Interviews: Paul Semel on BARREN
Posted by Karen
Hey everyone! Peat recently did an exclusive interview with Paul Semel at Paulsemel.com.
This is a long and in-depth interview that really goes into where Peat’s head was when he was writing it. If you have any questions (before or after reading Barren yourself), this is the place to look!
For years, fantasy writer Peter V. Brett has expanded his Demon Cycle series with almost as many novellas as he has novels. In the following email interview, Brett discusses the latest of these shorter tales, Barren (paperback, Kindle).
One of my favorite questions is this one:
Where did the idea for Barren come from and how different is the finished novella from that original idea?
Selia was one of the very first characters I created; she is introduced on page two of chapter 1 in The Warded Man. An older widow organizing the rescue and salvage of a town borough massacred by a demon attack.
We learn the Brook folk refer to her as “Selia The Barren” — though never to her face — because her marriage failed to produce children. The term began as a mark of shame in a world where demons have hunted humanity nearly to extinction, but Selia has turned it into a term of respect. She has made the whole town her children, and folk are glad she’s around in times of trouble.
But I knew, even then, that Selia wasn’t really barren. I was just waiting for the right time to tell her story.
And that time is now! As of now, Barren is officially available to purchase You can grab a copy right here!
Thanks so much to Paul for putting together these questions and interweaving the interview so nicely. You can read the interview in full at his official website!