Interview Glen Dahlgren

AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

My interviews with authors around the world.

Glen Dahlgren Author Interview 14th July 2021

Glen Dahlgren is an award-winning game designer and the author of the book series The Chronicles of Chaos, which fantasy legend Piers Anthony called "what fantasy fiction should be."

Glen has written, designed, directed, and produced critically-acclaimed, narrative-driven computer games for the last three decades. What's more, he had the honor of creating original fantasy and science-fiction storylines that took established, world-class literary properties into interactive experiences.

He collaborated with celebrated authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The Death Gate Cycle), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time - soon to be a TV series from Amazon), Frederik Pohl (Heechee saga), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Piers Anthony (Xanth) to bring their creations to the small screens. In addition, he crafted licensor-approved fiction for the Star Trek franchise as well as Stan Sakai's epic graphic novel series, Usagi Yojimbo.

Hi Glen

Me - I am so impressed and I loved The Child of Chaos but let me find out more about you as an author and ask you my first question.

Which aspect of the writing process do you enjoy the most? Plotting, first drafting, editing…And why?

Glen -My first love is plotting, or to use another word, designing. I come from computer game design, where I’m quite used to creating something from nothing and then walking down the path to see where it takes me and what it breaks in the rest of the design. In game design, it’s referred to as ‘playing the game in your head’—but I do that when I’m creating the outline for a novel as well.

As to my second favorite, I agree with Asimov, who famously said, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” When I can see the scene in my head, I’m driven to write it—not because I love the process of doing so, but because I want to read the end result (which actually isn’t on your list). It’s like really looking forward to a movie and then getting to watch it.

Me – I love that quote about ‘playing the game in your head,’ it’s why I like to write alone so no one can see me making faces or talking to myself.

What distracts you when you are writing? Is there anything you do to counter this?

Glen -I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but it’s hard for me to get into the zone and actually be productive—especially when you’re in a house full of family (which many of us have had during COVID). To deal with this, I carve out time when others are busy with work and school. I may not get as many dedicated hours as I should, but I’m making more progress now than I ever have previously in my life!

Me – It’s funny how sometimes less can be more.

Which authors influenced your desire to write a fantasy series?

Glen - Honestly, it’s most the older classic authors. I read just about every Dragonlance book (Weis and Hickman), the Wheel of Time series (Jordan), Shannara (Terry Brooks), all the Neil Gaiman books (both traditional and graphic), Stephen Donaldon, Eddings, and many more.

Me – An impressive influence.

Have you any idea how many books long your chaos series will be?

Glen - I’m not sure. To be honest, when I was working on the Child of Chaos for 20 years, I always thought it was going to be a stand-alone novel—but as I developed it, I introduced elements that I was personally quite interested in exploring further.

The first was a character, Dantess, a priest of War. I wanted to explore who he was, what led to those last moments on the plateau… and after. And given that he was a fan favorite, it made sense to explore his own story in a prequel. This also gave me the opportunity to write another story in the world as it was before everything changed at the end of Child.

The second was the Dreaming. Even if the world changed, the Dreaming remained and demanded answers. That plus the additional hooks introduced in the prequel made the sequel necessary.

In addition, I know where the next book will go and possibly the book after that. I love this world and characters so much that I’ll keep telling their stories as long as people keep wanting to hear them.

Me – I am very glad to hear that and am looking forward to reading more.

How much has your creation of fantasy computer games influenced your writing?

Glen - Working with established authors in their well-realized worlds was a great forge for my own story-telling instincts. I learned a lot, not just about characters and world-building, but about crafting a story within constraints. I needed to focus on what fans really liked about those properties, using the tools available to game development. I had to grab the opportunities to tell my story between the stretches of interactivity using dialog or cut scenes, or learn to capitalize on the player’s actions to forward the story. It was a wonderful dance between being authorial and allowing as much freedom as possible.

But one thing game players demand is logic: rules that define the world, action, motivations, and puzzles. While many of the constraints from games fell away moving into novels, I kept this important feature. The world makes sense. Characters are driven by understandable motivations. And even the crazy, save-the-world moments are backed up with a firm foundation.

Me – I think logic helps the reader to believe the unbelievable and is a great writer tip. Thank you.

How do you approach the business of world building?

Glen - Since I only have the one book out, I don’t exactly have a repeatable process yet, but I can tell you how this one happened.

The day before I pitched the Wheel of Time computer game to a publisher for funding, they told me they liked the game design but didn’t like the license, so they asked me to come up with an alternative premise. I did so in an all-nighter. We didn’t end up going with that publisher, but the idea for the world I had constructed stuck with me and became the basis for my series.

No question, this world is the star of the show. Here, good and evil weren’t the dominant forces. They were both just tools for the larger conflict between Order and Chaos. Magic comes from the gods of Order and Chaos, brought about through relics. Order locked away Chaos long ago and forced everyone into a society ruled by the temples of the many gods of Order. Priests were in charge and everyone else was considered ‘faithless’.

Once I created the stagnant society, I made some characters that break it. Galen (protagonist) and Horace (antagonist) came first, kind of two sides of the same coin. They both are drawn to Chaos, which isn’t usually a good thing.

Me – World building from a premise and with logic definitely worked in The Child of Chaos

What personality trait of yours is reflected in your characters?

Glen - Galen is wildly creative. A storyteller. So naturally, I put a bit of myself in him. But the world isn’t particularly friendly to him expressing himself. One of the themes in this book is conquering one’s fear to make something new, something that can change the world. It’s something I’ve been trying to do my whole life.

Me – Oh wow, that’s a huge theme and for it to be personal is powerful.

Why did you choose to write YA?

Glen - At first, I kind of fell into the genre. Even though my story had some dark moments, my characters were age appropriate, the themes resonated with that group, and the book was a coming-of-age tale. It made sense to embrace it. But further, I think designing games has made me very conscious of creating content for the widest possible audience. I want everyone to read and enjoy my stories. YA felt like a good place to do that.

Me – I think we all want everyone to enjoy our stories and maybe it is why YA is an attractive genre. I write YA but hadn’t considered it in this way.

What is the strangest observation from the real world that has made it into one of your books?

Glen - Each book’s theme directly parallels observations from the real world. The Child of Chaos is mostly about the necessity of balance and what happens when a totalitarian structure clamps down on creativity. The Game of War is about oppression, and much was influenced by the struggle minorities have endured both historically and in the last few years.

Me – Real themes do tend to make for strong stories.

Glen - Do you have a writing tip for writers who wish to tackle writing a fantasy series?

I’d say to be careful about accepting advice about writing. I’ve spoken to enough writers that insist that their ways are the only ways to write—but the truth is that no two writers work the same way. Personally, I cannot write unless I have a plan, but many others love to see where the winds take them.

That said, keep writing—even if you think it’s the worst. I tell my game design students all the time: if you don’t make something, you can’t change it, and editing is where it gets good.

Me – I agree totally with you.

Thank you so much for your time Glen. I have enjoyed getting to know you.