Eric Nylund Interviewed
01/12/2002 . Source: Del Rey Team 

Eric, the SF author of Crimson Skies, talks about his previous career getting paid to play PC games, about writing to a strict outline, and the art of giving good sharecrop game novels.

CRIMSONSKIES.COM: With a BS in Chemical Physics, how did you come to be a writer instead of a researcher or engineer?

ERIC NYLUND: There were several incidents that changed me from a scientist into a writer. Here's one: I had just advanced to candidacy for my Ph.D. and had given a presentation on my research to a very prominent and elderly physicist.

He congratulated me, yet I saw hesitation in his eyes. I pressed him and he told me that my research was very good, but it was . . . he struggled to get the words out . . . it was "too creative."

Understand that this physicist had built a rock-solid career by taking careful steps in his theoretical research. He wasn't condemning my science. He was cautioning me that flamboyance and academia do not mix. (I don't agree, by the way.

I think science is one of the best outlets for creativity. And, now with many years of hindsight, I think that this physicist was trying to politely tell me that my math needed a little refinement. He probably wasn't trying to squelch my creativity. But I was young and I took his comments at face value.)

Stinging from his remark, I searched for a new outlet for my imagination. That's when I decided to try writing (why I picked writing is another story...).

I approached it like any research problem in physics--read all the background material, experiment, get peer reviews, and refined my technique.

I read over 200 books at the University of California at San Diego's library on how to write, author biographies, and all the back issues of LOCUS magazine. I drafted 40,000 words of a story. It didn't read like a novel, so I dissected other books to see what made them tick. I got critiques of my work. After a year's labor, I had a finished novel, Pawn's Dream.

CS: When you sit down to write a story, do you usually plan it out, or do you occasionally end up someplace unexpected?

EN: I outline everything I write. A lot. But even with a detailed outline unexpected things happen--I count on them! I start with a barebones outline, and draft successively, more detailed versions--sometimes outlining the line-by-line dialogue. This might seem at first blush to be very mechanical, and suck all the creativity out of the writing process. On the contrary, it helps.

I never have to worry about how my character gets from Point A to Point B in the story. I get to use all my creativity filling in the details in-between. For example, say I have outlined that my character has to go from his second-story apartment down to the street below. I've outlined that he takes the stairs, and pauses on the landing to light a cigarette before moving on.

Why did he pause? That's where the creative part is for me--in these tiny details. Did he see a blood stain on the landing? A basket with an abandoned baby? A bag lady?

Many times these tiny details add up to a significant plot point, or a character detail that turns out to be very important later.

CS: Do you know what your next book project will be?

EN: Yes. I don't think I've ever been his enthused about a story. Without giving too much away, it's a contemporary fantasy series. Very dark. Very exciting. I think I could write twenty novels in this universe without coming up for air. But I'm not going to spoil the surprise for my readers. They'll have to read more about it when it comes out.

CS: Aside from writing, what takes up your time?

EN: Well, my day job: I'm a writer for Microsoft Game Studios (a job that involves playing computer games--lots and lots of computer games!) I also study Kung Fu (Tsun Jo Wing Chun). I hike (I live in North Bend where they filmed Twin Peaks, so there is plenty of opportunity to wander through dark and mysterious woods).

CS: What are some of your current favorite books, films, or shows?

EN: Roger Zelazny tops my reading list. Also Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. P. Lovecraft. In the fifth grade, our teacher read Le Guin's, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA to our class. I checked it out of the library afterwards and re-read it three times in a row. I try and re-read it at least once a year.

I have to be careful what I read, though. Other authors' voices start to creep into my own work. I usually read non-fiction while I'm working on my own fiction. I enjoy taking historical, scientific, and mythological tidbits and weaving them together. In a given day I might browse QUANTUM CHEMISTRY by Levine, Larry Gonick's THE CARTOON HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE, Hawking's A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME, THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, Strunk and White's THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, and topological maps of Seattle. As far as television goes... I have a great system, but it's only hooked up to my DVD player--no satellite and no cable. I'm a little behind on current series. As they come out on DVD, however, I am slowly catching up. Currently I am enjoying Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ultraviolet, and The Sopranos.

CS: How were you first introduced to the Crimson Skies setting?

EN: I had been working at Microsoft as a writer. There was a reorganization of the games group and I was assigned to work on the original PC Crimson Skies game.

CS: What led to your working on this novel?

EN: At the time I didn't have a lot to do. I strolled by Jordan Weisman's office (ED: principal creator of the Crimson Skies universe). We had chatted before and he knew I had written several novels.

I told Jordan I was bored and asked if he needed any work done.

(You only say this once if you work at MS--from then on, you are never bored again!)

Jordan marched me down to Eric Trautmann's office. At the time, Eric was creating the Crimson Skies Web site and "shepherding" the franchise. Jordan suggested that I provide content for the Web site, perhaps a story or two. I think Eric was leery of me--not even knowing if I could write or not.

I gave Eric a chapter and outline for a serialized story based on Paladin Blake (along with one of my books--SIGNAL TO NOISE). He liked what he read and started asking for weekly chapters from me. These were collected into PALADIN BLAKE AND THE CASE OF THE PHANTOM PROTOTYPE. The story originally ran on www.crimsonskies.com about two years ago, and was released as a free "e-book" (complete with "in-universe" ads for used aircraft and so on). It's nice to see the story find its way into book form.

CS: How do you think Crimson Skies stories differ from other types of adventure fiction - what makes a good Crimson Skies tale?

I'm a big fan of Douglas Fairbanks silent movies. They have some ineffable quality that is missing in modern productions. Crimson Skies has the same feeling--over-the-top action, pulpy, and yet somehow wholesome fun, too. Like a great silent action flick.

CS: How do you get "in the mood" to write for something like Crimson Skies?

EN: I usually have a movie playing on the corner of my desktop's window as I write.

I know that sounds nuts; how can anyone write anything with that kind of distraction? A movie playing, though, distracts the part of my brain that procrastinates (and the part of my brain that whispers to me that I can't really write).

It's a trick I have used to become incredibly prolific when I need to be. It's how I wrote the 95,000 word Halo novel, THE FALL OF REACH, in seven weeks (but that's another story).

For Crimson Skies, I have written to movies like High Noon (especially useful for Paladin Blake's characterization), Only Angels Have Wings, Flying Tigers, and L.A. Confidential.

CS: How did you approach writing Paladin Blake in particular?

The character of Paladin Blake was created for the Crimson Skies world long before I arrived on the scene. When it was first developed by FASA Interactive in Chicago, it was called "Corsairs" and Paladin Blake was a hero of the setting. Eventually, the design morphed into the Crimson Skies we know now, and Paladin was largely excised. There was something interesting in featuring the "forgotten hero" of the setting in new stories.

My father-in-law, however, could be his twin. He is a retired Naval Officer. He flies his plane all over the country. He's a gold medal-winning marksman. A Southern gentleman. Tough as nails. All I have to do is think about him, and I can write Blake.

CS: Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions.

EN: No problem. Thanks for building such a wonderful world to play in!

The following material is being reprinted from the Del Rey Internet Newsletter. To subscribe to this free, monthly e-newsletter, visit http://www.delreybooks.com. Reprinted with permission from www.crimsonskies.com - for the latest interviews and chapter excerpts from CRIMSON SKIES go to www.crimsonskies.com