Maureen Flynn's Blog, page 2

A quick interview with Kaaron Warren: Horror writer

Welcome to my third IFWG author interview for this year! It’s published as part of IFWG’s Uncaching the Treasure’s campaign. I’ve known Kaaron for awhile now and it’s super exciting to be able to talk with her about her work, in particular the re-release of her novel, Slights.

Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.

She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.

In the ‘about’ section of your website, you say you wrote a novel at 14 called ‘skin deep’ which you need to type up. What sort of story was it and have the ideas in it shown up elsewhere in your writing? How? 

I have typed it up now! This story was hugely inspired by The Outsiders, and followed a very similar story line. Two groups in suburban Melbourne battle it out. I moved beyond this kind of realist fiction into horror and science fiction, for a number of reasons, but I’m still looking at the way we treat each other and the way we judge each other at face value. 

What appeals to you about speculative fiction, particularly horror, as a genre? What do you think makes you keep coming back to that horror space?

I love that anything is possible in spec fic. In horror, this means I can explore the afterlife and ghosts, think about what happens to us when we die, and look at crime and punishment in a new way. I keep coming back to horror partly out of habit now! But it’s also because that’s where a story tends to lead me. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been fascinated with the darker side of life, and I’m not a fan of contrived happy endings, so I think that’s a part of it.

In November 2020, Screen Canberra announced development funding to adapt your excellent novel, The Grief Hole, into a film. Are you able to say anything about that project and where it’s at? What’s your role in the collaboration and how are you finding the experience? 

This is such an exciting adventure! Josh Koske approached me a couple of years ago, having read The Grief Hole. He saw the filmic possibilities in it and wanted to have a go at making that happen. He’s the main scriptwriter, with me helping as far as elements of character and plot. I’m really loving the experience. It makes me look at my work from a different angle and really forces me to re-examine why I did the things I did on the page. Once you start to collaborate, the work changes, as does the story. We’re having lots of cool discussions about motivations and that sort of thing. I’ll keep you posted on developments! 

You’ve lived in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and even Fiji for three years (aside: what were you doing there and please tell me more). How does place come into your story-telling (whether through theme, setting or something else)?  

Place is absolutely vital. You absorb the atmosphere of a place you’re in, even if it’s only a visit. The sounds, the smells, the sights. All of that imbues my work. In Fiji, the air is different, and the colours. We were there as part of the diplomatic corps, an amazing experience in itself. I got the chance to make friends with people from all over the world, and to connect with Fijians as well. I explored the streets and shops of Suva, ate food I’d never eaten before, had amazing conversations with fascinating people. It was an unforgettable experience. 

And now let’s talk about Slights. Here’s the blurb for those unfamiliar with this novel:

When Stevie Searle almost dies in the accident that kills her mother, she doesn’t see a shining path or a golden light. Instead, she sees everyone she’s ever slighted, waiting to take a piece of her in a cold, dark room. The person whose place she took in the queue, the schoolmate she cheated off, the bus driver she didn’t pay? All waiting. All wanting to take their revenge when she finally crosses over.

Stevie is fascinated by the dark room so she sends herself there again.

And again.

And Again.

Slights is a re-print of one of your novels (first published 2009) and features a pretty disturbing protagonist. Can you tell us a bit about how the idea for that novel started and how you created Stevie (and coped with being inside her head haha). 

It was a really intense six months or so, living in Stevie’s head. The first draft was written with a grant for the ACT Government, so I was at home writing solidly for that time. I’d never done that before (apart from a couple of weeks here and there) and I think that total focus helped the intensity of the character.  

Stevie was really created out of the concept that hell is a place where everyone you’ve ever slighted is waiting to take a piece of you. I can’t remember how I came up with that idea! But I wrote it as a short story first, then realised I wanted to tell the story of all of those slighted people, so it needed to be a longer work. Once I started to tell their stories, Stevie began to emerge. Each slight helped build her as a person. 

I wrote the book three or four times. The final version I completed in Fiji, when my kids were little. So I had that weird situation where I was in Stevie’s head during school hours, then slipping back into my own real life when the kids were home! 

Is there a favourite/interesting passage from Slights you could share to tease readers?

I do have lots of favourite bits! There are scary bits and funny bits and sad bits. Part of what I wanted to create around Stevie was a sense of loneliness, even though she has people who care about her.

SO here’s a funny little bit. It’s an essay Stevie writes at school!

The Sacking of Troy

by S. Searle
There are great things afoot in the workings of mankind. Only one man can save the day and it is always a strong man, a good man, a man who shows up on time to work and does not take sickies. A man who has only one girlfriend at a time and does not keep three women waiting while he performs nebulous duties. This man is always honest. This man does not steal food from his employer.

