Rat. I'm glad that you enjoyed Imperial Spy. I know I don't world-build with the complexity and depth of some of the more esteemed writers around here, but I like to think I write stories that are worth the readers' time.

Your point about Ennas dying is an interesting one. I hadn't thought about it in terms of his facing up to the crime of killing the guard. I killed him to reduce Femke's resources still further, thus making her problems more difficult to resolve. I'm sure I don't need to tell you it's a basic rule when writing adventure style stories that you should try to keep making the problems get bigger and bigger until they feel insurmountable before finally revealling the 'brilliant' solution. I can very much empathise with your thoughts about it being a rather neat scenario that he should die, but it didn't occur to me in that way when I was writing it. I shall have to watch for things like that in future.

I, too, would have liked to dwell on Femke's feelings more, but much of that section was cut. I was hard up against the word limit imposed by the publisher, and while her response gave her character more depth, it did not move the plot into its final phase, so it had to go. A shame, I grant you, but sometimes compromises have to be made.

I do find it a little irritating at times that many of my readers are asking for longer books, with more complexity and depth of setting and characterisation, while the publishers are constantly squeezing me the other way - Imperial Assassin will be ten thousand words shorter and I've been given a word limit that's a further five thousand shorter for the final novel. There's only so much that can be done within such constraints. My writing is not yet tight enough to give everyone what they want, but I'm still working at it.

[Brown Rat]

How frustrating for you (and for readers), to have useful scenes removed in order to fit a page limit! Makes me wish there was a "director's cut" option.

Why do your publishers want shorter books? Why are they decreasing the page count further with each novel in the series?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Brown Rat

How frustrating for you (and for readers), to have useful scenes removed in order to fit a page limit! Makes me wish there was a "director's cut" option.

Why do your publishers want shorter books? Why are they decreasing the page count further with each novel in the series?

I'm told that my books are too long for the target age group. They have asked that my next series be only seventy thousand words/book. This is going to severely limit the complexity of the stories, but if that is what they want, then that is what they will get. I will just have to get more creative in the way I plot the storylines. The sad thing with this is that I can see many of my adult readers falling away as the books get shorter. I suppose their argument is that I will attract more younger readers, but that seems strange, as my core readership is already in the range they say they are trying to target. Still, I am but a tiny cog in the vast corporate world of publishing, so I'll deliver what I'm told to deliver ... for now. My hope is that attitudes will change as my readership grows.

[Balinor]

Originally Posted by Mark Robson

I'm told that my books are too long for the target age group. They have asked that my next series be only seventy thousand words/book.

Pffft, I started reading LotR at 11 and the only dissapointment about your books is that they end! Any chance of you releasing a few original versions for people that want to read the full story? I'll buy one

[Nesacat]

I've come to this really late but I'm glad I got here eventually. Just finished reading Imperial Spy and it's a wonderful book. Am going to start Imperial Assassin when I get home tonight. The books are simply not available in stores here and I found this quite by luck. There are no more.

I loved Femke. She's very real and very solid. Yes she makes mistakes but you can see her mind working and the mistakes and continues learning. I really liked that. She's very human and doing her job the best she can and that including making mistakes every so often. She's not perfect and she's emotional about much that she has to do. I liked that. So many spies now are super people and you get tired of that after a while.

Really appreciated Malo being the man he was. He was not the classic bad guy for Femke to clash violently and spectacularly against. Again this made the book very different from many others. I could not hate Malo and in fact, respected him and his efforts to run his country and mete out true justice in a difficult situation a great deal.

I liked the way characters were built not just by describing them but describing the things they did in the past. Reynik's relationship with his father, Femke's time on the street. It painted a very vivid picture of both of them. Femke's character seemed to work very well with Reynik's. I learnt a lot about them when they were with each other. They seemed a lot more 'whole and real' than when they were with anyone else. I guess I've always been partial to characters that did not make a huge song and dance about their feelings but went ahead and did what needed to be done first, like Reynik here.

Am heading home now to start Imperial Assassin to find out what happens next. Fingers crossed I'll find Imperial Traitor before April.

[Mark Robson]

Thanks for your feedback, Nesa. Glad you liked the book so much. I've always liked Femke as a character from the moment she appeared in the Emperor's study in First Sword I knew she was something special. It seems strange at the moment not to be writing about Shandar and Thrandor any more, but my new fantasy world has taken shape in my mind more quickly and far more completely than Thrandor and Shandar ever did.

I was more than a little proud of the Imperial Trilogy, but it already seems an age since I was working on it. At the moment it's dragons, mystical orbs, World War I and tantalising riddles that are playing with my mind. I'm busily drafting Shadow, the second book in the Dragon Orb series, and I'm pleased to say that there are several key people at my publishers getting as excited as I am about the launch of Firestorm next year.

As you enjoyed Imperial Spy, I feel confident that you will love Assassin and Traitor. I still feel as if I'm improving with every book, so there's plenty of fun and excitement left to come yet.

[Mithridelle]

Hey Mark.

I just wanted to know wht, or should I say who you meant in one of the first chapters of Imperial Spy. Femke says that she suspected that Shalidar had killed one of her close friends in the past. Who was she talking about? Or was I just being thick headed and didn't notice who this person was?

Sorry for such a stupid question, but it was annoying me not knowing.

Thanks, Mithridelle.

[Nesacat]

I didn't know that you'd actually been asked to cut down the number of words. That is a shame, especially when you have characters that have so much to offer. Is this a common thing faced by all writers of books for a similar target group?

I don't think the length would have affected your target audience really.

I'll second Balinor here ... I would buy the 'extended' versions and be glad for them.

[Threddy]

So would I.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Mithridelle

Hey Mark.

I just wanted to know wht, or should I say who you meant in one of the first chapters of Imperial Spy. Femke says that she suspected that Shalidar had killed one of her close friends in the past. Who was she talking about? Or was I just being thick headed and didn't notice who this person was?

Sorry for such a stupid question, but it was annoying me not knowing.

Thanks, Mithridelle.

Mithridelle, it's not a stupid question. And the honest answer at the moment is ... I don't have a clue! It's a while since I last read it, so I'll have to go back and have a look at my notes some time. Unfortunately I don't have time right now - remind me in a few weeks and I'll take a look. I'm a bit busy with all the Christmas promotional events right now.

Nesa, it's a very common thing, apparently. My books are on the long side for the age range they're being marketed at. Particularly for translation purposes, which is of concern to the publishers when they are very keen to sell as many overseas rights as possible. It's annoying, but I'm just going to have to live with it for the time being.

[cocob3an-xx]

just a note about Imperial Spy - i love having a female spy, very 'modern' if you know what I mean, it's nice for girls to take their place in society - even if they are fictional. my other favourite female spy is Darcie Lock from Ringmaster (Julia Golding).

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by cocob3an-xx

just a note about Imperial Spy - i love having a female spy, very 'modern' if you know what I mean, it's nice for girls to take their place in society - even if they are fictional. my other favourite female spy is Darcie Lock from Ringmaster (Julia Golding).

I've seen Julia's books around all over the place, but I've never read one. Can you tell us more about them? What's the first one? I'm sure it will then go on my 'to read' pile.