John R Fultz has been publishing fantasy novels and short stories for many years now. Always an advocate for embracing the more outlandish aspects of the fantasy genre, his work often pays homage to the classics of the genre with his debut novel, Seven Princes being described as Frank Frazetta on the page. With the release of his latest novel, IMMACULATE SCOUNDRELS, we had the opportunity to interview Mr. Fultz about his work. Herein, we cover his novels, world-building working with different cover artists, and the appeal of the Sword and Sorcery Subgenre.
We hope this interview gives readers a deeper understanding of Mr. Fultz’s work and the creative process behind it. So without further ado, let’s dive into Brett’s interview with John R Fultz.
MR. You’re a massive champion of the Sword and Sorcery genre. While you primarily focus on the written word, are there any video games or films you enjoy in the genre?
JOHN R. FULTZ: I always say the three best old-school Sword and Sorcery films are John Milius’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982), John Boorman’s EXCALIBUR (1981), and Matthew Robins’ DRAGONSLAYER (1981). A lot of movies that came after these three tried to be as good, but most of them failed. It’s no coincidence that this trio of films came out around the same time—they represent the crest of a cultural wave that had grown from the late 1960s throughout the 1970s—the popular resurgence of fantasy literature, and in particular Sword and Sorcery style fantasy. However, any trend in popular culture begins to fade immediately after reaching its zenith. CONAN ’82 was the S&S zenith in terms of the pop culture zeitgeist. Once any movement or genre spawns a massive commercial hit, everybody else starts trying to “cash in,” and when the quality starts to drop, the public loses interest.
I also have to mention two animated films: Ralph Bakshi & Frank Frazetta’s FIRE AND ICE (1983) is hands down the best animated Sword and Sorcery movie. I was also greatly impacted by Bakshi’s animated LORD OF THE RINGS film, which I saw on the big screen at the tender age of nine way back in 1978. I was transported, transfixed, and transformed. Bakshi’s LOTR is so brilliant and gorgeously made, but its terminal flaw is that it only adapted half of Tolkien’s great trilogy. The silver lining is that it sent my nine-year-old self directly to the library to get the rest of the LOTR story. And it still inspires me like few other films can.
You mentioned video games, but I’ve never been hugely into them aside from dabbling a bit here and there. My fear is that immersive gaming habits would detract from any time I have for writing novels and stories. I also prefer old-school tabletop RPGs to video games, but I haven’t played them for several years.
MR: What was the genesis of your latest novel, IMMACULATE SCOUNDRELS, the first book in the Scaleborn series?
JF: I wrote IMMACULATE SCOUNDRELS during the great Covid lockdown of 2020. It helped keep me sane when I was feeling so isolated and generally downtrodden. LOL Everyone was enduring and getting through it the best they could, and in my case escaping into the world of Yhorom helped me to survive. It also opened the door to a universe with ten thousand more stories waiting to be told.
MR:How did you approach world-building this time compared to the Books of the Shaper and the Tall Eagle novels? What makes Yhorom stand apart from your previous efforts?
JF: Great question. Offhand, I’d say Yhorom is much larger and more well-defined than either of those worlds. Yhorom (the City of Masters) is the center of a vast empire, but there are at least two other empires in this setting—Carsonne to the east and Zariim to the west. Outside of those empires are an unspecified number of Free Kingdoms that haven’t yet been conquered. The civilization of Yhorom also has a deeper and more complex sociological structure than many of my previous fantasy worlds.
For example, there is a fairly rigid caste system in place across the Yhoromian Empire, extending from the Highborn Masters down to the Learned Estate, the Martial Estate (Warriors), the Merchant Estate, the Middle Estate, the Earthbound Estate, and all the way to the Montari (scaleborn) at the bottom rung of society. This rigid caste system enforces order through socio-economic and militaristic oppression. Those on top oppress those below them, and there are few exceptions to this rule. Accordingly, there is a lot of built-in conflict to explore here. This environment also contains elements of untamed savagery, and lawless domains where primal and supernatural forces still hold sway over mankind. Spirits good and evil dwell in the wild places. Yhorom is the most interesting of all the settings I’ve created over the last two decades of writing.
