OSC: I invented the world of Westil back in 1976-1977, at the time I wrote my story "Sandmagic," set in that world. I created a series of maps showing the history of the world; I invented a magic system that I loved and wanted to use.

What I didn't have was a story. Now I do. "Stonefather" was a plunge back into the world, to see if there was a story that was not so dark as "Sandmagic." I think it worked exactly as I wanted it to. Meanwhile, the story I'm going to tell in The Lost Gate and its sequels is set in the interface between Earth and Westil (and, as will be revealed, yet a third world).

Q: Most of your books seem to have common themes, such as everyday magic and redemption. Many of them also involve characters in difficult situations making tough choices. What draws you to these themes in your writing?

OSC: I don't think of these as themes - certainly I don't plan them. To me, the thing that makes stories interesting is tough choices. I'm drawn to good people having to choose between bad alternatives. (Maybe that's why I feel so much in harmony with K.J. Parker's writing - long, deeply detailed human stories about people who are really trying to do good things and always ending up causing horrible ones.)

But what you said about "everyday magic." I never thought of it that way. But since magic is always a "supernatural means to power," it occurs to me now for the first time that maybe I'm unconsciously extrapolating the way we Mormons live our religion into the way my fictional characters use their magic. That is, we live our religion in a practical way, and believe that our daily work is a natural part of our connection with spiritual things. Indeed, our concept of what is "spiritual" has zero mystical content. It's just a fact of life. So maybe that attitude inadvertently shows up in my fiction. Certainly I feel no affinity with fantasy novels that get all mystical about magic. To me, it never feels "real" - as even fantasy must feel real in order to engage our concern and belief.