Interview

Aline: How did the idea of writing a novel come to you?

Arnaud: In a very strange way! I was attending a medieval history class. We were studying a document about the Count of Anjou, a sort of very cruel lord typical of the Middle Ages who went from time to time to Rome to have his sins absolved. He had a rather unusual name, 'Foulque Nerra'. The name intrigued me somewhat, I scribbled it on a sheet of paper, I let my mind wander and I transformed the name very quickly. From that moment on, the delirium of this pseudo-story began.

Al: And then?

Ar: From there everything began. The next day I was leaving on holiday and on the plane I was drawing a map, runes, then once I had arrived at my destination a chronology. Three weeks later I had a foundation, I kept refining it more and more and then in June 2003 I began writing the first pages.

Al: Why did you write a novel and not short stories?

Ar: Short stories are nice because they are short, sometimes they belong to a larger work, but the problem is that you do not fully commit yourself to the characters or the setting. I like building the architecture of a world, its codes. The desire to write a book has existed in me for a long time, I achieved it and that is one thing done.

Al: Where does your inspiration come from?

Ar: It is built from many different things. You cannot hide the fact that the influence comes from Tolkien and LOTR, but also from the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, role-playing games and manga. There is also a more scientific inspiration such as history and geography; that way you set a real framework and you can reshape it and allow yourself modifications.

Al: And have you never felt that you were borrowing ideas or that yours had been stolen?

Ar: You wake up one morning, rent a DVD and realize that someone had the same idea as you, you feel as if your idea had been stolen, and then you are afraid of being taken for a plagiarist, in the end you tell yourself that everyone is shaped by the same collective unconscious in fantasy...

Al: Some people around you think that your book is inspired by LOTR and perhaps a little too much, what do you answer them?

Ar: I have no reason to hide the fact that Tolkien is the basic inspiration, he is the one who created the genre. There are people who wrote before me and have experience, but they too reused certain ideas. Moreover Tolkien himself did not innovate everywhere, he drew inspiration from English and Germanic legends and from the Arthurian myth. But the creator of LOTR detailed everything, he achieved something titanic. To defend my own work I would say that unlike Tolkien all my characters play a role, women and men alike, contrary to what was done in LOTR. Yes, there is the great villain, yes, he is driven by the thirst for conquest, but after that one must understand the reasons behind it.

Al: And how do you think you can stand apart from the others?

Ar: My characters are more numerous, a small number of main roles but a large number of secondary characters who will in turn take precedence over the “heroes” because without them, without a helping hand, a bit of luck, they cannot succeed or survive. Besides that, I tried to work on the characters, to dig into them and to give them real substance.

Al: As for the writing of your novel, do you think you have a classic style, a personal one?

Ar: A rather classic writing style, and then I try to bring in a thriller / detective-novel style during phases of suspense and action. I would also point out that certain moments in the book are “dictated” to me by a song I am listening to, a good rock track for combat scenes, very soft music for tender moments.

Al: As for the story and the characters, do they come from real things?

Ar: The story was created ex nihilo. When it comes to lineages and genealogy, it is French history; in geography it is everything I learned during my DEUG and Licence: geology, geomorphology, all sprinkled with magic. As for the characters, apart from the third-rate ones, the main ones are drawn from myself, my friends, and people I have known who inspired me through their personalities, their warmth, their love stories; they are idealized and modified fantasy versions of people close to me. The characters remain deeply medieval, but with more contemporary temperaments: they speak their minds, are determined, committed and live fully.

Al: Writing a novel takes time. Did you ever suffer from lack of inspiration?

Ar: Never from the blank-page syndrome, but sometimes from difficulty in bringing out or expressing certain situations, or in avoiding doing what had already been done. There were periods when progress slowed down. Since I was not only writing this novel, my mind was elsewhere, so I never completely froze. Sometimes I relied on a friend or on my brother to improve an idea.

Al: And precisely, how did you imagine the scenes and the action?

Ar: Quite simply, when I wrote the novel, I did not see words, I was not telling the story, I was living it as if I were sitting in my armchair in front of my home cinema, visualizing the scene. The novel may resemble a screenplay more than a book.

Al: Who made the illustrations? You?

Ar: Oh no! I can draw a little, but I have no real talent in that field. I searched and found someone on the Net to whom I delegated that work. That allowed me to take a weight off my shoulders, and above all I got an outside perspective. She did a huge amount of work: sketches, paintings on wood. As for what is on the website, I followed the advice of friends who were already skilled; in truth I only really made the geographical map myself, in a parchment-like pen style.

Al: Now that the book is finished, what are you planning to do?

Ar: I need to deposit it again with the Société des Gens de Lettres to protect it as much as possible, print a few chapters for publishers, even though I have already had one contact, because an illustrated novel is not that common. One also has to convince people of its economic viability. If a publisher asked me to write side stories, why not? And then if luck, God and everything else are with me, turn this book into something like a series, a cartoon or a film. At the moment I am working on the website, I am still waiting for some drawings, and above all I forbid myself from correcting the novel yet again.

Al: Any other projects in sight?

Ar: The project of a sociological essay, other novels, and participation in and writing of short films.

Al: Final question: how can you convince me to buy your book rather than another one?

Ar: Escape, adventure, action, love. Characters with real presence, all of whom play a role. One can move from a romantic situation to a battle through a tavern brawl. The characters are not superheroes; they must and can rely on others, they depend on coordination and strategy. The story does not necessarily end as one would expect: a “happy ending” or a “bad ending”, revelations. There are expected and unexpected species, poems, passion... The promotion will be done through teasers, trailers, a striking cover, and even by walking down the Champs-Elysées wearing a T-shirt bearing one of the characters. Above all, buy “The Last Chronicle of Yrneh”.

Al: Thank you for answering.

Ar: Thank you

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