A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 180
October 15, 2014
Author Spotlight: Daelynn Quinn
Reblogged from Kyra’s World
Originally posted on Welcome To My Worlds:
Introducing YA fantasy author Daelynn Quinn:1. Tell us a little about yourself.
Besides writing novels, I enjoy hiking, running, and occasionally painting. I am a vegan with hippie tendencies, and yes, I like to hug trees. But besides that I have three children – all boys – who keep me busy most of the time. Reading was not always a passion of mine, especially in my youth, so I am adamant on making sure my boys learn the joys that can be found inside books.
2. When did you start writing, and why?
To be honest, it all started with a backache. A very severe backache. About two years ago I somehow managed to injure my back and I was practically bedridden for months. I got tired of watching the television, and my book collection was rather small at the time. I had just gotten my Kindle and had…
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October 13, 2014
Tales from Darker Places – Horror and Dark Fantasy Anthology – Indie Collaboration
I am delighted to announce the publication of Tales from Darker Places – the second horror and dark fantasy anthology by the Indie Collaboration.
The book is a mix of work from authors familiar and new and will be, as are all the Indie Collaboration works, free. At least when Amazon catches up! The mission of the Indie Collaboration is to share the work of up and coming authors in bite sized chunks, gaining recognition for the authors and sharing a taste of their work with readers.
Usually my work is fantasy, but for this anthology I have included a story about Jack the Ripper, the infamous Victorian serial killer. It is half based on fact – the death of the victim, the time and the situation are real but the killer’s identity is conjecture. It was not easy to write, nor is it easy to read. The Autumn of Terror was a truly terrifying time for the citizens of London in 1888, especially the poor. There is also a poem which is a companion piece to the story. Both are dark. So Many Nights, So Many Sins is vampire tale of darkness and defiance.
The entire volume is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish but the tales and poems are varied and there is something to suit lovers of the dark and deadly.
Authors included in this volume:
Donny Swords:
Dark Places
The Cleansing Bar
Sandra
A Chance Meeting?
Chris Raven
The Worm’s Head Manuscript
The Sham
A.L Butcher
Jack is My Name
A Blade in the Night
So Many Nights, So Many Sins
Moonlight
Alan Hardy
Double
Adam Bigden
Where?
Dani J Caile
A Day in the Life of a Zombie
Payback
Amazon Link http://www.amazon.com/Indie-Collaboration-Presents-Chilling-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00ODS3HQY
Paperback link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Darker-...
Curl up with this shivery Halloween anthology.
October 11, 2014
Editor Interview Number Ten – Mia Darien
Hi, welcome to the Library of Erana and thank you for talking to us today.
Please introduce yourself. I’m Mia Darien. I’m a self-published author, as well as an editor, cover artist and book formatter. I also work for a book blog tour company. Outside of the literary world, I’m a New England Yankee living in Alabama, a wife and a mother, a geek, and general lunatic.
How did you get into this line of work? As I got into the publishing world, I became interested in helping other authors. I’ve experience in areas that helped me edit, so I edited. Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t give away all this time for free, and it became a profession.
Are there genres you refuse, if so why is that? Do you have any you love? I don’t accept or refuse based on genre, but non-fiction is rare. I always love fantasy, though.
Are you also a writer? If so do you self-edit or do you use the services of another editor? I’m also a writer. Presently, I self-edit, but I apply the same standards, which means I go over every book twice.
What are your opinions of self-edited work by authors? Honestly, if you can avoid it, you should. I don’t have a lot of choice presently, but most authors don’t have the editorial background to be able to edit their own work. So I would always recommend finding an editor if you can.
Have you ever refused a manuscript? No. The closest was one book where I did my first “pass” on it (I always do two), but there were elements that disturbed me and I cut my fee in half and didn’t do the second pass. That’s very rare, however. In fact, it’s only happened once.
Have you ever had an author refuse your suggestions/changes? If so how did you deal with it? Typically, I return the edited manuscript and then let them do as they will. I’m sure that most authors don’t take all my changes. I’m fine with that. My edits are suggestions, not laws. The author is the end word on any story.
Editors often receive a bad press in the writing community, what are your thoughts on this? Honestly, I can’t say I’ve heard much press about editors one way or the other. Every group gets bad press at some time or another. Just have to keep working and keep doing the best job you can.
