One of Tor Books’s big fantasy releases this month is The Wanderer’s Tale by David Bilsborough. The book is volume one of a planned duology entitled “The Annals of Lindormyn.” Volume 2, A Fire in the North, should be released in February.
In the publicity Tor sent out with the book, they included an interview with the first-time author. We at SFScope thought you might find some of the amusing or illuminating.
Herewith, David Bilsborough in his own words:
Since The Wanderer’s Tale is your fantasy debut, could you tell us a little of the road that saw this one go from manuscript to published novel?
I finished the entire 441,000-word book—originally entitled The Saga of Bolldhe the Great (don’t laugh)—in 2005. I started submitting synopses/samples to agents in July of that year, and after many rejections I though I might as well have a go at submitting direct to publishers. By February 2006 I had received a grand total of 130 rejections from agents, and 60 from publishers. I gave up trying, quit my factory job (inspecting thousands of little plastic tubes—boy was that fun) and decided to head back to Indonesia, where I’d taught in the ’90s, to try to get my old job back.
Two weeks before flying, I got a letter from Peter Lavery at Pan Macmillan—one of the first publishers I’d approached—apologising for the four-month delay in replying, and asking me to send in more sample chapters. The “slush-pile” had worked! But at that stage I was cynical about my chances, so sent in the entire manuscript. The day the 9kg package arrived at Pan Mac, Peter was afraid to open it, thinking it was a bomb. Luckily, a month later (St. Patrick’s Day) he offered me a contract. The Guinness did flow…
It was decided to split it into two volumes. Peter and I worked together on editing book #1 in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair. There we got the US deal as well as the French and German translation deals. (Russia and Greece have recently been added.) The second volume was then edited, and checked by me here in Java, where I moved to in March.
Will you be touring to promote the book this summer? If so, are there any specific dates that have been confirmed as of yet?
No, the only holiday of any reasonable length I get is during Idul Fitri. (Bilsborough teaches English in Java.)
Do you have any plans to create a website or a blog where potential readers will have the opportunity to read sample chapters and learn more about you?
Absolutely not. I loathe the internet beyond all loathing and everything it stands for. Seriously. I sometimes feel I’m the only sane person left in the world, everyone else having become bedazzled by that mindless, flashing, bleeping box of electric trickery, wizardly lies, pseudo-values, and misinformation that is as laughable inaccurate as its readers are gullible. Thanks to the internet the entire human race is now walking around with that sappy, inane smile on their faces, praising the wonders of this new god that has come into their empty, gadget-driven lives, and spouting the most risible cobblers I’ve ever heard this side of Bedlam. Especially those with enough brains that they should know better. Grrr…
Sorry about that. I just had to get that off my chest. I feel better now.
Given the choice, would you take a New York Times bestseller, or a World Fantasy Award? Why, exactly?
Rather than either of those, I’d love to have my stories recognised in Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Germany, as it’s those cultural/folklore traditions that have inspired me, and those I really hope to be a part of.
Anything you wish to add?
My favorite colour is puce.
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For more information on his book, see Books Received: July 2007.