Author interview - David Frauenfelder

Today I am welcoming David Frauenfelder to an author interview. Up to now I have been staying this side of the Atlantic for these interviews, but it’s time to go across the pond now. I first came across David’s writing towards the end of 2013, and have been following as he has tackled a couple of different genres.

Reviews:

Skater in a Strange Land - http://richardabbott.datascenesdev.com/blog/index.php/2013/09/09/catching-up-with-things/
The Skater and the Saint - http://richardabbott.datascenesdev.com/blog/index.php/2014/02/08/review-the-skater-and-the-saint/
The Mirror and the Mage - http://richardabbott.datascenesdev.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/05/review-the-mirror-and-the-mage-by-david-frauenfelder/

Q. David, I first came across you in connection with Skater in a Strange Land, about which I wrote “a sort of cross-over science-fiction / fantasy book that mostly defies description but kept me reading avidly to the end“. What drew you to write about Borschland, a fictitious continent appearing from time to time in the Indian Ocean?

A. I am an inveterate reader of maps and creator of worlds. I have pretty often had dreams where I am looking at a map and suddenly I dive into the place the map represents.

If I am in a boring meeting, I will sketch a map of an imaginary place from whatever is percolating in my brain at the time. If something like Dasht-e-Kavir comes out (a real desert in Iran), the world will be a wasteland with Persian and Arabic place names.

From there, it’s a very quick step to imagining peoples, cultures, and history. It helps that as a child I read all the fantasy standards from Lloyd Alexander to Ursula K. LeGuin.

Add in academic training in languages and literature (Greek and Latin primarily), plus a bit of travel, and you’ve got a walking world generator.