What’s your favorite book that you’ve written? I know, I know, that’s like asking which one is your favorite kid. Wait… do you have kids, tell us which is the favorite?
My favorite book that I’ve written is always the next one. I keep looking forward to new projects and thinking of all the shiny new things I can do in the future. I don’t have any kids, but if I did, Bobby would be my favorite.
If the whole writing thing hadn’t worked out, what would Will Wight be doing?
Professional Russian Roulette player.
You graduated from UCF with a Master’s in Creative Writing. Clearly, you intended to write, but I think that’s a bit unusual actually. Most of the writers I know began in some other career. Can you tell us what inspired you to study creative writing, and at what point did you know this could be a full-time career?
When I was much younger, I saw a car hit an old, hooded woman on the side of the road. I rushed over to see if there was anything I could do to help, but as soon as she saw me, her eyes turned white and she began speaking with an unnatural resonance. “STUDY CREATIVE WRITING AND IT WILL BE YOUR FULL-TIME CAREER,” she told me, and then I called AAA for her.
…but it wasn’t until my first book sold enough copies to allow me to write full-time that I really believed it was possible.
Ah, xuanhuan. Xuanhuan is not my normal cup-o-tea, but I picked up Unsouled: Cradle 1 and really loved it. I think it was because Lindon is such a relatable character, even though he’s involved in a bunch of activities that I’ve never been involved in. Also, there’s this really satisfying sense of progression in the novel. It reminds me a lot of the new LitRPG genre, where people just like to read about a character “leveling up”. Is that typically part of xuanhuan, or was it something you worked in intentionally?
Basically, there’s this whole collection of web novels around “cultivation,” which is kind of the mystical improvement of the self and your relationship to the universe. A lot of the original concepts come from Taoism. In these novels, it’s a system of growing more powerful and more connected to the world at the same time, so it’s basically a magic system and a setting centered around progression. I really resonated with that, but when I recommended a lot of translated Chinese web novels to my friends, they were turned off immediately by the prose or the cultural knowledge requirements. So I wanted to write a sort of hybrid between traditional fantasy novels and these Eastern cultivation stories in order to help bridge the gap to get people reading the real thing. Thus Cradle was born!
This is a bit outside of my field, but your Cradle series is Wuxia, right? (Am I completely wrong about that?) Can you tell us a bit about that genre, and what inspired you to write in it?
Technically I think it would be categorized as xuanhuan, which is a wuxia-adjacent genre that includes a lot of fantasy novels in settings based on Chinese mythology. But genre definitions are always very fluid, so there’s a lot of gray area. And there’s certainly a lot more than Chinese mythology in there; I draw a lot of inspiration from anime and Korean myths and traditions as well. It was largely the progression elements that inspired me to write something similar, and my clairvoyant powers tell me that I will be expanding on this answer very soon…
Hi Will, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. First off, let’s get a quick overview of your books. You have the Cradle series, the Traveler’s Gate trilogy, and the Elder Empire series. Can you tell us a little bit about each series, and where do you recommend someone new to WW starts?
I’ve had nothing but time since you captured me and put me in this cage, but nonetheless it’s great to be here! Traveler’s Gate was my first series, and it’s kind of my standard fantasy action story with swords, monsters, talking dolls, hummingbirds with deep and manly voices, etc. Elder Empire has a unique dual novel structure that causes lots of confusion, but besides that it’s ninjas vs. pirates in a Lovecraftian fantasy setting. Cradle is definitely where I recommend new readers start, because it’s my newest and most popular series, and it’s kind of a martial arts fantasy journey.
How big is the difference between an Archlord and a Sage in terms of power?
The difference in raw power between a Sage and an Archlord is negligible, but Sages have access to powers that let them break the rules of the world. So they don’t play fair.
How many hits would Northstrider get in vs. Saitama?
Northstrider would get in only as many hits as Saitama allowed him to
What kinds of "seeds" (eg dreamseeds) are there, and like in lil blue's case, how big can they get? can they have multiple aspects?
I have a list somewhere of the different kinds of natural spirits, but basically there are all kinds. They can be multiple aspects, but usually because they absorbed something else or were altered in some way.
What would you keep in your snackspace (soulspace)?
I would keep beef ravioli in my snackspace.
Is there any more parts to the Heaven Earth Purification Wheel?
There sort of are more parts, yes. It has more functions that I expect we’ll explore, unless I need to cut them for simplicity.
Can sacred beasts ascend to the abidan once becoming as strong as sages/heralds/Monarchs, or do they not have that option? If so can they become a dreadgod eventually or is there a limit on dreadgods for some reason?
They can indeed ascend beyond Cradle.
How does a short lived animal (mosquito for eg) get to sacred beast level if it takes so long normally to get there?
Practicing the sacred arts can extend their lifespan. They can advance, but it tends to be harder.
What would be our main crew's favorite genre of video games?
Is Lil' Blue secretly a troll?
It’s not a secret.
Yes, used soulfire decays very quickly.
Is lil' blue an underlady (given she ate soulfire)?
She is not! She has not advanced with soulfire, merely been refined by it.
How have sales gone so far since actual release of Underlord?
Sales have been great. Especially audio sales, which continue to grow. Somehow.
Both the Underlady of the Jade Eye school and Li Min Redflower were separately said to have healed Eithan's shoulder in Skysworn. They were also both said to wear a dark veil at the meeting of the top 7 underlords with the emperor. Are they the same person?
They are. She's a blood member of the Redflower family but learned the Path of the Jade Eye school and came to lead it.