This man is not Troy.

Troy got his job at Woolworths because his big brother worked there for years and was now head manager of the cigarette booth.

Brad had an attendance record which was being noticed in high circles, and he never blew his nose on his sleeve. He was popular because he was going places and there was always a chance he would give out free cigarettes when the floor manager took her tea break.

Brad looked good in his short red coat. He had a smile which was quite believable and a laugh which didn’t shock anybody.

There was no reason to think his little brother Troy would be any different.

Brad knew, but he was under the control of his mother, who insisted Troy be given a chance. She could not see Troy in the light everyone else saw him in, because he was charming and he gave her kisses still, although he was fifteen.

The Starting of Troy caused a stir of anticipation. The customers were no cause for gossip – only the ones who liked to catch the cashiers out in errors. They received slow, painstaking service. The best gossip to be had was about each other.

Troy arrived with sunglasses on, greasy hair, sandshoes. Brad received a word of warning; had he not drilled the dress-code into his brother?

Troy wore scuffed school shoes the next day and declared that his ignorance of the difference between a Naval orange and a Valencia would remain just that.

He began to feel besieged the next day when he did not properly pack a customer’s bags, and he lashed out. Brad was called to speak with him.

“Troy, you must be careful. The people here are very unforgiving. They don’t like temper or any other emotion. Perhaps if you were in Paris things would be different, because the French are a passionate race. But you are here, where we are dispassionate, and you must abide by the laws, however unfair or invasive you find them.”

On his next shift, Troy was discovered having sex with Diana, who had gone out the back for a cigarette and been surprised.

“What can I say? He’s built like a horse. I could hardly resist.”

With that, Troy was sacked.

THE END

What’s next on the writing horizon?  

I’ve had some good story sales this year so far, but not sure they are all announced yet! I’ve written stories set in a failed world, stories set 5000 metres in the sky, stories set in mythical pubs about cursed brooches. All out this year, I hope! 

I’ve got the next two re-releases coming from IFWG. Walking the Tree and Mistification. Really looking forward to having those out in the world again! 

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Kaaron! You can read more about the book at the publisher’s website with Slights available for purchase in all good ebook and print outlets. It is distributed through Gazelle (UK/Europe), Novella (Australia) and IPG (North America).

A quick interview with Venero Armanno

Welcome to my second IFWG author interview for this year! It’s published as part of IFWG’s Uncaching the Treasure’s campaign. IFWG Publishing moved most of its intended 2020 new release titles into 2021, to offset the impact of COVID-19, in effect caching treasures. They are excited to release them from February to June 2021 ( an ‘uncaching’). The Uncaching the Treasures campaign is extensive, including partnering with quality reviewers, bloggists, podcasters, and events, both virtual and physical. Near on 20 titles will be uncached.

Venero Armanno is the author of ten critically acclaimed novels, including his recent book Burning Down (2017). His other well-known books include Black Mountain (2012), The Dirty Beat (2007) and Candle Life (2006). Further back, Veny’s novel Firehead was shortlisted in the 1999 Queensland Premier’s Literary Award; in 2002 The Volcano won the award with Best Fiction Book of the Year. His work has gone on to be published in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Israel and South Korea.

His latest novel, The Crying Forest, enters the realm of speculative fiction. Agata Rosso, a once-mighty yet now prematurely aged European witch, believes that the special gifts in a young girl named Lía Munro can restore youth and vitality both to herself and her bedridden husband. She sets a deadly plan in motion to capture and use Lía-but will the girl have enough power to protect herself, plus the father she loves so much?

Without further ado, welcome Venero!

On your Wikipedia page, it states you wrote 10 unpublished novels over 14 years before getting picked up. What made you keep going and do you have any advice for other writer hopefuls still struggling to get published? Have any of those unpublished novels been picked up since?

So yes, that’s true, I did write a lot of novels before having something published. I was young enough in those days to think I could do anything, so I launched in when I was 17/18 and started writing a horror vampire novel that I was sure would bring me instant fortune and fame. When that didn’t happen I realised I knew less than zero and that there was a long learning road ahead if I was to take this think called writing seriously. However, still being young, I thought I could teach myself what I needed to know and do this by writing non-stop.

That part of the idea was good, but I set myself the formidable task of writing a novel a year until one got published. A novel a year doesn’t leave room for a lot of rewriting but that was part of my ignorance – I’d dash off 80 to 100,000 words, over the course of a calendar year, spend a week or two polishing what I had, then would start sending the ms off to every publisher I could find in the telephone book. This was in the late 70s into the end of the 80s, so there was no Internet, everything was hard copy on a typewriter with lots of time spent at photocopy machines and in post offices. Anyway, once I’d finish a ms I’d start on the next. I seemed to have no problem with new ideas, though maybe the ideas weren’t all that good. I wrote in any number of genres.

