Author Interview: Tony Andarian

1.      Hi, Tony! Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and what inspired you to write?

Thanks for having me! I’m Tony Andarian, and I’m an indie author and game developer. In my former “day job” in tech, I worked in areas ranging from so-called “serious” games to applied research in quantum computing. Since my recent retirement as part of “The Great Resignation,” I’ve been pursuing a full-time career as a creative entrepreneur. I now run Andarian Publishing, a small imprint focused on developing my epic fantasy series, Sanctum of the Archmage.

Writing has been a passion of mine going back to grade school. I’ve had a lifelong love of science fiction, fantasy, and computer games, and have never quite seemed able to not be coming up with stories in some form. Other priorities, though, like work, and my interests in physics and philosophy, always seemed to get in the way of finding the time to try building a career around it. But I’ve always had an ambition to do that, and I’m finally at a point in my life where I can seriously pursue it.

A major creative outlet in my earlier years revolved around building story worlds for fantasy role-playing games. That was the genesis of the Sanctum saga, which I originally developed as the setting for a long-running D&D campaign. Years later, I created two award-winning computer game adventures set in that same world, using Neverwinter Nights’ Aurora toolset and engine. Their success helped convince me to explore my passion for storytelling in today’s new world of self and e-publishing.

2.      What appeals to you most about the fantasy genre?

There are a lot of things, but one that really appeals to me is world-building. Not only telling a story, but creating an entirely new setting, complete with its own internal logic, science and/or magic, history, and cultures. And as much as that can be about escaping to a different realm, it can also be about better understanding our own. We often take aspects of our lives as givens that we’re not even aware of until we see them contrasted with “another way.” That’s part of the magic that high fantasy can offer us.

My real passion, though, is for high epic fantasy. The “epic” part refers not just to world-building, but to a story with whose broad scope and high stakes can encompass the fate of a whole world, or even more. So it’s no surprise that many of the works that have influenced me the most, like The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Truth, and, of course, the Lord of the Rings, fall into this genre.

3.      Tell us a little bit about your latest project and the challenges you’ve faced putting it all together?

My current project is called the Sanctum of the Archmage Saga. I’ve been working on it for decades in various forms, and at this point I have the story plotted out in detail for about ten full-length volumes. It’s well past time for me to get that out of my head and into a series of published novels, so that’s my focus right now.

The first volume is titled Dawn of Chaos, and I’m currently publishing it wide in a series of six novella-length “episodes.” The first three are available now. The Massacre of Lannamon is coming out on May 5th, The End of the Beginning on May 26th, and Aftermath on June 23rd. I have print on demand and audiobook versions of the full volume planned for later in the year, as well as the first e-book in the second volume, Wrath of the Peregrine King.

I’m only facing two real challenges in putting all of this together. The first is managing the general life-transition from full-time work and writing in my spare time, to building an actual business as a creative entrepreneur. There’s a lot that needs to be done to try to make that a success, but I’m slowly working through it. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I’ve done a lot of research to prepare for it, which has helped.

The second comes from the fact that I’m developing the saga in two different mediums. Trying to make time to build game versions of the story while writing books as well is one issue. The other is managing the sometimes different narrative requirements the two have. How do you craft a compelling character in a book, for example, while also leaving their characterization open enough for a player to have meaningful options for role-play in a game? It’s a definite challenge, and I’m learning a lot about multi-medium storytelling trying to do it.

4.      What type of characters do you like to write the most and how much of yourself do you put into them?

One surprise discovery about writing for me has been just how much I can get into creating very different types of characters, and enjoy bringing them to life. That’s a fortunate advantage when you’re writing epic fantasy, which tends toward an ensemble cast of different personalities anyway. But one thing my protagonists do tend to have in common is an ability to combine an action orientation with a thinking person’s respect for ideas. That comes partly from the fact that I’m writing a philosophically themed saga, but it’s also something of myself that I tend to put into them as well. That’s particularly true of Orion, one of my main characters, who draws a good deal from me.

