Today
I’m joined by Teresa Edgerton, author of Goblin Moon (which I’ve
read) and Hobgoblin Night (which I have not).
I
really liked the world of Goblin Moon, it felt distinctive and
intriguing, almost like an extra character. What was your
inspiration? And, assuming the location changes, how
similar/different is Hobgoblin Night?
Yes,
I wanted it to feel like an extra character. I put a lot of effort
into making it that way — although it was the kind of effort that
was fun, too.
My
inspirations were eighteenth century Europe, old movies, and the
classic historical adventure novels I had loved reading when I was
growing up. The location does change for Hobgoblin Night ...
or rather I should say the locations change,
because events are unfolding in different parts of that world.
Some
of the characters have moved across the sea to a setting which is
more reminscent of Colonial America — so not so very different. It
did allow me to work with American folk magic, which I enjoyed doing.
That’s the main setting, but other characters are visiting more
exotic places, like the country of the Trolls in the far, frozen
north, or moving south to a city that is slowly drowning in its own
lagoons, like Venice. Meanwhile, there are characters busily at work
constructing a powerful engine they hope will draw on the “magnetic”
properties of the moon in order to raise a sunken island, where they
expect to discover the secrets of ancient magicians.
The
secrecy, conspiracy and subterfuge reminded me of the Scarlet
Pimpernel. Was Baroness Orczy an inspiration?
Oh
most definitely an influence, but one of many. Rafael Sabatini’s
novels were probably a bigger influence: Scaramouche, Venetian
Masque, Captain Blood. There were a couple of Georgette Heyer’s
books, more adventurous than her usual fare: The Black Moth, The
Masqueraders. Although I love many, many of her other books, too,
and they may have had a more subtle influence. Then there was the
Reverend Doctor Syn (the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh), hero of a series
of novels by Russell Thorndike.
One
of my characters — having read Goblin Moon you’ll know
which one I mean —adopts a number of aliases as the story
progresses, and most of those names reference the heroes of those
books I’ve just mentioned. Rather like Easter eggs hidden in the
story for readers who love classic swashbucklers. I won’t give away
any of those here.
On
a related note: do you read history as well, and how much research
did you do for the setting (or was it based on your pre-existing
knowledge)?
Yes,
I read a lot of history but not so much about things like politics
and battles, more about all the odd and unexpected things that set
each era apart, and also the ways that magic was practiced
historically. Just a lot of things that relate to writing and
editing speculative fiction, not just these books. In fact, I was
able to find a lot more sources on the 18th
century, including some fabulous primary sources, when I was
researching The Queen’s Necklace which is set in a different
world but one that is similar in many ways to Goblin Moon and
Hobgoblin Night. I think I searched every public library
within a thirty mile radius, although now, of course, there are
online bookstores, like Amazon and AbeBooks, which are great for
finding the kind of out-of-print history books I would have killed
for when I was writing Goblin Moon. I already knew a fair
amount about the period, but what I was surprised to learn was just
how much more interest there was in magic during the 17th
and 18th centuries than most people imagine,
certainly a lot more than I imagined, and it was all mixed up with
natural sciences, philosophy, and medicine. 18th
century medicine is a marvelously fertile field for digging up
fantastic details about that period, and the most bizarre things in
Goblin Moon are based on things that really happened.
I've
read Goblin Moon, but not Hobgoblin Night. How much
time passes between the two books?
It’s
never said explicitly. Several months at least, maybe as much as a
year.
Although
not a horror, Goblin Moon does have something of a creepy
undertone. Does Hobgoblin Night develop in a similar vein?
There
are parts of the book where I would say that is true, but there are
also places where the supernatural is treated in a more light-hearted
way. There is one particular ghost, Uncle Izrael Barebones.
The
three protagonists, as I recall, have overlapping plot strands but
mostly plough their own furrows, each a distinct character facing
very different problems. How difficult was it making these strands
separate but complementary?
All
the different storylines were developing organically at the same
time, with each one influencing all the others as I wrote, so there
no problems I can remember in that way. I always knew how they all
fit together, although sometimes there were developments that
surprised me very much when they suddenly turned up. There was one
scene where my swashbuckling hero did something I did not expect at
all, and I sat up and thought, “So that’s
the kind of person he is; I had no idea.”
The
two books form a duology, but do you think you'll return to the world
and characters at some point?
In
Hobgoblin Night there are three short stories – one
originally written for a magazine and the others for anthologies —
which I’ve included along with the novel in the TBP reprint. They
were written at different times, and one is a folktale of that world,
and another features a main character from the duology but at a time
earlier in his life. I don’t think I am giving anything away by
saying that, even though he’s not immediately identified and he’s
using an alias, because it’s one that he’s used before. That
one’s a story about highwaymen and smugglers. The third story is
unrelated, except that the idea behind it — the Celestial Bed,
which was a real invention — was brought to me by a friend who
said, “I just read Goblin Moon. You’ll be interested in
this.”
So
I’ve already done it to some extent. For a while I did toy with
the idea of a sequel taking place about twenty years later, involving
the children of some of the main characters in a sort of steampunkish
setting. And I started and abandoned a prequel telling how our hero
ended up in the revenge business. Of the two, I’m more likely to go
back to the prequel, because I did write a rough outline and a few
chapters for that one. It begins very much like a horror story.
When
you aren't writing/editing, what do you like to read? Outside of
writing, how do you like to relax?
To
answer those questions in reverse order: outside of writing, my
favorite way of relaxing is reading. I used to be involved in a lot
of different creative things — I was very crafty — but right
now my life pretty much revolves around books.
For
fiction: fantasy, science fiction, 19th
novels (Dickens and Austen in particular), the occasional mystery
novel. I’m reading a lot of romance novels on days when I am
writing or editing, because I find them more relaxing. On days when
I’m not writing or editing I catch up on my SFF reading.
For
nonfiction: anything that catches my fancy at the time. Aside from
research, my interests seem to flit from one thing to another.
What
are you currently working on, and is there any ETA for release?
I’m
still trying to finish The Rune of Unmaking series, but right
now there is no ETA for release of the next book. I’ve realized
that, with everything that still has to happen to bring all the story
lines together, it’s going to be a four book series rather than a
trilogy, and I’m about halfway through the third book. When I
thought I was going to have to fit it all into just one more book
there was a point where it was so overwhelming and daunting I found
it hard to get up much enthusiasm about writing it. Once I realized
that it didn’t have to be that way my enthusiasm revived amazingly.
But I’ve a lot of obligations for my business as a freelance
editor that will take me through the end of the year. With luck I
can return to my own writing in January.
Thaddeus
As it’s release day,
there are no reviews yet on the retail sites but there are a few
early ones here, on Goodreads.