Once I got through my Stephen King phase, I had my Fitzgerald, Greene, Hemingway, Cheever… you understand what I mean. Rejections came thick and fast but to specifically answer your question here, what kept me going was a lot of fear – I dreaded being either stuck in an office job or spending the rest of my life working as a bricklayer’s labourer, which is what I had to do in my teens and twenties. Probably a more important point is that some rejections would have a nice note attached to it: “We can’t publish this ms but we like your writing so please send us your next book.” I recall I had lots of messages like that, so if an aspiring writer needs any greater encouragement, then they’re probably not all that serious about their craft and should think about something else. 

So any advice I might have for aspiring writers is along the lines of what I wrote above – keep persisting, keep trying. Don’t worry about time. Don’t want it all straight away. You might take years to find your true voice, something that’s original and new and completely yours. That’s what publishers are after – a new voice. You’ve got a lot to learn so give yourself every opportunity to learn it. Early success only comes to a few, and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong in taking a longer road – because you want a writing career that is a very long road anyway, with strong foundations. That takes time and effort and every shortcut short-changes you.

Most of my unpublished mss deserve every bit of their non-publication, though I have a soft spot for the first one. It’s about a Sicilian-migrant-vampire who has an underground lair at a university and who kills students by night. In the end he gets bored with his life (i.e. I got bored with the book) and so commits suicide. Now, I’ve never read a book about a Sicilian-migrant-vampire who commits suicide. Somebody should publish it! Of the other books two did get published but in new forms. These mss became Strange Rain and My Beautiful Friend, two books that did very well, but they changed a hell of a lot from the drafts I’d first written in the 80s.

In addition to writing, you’re also a teacher at the University of QLD. How does teaching affect and inform your writing work and vice versa, particularly with your latest, The Crying Forest? 

I won’t complain because I love my job and I’m very happy to have it, but of course it certainly takes up most of my time – meaning I have less time to write. This could be a good thing actually; maybe it’s better to be forced to slow down, though I would have liked to have written more books over the last twenty years that I’ve been at UQ. Having said that, though, teaching creative writing forces me to engage more with the form – to really think about what I’m doing and how. It also gives me a direct look at readers i.e. students who love reading. Why do they read? What are they reading? Which books do they avoid like the plague? All of this is really interesting for a writer. It’s true that a teacher can learn more from their students than vice versa.

You’ve written novels for adults, young adults and children, as well as several short stories. How do you think trying out these different modes has shaped your writing, particularly your current novel?

I think writing short stories is one of the best ways possible to find your voice and to learn and improve your craft. The end of my little tale above about all my unpublished mss is that around 1988 someone said to me, “You spend a year or two writing entire novels that don’t get published… why don’t you try short stories instead?” It was a lightbulb moment. Yes indeed. Why not write short stories and send them out and get rejected (or maybe one day published) even faster? So then I embarked on a campaign of always having stories in the post to editors at whatever magazines or competitions I could find. That was my real start, when stories started being accepted and I started winning some prizes. My first published book was in fact a collection of these stories, Jumping at the Moon, not a novel.

This sort of writing experience does affect all my novels, including The Crying Forest. How? I think because it gives you the tools for shaping sub-plots into their own discreet arcs. The difference is that these sub-plots (which are stories in themselves really) have to feed into the main plot of course. However short story writing skills help you/me actually make those sub-plots so much stronger (I hope!).

You were born in Brisbane to Sicilian parents. Does that background influence your writing in any way, particularly with The Crying Forest? If so, how?

Yes, all my writing is informed by the migrant experience. Of my parents coming to this country when they were young (they met here and married) and me being a child of a father and mother who didn’t understand much about their new country at all. I’d be a completely different writer without these experiences, or, more likely, not a writer at all. It’s the outsider syndrome—growing up I never quite felt part of Australia even though I was born here. The family home was very Sicilian and the family and friend network was also almost purely Sicilian. So in a way it was as if I was new to this country as well: home was one world, outside of that was something completely different, and I really didn’t fit in. So as something of an outsider one becomes very observational: of everything around and also of the past, if I can put it that way.

Many of my books are based on Sicilian history and research, and The Crying Forest ultimately came together in the same way – I was researching something completely different and accidently came across myths and legends that weren’t Sicilian (but from the north, in Friuli) but that had resonances in Sicily. These legends had to do with witches and werewolves, and so my research deepened, leading me to think, well, Australia is a country of migrants, what if these legends had travelled across the seas with the migrant diaspora? That was really part of The Crying Forest’s germinal idea—and where I live, in an area that was once completely rural and has its own forest lands, felt like the perfect place to take up these mythologies.