Please could you tell us about the process involved with editing for, say, a 100k word Manuscript. I don’t do full content editing, but I do offer notes about any large problems I see or inconsistencies. Otherwise, I edit. Every book is read over twice to make sure I catch as much as possible. I don’t always catch everything, but I get most of it. (No one can catch 100%, really.)
What is the difference between proof-reading and editing? To me, proof-reading is the very basics: punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Editing, which is what I do, will fix awkward passages and word choices, make sure that the reading flow of the story is the best it can be.
Do you have part of the process you really enjoy? Is there a part you don’t? It’s very tedious work, if I’m being honest. But I love to work with other authors, be able to delve into their worlds for a while and help make them shine.
Outside of your work as an editor do you read for pleasure? What genre do you enjoy the most? Oh, of course. I love all kinds of genres, but epic fantasy always has a strong place in my heart.
If so do you find yourself editing the work as you go or are you able to “switch off?” There is no switching off once you’ve done it for long enough. I can step away from a given project for a time, but the brain is always in Edit Mode. I find myself editing everything. Family’s facebook posts, closed captioning, traditionally published novels, my own text messages…
What advice would you give to someone starting out as an editor? Be thorough, be cautious, and be kind. You’re handling someone’s hard work, so even if there are lots of problems, don’t be nasty. Be thorough and cautious. Educate yourself about the process.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to self-edit? Educate yourself. Try to put time between the writing and the editing. If you edit immediately, you’ll be too familiar with the words and won’t catch things. Go slow.
…otherwise, don’t do it unless you have to.
Tell us a silly fact about yourself. I still like “Sailor Moon” and even made up my own Sailor Scout for Halloween once when I was a teenager.
Please add any links to your blog/website etc.
Character Interview Number Twenty-Nine – Bellaria
Tell Us About Yourself
Name: I have had many names, and I won’t tell you my true one. For now, you may call me Bellaria.
Age: Now, that is a rude question to ask a lady. But, suffice it to say, I have been around long enough to wish myself younger.
Please tell us a little about yourself: Where to start? I am a Queen and a ruler, above all I require absolute loyalty from my followers. I love power and will do anything to get it. I am a witch, and not one of those sappy hedge witches preaching love and “harm none” nonsense. If I was back home, we would not be talking like this. You wouldn’t dare look me in the face the way you are now.
Do you have a moral code? If so what is it? We all have moral codes, some more practical than others. I would have to say mine falls on the more practical side, as in practically anything is fair game as long as it gets me where I want to go. If you want to know if there is anything I wouldn’t do, that’s another question? If there was, I certainly wouldn’t tell you. Knowledge is power, and certain knowledge can worm its way in and find cracks in even the most solid stone. I choose not to hand my enemies any tool that can be used against me.
Would you kill for those you love? Love?? Silly human…love is for the weak. Love is something to be used and to use others with. Now, manipulating others to kill for love?? That has been a useful tool in the past.
Do you have a family? Tell us about them. I had a husband. Several of them in fact. Of course, I have had to remove the resident wife a couple of times in order to get them, but that is of no matter. Rohanna is my step-daughter by marriage, but she is an impertinent thing. So much promise, and very little motivation to use the gifts she has been handed. Since she met Alexandria, she has found her backbone and ruined many a plan of mine.
Tell Us About Your World
I am stuck here, for now…in this accursed little hovel of a world.
Does your world have religion or other spiritual beliefs? If so do you follow one of them? Please describe (briefly) how this affects your behaviour. Religion?? Faith is for the weak. I come from a place where the one’s you call Gods ruled. They eat and piss and argue as bad as Human’s do, despite all their power.
Does your world have magic? If so how is it viewed in your world? Yes, there is magic everywhere behind the veil. Those with the most power have the most power, does that make sense? Kings and Queens did not last long if they are weak, whether it be weak in magic or weak of mind. Your technology has come far to replicate what we can do with magic, but it still cannot surpass it.
What form of politics is dominant in your world? (Democracy, Theocracy, Meritocracy, Monarchy, Kakistocracy etc.) There are many courts and many rulers. Everyone scrambling for their little piece of a small world. The strongest bring together the weaker beneath them, and those who have to beg for protection from their betters are at the mercy of those who can protect them. Those in charge think they are better than all the rest. When they can come together, their rule is law…it is they who sent me to this place and it is with them that I will have my revenge.
