The Insider is a Silver Leaf Books sponsored feature that allows the readers to gain additional information about the authors, books, and projects. This section will consist of live interviews with the authors, and their direct responses.

This Insider interview is with Clifford B. Bowyer, author of The Imperium Saga: The Siege of Zoldex:

SLB: Before we get started, I know that this has been a very difficult year for you. How are you doing?

BOWYER: I'm doing good actually. The loss of my father was very unexpected, and that's never easy. I've probably gone through the full spectrum of emotions, but I've used it to fuel me and keep me going. He was always so proud of me, my accomplishments, and my writing.

SLB: You wrote Continuing the Passion to honor the memory of your father. Why don't you tell us a little about that?

BOWYER: A few weeks after my father died, I just had the burning need to write something as a tribute to him. Something for family and friends, but also to keep the memory of everything that he meant to me alive for as long as possible. I never intended to have the book published, but my mother, family members, and friends have all pushed for me to do so.

SLB: And it is our pleasure to help do that for all of you.

BOWYER: Thank you. I know it's not something that Silver Leaf Books normally publishes, but I appreciate your willingness to put this one out there, even if it is just a small print run.

SLB: I'm sure we'll hear more about Continuing the Passion in 2008 when a release date is announced. For now though, how about we talk about the Imperium Saga?

BOWYER: Sure. I just had the annual Celebrate Holliston festival in my home town, and seeing the sheer excitement and passion that the kids have for the books has really gotten me anxious to write some more.

SLB: So they were excited about this years releases?

BOWYER: Yes. Most of them already had most of the books, but I got The Spread of Darkness, the 7th Kyria book the week before the event, so a lot of people came for the newest release. Some people also did not yet have Quest for the Shard, book 6, or The Siege of Zoldex.Everyone who stopped by, I asked who their favorite character was. I was kind of surprised by some of the answers, but it's good to take me by surprise every now and then.

SLB: Who surprised you?

BOWYER: I got quite a few "Kyria" for the Kyria series, which was the obvious answer. I was pretty happy to get a "Sartir" or two as well. For the main series, I got a Theiler, but not a Thamar, which kind of surprised me. Theiler was seriously injured in a skirmish with a griffin and is now mute. However, this particular fan thought that Theiler spoke volumes with his silence, and was just a terrific character.

I also got quite a few Mylvannan's, which always surprises me. He's a great character, but I would think that someone like Arifos would stand out more ~ the better fighter. But I often hear that Mylvannan is cool. The testing teams for the RPG game also come back indicating that Frost elves, which Mylvannan is, are one of the most popular races to play. I'll take it (and who knows, maybe I just might write a book with Mylvannan as the lead!).

The last one was Baldock, who I love as a character. He'a loud, rude, crass, and is one character who refuses to let anyone get the best of him (whether he should be backing down or not).

SLB: So no Braksis, Solara, Arifos, or Thamar?

BOWYER: Surprisingly, no. Maybe they were just the obvious choices.

SLB: Maybe. Or maybe you should write a Mylvannan book!

BOWYER: I did already have something plotted with Mylvannan before I heard the feedback. He and Ravinder were heading to Akkammanavar to try and gain the assistance of the Frost elves in the war against Zoldex. It's in the very rough conceptual stage, but it is swirling in the back of my mind.

SLB: Well, now that The Siege of Zoldex is out, let me begin by saying how glad I was that Braksis is alive!

BOWYER: Yeah. He was the very first character that I designed. I really built him up, and knew that I wanted to tear him down a little to make him more human. However, even when I "killed" him in Book 1, I never intended for him to really be dead. That's why I let everyone see him in the Epilogue of The Changing Tides.

SLB: You didn't seem to try to hide who he was in The Siege of Zoldex very much.

BOWYER: I heard that from a few of my test market readers as well, but I did not want people to wonder who he was. I wanted them to know who he was, and follow his story as he figured out who he was as well.

SLB: Without ruining anything, does he have a happy ending?

BOWYER: That would be giving away far too much. Let's just say that Braksis will have quite a few decisions to come, none of which will be particularly easy on him.

SLB: You already mentioned a Mylvannan book. What else do you have planned?