Are there particular themes and ideas you return to again and again in your work? Why do you think that is? Do you revisit such ideas and themes in The Crying Forest?

As you might have gathered by now, recurring themes have to do with the migrant diaspora, leading to themes of loss and belonging—and, even, of the longing for the old world left behind. I’ve always felt sort of floating between two cultures – not quite part of one or the other, so that forces me back to writing inside these themes.

You’ve written in a diverse range of genres. What sort of books and authors inspire you and why? Are there stories you’d compare The Crying Forest to?

I think The Crying Forest is a sort of literary supernatural tale, in that characters’ emotions, their relationships and personal baggage really drive the plot—as well as a lot of “real” history. So I’d consider books in the same ballpark might be The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and even The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. But that’s setting myself a very high bar!  A writer/reviewer I was just speaking to said the book reminded him very much of the writing my Peter Straub, and I can see that – If You Could See Me Now and Ghost Story in particular.

Writers who have had a huge impact on me I’ve already mentioned: from Stephen King to Graham Greene, F Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. I’d add Truman Capote, John Cheever, Raymond Carver, Oscar Hijuelos, Ray Bradbury (who I had the immense pleasure of meeting once, in a Parisian bookstore) and Haruki Murakami. In fact at present I’ve just been rereading The Illustrated Man, The Golden Apples of the Sun, The Martian Chronicles, plus The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and South of the Border, West of the Sun. I love going back to my literary heroes.

Tell us more about The Crying Forest. What inspired the novel?

In 2001, newly-married and with my wife Nic pregnant with our first (and only) child, we travelled from our rundown inner-city Queenslander-style home to see an even more rundown old house in an outer-west suburb I’d never even heard of. We went because we’d seen a picture of a house in the real estate pages of a newspaper, and I’d never seen anything like it. The place was like some Gothic old English country manor that a louche rock star would buy and fill with drugs, booze and groupies.

We discovered the place was located on land that once had been part of immense hectares of farming property. Built in 1932, it sits at the top of a small hill and was (and still is) nicely isolated. With all good sense thrown aside we bought the property and moved in.

Some people, tradespeople for instance, don’t like to be alone in our home; we however find it inviting and perfectly peaceful. It became the “red house”—Rosso House—of The Crying Forest. And that forest itself is nearby; overgrown trails are where I walk my dog almost every day. So, for that matter, is the wider fictional region the book calls “Grandview”.

So in terms of inspiring the novel, other than a very spooky home, an isolated property and endless state forest, another thing that informed this book were the wild packs of escaped dogs in our region, howling at night and raising hell, plus the proliferation of deer—an introduced species not native to the region. Dogs and deer wage their own battles. It all just seemed to cry out for a novel about the supernatural, and I’d wanted to write this book for years, even though it was well outside of my usual genres.

What was the hardest part of writing The Crying Forest? What was the easiest? Did you have to do any research?

All novels are hard, in their own way, even the ones that come pouring out. The Crying Forest did come pouring out… I wrote the first draft longhand in a series of notebooks, then revised and revised endlessly on my computer. The hardest part was finding the time to write. Work at the University can be very intense, and the more senior I become the less extra time I have. So there were a lot of 4am mornings, doing as much as I could before getting ready to head off by six or so.

There was plenty of research for this book, a process I always like very much. While reading texts about several things I wanted the book to touch on I came across information about Italian witches: this interested me because when I was growing up my parents would take me to our local Sicilian witch if I needed medical attention, not a traditional doctor. I remember this crazy old crone treating me for neck aches (which she made worse) and a broken finger (thanks to her, it’s still crooked). My parents used to talk about the way this woman’s potions could cure all manner of illnesses, and that she was more knowledgeable than any fool-doctor with medical training. Remembering her, I read more about witches (and werewolves) in Sicilian and Italian mythology, and in particular I discovered the Benandanti: 

“The benandanti (Good Walkers) were members of an agrarian visionary tradition in the Friuli district of Northeastern Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The benandanti claimed to travel out of their bodies while asleep to struggle against malevolent witches (malandanti) in order to ensure good crops for the season to come. Between 1575 and 1675, in the midst of the Early Modern witch trials, a number of benandanti were accused of being heretics or witches under the Roman Inquisition.” (from Wikipedia)

It really didn’t take too much imagination to put all these disparate elements together: house, forest, Italian folklore.

What do you think’s different about The Crying Forest to your other books? 