Does your world have different races of people? If so do they get on with one another? There are many peoples. I was surprised to find some here, still hidden and surviving through subterfuge. Hiding in plain sight, you would call it. The Greater Fae have no respect for the lesser Fae, and in turn there is no love lost between the two groups. In some cases, the lesser Fae are treated more like servants or bondsman than other Fae. Those with human blood fare even worse. I should be happy about that, the disaffected are easily manipulated into thinking their lot would be better if they chose another side. My side. It is how I amass so many followers.
Author notes: Bellaria is a character found in Ladysmith.
Ladysmith can be found at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles and Kobo.
It can also be found at Sapphire Books @ https://www.sapphirebooks.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Rhavensfyre/e/B00H7XQ5NO/
October 10, 2014
Boudicca: Britain’s Queen of the Iceni
An interesting guest post by author Laurel Rockefeller, about writing history.
Originally posted on Plain Talk Book Marketing:
Today my guest is author historian Laurel Rockefeller. I was intrigued when I “met” Laurel via email and she told me about her book. I was curious why she wrote about women in history. While it is a fascinating topic, I haven’t had any authors in that genre coming my way. So I was thrilled when Laurel said she would talk about it in her guest post. Read on!
March is Women’s History Month in the United States, a time when we reflect upon the achievements of women across world history and look to them as the role models they are.
So imagine my surprise this March when I conducted an informal poll asking people to name as many women as they could from world history, less than 5% of those asked could name five, let alone ten women from world history, including Queen Elizabeth I, reigning Queen Elizabeth II, or…
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Author Interview: Jim Vuksic
Originally posted on The Platinum Journal:
We have another interview for you today! Jim Vuksic’s novel Levels is about a boy named Jonathan, who is living in a dystopian world where he is put through a series of levels, each completion advancing him upwards in society. As his primary education comes to a close, and Jonathan gets closer to the highest level, he begins to learn truths about this world that he never thought possible. As his perceptions change, so do the reader’s. Read our recent chat with the author!
1. Please tell us a little about “Levels” and the world inside of it. What inspired you to write such an ingriguing book?
“Levels” is a post-apocalyptic novel, depicting the end-result of a social experiment, conducted by a group of dedicated men and women, to eliminate all of the institutions, philosophies, and bad behavior in general, which they believed contributed to the downfall of previous societies.
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Interview with Melissa Veracruz
Originally posted on The Platinum Journal:
In the mood for a good romance novel? Melissa Veracruz’s YA novel “Absolutely” is about gorgeous Ashlyn Ramos and quiet Kiel Fuller, who each have separate demons to deal with, yet cross the same path. Literally. Kiel knows the rumors about Ashlyn’s fall into the realm of unpopularity, and Ashlyn can’t help but notice Kiel’s blaring iPod. How will they survive a tough year… together? For ages 13+.
Ever wonder what it takes to write a novel like this? Read our interview with none other than the author herself!
1. Please tell us a little about your book. What inspired you to write this book?
Absolutely is a novel about a girl named Ashlyn Ramos living in a small town who’s life goes from top of the world to bottom over the summer. She finds herself making new friends, being bullied, and opens her eyes to love. I won’t say this autobiographical, because it’s not, but…
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October 7, 2014
Character Interview Number Twenty-Eight – Eriale – Fantasy
Please tell us a little about yourself. My name is Eriale Bareny. I’m seventeen years old. I’m a mage, almost an Adept, which is the highest rank for a mage, although I haven’t applied for the Adept license yet. I live with my mom and dad in our manor. Our family belongs to the minor nobility of the kingdom.
Describe your appearance in 10 words or less. Short, skinny, pale, long black hair, gray eyes.
Do you have a family? Tell us about them. I love my family. My mother and father are my best friends. My father is also a mage, an Adept, and he is my mentor in magic. He owns a magic school, and I help him tutor the younger students.
My mother is a healer. Both my parents were married before. My father’s older daughter from his first marriage, my half-sister Tamara, is the queen of our kingdom. She’s much older than I’m and a pain in the butt, very ‘royal’, if you know what I mean. Her husband, Axelor, the king, is a much nicer guy. When they married, he was pretty far removed from the throne. Nobody thought he would inherit. Only a tragedy made him king. It happened a few years after they got married – I was twelve at the time.
I also have a half-brother from my mom’s first marriage. His name is Toller, and he’s a healer, like my mother. He is also much older than me, but we’re buddies.
