Scott Lynch

AS: What are you working on right now?

SL: I’m working on my 4th novel, The Thorn of Emberlain; a couple of short stories I owe to people; and I definitely have to finish work on a new novella, The Mad Baron’s Mechanical Attic, which is very overdue. Poor Bill Schafer of Subterranean Press deserves much better. That will be part of the story that fits between my 3rd and 4th novels and links those stories. That is what I’ve got for the rest of the year.

Anonymous said: You said in an interview a while back that "Thorn of Emberlain" would be out in 2014, is that still true?

No. My past self was brimming with optimism. It was going to be damn close, but I just couldn’t pull it off. The good news is there will be a) still no more fucking 6-year gaps, and b) several major goodies to announce between now and its actual release date, mid-to-late 2015.

Yes, the time is coming when I can no longer get away with concealing the shape of Locke’s continent, and that time is THORN. This book will involve (though not all may be in the book itself, that has yet to be determined) a map of Emberlain, a map of the Kingdom of the Marrows, and a map that puts it all together with the Therin states, Syrune, Jerem and Jeresh, etc.

With Thorn's cover now circulating, is it safe to assume we can expect the book to be out before the year is up?

That’s the plan.

Gollancz has basically hinted/commited to a 2015 release, so we have our fingers crossed. And unless I get hit by a bus, I’m very confident that it’s going to get a very late 2015 release. Late Autumn. I don’t know if it will be October or November. But late Autumn.

It’s not the one year gap I wanted since Republic of Thieves, but two years compared to five or six? Or seven or eight? I will keep on ratcheting it down and I promise to do better next time.

The second story is called “Cash Poor, Temple Rich” and Strahan wants it but I don’t know where he will put it. He says he’ll find a home though, so somewhere, sometime in the future you will see that in a Strahan anthology. And there will be more “Red Hats” tales.

There’s two novellas I’ve owed Subterranean Press for ages and ages. They’re Locke and Jean stories that will fit in between Republic of Thieves and Thorn of Emberlain. There’s another untitled novella, which, if Subterranean goes for it, is a Zamira Drakasha story. I’ve known I wanted to do one, but I didn’t have an idea to go on until a couple months ago it sprang into my head.

And there’s another novel called Untitled Lynch #1 that no one gets to know about. I read a bit of it at ReaderCon 2012 and swore everyone who heard to secrecy, but that’s as close as I’ve come to talking about it. That will be the next project after Thorn of Emberlain is handed in.

That’s not the book that I set out to write in 2008. It adjusted my views on romance and the inevitability of puppy love lasting forever. I don’t think I’m more cynical, just more realistic and I think I have a more mature view.

JussiLynchin brittikustantamon tietokannassa romaanin väitetään ilmestyvän 17.9.

With a controversial twist in the tale coming, Locke and Jean find themselves sucked into the horror of war.

While this is not the outcome we’d hoped for, we have every expectation that this will ultimately do more good than harm. I will continue to try to keep you more closely informed of Thorn’s progress, and I don’t think it will be long before we’ll be able to announce that the manuscript is secure and the production process has begun. We’re very close.

Something happens in this book which is hugely controversial and will be the talking point of the year in fantasy

JussiTuskin kustantaja laittaisi levitykseen tällaista tietoa uunituoreessa katalogissa, ellei päivänmäärää ajateltaisi päteväksi.

As you’ve probably noticed, retailers have been doing funny things with pre-orders of THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN, and the reason for that is because, despite all our hopes and the heroic patience of my publishers, we’re not going to make the expected September release date.

I am incredibly sorry about this, and I want it to be understood that there’s nobody to blame but me. In addition to the expected obstacles, I severely complicated my life this year by moving. The process of seeking a mortgage, securing a house, and moving across half a continent (although it was necessary, and has been mostly joyful) has eaten months of my time and made it very difficult to recover lost ground on several projects. Oh– Elizabeth Bear and I are getting married, too. Another real joy, but it’s eating spare time like you wouldn’t believe.

Originally, the book I was trying to write covered the events of what will be Book IV of the Gentleman Bastard sequence. At some point, I decided that I didn’t know the characters well enough to throw them into such a media res situation, and I backed up a few years in their lives to the events that became TLoLL.

Which writers would you say are your biggest inspiration?
Matthew Woodring Stover, the most under-appreciated SF/F writer I know of. This guy should have streets and buildings named after him... he simply doesn't write anything where the passion and quality knobs aren't turned to 11. When I want to improve or refine my technique, I steal from Matt before anyone else.

THORN needs an ending written (the ending is outlined in depth, just not yet written) and some targeted rewrites in three or four specific areas, based on vexing but extremely astute criticism from my agent, my genius wife, and a trusted friend. This is my primary job for December.