I’ve only published in the supernatural once before, with My Beautiful Friend in about 1995. So The Crying Forest is a real departure into witches and werewolves, and people with special powers.

What’s next on the writing horizon for you?

I’ve got two novels on the go which are more my own traditional sorts of works, but I’ve got more of The Crying Forest planned, if circumstances allow me to go that far. I’m not one for sequels but I feel like there are more stories to come from these characters, some really fascinating threads that I’d love to explore. The book is mainly set in Brisbane, Australia, however many of the characters are European—I’m excited to follow them into places like Rome, Sicily, Barcelona and Paris… you know what the writer’s imagination is like!

Thanks so much for your considered answers Venero! I’m pumped to read your novel now! For you readers out there keen too, you can read more about the novel here (and watch a cool book trailer). The Crying Forest is available for purchase in all good ebook and print outlets. It is distributed through Gazelle (UK/Europe), Novella (Australia) and IPG (North America).

A quick interview with Russell Kirkpatrick: Epic Fantasy Author

You’ll be seeing a lot more author interviews on this site in the next few months, mainly as part of IFWG’s Uncaching the Treasure’s campaign. IFWG Publishing moved most of its intended 2020 new release titles into 2021, to offset the impact of COVID-19, in effect caching treasures. They are excited to release them from February to June 2021 ( an ‘uncaching’). The Uncaching the Treasures campaign is extensive, including partnering with quality reviewers, bloggists, podcasters, and events, both virtual and physical. Near on 20 titles will be uncached, and yours truly has signed up to help promote.

First author I’ll be interviewing as part of this campaign is an awesome friend of mine, Russell Kirkpatrick! An award-winning, best-selling author of both epic fantasy books and thematic atlases, Russell’s first novel was the biggest-selling debut fantasy of 2008 in the USA, and his fiction has won three Sir Julius Vogel awards. Atlases he’s worked on have twice been finalists in New Zealand’s Montana Book Awards. He’s still a university lecturer, despite having tried to retire at least twice. Although he lives in Canberra, Australia with Kylie and Rogue (one of whom is a dachshund), he is most definitely a New Zealander. His biggest claim to fame is that he has the most wonderful group of friends in the world. Today, Russell talks about his latest novel, Silent Sorrow, as well as some other aspects of his writing process. Welcome, Russell!

As well as an award-winning fantasy writer, you’re a writer of thematic atlases! What are thematic atlases and does the work you do with them influence your writing, especially in new novel, Silent Sorrow?

So a standard atlas, the kind you might have used before Google Maps, shows physical features, roads, places and administrative boundaries. These are supposedly the ‘real’ landscape, though there’s a lot of important things missing from maps like these. A thematic atlas tries to highlight these important missing themes by devoting a map or series of maps to them – like average annual rainfall, for example, or employment, or First Nations people. The First Nations people map is an excellent example of a thematic map. It doesn’t have roads or rivers or mountains, just information consistent with one specific theme. I make atlases like this, and they haven’t been superseded by Google Maps like normal atlases have.

My work with maps and atlases has definitely influenced the way I think about the world. In particular, it informs what constitutes a white western gaze and what realities are hidden from that gaze. In Silent Sorrow I definitely try to make some of those realities visible, though inevitably things are still often seen from my own viewpoint.

You’ve also been a geography lecturer. How does that work influence your fantasy and your world-building?

Aside from the obvious head start geography gives me in world-building (both physical and cultural), having immersed myself in the subject has had an even broader influence on my fantasy writing. In particular exposure to post-colonial ideas helped me set up the underlying rationale for the basic global conflict underpinning the narrative in Silent Sorrow. I should emphasise that the world of Silent Sorrow is not a thinly-disguised metaphor for the distressing global disparities in our own world: my world is driven by quite a different dynamic.

I do struggle with a tendency towards realism. So much of what I read in the genre is geographically implausible, but it’s often the implausibility that makes it so interesting. I have to remind myself that it’s called “fantasy” for a reason, and not everything needs a hard science explanation.

What other writers influence your fiction? Who are some of your favourite authors and why?

Tolkien and Lewis were the first, followed by Le Guin (though not Earthsea, which I dislike) and, latterly, Reynolds, Bujold, Abercrombie, Elliot and a pile of others. I love large canvases and huge conflicts with great attention to detail, which is what drew me to Tolkien and Lewis (but not the awful LOTR and Hobbit movies). Le Guin gave me compelling cultural geography (The Dispossessed!) and a commitment to social justice. The other writers embellished this, adding cynicism, biting humour, depth of characterisation and stories that matter.

You say in your bio you have the most amazing friends in the world. How do they/how have they helped you on your author journey and how important is the speculative fiction community to you?