What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses? I’m a very powerful mage. My father (and mentor) says that I might be the strongest mage on the continent. I can do anything with magic. In fact, my father says I do too much with magic, even things that could be done without it, like drying my hair after washing or getting a ribbon from another room. I disagree with him. Of course my hair could dry without magic, but it’ll take too long – I have very long hair, almost to my knees. And I have magic to spare anyway, so why not use it productively?
My weakness – my relationship with people, I suppose. I’m usually awkward in company. It’s much easier for me to deal with magic than with people – often I don’t understand them. I spent all my time studying magic, so I never had friends growing up. Now, I have to learn some useless things like small talk or flirting (my mom said I should learn to flirt a little) but I’m not sure why I should bother. With my magic, I can help people. Did flirting ever help anyone? Or empty chat? But both my parents consider those my weaknesses, so I’m willing to learn.
Can you remember something from your childhood which influences your behaviour? How do you think it influences you? My magic manifested when I was three. At first, my dad had to be with me always, to control my magic; I was too young to do it myself. Later, even after I learned to control it, I sometimes got in trouble because of my magic. I always tested it, tried to find the limits. Once, when I was seven, I think, I flooded the cellars of my parents’ manor. It was a mistake, of course, in the alignment level of the spell, but my dad got mad. He grounded me for a month. Another time, I made my mom’s ball gowns dance by themselves, and I danced with them. I was nine. We danced a polka, and it was fun, but my mom panicked when she saw it. Of course, dad grounded me again. Eventually, I learned the hard lesson: I couldn’t use my magic for pranks or practical jokes – ABSOLUTELY NEVER! My magic is too strong for that. Of course, sometimes I still do, but I’m careful now, so my dad doesn’t learn about it. And I know my limits now. I’ll never hurt anyone or damage anything with my magic.
Do you have a moral code? If so what is it? Yes. I suppose my moral code is like most other people’s: don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, the usual. The ‘don’t steal’ clause is a bit flexible though. I would never steal from a friend or from poor people, who can’t afford to lose anything, but a rich merchant who gets richer by deceiving others is a fair game.
But there is one prohibition that’s sacred to me as a mage: Don’t use blood magic! Blood magic is the magic one can derive from the pain and death of other creatures, human and animal. It’s easy power, but it’s dirty. Mages who use blood magic are evil.
My father taught me to use and recognize blood magic. With my level of power, I need to know, but I always feel nauseated whenever I perform anything reminiscent of blood magic. Some spells come close, they’re on the borderline, and as an Adept, I must know them, but I’ll never use them if I have a choice. Fortunately, there is usually a choice in magic, a selection of spells one can apply to accomplish the same goal.
Please give us an interesting and unusual fact about yourself. This fact is mostly about what happened in this book, Almost Adept. The book is about me, but I wasn’t planning to leave home and go on adventuring. It was a piece of bad luck. I just finished my studies and was going to apply for the Adept license but I got into a scrape and had no choice but to disappear for a while. You see, it’s about this guy, Gordin. He is a duke’s nephew. We danced together at a few balls. I liked him and I thought he liked me, but he only pretended. First, he insulted me behind my back, and then he humiliated me in front of his friends, almost raped. I’m no wussy; I’m a princess, well, kind-of anyway, so I had to retaliate. I turned him into a muttonhead.
Of course, it was only for a week and only his head. His body remained human. I really intended to give him a ram’s head, but I miscalculated (it was a spur-of-the-moment spell), and he got a ewe’s head instead. His family was furious. Maybe they wouldn’t be so angry if I gave him a ram’s head, but still. I had to flee until the furor died down.
I probably shouldn’t have used my magic on him. I should’ve broken his nose instead or kneed him in the balls, but I was angry. I should control my temper better; that’s another of my weaknesses, I think.
Please give us a little information about the world in which you live. I live in the kingdom of Varelia. My brother-in-law, King Axelor, is a good king and popular. The commoners love him; I heard it myself when I sneaked to a marketplace last year. People said that our laws are reasonable and our roads are safe. Of course, they complained about the taxes, but who isn’t?
I saw beggars too but not too many. Maybe they hid from me, or maybe I just didn’t go to the right places. Later, I saw terrible poverty and suffering during my travels through other kingdoms. I hope my own country is better. I’ll definitely check it out when I return home. Maybe I can do something to improve everyone’s life. I have so much power I should be able to do some good. As my dad always says: “With power comes responsibility.”
