About The Summoner

A: Yes. I was five or six years old, young enough that I had to tell the story to my grandmother because I wasn’t able to spell yet. My favorite TV shows were Dark Shadows and Lost in Space. I don’t know what my mother was thinking! I have very clear memories of both of those shows, and I was especially fascinated with Barnabas Collins and the whole vampire concept. Then a few years later, I bought a book of regional ghost stories—supposedly true—from the Adirondack region, and read it over and over. I was hooked, and I read every book I could get my hands on that had either ghosts, vampires or haunted houses. I still do.

Q: Why is a Summoner so important in Tris’ world?

A: If you start with the idea that death is just another stage of life, where the dead change form but don’t stop interacting with the living, then it starts to make sense why you would need a Summoner. In Tris’ world, most spirits will eventually pass over on their own to their eternal rest—if they want to. They can choose to remain and finish something left undone, watch over a loved one, or guard a treasure. Sometimes, they are bound by either their own guilt or by the regrets of the living. So one thing a Summoner does is help troubled or “lost” spirits make the passage to the Lady. Now in this reality, everyone believes in ghosts, and some ghosts are strong enough on their own to manifest openly, but very few can do that. Most ghosts can only be glimpsed or sensed by mortals, except on Haunts, the Feast of the Departed, a night somewhat like the original intent of All Hallow’s Eve, when the divide between the world of the dead and the world of the living is blurred. For a Summoner, that line is blurred all the time. A spirit mage, or Summoner, can interact with ghosts all the time, not just on Haunts. Ghosts can sense a Summoner’s power, and will be drawn to the Summoner if they have a need. The living also seek out a Summoner to help them make amends, ask for a blessing, stop a vengeful spirit, or receive information from someone who has died. For example, someone whose dead father buried coins but never told anyone where the treasure was located might ask a Summoner to call for the father’s spirit and ask for the location of the coins. There are many charlatans who claim to have spirit mage power, but very few in any generation who have true sorcerer-caliber spirit magic. Obviously, it is a gift that can be easily misued or use to gain power over others, and exerts a tremendous temptation on those who have the gift. A particularly strong spirit mage might even have the ability to force a living spirit from its body, force a foreign spirit into a living body, reanimate a corpse, bind a spirit to his will, and other extremely unethical—evil—practices. Those almost god-like powers seduced the Obsidian King. On the plus side, Summoners help Tris’ world retain balance and harmony between the living and the dead.

Q: Why did you choose a goddess-based religion for the book? How do you go about creating a religion? Does it matter to the plot, or is it just part of the scenery?

A: I chose a goddess-based religion because I wanted to explore the idea of a feminine deity. Of course, since a deity has no physical body, gender as we understand it really doesn’t apply, but it’s a paradigm we mortals have a lot of difficulty leaving behind. Particularly in the Western world, we are so deeply indoctrinated with a patriarchal view of deity that it is very interesting to explore other options, although I understand that many people in today’s world do practice goddess-based religions. It’s also interesting for me to explore some of the traits that our culture tends to assign as male or female, and play with that in the context of a female deity. I developed a fictional religion with roots in myth and real practice because I wanted to play with the concepts without offending anyone who follows a real religion. As for creating a religion, I’ve always read pretty widely and deeply in theology, spirituality and world religions, and I love myth and folklore, so drawing elements from that background wasn’t difficult. The Way of the Lady really does matter in the book—and in future books—because it is a reflection of the characters and their world. Different individuals, and different kingdoms, will be drawn toward differing aspects of the Lady because of their own ethics, experiences and values. Their ethics, rooted in what they believe to be true about the Lady, shapes their moral choices and their actions. It shapes what options they believe to be open to them, and how they view reality.

Q: You’ve said that you “transcribe the movie you’re watching behind your eyes.” Tell us about how you write.

A: I don’t know exactly how other writers write, but for me, with the books, I have very clear images of the action in my mind. I write the story the way I see it unfolding. I also work out pivotal or very intense segments of the book in my mind word for word before I sit down to write. I tend to be working on pieces of it any time I’m waiting or have downtime, like riding in the car or waiting in line. Sometimes I dream in words, as if I’m reading the dream, instead of seeing it. So the key pieces are usually very clear for me. Sometimes I have to think through the intermediary action—getting between key pieces.

Q: There are lots of stories about people who can see or talk to ghosts. How is The Summoner different?

A: I believe The Summoner is different because Tris’ gift is part of his world’s infrastructure. It’s not a freak occurrence, or a one-time thing, it’s a known, studied and recognized magical “specialty” with a long history. Summoners also fill an important role in Tris’ world, and hold a respected place in society. It’s also different because of the interactivity—it isn’t just the ability to carry a message like a medium, or to receive an image, like a seer. It is the ability to intervene between the living and the dead and to arbitrate disputes with the authority of a king—literally the power of the title Lord of the Dead and Undead. And although Tris suspects that the title is given mere lip service by the vayash moru, Summoners are also the intermediaries that help to make the truce possible between the living and the undead, because Summoners have the moral authority—and sorcerer caliber magic—to mediate.

