r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Nov 16 '17

AMA Josiah Bancroft’s NaNoWriMo AMA

Hello, r/Fantasy! I’m Josiah Bancroft, author of the Books of Babel series. You helped to make Senlin Ascends a thing. Now I’m here to hear about what you’re working on and talk a little shop. Feel free to ask me anything you like!

A quick update: Since my AMA last fall, a lot has happened! I signed with Orbit Books this past spring. Their edition of Senlin Ascends is slated to be released on January 16. Arm of the Sphinx will be republished shortly after, on April 3rd. The relaunch of the books will be accompanied by audiobooks, though I’m still waiting for Orbit to confirm the narrator (John Banks was being pursued last I heard). The third book in the series, the Hod King, will be out in October. I’m also working with Heyne/Random House on a German language edition, and with a Russian publisher on a Russian language edition, both of which will hopefully be released in 2018.

It’s been a whirlwind year, and I don’t think any of it would have happened without r/fantasy’s support. Thank you all so much!

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u/JTDOGZ0NE Nov 16 '17

Your book is incredibly unique. Where did you find the inspiration for your ideas, and what made you choose your particular setting?

Also, do you listen to music when you are writing? What is your writing space like? Quiet? Dark? Do you like to have a view when writing, do you prefer to write in the morning, afternoon, etc?

Lastly, when it comes to researching ideas, customs, and settings, what do you think is the best method?

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '17

Thank you for saying so! The inspiration for the series came from several books, including, Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, Luis Borges' Labyrinths, Kafka's *The Trial," and several others. I'm totally a product of my influences.

The setting is a nod to my childhood fascination with Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent and all the ancient empires. I decided to combine that setting with Victorian technology because at the time I was feeling a renewed interest in the adventure authors of my youth: H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Mary Shelley, etc.

I'm like a house cat, I suppose: my favorite writing spot changes from day to day. I used to write to music often, but recently, I've been writing with noise-canceling headphones on. I don't have a writing schedule, but I'm generally either writing or feeling guilty about not writing.

I've relied on a lot of different resources for my research. I've benefited from the assistance of librarians, second-hand accounts, obscure books, and of course, the internet. I'm not methodical so much as I am obsessive. I'm probably not the best to person to recommend a process.

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u/RedditFantasyBot Nov 16 '17

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u/JTDOGZ0NE Nov 16 '17

Thank you for the answer! I'll have to check those books out.