Do you travel in the course of your adventures? If so where? I have distant relatives, my mother’s cousins, in the Roodiman Empire, so that was where I headed after the muttonhead disaster. I stopped in Grumesh at my father’s request, for some magical guild business, but then things got complicated. I became embroidered in their freedom fighting controversy and I met the most wonderful man, Kealan. And then I had to challenge a blood mage to a duel. Scary stuff, but it happens, when one is an Adept. I’ll get to Roodim eventually. I like traveling.
Does your world have magic? If so how is it viewed in your world? Of course. I told you already, I’m a mage. People in our world use magic for everything: weather adjustment, harvest enrichment, sending and receiving messages, honesty control in gaming houses and in court, building inspection. Lots of different applications. Mages work for hire like anyone else. And like any other profession, mages have a guild which governs the members’ conduct. I’ll apply for a guild license as soon as I return home from my trip.
What form of politics is dominant in your world? Mostly, it’s monarchy. My country is a kingdom, and so are most of our neighbours.
Does your world have different races of people? If so do they get on with one another? Yes. There are elves in different enclaves around the continent. They live in most cities and in big forests like Sisiry. Their university in Pereyaslon in Sisiry is famous for its magical studies faculty, and the city itself is very beautiful. I visited there with my father once, when I was young. There is also a huge autonomy of dwarves in the midlands of the Roodim Empire, and trolls live in the swamps all along the northern crescent. I think we’re all getting along okay. At least, there haven’t been any wars between races for several centuries. Of course, not everyone likes everyone else, but you can say the same thing about humans. Humans always wage wars against each other. Stupid, if you ask me.
Name a couple of myths and legends particular to your culture/people. I like elven legends most of all. Some of them talk about another race – letuns, the elves with wings. According to the tales, they lived here a long time ago, until humans started hunting them for their wing membranes. Then, they all flew away, to another continent, but nobody ever proved it. No human ship ever reached that continent and returned. Maybe it’s just stories after all, but every elf I’ve ever talked to says it’s the truth.
And then, there is this famous saga about a dragon-shifter, who turned into a human at will and loved a human girl. That one is definitely a myth; nobody could turn a man into a dragon and back. The transformation spell is brutal and requires tons of magical power. Trust me, all the stories of shifters – dragons or wolves or pythons – are just that: stories. No scientific descriptions and no chronicles ever mentioned even one real case. The same with vampires – dozens of tales but not one proof that they exist.
Dragons are real though, even if I’ve never seen one. We don’t have dragons here. They live on another continent and can’t cross the ocean, but sailors sometimes bring their scales or claws as souvenirs. Once they brought a mummified head of a dragon, and it traveled as part of a freak show. I saw it. It was disgusting. I’d like to see a living dragon. Maybe I should sail to their land. I know dragons have magic, at least some breeds of them do, and I wonder what I could do with their magic. Maybe I could talk to them.
Sometimes, I think maybe the stories of letuns and dragons have merged somehow, maybe they’re the same.
Author notes:
Eriale is the protagonist of Almost Adept, a fantasy novel by Olga Godim.
You can find the book
On the publisher’s website: http://burstbooks.ca/product.php?id_product=118
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Almost-Adept-Olga-Godim-ebook/dp/B00HPPNRUI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389036660&sr=8-1&keywords=olga+godim
On other online retailers’ sites
Olga Godim’s website is: http://olgagodim.wordpress.com
You can also find her on
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6471587.Olga_Godim
BookLikes: http://olgagodim.booklikes.com/
Author Interview Number Sixty-Eight – Olga Godim – Fantasy
Welcome to Olga Godim.
Thank you, Alex, for having me on your blog.
Where are you from and where do you live now? I’m Canadian. I live in Vancouver – a wonderfully green city on the West Coast.
Please tell us a little about your writing – for example genre, title, etc. I’m predominantly a fantasy writer. I have one mainstream novel, Lost and Found in Russia, published last year. It’s women’s fiction about mothers and daughters, but most of what I write is fantasy. My novels are high fantasy. They have a quasi-medieval setting, magic, and swords. My novel Almost Adept is the first in the series I’m working on. It was published in January. My second novel in the same series, Eagle En Garde, was published in May. All the novels in the series are stand-alone, united by the same world.
I also recently published a collection of short stories in the urban fantasy genre, Squirrel of Magic.
