An Interview with Pati Nagle

I met Pati Nagle at a Novelists, Inc. conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  As a native New Mexican, this was just up the road for her.  I first noticed her gorgeous, Pre-Raphaelite blond hair, which we romance writers often give to our heroines, but seldom see in real life. <G>  Pati and I started talking, and haven’t stopped since.  ( http://patinagle.com )

Pati’s first four novels were romantic historicals about the Civil War in the West, a large chunk of history that isn’t well known.  She’s also written numerous science fiction and fantasy short stories.  Her new romantic fantasy novel, The Betrayal, is just out in April, so she’s joining us for a chat.

MJP: Pati, tell us about your new book.  I read it early to give a quote, and can vouch for the fact that it’s a fine read, and the romance is absolutely integral to the story.  Tell us more!

PN:  It's about elves (ælven), because they are one of my favorite aspects of fantasy. Often elves play only a secondary role in fantasy stories, but here they are the main focus, and the story comes from their unique culture and history.  The romance grows out of the rare gift of mindspeech shared by the heroine, Eliani, and the hero, Turisan, who are strangers when the book begins.  She is distraught when they discover their connection, because mindspeech is very intimate and she is still recovering from a past relationship that went sour.

MJP: Pati, what is the difference between elves and the fey?  Are they different entities, from different mythic traditions, or the same guys with different names?  And are all elves as good looking as Legolas?  <G>

PN: Generally speaking (and please note that I am not a scholar), elves originate with Norse/Germanic/Scandinavian traditions of beautiful, magical, human-like beings.  Fairy (faerie, fey) legends are more from Western European/Old French/Celtic myths and are more widely dispersed both in location and form. 

Faeries are often shape-shifters, so they can appear any size, winged or wingless, and even as animals.  They are also much more overtly malicious toward humans, luring them away to Faerie, swapping human babies for fairy changelings, and so on.  Although there are occasional stories of elves doing that sort of thing, it's far more common with the fey.

Elves began as a class of minor deities, emphasis on nature and fertility, who were immortal and eternally youthful.  They lived in forests, caves, wells, springs, etc.  The earliest descriptions of elves are found in Norse mythology.  An example is the Völundarkviða, or "Tale of Völundr."  Völundr was a smith, and is called "prince of the elves" in the poem. 

His legend was widespread among early Germanic peoples, and he appears in numerous stories, including Beowulf, in which he is Weland, the maker of Beowulf's mail shirt.  In Britain he became Wayland the Smith, whose underground smithy is said to be near Uffington, Oxfordshire.  Legend has it that if you leave your horse by the entrance to the smithy along with a silver groat, the horse will be shod by morning. 

Tolkein popularized the Germanic-style elves for modern audiences, and they're now a staple of fantasy.  Mine are a lot like his, because it was his elves I fell in love with in my impressionable youth. 

Tolkein borrowed the name Gandalf from the Norse Völuspá, the story of the creation of humans, which included a catalogue of Dwarf names.  "Gandalfr" was on that list, along with Bífurr, Báfurr, Bömburr, Dóri, Óri, Nóri, Fili, Kili...sound familiar?

I've always had a taste for elves.  Witness this photo of my spouse in our wilder, younger, SCA days: 

MJP:  Very cool elven lore!  And seeing your dh’s picture makes me wish I’d joined the Society for Creative Anachronism when I was single.  <G> I’ve always wondered about the differences between elves and fey.  Now I know why Tolkien’s elves were mostly blond:  it’s that Norse ancestry. <g>

Pati, The Betrayal is the first of a series, though it ends at a satisfying spot. What future plans do you have for your characters?

PN:  Hmm...spoiler alert?  I'll try not to give too much away. 

The ælven are being drawn unwilling into war, with all the sorrow and tragedy that attends it.  Eliani and Turisan are the bright hope of their people, using their mindspeech to tip the balance, though this means they must make their own sacrifices.  Shalár, the leader of the exiled alben, is gathering her own army to cross the mountains and take back their rightful home. The unresolved conflict between the ælven and their alben kindred is about to be reopened. 

MJP:  You’ve written historical novels, and now fantasy.  These are very different genres.  What differences did you find in writing them? 