MR:What was it like working with Brian LeBlanc, and how has your collaboration progressed since your excellent short fiction collection, World Beyond Worlds? How was it different from working with Alex Raspad and Richard Anderson?
JF: I was first introduced to Brian’s work when he did a cover for DMR, so when they published WORLDS BEYOND WORLDS the first thing I asked was for a LeBlanc cover. As everyone knows, Brian knocked it out of the park—that cover was widely acclaimed, and it got a lot of people to give the book a chance. It’s been my most popular collection ever, and one of the best-looking books I’ve done. So, when I decided to launch the Scaleborn Series, I wanted Brian to work his magic again. He is great to work with because he keeps me involved with every step of the artistic process, from thumbnails to sketches to final paints. He really goes the distance to capture the details I’m giving him about the scene and the characters, and he just keeps getting better. As for Alex and Richard on my earlier novels, they were chosen and commissioned by the publishers. Good choices both, but in those cases I only supplied a write-up of the cover concept, with no further input until the final painting was done. With Brian LeBlanc it’s more of a true collaboration, which is beyond cool. It’s a true pleasure to work with such a gifted and dedicated artist.
MR: What was it like working with Flying Wizard Press, and how was it different from working with your previous publishers, such as Orbit Books and Ragnarok publications?
JF: Flying Wizard Press can best be described as a shadowy cabal of mysterious entities. My contract prohibits me from revealing too many of their secrets. But I will say that, despite their somewhat nefarious reputation, they have given me carte blanche to write exactly what I want to write. They’re interested in making Art, not Profit. Most publishers are in it for the money—it is a business after all—but at Flying Wizard they’re just crazy enough to put artistry before commerce. It’s the best kind of madness.
Working with Orbit was quite an experience—like a rock band signing with a Major Label. You get a bit of attention, and you see how the Big Machine works. Then, a few albums later you end up back on an indie label. Yet the best bands keep on rocking, label or no label. The same goes for writers. Ragnarok was a great little indie publisher, but they seemed to have expanded too quickly and imploded. Publishing is a brutal business, and I’ve seen lots of indie publishers go bust. But Flying Wizard Press is unconcerned with financial viability, profit margins, commercial success, or anything else that stands in the way of publishing great fantasy. Honestly, sometimes I suspect the whole organization is entirely metaphorical…
MR: Who was your favorite character to write for in Immaculate Scoundrels? Who was the most challenging?
JF: Oh, I can’t pick a favorite. They’re like my children, so it wouldn’t be fair. I’ve heard that every character represents a portion of the writer’s psyche, so in a way they’re all me. Or parts of me. They were all a pleasure to write—each one with its own set of challenges. Each of the Scoundrels was a crucial piece of the same big puzzle. Honestly, if a character is too difficult to figure out, then I would have to take it apart and see why it doesn’t fit. It might be the wrong character for that particular story, so in that case I’d pick a different character to explore. Character is plot, and plot is character.
MR: You often talk about your summer writing seasons in between school years. How has your teaching career influenced your writing?
JF: Teaching and Writing are the two halves of my life. Teaching is a calling, not a job. It provides me with a certain lifestyle that is conducive to being a writer. I get summers off, I get spring break, I get a specific set of holidays, I get weekends. To write stories, you have to think, and to think you need time, which is the rarest of all commodities in today’s world. Teaching keeps me busy and pays my bills; it also fulfills me in ways that writing does not. Most importantly, teaching allows me to separate my financial needs from my artistic goals. I can write exactly what I want to write—I don’t have to make a living from my writing. So, I’m not beholden to “write what sells,” or to chase trends, or to make X dollars from each story. Teaching literature has also made me a better writer because I’m always analyzing/discussing/experiencing great works of literature in class. Shakespeare and Steinbeck are as integral to me now as Tolkien and Howard. Good writing inspires good writing.
MR: You mentioned on your blog that you had written both Scaleborn books across multiple ‘summer writing seasons’ initially, but you had trouble finding a publisher. Despite this, you didn’t give up and landed at Flying Wizard Press, with them acquiring the rights to future novels as well. I have to say it was incredibly inspiring to see this happen. Can you talk a little bit about your perseverance during this time and what advice you would give to other authors who might be in a similar situation or neophyte authors who might be discouraged?