Who or what are your inspirations/influences? The idea for Almost Adept started developing in my head long ago, after I read one of Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. Lackey definitely influenced my writing in many ways. She was the first fantasy writer I ever read, the one who introduced me to the genre. In the end of that book of hers, the main character dies heroically. I dislike such endings, so I started fantasizing: what if he didn’t die? What if… One thing led to another, until the guy transformed into someone entirely different, relocated to my imaginary kingdom, and acquired a wife and a daughter. But I didn’t want to write about him. His daughter Eriale became my heroine – a young and very powerful magician.
Strangely, when I started thinking about Eriale’s adventures, they came to me backwards. First, I wrote a story about her, when she was about 30 years old. This story exists on my computer as the first draft of a novel. I’m going to revise it soon. Then I wanted to see how she started on her magic path – and Almost Adept got written. I’m working on two more novels about Eriale.
I also have a couple of short stories about her, both happening before Almost Adept. Both stories are available as freebies on my website.
Do you have a favourite character? If so who and why? My favorite character, Miles Vorkosigan, doesn’t come from fantasy. He is the hero of Lois McMaster Bujold’s sci-fi series Vorkosigan Saga. Miles is unmatched in the genre. On one hand, he is a sick man, on the other – a kind-of ‘prince’ in a futuristic empire. He is also a genius at solving cosmic problems. His adventures are always original, his obstacles gargantuan, and his solutions frequently funny. He is arrogant and kind, self-delusional and insightful, ingenious as a military commander but inept with women. He is a heap of contradictions and charming to the core. I wish I could create a protagonist as memorable and engaging as he is.
Are your characters based on real people? Not in my fantasy novels, but my mainstream novel Lost and Found in Russia is based partially on my personal experiences. When I was young and poor, I often thought: what if someone showed up at my door and said that I had been switched at birth, and my birth family was rich. And they’re looking for me. What would I do? What would my mother do? And – here was the tricky question – what would my other mother do? Would she want and love me as much as the mother who raised me? From that daydream sprouted the idea for one half of the book – the story of a mother who discovers after 34 years that her daughter was switched at birth, by mistake.
The second part of the novel unfolded in my mind after I met an amazing woman Irina in Montreal. An immigrant from Russia, like my protagonist, Irina came to Canada with nothing and accomplished much. I was inspired by her optimism and determination. She told me about her life and her struggles to find her place in a new country. Awed by her courage, her indomitable spirit, and her lovely soul, I adopted her as a model for my heroine. After my meeting with Irina, the novel practically wrote itself.
Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Do you enjoy this aspect of creating a novel and what are your favourite resources? The reason I write high fantasy is because it doesn’t need lots of research. Well, that’s a bit of a joke, but it’s the truth too. In a fantasy story, I can make up a world and all the rules in it, and nobody can say that I’ve made a mistake. It’s my world after all.
Furthermore, fantasy allows me to escape reality. That’s why I read fantasy and that’s why I write fantasy – escapism pure and simple. I imagine my heroes talented and brave, with lots of friends and lots of choices. I make them able and smart. You read about them and you forget (I hope), if even for an hour, while you read, that you need dentures you can’t afford, that your bills are overdue, that your boss is an asshole, that your mom is eighty and getting weaker every day, and you’re helplessly watching her slip away. If I can give you this tiny escape from your worries, then I’ve done my job as a writer.
My urban fantasy short stories are all happening in the city I live in, Vancouver, so again, no research is needed most of the time. And if I do need to check up some facts – the internet is my friend. Almost anything is available, if you ask Google the right questions.
Of course my mainstream novel required more research. For example, my heroine visited the Russian city of Suzdal, a city-museum with a number of old Russian churches. I have never been to Suzdal, but lots of pictures are available online. And I contacted a historical society of Suzdal to ask some questions. As I’m bilingual – I speak and read both English and Russian – I could do that. The people I communicated with were very helpful.
Is there a message conveyed within your writing? This is an interesting question. When I started writing the series of fantasy books, of which Almost Adept is the first, I didn’t intend to convey any message or preach or anything. I just wanted to tell stories, to entertain the readers with my heroes’ adventures. The novels are all high fantasy, so what kind of a message could there be for modern readers, right? But my characters express my world view. They think a bit like me. I suppose it’s inevitable, if a writer is true to herself. So now, when I look at the novels I have written, some published, some not, and some only in the first draft stage, I see a message coalescing, and it has to do with my disbelief in bureaucracy and my mistrust of people with power. What I say in each novel is: “Don’t accept unconditionally what the authorities, secular or religious, tell you. Think first. Doubt. Ask questions.” I guess my skeptical nature shows in my fiction, whether I wished it or not.
