“Savannah and the Apprentice” is a fast-paced, fantasy action story that doesn’t let up the excitement for a second. What was the inspiration for this story?

Basically, I came up with the first line of the story and then everything went from there. I knew wanted to write a series character, so I took inspiration from the many, many characters in fantasy which appear over multiple pieces in general, and I guess a little bit from C.L. Moore’s great swordswoman, Jirel of Joiry.

This story has a sword & sorcery feel to it. Were you at all influenced by the genre when writing this?

Oh, absolutely. I’ve been fascinated with sword & sorcery across the whole of its existence thus far, from the first Robert E. Howard stories on down through the current day, with specialty magazines like New Edge Sword & Sorcery, Old Moon Quarterly, and others. I firmly believe it’s a genre that holds infinite variety while operating within describable definitions.

A major theme that I keep thinking about with this story is trauma. The Apprentice has it; Boy certainly has it. Even Dyronus has it, and it becomes a major motivation for him. Was this front of mind while you wrote this, or did this theme reveal itself later on?

The theme was present from the beginning. I knew I wanted to write a villain whose motivations are understandable (sort of) but whose actions are irredeemable. So, the question Savannah asks Dyronus about why he is doing what he’s doing was also in mind from the beginning.

What’s next for you? Is there anything you have coming out you’d like to talk about?

I’ve got a third Tordotcom novella that’s now past due, ugh, along with a pastiche of Robert E. Howard’s Bran Mak Morn character for Titan Books Heroic Signatures series of shorter ebooks. I think that comes out in the fall. And I have the usual half dozen or so stories at some stage of completion, including two more about Savannah, Boy, and Seldom. Oh, there’s a science fiction story for the Reactor site that I don’t believe has been scheduled yet.