PN:  The main difference is that in the historicals I was dealing with the real world and events that actually happened.  In the fantasy I made up both.  Less research, but more creation work.  All told, about the same amount of work, though.  With the fantasy I am less concerned about getting letters informing me that I have my facts wrong.  <g>

MJP:  You and I have both written romantic fantasy, but I come from the romance end and you come from the fantasy end.  Do you think that makes a difference?  Or is romantic fantasy a new blend that falls right in the middle?

PN:  I don't know that it makes a huge difference.  I'm a fan of romance, too.  I devoured Georgette Heyer's work in my youth and while I haven't had a straight romance novel published, all my books have romantic elements.  With romantic fantasy there's a little more of the classical fantasy worldbuilding and complexity, both of which I love.  It's really just a shift of focus. 

MJP: What was the biggest mistake you made when you first began writing?

PN:  Waiting to hear back from an editor who requested the first book before starting another project.  I wasted a lot of time that way.  I should have put it out of my mind and written the next thing.  Now I do.

MJP:  What do you consider key elements of a great story?

PN:  Characters I care about and can cheer for.  Problems that bring out the best in those characters.  A world that is three-dimensional and interesting, and fits with the characters and story.

MJP:  What is the best part about being a writer?  The most frustrating?

PN:  The most frustrating has to be the business side of writing:  contracts, tracking, paperwork.  That stuff all has to be dealt with, and is as far removed from creativity as it can be.  The reward for doing all that is the time I get to spend in my writing chair, playing in my fantasy world with the characters that I love.

As for the best part, there are a lot of wonderful things about writing, but I think the best for me is learning that the stories I've made up have given pleasure to other people. I still get that giddy, Sally Field “You really like me!” feeling when I receive a letter from someone who's fallen in love with my work.

MJP: Pati has two websites: http://pgnagle.com/ for her historicals, and for more about her ælven world, visit http://aelven.com.  She has two excerpt chapters posted at http://aelven.com/thebetrayal-samples.html .

For updates and conversation about ælven books, join the online group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aelven/?yguid=286211996

Pati and I are doing a session on the different kinds of fantasy and paranormal at the national RWA conference in Washington, DC this July (it’s called Hot Vampires, Demon Slayers, and Enchantresses: the Many Flavors of Fantasy). So tell us what you think to help us develop our presentation.

Elves Rock!

Mary Jo

PS:  YIKES!  I forgot that Pati will be giving away a free, signed copy of The Betrayal to one of the people who leave comments between now and midnight Thursday, April 30.  This proves that talk is valuable!

Comments

[Sherrinda]

Loved reading about the elven lore! Great interview! You've certainly made me want to read this book!

[Pati Nagle]

Thanks, Sherrinda!

[Susan/DC]

Does anyone else remember Sylvia Townsend Warner? Her stories about elves and fairies had a huge influence because I read her stories when I was so young. Her characters were clearly not human, often cruel, but so beautiful and compelling.

[Sherrie Holmes]

Pati, thanks for the definition of elves vs. fairies.

I was really struck by the cover of your P.G. Nagle book, Glorietta Pass. It's quite dramatic, and I love the wagon wheel in the foreground. Is it a photograph or a painting? (probably some famous photo and I'll sound stupid for not knowing it!)

[Sherrie Holmes]

Typo. I meant Glorieta Pass

[Hannah Lee]

Thanks, Pati and Mary Jo! I certainly learned a lot from this interview. It shows that it takes a writer/reader to make a great interview.

[Patricia Rice]

Hi, Pati! Good to "see" you here. I'm a sucker for elves, far more so than the sometimes nasty fey. And it does appear as if you and your spouse have some elven ancestry..."G"

Thanks for stopping by the wenches!

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

Susan/DC, I've heard of Sylvia Townswend Warner, but didn't know she wrote about elves and faeries. I wish I'd read her!

Hannah, glad you liked the interview. I loved having the chance to ask questions of someone much better grounded in elvene and faery lore!