What are your opinions about authors commenting on reviews? How important are reviews?
Reviews are extremely important in spreading the word about your book, but as an author, I wouldn’t comment on reviews, even if they’re negative. People are free to express their opinion, and as the celebrities know very well, no publicity is bad publicity. In fact, when I see only 5-star reviews without exception, I get suspicious about that book and the people who wrote those unified reviews. In reality, you can never please everyone. When I write, I write mostly for myself, to tell the story I want to tell. Of course some readers would dislike it. It’s an unpleasant fact of life, like a flu. It happens. You suffer through it and move on.
Kurt Vonnegut in his book Bagombo Snuff Box lists his famous 8 rules of writing. His rule #7 states: “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” I can’t say it better.
What three pieces of advice would you give to new writers? I don’t have three advices – I have one. Persevere. I have a favourite quote – my motto in writing:
“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.”
― William Feather
That would be my advice to any aspiring writer. Don’t give up. If one route to publication doesn’t work out, try another. If nobody wants your novel, try to write for a newspaper or a magazine. Start a blog. You need to find readership that don’t know you. You need to convince strangers that what you write could be interesting for them. And write, write, write.
A writer friend I met online once said: you can only consider yourself a professional writer after you’ve written one million words or more. It’s true. An average novel is about 60,000 to 100,000 words. If I toss in all the writing and re-writing I’ve done for all the short stories and novels, plus my 200+ newspaper articles (I’ve been writing for a local newspaper since 2007), I’m somewhat over one million mark now. And I got three novels published by small publishers. I can definitely consider myself a professional writer.
Keep in mind that writing is a long process, and you can’t skip the apprenticeship phase. Skills come from years of practice, like in music. Of course there are exceptions, but they only underscore the common fact: instant gratification doesn’t exist for writers. Almost always, your first novel isn’t good. My first novel was terrible. It’s still hidden in the bowels of my computer. It will never be published, although I have revised it at least ten times. It was my school. Your first novel is your school. Don’t publish it. Learn from it and move on.
Most authors also like to read, what books do you enjoy? What book(s) have you just finished? I write fantasy, so it won’t surprise you to learn that I like reading fantasy too. My favorite fantasy writer is Sharon Shinn. I enjoy her lyrical and magical tales, a blend of fantasy and romance. Her stories are full of light, without the darkness that’s dominated fantasy novels in the past decade. I especially like her older Samaria series. In it, she writes about angels, and her concept of angels is unique in the genre. It has nothing to do with biblical angels and everything to do with the writer’s imagination. She created a charming race of angels in her stories, angels I believe in, despite my atheism. Her angels are arrogant and talented, decadent and dedicated to their duty, in short – alive. When I read Shinn’s books, my spirit soars. I want to write like she does.
She is one of the very few writers I use as a self-teaching aid. Whenever I’m stumped in my own writing, I ask myself: how would Shinn handle such a conundrum? I open one of her books at random and page through a dialog or a narrative to see what she does. It often helps.
My recent read was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I read it for a group read on BookLikes. It was a re-read; I first read it long ago. I liked it then and I liked it now. A wonderful book!
Can you give us a silly fact about yourself? I use a pen name for fiction – Olga Godim. In my real life, I’m a journalist, and my newspaper articles all have a different byline. I wasn’t always a writer. I was a computer programmer for many years before I started writing. When I submitted my first fantasy story to a magazine, I was still working at my computer job and I felt slightly embarrassed by my fantastic tale. Women of my age and profession didn’t entertain themselves with tales of sword and magic. Or so I thought. So I decided to use a pseudonym. Olga is my first name, and Godim was my father’s first name. He died before I published my first piece, before I even started thinking about writing, but I wanted him to be a part of my writing life, so I chose his name as my nom de plume. Now, he’s always with me, a witness to my successes and failures as a writer.
Book links, website/blog and author links:
Website: http://olgagodim.wordpress.com
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6471587.Olga_Godim
BookLikes: http://olgagodim.booklikes.com/
My book Almost Adept is available at
The publisher’s website: http://burstbooks.ca/product.php?id_product=118
Or other online retailers.
