Interview with Wolfgang Hohlbein: About his work routine and a planned film adaptation

Created: 07/04/2022Updated: 07/05/2022 11:53 am

By: Jessica Bradley

Wolfgang Hohlbein © stock&people

The 69-year-old author Wolfgang Hohlbein was at FeenCon 2022 and talks about his working methods and announces a film adaptation of his novel "Hagen von Tronje".

Note to our readers:

The new novel "Verderben - Kinder des Zorns" by Wolfgang Hohlbein is to be published at the end of July 2022.

The other fantasy author publishes a mystery thriller.

I asked him about his everyday writing and future plans at FeenCon.

Thank you for the interview.

You have become known as a fantasy author.

Her latest novel, however, is a thriller.

How did this genre change come about?

It really isn't.

I like anything that's a bit mystical, and this thriller that's coming out isn't just a thriller.

It's more of a mystery thriller I'd say.

You can read it either way you like.

But I've always liked fantastic stories of all kinds.

I don't make a big difference whether it's horror, science fiction or fantasy.

I like everything that is half a step away from reality.

Don't ask me why, I don't know.

What is your work routine as an author?

Still the same as almost 40 years ago: pretty chaotic.

So I don't plan anything in advance, although it depends.

Of course, when I write with colleagues now, I have to pull myself together a bit.

When I write historical novels, I have to stick to reality a bit.

But overall I have an idea.

If I think they're great, I'll do it and ideally I'll sit down and start writing.

And that goes through to the end.

Sometimes there is a break in between, it takes a long time, but I find it incredibly exciting.

I know many colleagues who make an exposé, a very precise schedule with intermediate stations.

I find that boring.

I have a start and finish, which means I start running here and there is the pot of gold that the heroes have to find.

And everything in between I want to experience for myself.

I explore that like reading.

I don't know what to expect on the next page and sometimes I really don't know what I'm going to write on the next page.

This sometimes means that I get from the planned 200 pages to 500 pages.

Sometimes you have to throw away 3 pages because it didn't work out that way after all.

But basically I let myself drift.

Where is your favorite place to write?

Of course I have a nice study.

But only to annoy certain institutions or to receive journalists.

Or if I really want to have my peace and quiet.

There are days when the fly on the wall bothers you.

But actually I need life around me.

That means I either sit in the kitchen with my family, in the summer I naturally sit in the garden, or my main workplace in the evenings is in our living room.

By the fireplace and then the television is often on.

I always have to have a certain input. 

I'm always very, very creative on my vacation.

I always come back from vacation with half a manuscript.

But I still have the feeling that I went on vacation because I experienced something completely new.

But absolute peace and seclusion are deadly for me and my creativity. 

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Do you have a favorite of the many books you have written?

Still "Hagen of Tronje".

Of course, the book I'm writing at the moment is always logical, otherwise I wouldn't be writing it.

But my personal favorite is and remains "Hagen von Tronje", although that's rather untypical for me.

Why this book?

It's also something mystical-historical, so to speak.

But there is no magic in it, there are no dragons and nobody makes themselves invisible.

It's a novel that doesn't really stick to the story.

But it could have happened like this.

I had a lot of fun telling this fantastic story the way it really could have happened.

And I realized what a great story it actually is.

How did you come to write this story?

It's actually quite funny, because it was a commissioned work.

My first impulse, when my publisher called and said she had noticed that there was no Nibelung novel and that I should write her one, I immediately said, quite appalled, that she should leave me alone.

I was bullied enough with it at school.

But then I went in anyway and watched this ancient two-part German film, which sucks.

The only character in this film who even deserves the word actor is Siegfried Wischnewski, who plays the role of Hagen.

So I came up with the idea of ​​turning the story around.

Tell the story from the point of view of the supposed villain.

He didn't actually get that bad

And what lasts for a long time is finally good.

My novel "Hagen von Tronje" is currently being made into a film.

I don't know the cast yet.

Filming is expected to begin in September or October 2022. 

Do you have a favorite author yourself?

30 years ago I would have said Tolkien and 20 years ago I would have said Stephen King.

There are now so many new authors, who are always good, that it would do them an injustice to say, so and so.

There are a few authors where I blindly buy everything that appears.

For example from Stephen King, because I know what I'm getting.

It's a bit like your favorite restaurant, no surprises, but no nasty surprises either.

But there are always good authors that I discover for myself.

What would you like to say to your readers?

Thanks very much!

Cover "Hagen von Tronje" Wolfgang Hohlbein © Ueberreuter Verlag

The story of the tragic hero Hagen von Tronje is told sensitively and in an exceptional way - a new perspective on the Nibelungen saga penned by the great Wolfgang HohlbeinAll great sagas have more than just one side.

Everyone knows the story of the radiant Siegfried, the dragon slayer and ruler of the Nibelungs.

Wolfgang Hohlbein now devotes himself entirely to Hagen von Tronje and brings us closer to the personality of this not-so-sinister hero.

Wolfgang Hohlbein "Hagen of Tronje"

Wolfgang Hohlbein "Hagen of Tronje"

2022, Ueberreuter Verlag, ISBN 13-978-3-764-12005-4

Price: paperback 16€, e-book 9.99€, number of pages: 496 (different format) Order now (promotional link)