Lebbon, Tim (Dusk)
Tim Lebbon is still a relatively new name to the horror world, though you wouldn’t know it by discussing him with anyone who is fortunate enough to have read pretty much any of his work. Already he’s become one of the most influential and highly regarded authors working today, with numerous novels and short stories published by various houses and may more on the way.
His most recent release is a bit of a departure; the dark fantasy Dusk. Set in the fictional world of Noreela, it is the tale of a land gone to ruin after magic was abused and retreated from the land. For 300 years the land has fallen apart, and as the book opens we are introduced the one person who will forth magic again, and the monstrous men who are out to make sure that never happens. Tim took the time over a few weeks to e-mail back and forth with me for an interview regarding Dusk, his various other works… and what he does for his ‘other” job. The results follow!
Johnny Butane: So since you’re career is long and varied, let’s start at the beginning; how did you become a professional writer?
Tim Lebbon: I’ve been writing ever since I could pick up a pen. Or in the beginning, a crayon. I always loved telling stories, and that progressed very quickly to writing. I used to fill up loads of exercise books with stories and fragments – wish I still had them now.
I wrote my first complete story with a view to publication when I was about twenty, and in my mid-twenties my first novel Mesmer was accepted. Since then I’ve had almost twenty books published, including eight novels, and I’m working now with Bantam, Leisure and Simon & Schuster, as well as many of the indie presses on both sides of the Atlantic. So I guess now I’m a professional writer, though I still don’t do it full-time (damn mortgage)!
JB: If you don’t mind me asking, what is your other job?
TL: could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.
Well … OK then. I’m a quantity surveyor (cue Monty Python jokes).
JB: Wow, okay, didn’t see that one coming!
Moving on… who would you site as your biggest influences, both in writing and life in general?
TL: Writing: Arthur Machen.
Life: Bill Hicks. His argument: “What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, or take into my body, so long as it doesn’t harm another human being on this planet?” is something that every human being on this planet should live by. It would solve everything from a drunken punch-up at pub kick-out time, to global wars based on religious belief. I’m so sad that Hicks is dead…. he’d be having a field day right now.
JB: Brilliant! Huge fan of Hicks myself; a true spokesmen for an entire generation who was taken from us far too early.
All right, so now that we know a bit about you, tell us about the origins of Dusk…
TL: I began writing Dusk about 6 years ago! It’s an idea I’d been toying with for some time – a fantasy world where once there was magic, but no more – and then the guys at Night Shade saw it and wanted me to finish the novel. When it was completed they suggested I try to sell it to some of the big guys in New York, so I submitted it, and Bantam bought it.
It’s a bit of a departure for me, and it’s been a real adventure. Reaction so far is pretty stunning, with some great reviews from places such as Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and some good reaction online as well. I just hope people love this gritty, dark fantasy. No elves or knights in shining armour here … but plenty of demons and warrior slaves.
JB: Wow, 6 years? That’s a pretty long gestation period for a novel. Why’d it take so long to get fully realized?
TL: Even when I wrote the first 30,000 words of Dusk I was generally writing to commission. I was still working full-time then too, so all the spare time I had – evenings, an occasional day off from my day job – was used to write contracted work. It was only when I had definite interest from a publisher that I decided to drop everything and write Dusk… and I’m glad I did. It was a story I’d wanted to tell for a long time, and I enjoyed every minute of it, from those initial pages to completing the final edits for Bantam six years later.
The sequel, Dawn, on the other hand, is a different story entirely. I wrote that monster in nine months.
JB: Were you writing other books at the time? How and when did you have time for Berserk and the like?
TL: I went part-time in my day job two years ago. I turned prolific! Just wait till I quit altogether!
JB: The output will be immense, I’m sure!
So back to Dusk, where did the idea come from to pen a dark fantasy story in a completely new environment?
TL: The basics of the idea – a world where magic had once existed, but no more – came to me many years ago. I didn’t know what to do with it then. At the time I was writing short stories for UK small press magazines, and I was pretty immersed in that world for a couple of years. But the idea kept popping up, and I made notes here and there. When I eventually sat down to write the first chapters of Dusk it was years since I’d had the original idea, and in that time my writing career had moved on a bit. I felt more able to tackle such a large concept, and it felt natural for it to take place in a world other than our own. Though like all ‘fantasy’ worlds, of course, Noreela is like our own world in many recognizable ways.