Q: You’ve elected to create a strong ensemble cast rather than a go-it-alone hero. Why?

A: I’ve never really believed in the go-it-alone hero. No one succeeds solely alone. The idea that we can be that much of an island is an arrogant fantasy, and borders on a delusion of godhead. I’m fascinated by the interplay between a tightly knit group of core characters, whether it’s Kirk/Spock/McCoy or Harry/Hermione/Ron or Frodo/Sam/Aragorn. I like the idea of the members of a group collectively having the strengths—and weaknesses—necessary to do what one person cannot. I think you learn a lot about a character by how he or she relates to others, especially intimates, whether they are friends or lovers. For me, it’s a lot more interesting with an ensemble. It also opens up so many plot opportunities for future stories, about parts of their lives that may only be mentioned in passing.

Q: Jonmarc Vahanian is more than a supporting character. Talk about his part in the book.

A: Jonmarc has always been one of my very favorites, and I see him really as equal to Tris rather than a supporting character. He’s the outsider, the blue collar hero, the guy with a painful past in need of redemption. That whole concept of redemption, in the sense of a second chance, an opportunity to remake oneself, resonates very deeply with me. Jonmarc will play a very significant role in both books, and in books yet to come.

Q: The goddess in your book makes occasional in-person appearances, is known by different names and seen in eight different aspects. How does that affect the world of the Seven Kingdoms, and the characters in that world?

A: There are many, many people in today’s world who—if they know you well enough and trust you enough to tell you—believe sincerely that they have had a personal experience with God. I’m not talking about seeing a 900-foot tall Jesus, or hearing voices like Son of Sam. I mean everyday, regular, mentally healthy people of faith who have had a supernatural encounter with something they interpret through the lens of faith to be God. That’s in today’s high-tech, educated world. I don’t dispute the reality of those encounters. Now imagine a world where there were even fewer obstacles to being receptive to that type of experience. Some of the characters believe that the Lady is actively at world in their fate, and others—especially Jonmarc—are cynically sure they’re in this alone. The Lady’s appearances aren’t an easy way out. Her “will” isn’t clear, and her favor is very open to interpretation. There is room for a lot of ambiguity and doubt, and the characters have to interpret what goes on around them from their own moral grounding, without expecting a supernatural save. But it is widely believed in Tris’ world that the Lady can and does manifest at times of her own choosing.

Q: Tell us about the role of the vayash moru—the vampires—in your book’s world.

A: The vayash moru in The Summoner are the truly displaced souls. They are neither living nor dead, yet they exist with a sense of self and wish to continue that existence. Vayash moru are brought across into the dark gift in the traditional way—by the power of a vayash moru who wishes to make a fledgling and shares his or her own blood with the fledgling. In the Seven Kingdoms, the vayash moru have created an aristocracy of the dark birth, and are governed by a rather secretive council of nobles. They claim Dark Haven as their adopted homeland, since by mortal birth they come from throughout the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. They revere the Dark Lady aspect of the goddess, who is the traditional patron of the outcast. Some of the vayash moru refuse to take mortal blood, but it is more common for them to use their enhanced abilities of perception to find mortals who are dangerous and violent for their feedings. This rough justice is recognized by their mortal neighbors, and so the truce stands. The existence of the vayash moru is not questioned, and in most places, at least some vayash moru exist openly, even participating at court. Only the Nargi view the vayash moru as evil and have tried to exterminate them. But the truce between mortals and the undead is fragile, and can be compromised by breeches of faith on either side. Jared Drayke and Foor Arontala badly strain the truce when they wrongly blame the vayash moru for Jared’s atrocities. And there are some among the vayash moru who question the truce because they consider their enhanced abilities to make them superior to mortals and thus entitled to rule over them. Tris, as the only known Summoner of sorcerer-caliber power, becomes a pivotal figure in maintaining the truce, without which the Seven Kingdoms would devolve into anarchy.

Q: How long did it take you to write The Summoner?

A: I wrote the very first story that had a character named Tris Drayke back in 1981, when I was in college. I remember creating the name during one of my Constitutional Law classes. I pulled Tris from Tristan and Isolde, and made it unique by changing “Tristan” to “Martris,” Tris’ full given name. “Drayke” came from Sir Francis Drake, because I liked the tales about his escapades, and again I changed the spelling to make it different. That story had almost nothing other than the name in common with the current book. Over the years, I kept coming back to the story, working on it for a while, and then life, jobs, marriage and kids got in the way and I’d shelve it for several years at a time. My writing skills improved and so did the book. Along the way, the plot arc matured into the multi-book series that I’m currently envisioning. Then in 2003, a career change led to my having a more flexible schedule since I started my own company. That gave me the time to polish up a nearly-right version of the book and find an agent. However, I’ve written other book-length manuscripts in as little as five months, so the time lag for Tris was more an issue of timing than anything else. I expect to create the other books in the series at a much brisker pace!

Q: Talk a little about what you do when you’re not writing book.

