My wife’s love affair is entirely my fault

by Michael J. Sullivan

Hello, my name is Michael J. Sullivan. Heather has talked about me fairly often here on Proud Book Nerd so you might recognize my name. If not, well I’m a writer who developed a six-book series called The Riyria Revelations. For those who have heard of me, you’ve probably no doubt also become acquainted with my wife, Robin. The two of us have been mentioned almost as a single entity now for over two years since The Crown Conspiracy first showed up in October 2008. I’ve been concentrating on writing the books and Robin, who is also my biggest fan, has helped to get them to market by working with agents and publishers, and even becoming a publisher herself for a short while. She was the one who suggested going to the “big-six” and hence the catalyst behind having the series re-released by Orbit. Robin and I have known each other since 1979, and we fell in love in June of 1980. I consider myself one of the fortunate few people who have found their soul mate. As they say in The Princess Bride, “This is true love…you think this happens every day?” I thought she was totally devoted, and yet she spends a fair amount of time talking about another man, well actually two men, and I have no one to blame but myself.

I’m speaking of fictional characters of my own creation, Royce and Hadrian. They are very different people, one hardened and cynical, the other idealistic to a fault. When I started writing the series, I had no intention on publishing, so I wrote something that I wanted to read, and something that would be enjoyable for my daughter and wife. I might have gone too far.

My only solace is that I, in a way, control her access to them. Sure she can re-read about their adventures, but that will get boring after a while. She actually told me after finishing the series, “You can bring them back you know…anytime you want to.” And she needles and pleads for me to do so. That is one of the reasons why my short story The Viscount and the Witch was created.

The irony is that she often sees either Hadrian or Royce “in me” when I say something a particular way or do something that reminds her of them. I’m not sure how I should feel about this because it is usually followed by a mournful sigh and a comment such as: “I miss Hadrian” or “I wish Royce were here.”

So what exactly is it about each one of these guys that Robin loves?  Well in a recent interview for a podcast she spoke at length on the subject. Here is a link to the site and Robin’s love affair starts 53 minutes in. Here is a bit of what she said.

“Hadrian has a heart of gold, he always is thinking about others and always concerned about doing the right thing. He has a lot of compassion for people and empathy for them.

“Royce, the reason I love him so much, is that he’s has really had such a hard, hard life. I really feel bad for all the things that have happened to him…and he just keeps going.  He’s the type of person that you know would always protect you, if you are a friend of Royce’s no one would mess with you. He’s very protective of the ones he loves. The other thing is you always know where you stand with him. If he cares for you, he really cares…if he doesn’t, well then too bad for you. He’s a very black and white kind of guy. You’ll never be questioning how he feels about you.”

So now I’m stuck. I love my wife and wish for nothing else but her happiness. I see how excited she gets when I mention that I might write more books with Royce and Hadrian. She’s not the only one…there are others out there who post or send me email. It’s flattering to think that some little story I made up because I was bored has had such an effect on people. Will there be more stories with these two? I suspect there will be. In short story form if the series is not successful as they are easy to write and wouldn’t take too much time away from full-length novels that keep the electricity on. If the series does end up being popular, then I would write longer works. A lot will be determined over the next few months. I suspect that with Percepliquis (the final book also found as the second part of Heir of Novron) coming out in January we’ll know by March whether enough people will want to hear more of the adventures of these two.  I know that doing so will just feed her addiction, but I have no choice. Did I mention that I want nothing more than her happiness?  So even if it means throwing her into the arms of another man (or men) I’ll oblige.  But I don’t think many husbands are put in a position of enabling their wife’s affairs.  My hope is that I’ll always be her favorite and if not…well I can’t be responsible if some terrible fate falls upon either one of them…oh wait…I do.

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About Michael J. Sullivan

After finding a manual typewriter in the basement of a friend’s house, Michael J. Sullivan inserted a blank piece of paper and typed: It was a dark and stormy night, and a shot rang out. He was just eight. Still, the desire to fill the blank page and see where the keys would take him next wouldn’t let go. For ten years Michael developed his writing craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ayn Rand, and John Steinbeck, to name a few. He wrote thirteen novels, and after finding no traction in publishing he quit, vowing to never write creatively again.

His hiatus from writing lasted nearly ten years. The itch returned when he decided to write books for his then thirteen-year-old daughter, who was struggling because of dyslexia. Intrigued by the idea of a series with an overarching story line told through individual, self-contained episodes, he created the Riyria Revelations. He wrote the series with no intention of publishing and presented his book in manuscript form to his daughter. An inability to read large amounts of text in that format prompted her to ask for a “real” book, bound and formatted.

So began his second adventure on the road to publication that included drafting his wife to be his business manager, signing with a small independent press, and creating his own publishing company. He sold more than sixty thousand books as a self-published author and leveraged this success to achieve mainstream publication though Orbit (the fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group) as well as foreign translation rights for France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Michael presently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife and three children and continues to fill the blank pages with three projects under development: a modern fantasy novel, a literary fiction piece, and a prequel to his best-selling Riyria Revelations.

Michael can be found on the Web, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads.

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I have read all but the upcoming Percepliquis, and this is a fantastic series. Before I share my reviews, I have to say that this is one of those series that gets better and better as it goes. The wait for the final “chapter” has been mildly painful, I must confess. Anyway, below are my reviews. Unfortunately, I read most of them before Proud Book Nerd was born, so the reviews are either on Goodreads or my personal blog, but it’s better than nothing.

My Reviews:

• The Crown Conspiracy (Part 1 of Theft of Swords)
• Avempartha (Part 2 of Theft of Swords)
• Nyphron Rising (Part 1 of Rise of Empire)
• The Emerald Storm (Part 2 of Rise of Empire)
• Wintertide (Part 1 of Heir of Novron)

Look for my review of Percepliquis sometime in the next 6 weeks. I don’t have the book in my possession quite yet, but when I do I don’t think I’ll be able to wait to read it – regardless of what else might be needing to get done! I also plan to read Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, and Heir of Novron once I’ve finished out the series of the original six. Look for those reviews (hopefully in the next few months), too!
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