JF: Do it yourself. This is the 21st Century. You no longer need myopic “gatekeepers” to decide if you’re worthy of being published. Start your own publishing company. Do chapbooks. Do eBooks. Kindle Direct. Patreon. Whatever platform you prefer. You can get your work out there today in a way that authors of the past could only dream about. Don’t chase after publishers, just do your thing, and make publishers chase after you. Again, the analogy of rock bands applies. D.I.Y.: Do It Yourself. We’ve seen generations of great bands making and releasing their own music. Now writers have the freedom to publish their works in a number of ways on a number of platforms. So, tell your stories, build an audience one reader at a time, and keep on truckin’. Finally, never make writing your sole source of income.
MR: With your new deal with Flying Wizard Press, is there a chance we might be able to see more Shaper books, or do you still consider that a standalone trilogy? Could we see the third Tall Eagle book or the book that grew out of some of your Urbille short fiction, A FEW ODD SOULS, down the road?
JF: I don’t see any more Shaper books in the future—the Yhorom (Scaleborn) books are much more interesting to me. There was a time when I might have written more Tall Eagle books, but that window has passed. I found something much better that takes my writing to the next level, so that’s where I’m headed now. The world of Yhorom is a vast playground that I’m keen to keep exploring. As for A FEW ODD SOULS (my “big weird fantasy”), there has been some talk of publishing it through Jackanapes Press, which did my DARKER THAN WEIRD collection. However, nothing is certain yet, and publishing moves at a very slow pace. I hope we can work it out because SOULS is the strangest (most weird?) novel I’ve ever written, so I’d love to get it out there. Perhaps its time will come. The weird must flow.
MR: I want to delve a bit deeper into your short fiction. Whether it’s the REVELATIONS OF ZANG (which just received a striking new cover), the MAGTONE tales, or the aforementioned Urbille stories, there always seems to be something wildly imaginative coming from you. While we know you’re adept at both, what is it about the short story that keeps you coming back?
JF: I once said that novels are like love affairs: they go on for weeks, months, or years. But short stories are like one-night stands: they’re fun, take far less time, and demand far less mental/emotional energy. You can explore ideas that don’t fit into your novels. You can exercise different writing muscles in between novels and longer pieces. Plus, short stories are a good way to attract new readers to your work, since they can appear in various places in a variety of styles, content, and forms. I gave up writing short stories for about three years, but ultimately came back to it. I guess that’s how you know you love something—give it up and see if it comes back to you. I think of myself as a novelist who cranks out short stories in between books. In the end, however, it’s all just storytelling.
MR: What’s your favorite thing about the Sword and Sorcery genre, and where do you see the genre going in the future?
JF: Probably nowhere. -LOL- But seriously, I try not to guess about such things. I do see a growing “movement” going on, with publications such as New Edge Sword and Sorcery, Old Moon Quarterly, and tons of other S&S venues popping up these days. The genre is bubbling, but it’s really still more of a subculture than a genre. A subgenre of fantasy. People keep asking “How big can this get? How can we make S&S more popular again?” The truth is nobody knows. But also, the truth is that it doesn’t matter. Writers should follow their muses, ignore genre limitations, and write great stories.
What’s my favorite thing about Sword and Sorcery? I guess I’d have to say the sense of limitless adventure that comes with those three words. In the past, I’ve always leaned more toward the “sorcery” than the “sword,” but I’m finding a more even balance within the Scaleborn books.
MR: We have the second Scaleborn book, TIMES NEVER CHANGE, to look forward to in May. What’s on the horizon for you after that? What does the upcoming summer writing season look like for you?
JF: Well, I intend to tackle the third Scaleborn book, WE LAUGH AT DEATH. The plan is to release it next year as soon as possible. So that’s my biggest priority right now. Check out fultzauthor.com for ongoing and infrequent updates.
We’d like to thank Mr. Fultz for his time and wish him the best of luck with the Scaleborn series!