A: Well, other than writing about ghosts, magic and vampires, I have a pretty normal life. I’m married with three kids, and the “mom thing” takes up a lot of my time. I own a marketing/public relations consulting firm, and that’s my “day job,” at least for now. I’m an adjunct professor at a university, I teach continuing education for a community college, and I write nonfiction articles for regional and national magazines on a broad variety of topics. So it’s a very “new economy” kind of existence—I’ve got a master’s degree and I’m holding down at least four jobs!

Q: Who are some of the writers you enjoy reading, or who have influenced your style?

A: I don’t get to read as much for pleasure as I used to or as I’d like to—it’s a necessary trade off to have the time to write. Having said that, I love to chomp through a good novel, but I often have to read nonfiction for something business-related. Some of my favorite authors include Mercedes Lackey, Piers Anthony, David Drake, Steven Brust, Spider Robinson, Anne Rice, Neil Gaimon, Tolkein, David Eddings, to name a few. Outside of SF/F, I have been deeply moved by Chaim Potok, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Joan Didion, John Cheever, Anne Lamott, Fredrick Buechner, Erich Maria Remarque and Ayn Rand. Give me a full page and I can keep on going!

Q: Your web site for the book is comprehensive and growing. How does the site relate to your books and your readers?

A: I hope readers enjoy the books and want to continue to experience the world of the Seven Kingdoms in between books. I’d also like them to be able to interact with me and with each other. I mentally live in that world whenever possible, and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to share it with people who find it meaningful. There is also a necessary hiatus between books in the series, and I hope that the site helps people keep their enthusiasm for the characters and the world alive in between books.

Q: You’ve held a number of contests to increase awareness of the book. How did you develop that approach?

A: I wanted to reach some specialized target audiences and interest them in the books, and it seemed like the logical way to do it, through a contest. I think it also helps people enter into the world and engage their own imagination. Books are wonderful because you insert yourself into the world of the book when you read it. The contests are just an extension of that.

Q: Tell us more about your book drive, “Summon Your Future,” for at-risk teens?

A: One of the important themes in most science fiction/fantasy is a main character who is different. He or she may have an unusual ability, come from a different place or look different from everyone else, but often, the difference is isolating in the beginning. Later on, that difference is what makes the hero able to save the world. I think that message is very important for teens who feel isolated because of something that makes them different—their appearance, their interests, their unusual way of looking at the world, their place of origin or family or language or orientation—whatever it is that sets them apart. What seems like a limitation could be the difference that helps save the world—literally. History moves forward, great discoveries are made, because of people who are different.

Q: Would you describe your own teen years as “at risk?” When did you discover science fiction/fantasy and how did it affect you?

A: I felt very isolated as a teen because I was interested in different things than many of my peers, and in the place I grew up, being a smart girl wasn’t considered a good thing. There was a lot of pressure to conform, and to hide who I was. I couldn’t do that, and I felt like I must be the only one in the world who didn’t fit in. Then I discovered two things—Star Trek (the original series) and science fiction books. They gave me the courage to be myself, and the hope that I would eventually meet other people who were like me and who shared my interests. They were a lifeline. I’d like to give that back by introducing others to what helped me.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

A: I have always loved reading stories and making up stories, but I think it occurred to me that someone could actually be a writer as a job and make a living when I was 14. I was practical, and decided that I would get an M.B.A. so that I could afford my paper and typewriter ribbons! (The first several book-length stories I wrote, all five of them and their many, many re-writes, were done on first manual typewriters and then an electric, in pre-computer years.)

Q: You talk at signings about “healing what haunts you.” What do you mean? What haunts you?

A: Everyone is “haunted” by something in the past. It could be guilt about something that was done, regret about something left undone, unresolved issues about something that caused pain, or some kind of shame or fear. Those things follow us and interfere with our lives, just like the malicious ghosts we read about in stories. One of the most necessary skills of adult life is learning how to become your own Summoner, learning how to mediate with your “ghosts” and lay them to rest so that you can learn from them and move forward. I’ve learned that if you don’t turn around and face your dragon and call it by its real name when you are young and strong, it will find you when you are old and weak and devour you in the night. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some folks in my life who possess the skills of a Summoner with the real-life kinds of issues that haunt people. They’ve helped me make peace with those “ghosts.”

Q: You’ve had a lifelong love of ghost stories, vampires and haunted houses. Why? Do you believe in ghosts?

A: I really don’t know what, exactly, fascinates me about ghost stories, vampires and haunted houses, but it’s pretty irresistible to me. I’ve never had a supernatural experience of that kind, and I don’t think I really want to—I don’t go looking for it. As for believing in ghosts—I believe there is something that causes the phenomena that people have experienced. I know people of very stable character and solid reputation who have had supernatural encounters they can’t explain. Whether what they’ve encountered is really a soul, or some other kind of psychic energy or sentience, I don’t know. But just because we can’t measure something with current technology doesn’t mean it isn’t real. So I’m open to the possibility—and I certainly enjoy speculating!

Gail Zehner Martin