J. Robert King

 
On the Future of Gaming
The world of gaming has undergone huge transformations over the last fifty years, and the Forgotten Realms has appeared in just about every gaming format that has come into being. I asked Ed what he felt the future of gaming was:
When I was young, wargaming was men moving painted model soldiers [...]

 
On the Future of Novels
Book publishing is undergoing a tremendous transformation as the world goes digital. Some people are predicting the end of the novel (not a new prediction). As an author and as a librarian, Ed has a unique perspective on the state of the industry, which he elaborates here:
The publishing industry certainly is [...]

 
On the Author-Editor Relationship
I edited a number of Ed’s early novels, including Crown of Fire, Elminster: Making of a Mage, and The Temptation of Elminster (once entitled Elminster in Hell), as well as a trimmed-down edition of his first novel, Spellfire. But he’s also worked with many other editors over time. I asked him what [...]

 
On the Virtues of Escapism

“Escapism” is a dirty word for many critics of fantasy, but it is not to Ed. He echoes the sentiments of Tolkien and Lewis, who saw fantasy as a means of “moral recovery” and the release of imagination from its everyday chains. Here’s what Ed had to say:
The hardest element of [...]

 Sex Scenes and Censorship
I asked Ed for a funny story that involved publishing personalities, and he regaled me with this hilarious gem:
Some years back, I collaborated on a semi-secret rescue job, for free, finishing a novel by a prominent male writer who’d died suddenly (so his widow and family could get the royalties from his [...]

Portrait of the Writer as a Young Man
All the years I have known Ed, he has exhibited a kind of free-floating delight, a zest for life that I have always admired. I asked Ed whether this gusto was simply a character trait, or whether it was a conscious decision. Here is Ed’s illuminating response:
Ah, this [...]

On World Building and Storytelling
Ed is both a world builder and a novelist—which are kind of opposite roles. A world builder has to work primarily with setting and situation while a novelist works primarily with story and plot. I asked Ed how he shifts gears from one role to the other:

I don’t find much difficulty [...]

On Character Creation
As well as being a character in his own right—Ed Greenwood looks like a wizard and sounds like a smooth-jazz DJ from the seventies—Ed has created some of the most iconic characters in fantasy gaming and fiction. For him, character creation isn’t a matter of stats and profiles, but of hearing a character [...]

Origins of the Forgotten Realms
In 1966, a young man named Ed Greenwood was writing adventures about a certain moneylender named Mirt. Over the next forty years, the private world of this private young man became one of the most public role-playing worlds every created: The Forgotten Realms. In this installment, Ed tells us about the [...]

The magnificent Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms, is one of the funniest, friendliest, and wisest writers I’ve ever met—and that’s saying something. I’ve edited four of his early novels and have known him for about twenty years. He’s a great writer and a good friend, a perfect subject for an interview. So I [...]