5.      For any wannabe writers out there what’s the most useful thing you’ve learned?

I’m not sure how much insight I have to offer about this. I would say that the most important lesson I think I’ve learned is not to let myself be sidelined by unwarranted self-doubt. “Analysis paralysis,” and dithering too much over getting certain things “just right” with regard to both craft and marketing, will cost you in terms of time and lost opportunities. I’m becoming more of an advocate of the “fail fast” approach instead, and the idea that you can learn from and “fix it” if you get something wrong.

6.      What writing tricks do you utilise to hit your deadlines and keep your stories on track?

I wish I had some to share! I find that keeping in focus and on track comes more or less naturally to me when I’m in “writing mode.” My challenge is getting into that mode in the first place, which I find difficult if I have too many other things going on. So for me, keeping on track with my writing is more about trying to “clear my calendar” of those distractions, at least for a period of time.

7.      Are you a plotter or a pantser (make it up as you go)?

As you can probably guess from the fact that I took decades to work out a ten volume story “outline” in my head, I’m definitely a plotter. That doesn’t mean I won’t take advantage of ideas and discoveries during the writing process, though. Some of my best inspirations came from things that occurred to me as I was writing. If you’re not open to incorporating those as you go, your work will definitely suffer.

One of my best experiences with this was with a secondary character that I originally planned to have die in the first volume. The story required several major character deaths as part of the setup for the rest of the series, and most of those couldn’t be changed. My wife complained that I kept creating characters she liked and then killing them off, and challenged me on whether this one had to go as well. I realized that she actually didn’t, and worked out a way for her to survive and have an ongoing role in the story instead. She ended up becoming one of our favorites, which would never have happened if I’d been too “rigid” about being a plotter.

8.      What plans do you have for the future? A new series or perhaps a dip into other genres?

Given how many books I have planned for the current series, I expect to be working on it for a long while. I am still planning to continue developing parts of the story as RPG games, though. I have a third adventure module currently in the works, which if my plans keep on schedule, should come out sometime next year.

9.      With the world the way it is at the moment what sort of tales do you prefer? Ones with heroes where good triumphs over evil, or ones that take a darker approach?

I’m a hard-core “good triumphs over evil” advocate. That worldview is at the core of my themes, so I’d be writing in that tradition regardless of the way the world is today. That doesn’t mean they can’t have dark moments, of course, and there are certainly some pretty bleak ones in my books. But I take the “dark” trope to mean something more specific.

A big part of it is style, tone, and mood, but that’s often just a method for achieving a deeper thematic effect. That, I think, comes down to what Ayn Rand referred to as the “malevolent universe” premise: the depiction of a world in which the idealism of fundamentally positive stories is rejected in favor of a more “metaphysically cynical” worldview. And while I recognize that readers have differing tastes, Rand very much spoke for my own — and for the people I’m writing for — when she said that “There’s nothing so naïve as cynicism.”

10.  What’s better, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?

That’s an interesting question, even though I think it’s an easy one. For me, it’s Lord of the Rings, hands down. I’m a big Harry Potter fan, and consider JK Rowling a role model. But my genre is high epic fantasy, and I have a passion for grand-scale world-building. Tolkien was my introduction to it, and few have done it better.

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Thanks again to EPIC for hosting this interview! Anyone interested in my work can find it, and me, at:

·         My Author Website: https://andarian.net/publishing

·         My Social Media Links: https://andarian.net/publishing/social

·         Tony Andarian on Facebook

·         @AndarianP on Twitter

·         tonyandarian on Instagram

The next three releases in my Sanctum of the Archmage series will be in May and June of 2022:

·         The Massacre of Lannamon on May 5th: https://sanctum.andarian.net/sota-mol/ubl

·         The End of the Beginning on May 26th: https://sanctum.andarian.net/sota-eob/ubl

·         Aftermath on June 23rd: https://sanctum.andarian.net/sota-am/ubl