BOWYER: The first thing is a prequel, actually. All about Braksis and Falestia. The future of the series is going to largely be set in Falestia, so I wanted to really bring the full depth and background of the Kingdom out. Then there will be the sequel books.

SLB: Are these all written already?

BOWYER: Plotted, not written. What is written is Ilfanti and the Orb of Prophecy, and all of the remaining Kyria books, as well as a Special Edition that takes place immediately after the final Kyria book and The Siege of Zoldex.

I'm hoping to have the first prequel book written this year. I'm also hoping to have them be a little shorter in length than the current trilogy, but we'll see what happens.

SLB: You mentioned the game earlier. Why don't you tell us a bit about that?

BOWYER: Sure. The game is a d20 RPG based on my world. It's basically like Dungeons and Dragons, using the rules from that, but my world, my creatures, and my details.

SLB: How does that work?

BOWYER: There is an Open License Agreement that allows us to use their rules with our world. That makes it easier for gamers to play in a variety of settings without having to learn new rules all of the time.

SLB: Do you ever come up with instances where that causes a problem?

BOWYER: All the time! The hardest part of this project has been to get aspects of my world to fit in with the current rules. For instance, the Development Team really wanted to have Avarians in the game. But, avarians can fly. In the current rule set, with them flying, no ground-based creature could keep up with them. Therefore, if a human can run 40 feet per round, then the avarian had to only be able to fly about 45-50 feet. Watch a bird flying through the sky and tell me if you can keep up with them!

But to keep them as they were designed, it breaks the game. And, I should add, I did a ton of research on larger birds and we used then when determining just how fast an avarian should be able to fly.

SLB: So what happened?

BOWYER: Avarians came out, something else went in.

SLB: What races are playable?

BOWYER: Currently, and this can change as testing goes further along, you have a choice of humans, but not just generic humans, you can be a Falestian, or a Dartian, or any type of human in my world, even Barbarians. The same is true of elves and dwarves, so you don't just have to be a dwarf, you could be a Tregador dwarf like Baldock, or a Vorstad dwarf like Thamar. We really worked hard to bring out the cultural differences to make the characters deeper and better for role playing. Also, for the elves, obviously Frost elves, like Mylvannan, are available.

We also have orcs, including several types of orcs that you find in my books, centaurs, the felidae races (sabrenoh, tigrel, feline), gnomes, rasplers, sarnals, wraith, and one of my favorites: the mystral. I think that is all of them.

We recently took aquaticans, adlesians, and hobgoblins out of the game.

SLB: And you get to choose a class, or a profession, right?

BOWYER: Correct. The class is basically what determines the type of character you'll be. Do you want to be a hunter like Boudie and Drew, a soldier like Travers or Baldock, or an assassin like Kabilian? The classes we developed are Athletes (Lumnia players), Field Surgeons, Fighters, Guardians, Hunters, Infiltrators, Mages, Mercenaries, Rangers, Rogues, Savages, Scholars, and Soldiers.

SLB: When does the game come out?

BOWYER: We have no real projection at the moment. The game is still in testing, and when that is done, there will be a lengthy process to have the art completed for the game. So it could be as early as late 2008, or perhaps not until 2010!

SLB: That's a pretty big window. You'll have to keep us posted. I'm sure people would love to play the game.

BOWYER: I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from people who are interested in playing, so hopefully testing will work out any bugs and things can move forward.

SLB: Anything else that you're working on?

BOWYER: I did also write a book called Gen-Ops, which was my first non-Imperium Saga novel. It's a bit of a mix of military, black-ops, spies, genetic engineering, and more. I'm quite pleased with it, but not sure exactly when that one will be coming out.

SLB: Sounds good. I look forward to reading it.Well, that's all the time we have for this session. Great job on The Siege of Zoldex, and I look forward to seeing where the Imperium Saga will take us next.

BOWYER: Thank you. Before I leave, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends and family for all of their support that they have shown to my mother and I this year. I would also like to thank all of my readers and fans, and the numerous people who come to visit me at conventions, book signings, discussion groups, and other events. Thank you all for everything!

May all of your adventures be magical!