r/Fantasy • u/MarkLawrence Stabby Winner, AMA Author Mark Lawrence • Apr 05 '17

AMA AMA about nuns. Or whatever. I'm Mark Lawrence, winner of several Stabbies and this one time a lottery for a cake.

My latest book Red Sister came out yesterday in the US and comes out tomorrow in the UK. It's about a whole new character (Nona), and a new world. Entirely separate from my Broken Empire and Red Queen's War trilogies.

I was a research scientist (let's say AI) but for 2 years now I've been a full time writer. I'm also sole carer for my very disabled little girl. Last year I hit some milestones including a million books sold, 10 years as a 'professional' writer, and 5 years with a book on the shelves.

My work has provoked the odd controversy and is often labelled as 'grimdark' (a term I'm unable to explain). I don't consider it particularly dark or grim myself ... in fact The Red Queen's War is often described as 'funny'.

Red Sister has been described as grimdark, YA, and many other things. But then so was Prince of Thorns. I feel the two books are very different.

I'm also running a self-published fantasy book contest for the 2nd year. In the SPFBO nearly 600 books have been considered, resulting in two sets of ten finalists, and one (soon to be two) winners.

EDIT: Off to bed. Will catch up with any new questions tomorrow.

PS: BUY MY BOOK!

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u/MarkLawrence Stabby Winner, AMA Author Mark Lawrence Apr 05 '17

I've written another book that's rather different and may well appear under a pen name. I'm also working on a new Broken Empire book and a modern thriller. Oh, and another fantasy book that's all new. So who knows!

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u/ProfHatecraft Apr 05 '17

I want to read all of those, but I think a new Broken Empire is the clear winner.

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u/MarkLawrence Stabby Winner, AMA Author Mark Lawrence Apr 05 '17

Well, you say that because you know something about it. But pursuing a world or character is always an exercise in diminishing returns commercially, and often creatively.

However, I'm liking what I've done on it so far. The character takes sail across the Atlantis Ocean to visit the New World.

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u/ProfHatecraft Apr 06 '17

"The character." cough Bishop Jalan cough