Interview with William Nicholson

Q: Although perfectly suitable and intriguing for adults, Seeker is targeted for a teenage audience. Do you feel that teens are interested in exploring the idea of the supernatural or of the supreme?
A: The true answer is, I don’t know. I personally was fascinated by the supernatural when I was a teenager. I think it interested me more than anything. I wanted to know what mattered most in life, what was most real and lasting, whether God existed and what God asked of me, and what sort of experiences lay beyond my immediate perceptions. Those fascinations remain with me to this day.

Q: What might readers take from the Noble Warriors saga? Do you hope that the book will inspire some to lead more noble lives?
A: It may sound pompous, but yes, I do. I’ve tried to create characters who have real ideals, who want to make the world better in whatever way they can. And then I’ve tried to dramatize that journey. I was reacting to a certain extent to the superhero culture that suggests that all that’s needed to save the world is a trick power and a fancy suit. I think what’s needed is more complex, and involves more sacrifice.

Q: In Seeker, Morning Star and Seeker are decent, unselfish, law-abiding people seeking who are determined to become Noble Warriors for the greater good. But the Wildman is quite different—an outlaw, unpredictable, and seemingly drawn to the Nomana for selfish reasons. Although it’s unclear what’s in store for the Wildman in the next two Noble Warriors books, at the end of Seeker he is redeemed. Does the Wildman send a message to teens that people can change for the better?
A: I don’t think it’s quite right to say that the Wildman changes for the better; it’s more that he grows from one level to the next. He is selfish and amoral, but he’s also hungry for more than he’s yet experienced—and when he’s offered the strange concept of “peace,” he knows he wants it. You’ll see in the next two books that the Wildman’s journey is by no means the obvious bad-to-good-guy story. If I’m trying to send any message to teens, it’s that even bad guys are searching for deeper lives.

Q: How does your process differ for writing books and screenplays?
A: There are only really two differences between books and screenplays, as far as I’m concerned. The first is obvious—in a book I have much more room and much more time to explore what’s happening inside the heads of the characters. The second is that I’m in full control of my books, whereas with a screenplay, I’m forced to adjust to the demands of many other people.

Q: The nature of the Noble Warriors’ god seems intentionally vague and mysterious, almost as though you’re challenging readers to define the nature of the All and Only. Do you have all three books outlined, with a firm story line? Did writing screenplays help you refine the skill you use for long-range creative planning?
A: I do have all three books outlined, and I had the ending mapped out before I began. However, the process of actually writing the books has brought about changes along the way. New characters have entered the scene, and my heroes have taken turns I had not envisaged. The god of the Nomana, though, will be revealed just as planned. As for the skill of long-range creative planning, I think I learned that through working on the Wind on Fire books. Screenplays are the opposite—bursts of short-term energy.

Q: What can tell us about the sequel to Seeker? Will readers again visit the city of Radiance?
A: The second book of the Noble Warriors, Jango, begins with an invasion by a new and powerful warlord, who leads his army against Radiance. The island of Anacrea is threatened as never before. Seeker learns that he alone has been given the power to save the god of the Nomana. Morning Star finds herself helplessly drawn to the Wildman, even though she knows he’s the least noble of them all. A new character joins them, a pale and beautiful forest girl called Echo. And we meet a mysterious old man called Jango, who seems to know what’s going to happen to them all.

Q: You have said in a video interview that you don’t want to look back on your life to see what “you have done” and find the answer is “nothing.” The three main characters in Seeker are similarly determined to do something vital with their lives. With the success you’ve experienced as a writer in a various media and your positive influence on young readers, do you feel some level of fulfillment? Or, as with your characters, do you feel you are continuing on a lifelong pilgrimage?
A: I do now feel, somewhat late in my life, that I have begun to do something worthwhile. But I also feel that I have so much more burning inside me, to reveal and to discover and to explore. Yes, I am most definitely on a journey that will only end with my death—and perhaps not even then. That’s the big mystery.

William Nicholson is the author of the acclaimed Wind on Fire trilogy as well as the screenplays for Gladiator and Shadowlands, both of which were nominated for Academy Awards. He has written to great acclaim for a variety of audiences—from television, to stage, to the big screen. Despite his success in those media, he was still determined to distinguish himself as a writer in the realm he loves most—books. What inspired William Nicholson to write for young readers? In a recent interview, he said that writing for film is similar to writing for children in that the story and passion are driving forces: “I think that children's literature comes from one of the most imaginative areas of the psyche.” He lives with his wife and their three children in Sussex, England.

www.WilliamNicholson.co.uk