They are the most amazing friends. They gave me a home, made me feel welcome, offered gentle (and sometimes fierce) critiques of my work, and made a wide variety of baked goods which I recklessly consumed. They are thoughtful, talented, dedicated and working hard to rid themselves of their privilege.

You’re originally from New Zealand, though you live in Canberra now. How do you think your NZ background/identity affects your fiction? Do you think there’s differences between Australian and NZ spec fic writers in how they write and see the world? Will we see some of that in Silent Sorrow?

Being a New Zealander gave me lots of opportunity to get outdoors and experience what it’s like to interact with a mountainous wilderness. It’s no surprise these landscapes feature heavily in my work. It’s only a small reveal to say the characters in Silent Sorrow have to learn to stop trying to dominate nature and start living within its limits, a lesson New Zealanders learn when young (or they die in remote valleys and on mountainsides).

New Zealand authors have tended to write small: a trip to the corner shops, growing up in a small town, living on the coast. I find Australian writers are more prepared to engage with a larger canvas, yet few white writers look to their own enormous continent as inspiration, because they continue to struggle with issues around identity. With Silent Sorrow I’ve tried not to see our world at all, but imagine something with different rules and attitudes and a different fundamental conflict – science vs the old gods.

As the interview starts to delve more specifically into Silent Sorrow, let’s look at the book’s blurb:

Brilliant and ambitious, Remezov is already recognised as the best earthquake predictor in the business. He travels to the ancient city of Hanemark to be received into the powerful Guild of Geographers, the youngest inductee in decades.

On the way he finds a dead scientist’s diary, warning of an imminent invasion. Nonsense, of course—except the diary explains otherwise puzzling occurrences. Does he surrender it to the Guild, risking accusations he killed the scientist and stole the diary—all for an invasion that may never come—or does he keep it and use it to make his name? He has to decide soon, because he’s being hunted by something leaving a trail of mutilated bodies across the city.

The lizards are coming…

Tell us more about Silent Sorrow. What inspired the story?

Silent Sorrow has its genesis in a panel at a New Zealand SF convention over a decade ago. I was part of a discussion that talked about Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and tentatively (all right, stridently) argued that fantasy privileges human agency over social structure – Frodo the insignificant’s courage, and the bravery of a few mates, will always overcome the power and might of the dark forces set on enslaving the world. I tried to make the case that it was time fantasy explored the much more realistic notion that social structure – the vast, faceless system we’re organised by (call it capitalism if you like) – always suffocates human agency. There isn’t one ring to cast into the fire, there’s 8 billion.

We see this struggle everywhere. I teach a Global Environmental Futures course at Uni. Students turn up to class with their lovely activism, their reduce/reuse/recycle attitude and have taken responsibility for their own actions, the way they’ve been taught at school. They’re shocked when they learn their recycling isn’t recycled, and that corporates are responsible for the vast majority of global warming (don’t shoot me, I’m generalising, I haven’t got time to check the figures). The best they can do is a flea-bite. The de-emphasis of society and the focus on individualism has exacerbated this trend. Students feel powerless. Social structure triumphs over human agency

UNLESS

humans use the power of aggregation and band together, rediscover society and let their sheer numbers make a difference. Frodo isn’t going to win the battle against climate change on his own. We need a million, a billion Frodo’s to take action in the market. The Frodo’s are already doing this by demanding their super funds stop investing in fossil fuel, or using boycotts to pull polluters into line.

So – what if this happened in a fantasy novel? That’s the premise of Silent Sorrow: attempting to overcome a global existential threat by united social action. A look at the title of the book suggests it doesn’t go well, not at the start. Yes, the story is about a few individuals, and it’s not a dry university course, but there is no Chosen One, there are no saviours.

Can’t emphasise this enough. Fantasy as a genre reinforces the notion that brave individuals can triumph over the dark forces threatening us. This is NOT the message we need right now. We need to rediscover our social mojo. Tell you what, I was really surprised by how much drama and action and individual courage this approach generated, as well as how different the novel feels to its contemporaries.

I know that this novel had some challenges along the road to publication (your last fantasy trilogy wrapped up in 2009). Are you able to tell us about that and what helped overcome them? Any advice for people in similar situations?

Yeah, well, things didn’t work out great after 2009. I had serious health issues and a relationship breakdown that killed all the momentum I’d built up in the preceding decade. Added to that was the sudden deflation of the market, which hit midlist authors like myself extremely hard. While I’ve sorted my health and I’m in a wonderful relationship, I was not able to solve the collapse of the midlist. I’ve had to adjust to the new reality and recognise that Big 5 publishers are looking for something slightly different to what I offer. So be it! IFWG have very bravely picked up Silent Sorrow which, with its length and plethora of maps, is expensive to produce.