JB: I found it interesting that the main nemesis in the story, the Red Monks, were in fact trying to prevent magic from coming back because it had ruined the land before. Why is it that they were the only ones who wanted to be sure that magic didn’t return, given the devastation it had wrought in the past?
TL: Well, it wasn’t really the magic that wrought the devastation; it was the Mages’ misuse of it. Magic itself was a passive instrument of their madness. So the Red Monks aren’t evil, but they are misguided, because magic in its purest form will save the land and drive it forward. The Monks are an order of fanatics whose actions will, eventually, ensure that Noreela dies away, drowning in its own apathy and disintegrating without magic to hold it together. They’re passionate and obsessive, but they’re also too focused on what went wrong to realize why.
JB: Very true. At many times throughout the book, the Monks kill anyone they come into contact with, though granted it’s usually in their pursuit of the person they believe will bring magic back. Do you believe their order started off this way, or did the 300 years of slow corruption make them less compassionate for human life?
TL: Well the head Red Monk was there right at the end of the Cataclysmic War. He’d seen what happened, lived through it, and it drove him mad. So from the beginning he was insane … but as for the others, I think it was a gradual process. They’re mad, but also obsessive and certain of what they do. I wouldn’t call them plain evil. They think that what they do is for the good of the whole … what’s a few hundred deaths when you can save a few million? Of course, such thinking leads to complete corruption.
JB: It’s a very original setup, because at first they’re painting as almost inhuman monsters, but gradually you learn they’re more organized and, I wouldn’t say sympathetic, but you can see why they do what they do. Almost. Great characters.
One thing that stands out the most for me in your books are how well you know your characters, how clearly they come off the page, which in turn make the reader care for them that much more. Is there a specific method you use to really get in touch with these creations, or are they usually just a natural outgrowth of the story?
TL: My characters grow with the story. I very rarely sit down and do character sketches or studies beforehand, because they’ll grow as the story grows. Often I don’t even know whom I’ll be writing about as I start writing – there’ll be the germ of the story, and from that I discover which characters would best tell it. With Dusk I had more of an idea – a thief, a witch – but people like Trey and A’Meer appeared as the novel was proceeding, and indeed some of these characters seemed to take over and tell it themselves. It’s a very gratifying feeling, if a little unsettling at times.
The problem with defining your characters before you start writing is that you’ll then have to shoehorn them into the tale as it finds its own life. Much better to let characters grow with the story.
JB: That phenomena of characters appearing seemingly from the story itself as opposed to, say, pre-planning, is something Chris Golden mentioned as well when I interviewed him about Myth Hunters. Do you find that happens a lot in your writing, and if so did you find it more prominent with Dusk?
TL: It’s generally how my characters come about. They come to life themselves and steer themselves through the story, and that’s definitely the way it works best for me. With Dusk a couple of minor characters turned major, and one or two characters I thought I might pursue further seemed to fade away … it’s good when a story comes to life like that.
JB: I can imagine, you must feel like you’re on the right track when that happens.
So what can we expect from Dawn after the incredibly shocking ending of Dusk?
TL: Dawn carried on where Dusk left off. It’s longer, dare I say darker, and … well, I can’t say too much without giving stuff away.
JB: No problem, Tim, I understand!
Could you just let me know what else you’re working on right now? Any talks about seeing any of your books made into movies?
TL: I’m writing a short novel right now called Bar None, for as US indie press. Also a novella called The Bajuman which will be available soon as a free download from the Noreela website. I’m also working on a screenplay for my novella In Perpetuity for an Irish production company… which leads me neatly onto your movie question!
Nothing has been made yet, but I currently have half a dozen novels and novellas under option, with interest in several others. I’m confident that at least one of these will go into development in the next twelve months, but of course I can’t say much else about it just yet. Don’t want to hex it!
Of course very large thanks go to Tim for taking the time to talk with me via e-mail, and my apologies for it all taking so long to come together! Dusk is in stores now (click here to get it via Evilshop!); hopefully you’ll give it a try so you can see just how dark and bloody fantasy can get!
More info on the book and it’s mythology is available at the official Noreela website, and more on it’s creator is available at his official site.
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