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Why I Wrote "Warlock in Spite of Himself"
Now and then, people ask me how and why I wrote The Warlock in Spite of Himself. The easy answer, of course, is that I was the new boy in town in Lincoln, Nebraska with no friends yet, so to fill time, I sat in the Student Union and drafted a book that I was sure wouldn't sell (neither had the first two, for very good reasons). But what the hey, I didn't have anything to do anyway.
The more complicated and more accurate answer was that, without being aware of it, I was trying to work out some philosophical issues that seemed important, even though I didn't know I was thinking about them. The main issue, of course, was what was important in life—family or career. Being basically a hippie (well, okay, a beatnik—I was too old to really be a hippie, by about four years), and the hippies in town constituted the art community.
The main issues for hippies was involvement in society, and illusion vs. reality—beatniks were non-involved, only wanting the world to leave them alone in their own groups (at least, that's my take on the two). In the case of Rod Gallowglass, the question was devotion to a cause (democracy) vs. devotion to a woman and, by extension, a family—the traditional order of things.
I usually work out the themes of books and poems by looking for repeated words and phrases. After a few years, I tried that with The Warlock in Spite of Himself and was struck by the frequency of the word "dream," usually in the sense of a Cause, or of Rod's trying to find a woman with whom he could fall in love. To Rod, the two are almost synonymous. He has trouble choosing which woman to devote himself to—Catharine or Gwendolyn. To some degree, Catharine represents the dream—the beautiful but unattainable princess—while Gwen is very much anchored in reality, signified by also looking for someone to love, who will love her.
Mind you, I didn't work this out ahead of time, before I started writing—that would have destroyed the spontaneity. I didn't think it out in words, but I paid attention to the feeling of a word or phrase that was trying to push itself into my pen (I didn't really want to haul my portable typewriter over to the Student Union). Brom O'Berin was a case in point—I hadn't planned on him being the King of the Elves, and I certainly hadn't planned on Gwen being his daughter. But his trying to pin Rod down as to whether or not he loved Gwen felt right, for some reason. I now know that it was a matter of the tension between illusion and reality and Rod trying to resolve it.
The clincher, though, was Big Tom's dying line which was, for some reason, exactly right—"Don't die for a dream." That resolved the issue for Rod. Here was a man who had devoted his life to a Cause, and had sacrificed a normal and fulfilling life to achieve it—and in the end, it came to nothing. Reality triumphed.
There are other examples—Horatio Loguire's comments (in fact, the existence of ghosts, period; definitely on the side of dreams), Gwen's urging Rod to stay on Gramarye, not knowing it means sacrificing his Dream, but gaining a much more satisfactory reality—her (and in the end, I let him have both).
So for Rod, at least, the issue was resolved. For myself, I'm not so sure—I'm still trying to figure out what reality is.
9 comments
My favorite book is Escape Velocity and I cannot find it in Ebook form. Would also love more audio books.
Hi Christopher I am a fan of your wizard in rhyme series and hope you continue it however I know how writing goes,its sometimes like a dance when the music ends and the dance is over. I write thriller, chillers and suspense with a little bit of the supernatural thrown in, I just sent four novels in and am glad to say one was picked up but I didnt know how much was involved in the process. Anyways I also am a big fan of the HP series by JKR because of the kids, we used to read them together, I started writing FF on one of the HPFF sites and my third and final story I realized half way through I added some elements of your world from that series and then knowing what I did added in the last chapter a footnote where that universe is discussed. I did in the authors notes give you credit for being the creative genius behind some of that, of course JKR owns the characters themselves, well those I didnt make up. If your ever up for lazy typing and spelling errors, they dont offer Editors to help you undo those on Fan Fiction sites, I go under the name captain charles, the stories are HP and the Second war, HP and the Quest of Grindelwald, and HP and the Arabian Knightmare. Love your work and look forward to seeing more novels in the future CS, keep us fans dreaming and imaginative.
Loved this book when I read it years ago. It MUST be made into a movie!!
Sir,
I’ve noticed in your writings as far back as “The Haunted Wizard” a large number of supernatural creatures many of whom I am only familiar with because of a book by Katharine Briggs. Does your research library contain “An Encyclopedia of Fairies?”
Thank you
I am glad you wrote it! It is still in the all time top ten of everything I have ever read. And I have read a lot! I miss seeing new things but I see there are some additions to this website so I will look these over. You have earned your retirement. Have fun, but write! Thanks.
I’m glad you did write the book. I came across _A Wizard in Mind_ completely by chance in my high school book exchange. Then I encountered _The Warlock in Spite of Himself_ in my public library, and from that point on, I read nearly every book you’ve written, and gotten my hands on about two-thirds. Thank you for writing people, not just characters, and thanks for creating memorable places and situations for them to get stuck in. And thanks for the puns, I’m serious. I hope to get my hands on the books I haven’t read, soon.
I read your Warlock series years ago. I was surfing www.audible.com and was thrilled to find this book. Please beg them to make more of this series.
This is very interesting. I caught some of it, but the most important idea at my first reading, so many years ago, was a lone and lonely man finds himself and love as one. I have yet to find anything, (and I read a lot!) that has said it better.
thanks again for that book.
SH
THANK YOU, Ms. Colson. I’m glad to say that Escape Velocity is on Ortho’s list to convert to e-book form and audible.com is negotiating for more audio books. IF EITHER becomes imminent, we’ll post it on this website. Let’s hope they like me as much as you do.
Mr. Cummings, I heartily encourage your writing. I hadn’t known about the HP site. Thanks for letting me know so that I can check it out.
Mr. Ledden, Thank you for your endorsement. I think it should be made into a movie, too. Hope some producer somewhere picks up on it.
Mr. Smith, I have indeed mined Briggs’s Encyclopedia of Fairies extensively. Alas, I have now used every faerie creature she mentions. I’m going to have to search for other mythologies.
Oh, I’ll keep writing, Mr. Houston, and I’ll TRY to make them live up to your expectations. Ortho has serialized two books on this site and snippets from a third; just use the arrow in the lower left-hand corner of this site’s main page to find them. Hope you enjoy.
Mr. Casey, thank heavens for book exchanges! I patronize one in my grocery store. Every now and then, I find one I’ve been looking for – sometimes one of my own. Thanks for your kind comments.
Mr. Wells, the audible people are thinking of making more of my books. If they don’t, Ortho and Illishar may have me read one, and package it ourselves. Thanks for wanting them.
Mr. Houston, thank you for picking up on the main theme. I think you’re right, but an author doesn’t always know the deeper themes he’s working with – he only knows the story wants to be written. Every now and then, I do some analysis of my own books – but never on the one I’m working on at the time.