I think I’ve written a great book, but that doesn’t automatically qualify me for a lucrative publishing deal (or any deal at all). I have an unshakeable core belief in my own ability, one that has withstood stripping away layers of white male entitlement. That sort of unshakeable belief, whether real or deluded, is what authors need to ride out the rough patches in their careers. I’ve also had the generous and unfailing support of friends and fellow writers, which means the whole expanding universe to me.

How do you think Silent Sorrow is different to other books out there? (Give us your elevator pitch) Do you have any comp titles to compare the novel to for readers?

I’ve read two other fantasy series that have tackled this notion: Martin’s Game of Thrones and Abercrombie’s The First Law. In both novels the better you were as a person the swifter you died, and their endings were chaotic and certainly not triumphant. I’ll be sure not to repeat those mistakes!

Elevator pitch?

“In a land so unstable geographers predict earthquakes like forecasting the weather, it is a foolish thing to banish the gods keeping the continents from falling apart – but that is what Medanos has done. The gods flee to nearby Beduil, which suffers catastrophic quakes as the world plunges out of balance. The Beduil solution is to launch an invasion to wipe out every trace of the Medanans, so the banished gods might return.”

What novels would I compare it to? Definitely similar in tone and intricacy to Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, and with Abercrombie’s bite.

What does Silent Sorrow have in common with your previous novels (aside from you writing them)? How is it different?

Silent Sorrow is a much more active novel, with deeper characters, more humour and a faster pace than anything I’ve had published. It’s a world-spanning fantasy with crisp, believable worldbuilding that directly affects the plot, similar to what I’ve written before. Readers acquainted with my previous work will find this familiar, but also quite different in its approach. It’s definitely a step up in quality.

What’s next on the writing horizon for you?

I have the rest of this story to tell, a YA science fiction superhero novel to rewrite and a literary SF novel to complete.

I found this interview fascinating so thanks so much Russell for putting in the effort to answer so many questions. You can pre-order Silent Sorrow from the links found here, with the book released 1st Feb 2021. Silent Sorrow is available in all good ebook and print outlets. It is distributed through Gazelle (UK/Europe), Novella (Australia) and IPG (North America).

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A quick interview with Matthew R Davis: Horror Writer

A new month and a new year! I’ve decided to kick off my author interviews with a foray into the horror genre. Matthew R. Davis is an author and musician based in Adelaide, South Australia, with around sixty short stories published around the world thus far. He won two categories in the 2019 Australian Shadows Awards (Best Short Story and the Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction) and has been shortlisted for both the Shadows and the Aurealis Awards on numerous occasions. When not writing, he plays bass and sings in progressive heavy bands like Blood Red Renaissance and icecocoon, performs spoken word shows with punk poets Paroxysm Press, dabbles in video editing, graphic design, and short film, and explores nooks and crannies with Red Wallflower Photography. His first collection of horror stories, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, was published by Things in the Well in 2020; his first novel, Midnight in the Chapel of Love, is published by JournalStone in January 2021.

Credit: Red Wallflower Photography

From the blurb of Midnight in the Chapel of Love:

Jonny Trotter has spent the last fifteen years running from tragic memories of the country town where he grew up but now that his father has died, he can run no more. Returning to Waterwich for the funeral with his partner Sloane, Jonny must confront old resentments, his estranged best friends, a strange, veiled woman the locals call the White Widow and the mystery surrounding the fate of his first love.

A morbid and reckless city girl, Jessica Grzelak lived to push the limits and explore the shadows and no-one has seen her since the night she and Jonny went looking for the Chapel. Rumoured to be found in the woods outside Waterwich, mentioned in playground rhymes about local lovebirds Billy and Poppy and their killing spree in 1964, the Chapel is said to be an ancient, sacred place that can only be entered by lovers, a test that can only be passed if their bond is pure and true. Before he can move on to a future with Sloane, Jonny must first face the terrible truth of his past and if he can’t bring it out into the light at last, it might just pull him and everything he loves down into the dark, forever.

So now you’ve had a small intro to Matthew’s writing and life, let the interview begin …

In your bio, you mention a lot of different creative pursuits in your life, including filmography, photography, and musicianship. How do these interests influence your writing?

The more you see and do, the more experience you can pull from for your writing. I’m not a photographer, but spending so much time with a shutterbug (Meg Wright aka Red Wallflower Photography) has increased my interest in the craft and our exploration of abandoned locations has given me enough ideas for a novel on the subject; my love of song, and especially my time in bands, has proved a rich seam of inspiration for stories about music and musicians. I’m into many different artistic disciplines and they all feed into each other to give me a deep pool of experiences, and experience combined with imagination is all you really need to get those ideas flowing.

