#92 - Trailblazing Modern Fantasy Author Charles de Lint

In Episode 92, Mark Lefebvre interviews Charles de Lint, who is the author of more than seventy books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, Charles is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and has been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987.

In the interview, Mark and Charles talk about:

• The underlying theme for de Lint’s new book, The Wind in His Heart – accepting the past and how community and a connection with others can help us surmount the challenges we face in the present – but only if we can teach ourselves to open up and trust those around us
• How long de Lint has worked on the book through its various stages
• The connections this novel has to de Lint’s popular Newford novels and stories
• The pattern of writing adult novel, young adult novel and then repeating that pattern until it was suggested to de Lint that he focus on the YA market for a while
• The readership of de Lints work, which spans from 12 to 82 years and how various folks have started with different introductory books to his work and then stuck with his writing no matter which direction he has taken
• The factors that led to de Lint experimenting with indie publishing; such as the fact that the digital/eBook rights to his books were never sold to a publisher
• The comparison between independent authors and independent musicians
• The true hybrid approach for The Wind in His Heart, with de Lint self-publishing the eBook as well as a standard trade paperback POD version of the book, but how PS Publishing, a specialty publisher in the UK is released a limited edition hardcover version of the book and how de Lint’s agent ended up selling the audiobook rights to a major audiobook publisher
• The great success of an independent musician such as Ani DiFranco - https://www.righteousbabe.com/
• The hopeful and optimistic viewpoint that de Lint draws when comparing the music industry to the publishing industry
• Some of the music that de Lint listened to when working on the novel, and how he believes that the southwest style music of Calexico (http://www.casadecalexico.com/) encapsulates the mood of the novel quite well
• How de Lint got into writing book reviews, interviews with authors and articles about writers and the reasons behind putting all that work into it
• Places where de Lint hangs out, such as the Facebook group The Mythic Café, with Charles de Lint and Company (https://www.facebook.com/groups/114379772019551/)
• The launch events for the novel: Ottawa (Sept 19th at The Savoy Brasserie - https://savoybrasserie.com/_ ) Toronto Oct 21st at Bakka Phoenix - http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/)
• A few of the projects that de Lint is working on now for future release and the liberating joy he has experienced being able to follow his muse and just write the books he would like to write (rather than trying to follow a requirement from a contract)
• De Lint’s advice for beginning writers

Mark then talks about the “true hybrid” approach that de Lint has taken on his writing and publishing journey – effectively and efficiently dividing up the rights of his works, as well as the optimism not only inherent in de Lint’s new novel, but in his overall approach to the opportunities available through digital publishing, and what writers can learn from embracing that spirit of hope and hard work.

Links of Interest

• Charles de Lint’s Books at Kobo
• Charles de Lint’s Facebook page
• Mythic Café with Charles de Lint & Company 
• Charles de Lint on Twitter
• Charles de Lint on Goodreads 
• Charles de Lint on Instagram
• Charles de Lint on Tumblr
• More info about Kobo Audiobooks
• KWL EP 52 - One More Story Games – Interview with co-founder Jean Leggett about the great opportunities for writers with this storytelling/game creation platform