Pat, you're right--Pati and her dh both have elven blood. Pati has hair like Galadriel's. :)

Mary Jo

[Helen]

I haven't read any stories about Elves so this interview has opened a new world for me I must read them now. I read mainly historicals but love hearing about new authors and books.
Thank you for a great interview

Have Fun
Helen

[Pati Nagle]

Susan - Thanks for mentioning Sylvia Townsend Warner. I haven't read her, so now I have some treasure hunting to do!

[Pati Nagle]

Sherrie - Thanks, and don't worry, lots of people have spelled it "Glorietta Pass" for over a hundred years. That's sort of an anglicized spelling.

The cover art is a painting by Gordon Crabb, and I think it's a great cover. It's even more appropriate to the second book in the series, but the publisher put it on the first.

[Pati Nagle]

Thanks, Hannah and Pat!

You're making me want to get together and talk elves! Maybe over a bottle of mead?

[Pati Nagle]

Helen - thanks for stopping by! Maybe you'll become a fan of elves (hehe).

[anne gracie]

Pati and MJP, loved the interview, thanks.

While I do enjoy many fantasy novels, I must admit I get impatient with the sort that are all about world building and using funny names while their characters are token. For me, any book, whether it's about elves or werewolves or some historical event, the real interest lies in the characters and their journey. It's one of the things I enjoy in your work, Pati.

[Kathy Kremer]

I enjoyed this interview and am glad to have a new author whose work I anticipate I will enjoy very much.

[Pati Nagle]

Anne - Thanks, you're making me blush!

Kathy - Glad you liked the interview. Thank you for stopping by.

[Linda Banche]

I loved Lord of the Rings, but it always irritated me that women didn't count for much of anything. Needless to say, my favorite character was Eowyn. Lord of the Rings was a product of its time, so I suppose I couldn't expect anything else. Nowadays, I like to read about women are prime movers and shakers.

There should be more stories about elves. The fey are often malicious. I'd like to see supernatural beings who help humans. Also, I'd get blond heroes, and I like blond heroes.

[Pati Nagle]

Linda - I'm with you about the women in LotR. I always loved Arwen even though she was basically a trophy wife. When the Fellowship movie came out, I was pleased that she'd been given more to do, even though some people didn't like that she took on the role of a minor character (but that's how movies go--condense the story). Was disappointed when Jackson didn't follow through on this. By the time we got to Return of the King, Arwen was doing even less than she did in the books.

I agree that it was a product of the time and also the author's thinking. Tolkein really focused on the males. I tried for a better balance in THE BETRAYAL.

[Brenda]

Yaay, Patti. A great read. The addition of vampirism is totally creepy.

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

Almost all of my favorite fantasy writers are female precisely because they do make females more than placeholders. Tolkien was influenced not only by his times, but his career at Oxford, that bastion of male privilege. :)

I'm not generally a fan of vampires, but I was fascinated by the unusual variation that Pati has developed. Her alben are rather tragic. Can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

Mary Jo

[Pati Nagle]

Thanks, Brenda (and Mary Jo)!

[chey]

Hi Pati,
Great interview. So that's the difference between Elves and the Fey!
I'm going to go to your websites and read about your books

[Minna]

Great interview! More books for my TBB list...

[Pati Nagle]

Chey and Minna - Thanks!

[JudiDW]

Sympathetic vampires? I'll have to check this out! Some of my favorite "good" vampires are in a couple of books by Barbara Hambly--can't recall the titles right now but believe "night" is in there somewhere, understandably enough. :>) I was a big fantasy reader in my youth but not so much any more--I'll try Pati's book and perhaps feel young again!

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

JudiDW--don't want to mislead you--Pati's vampires are not nice guys, not like Barbara Hambly'--but I felt that their situation was rather tragic. You may feel differently--but you'll like Pati's aelven. :)

Mary Jo

[Karen W.]

Pati, your book sounds awesome, and I love the cover!

Best of luck with it. :)

[Pati Nagle]

Judi -

The alben are not heroes, but I do try to show what led them into their situation, what they're struggling with. I much prefer shades of grey to Evil Bad Guys.

[Pati Nagle]

Karen - Thanks! It's a pretty eye-catching cover, no?

[willaful]

That is such a cute picture! I want to go figure out who my husband looks like now. ;-)

[Cameron]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.Nice interview.