What’s your favourite short story that you’ve written and why?

That perfect tale I’m yet to write and probably never will. An artist spends their life striving to reach an ideal they can never truly articulate, but through that struggle, great work may be produced.

What speaks to you about the horror genre? Any other horror writers you’d recommend to readers?

I could write an essay or two answering that first question! In a nutshell: I love the freedom, the transgression, the imagination, the universality – not everyone’s been a spy or a detective or a selfish college lecturer who’s unnaturally appealing to beautiful young students, but everyone’s been afraid. And I guess I’ve always just been a bit morbid, because dark subject matter has always appealed to me.

My answer to the second question could just go on and on (and on), but in an effort to be succinct, I’ll limit myself to one old favourite, one modern master, and one new voice. Ramsey Campbell has been a big influence on me since my teenage years, and he’s essential reading for anyone with an interest in sophisticated chills; Laird Barron is an author I follow closely, and his blend of cosmic horror, hardboiled crime, and mind-bending weirdness is unparalleled; and Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth are terrifically enjoyable novels packed with necromancy, mordant humour, and unfettered imagination.

How important is the writing community to you? What kinds of support have you found on your writing journey?

I’m fairly solitary and insular as far as my craft goes – I don’t have a writing group or beta readers or anything like that. I sit in a room and I write and rewrite, and usually the editor of an anthology I’ve submitted to is the first person to set eyes on a story after myself. But I have made a lot of friends in the writing community, both locally and globally, and they’ve proven to be very supportive and helpful – decent, dependable, authentic people. And why wouldn’t they be? Our whole thing is making people up and seeing through their eyes, which requires a certain amount of sensitivity and empathy. Some writers do turn out to be raging arseholes, but the ones I know personally are thoughtful and caring individuals – especially the horror authors.

On the day I’m writing this, I went out for lunch with fellow Adelaide scribe Chris Mason and talked writing and writers for over four hours; Steve Dillon, who published my collection If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, has been a notably helpful figure in my nascent career and through him I’ve met a lot of delightful fellow authors; Scarlett R. Algee, the JournalStone editor who picked up Midnight in the Chapel of Love for publication, has proved an enthusiastic and understanding collaborator. I’m lucky to know these folk and all the rest, and I’m looking forward to meeting many more.

You’ve written and published a lot of short stories, including publishing a short story collection. Midnight in the Chapel of Love is your first novel. Was it hard getting into that novel writing space and do you have any tips for people trying to make the jump from short stories to novel writing?

It wasn’t hard at all, as I’ve been writing novels since I was in high school! This is merely the most recent I’ve written and the first one to actually be published. So as far as tips go, I’d say: if you plan on being a novelist, read widely and start writing novels as soon as you feel up to the challenge… and understand that your first few attempts will be terrible but highly educational. Then, just write and write until you finally crack it. I’ve written eight novels so far and half of them are unpublishable by my current standards. But I learned so much from writing them, and I’ll always love them for that.

Tell us more about Midnight in the Chapel of Love. What inspired the novel?

The initial inspiration came from listening to Something for Kate’s “The Fireball at the End of Everything” as I drove between Port Pirie and Adelaide one afternoon. There’s a line about a passenger putting their feet up on the dashboard and that got me thinking about a couple driving between the city and the country in the summer sun. I asked myself why they were doing this and decided they were heading back for a funeral, that the guy had grown up there and had a past he’d been fleeing for many years. Everything else fell into place after that over the course of the next six months or so, and then the writing began.

How do you think Midnight in the Chapel of Love is different to other books out there? (Give us your elevator pitch.)

“Midnight in the Chapel of Love takes the Australian Gothic by the nape of the neck and drives it deep into the dark, fathomless depths of cosmic awe!”

I don’t really know how this book is different, other than that it was written by me and other books are not, but I do feel it has something substantial to offer. There’s a lot going on under the surface of what appears to be a fairly straightforward mystery, and while the implications are chilling to contemplate, there’s more here than a simple horror story. I’m not trying to distance myself from genre at all – this is just one tale I wanted to tell a certain way, and while it’s intended to keep you guessing and make you shudder, it also turned out to be an examination of the small town/big city divide, variations of Australian masculinity, the intricacies of romantic love, and so much more.

Some friends recently asked me to describe the book and I said, “It’s like Picnic at Hanging Rock with more sex and drugs.” That’s a crassly simplistic and reductive answer, but they laughed and wanted to know more, so I guess that works, too!

What was the hardest part of writing your novel? What was the easiest? Did you have to do any research?

I suppose the hardest part was getting the plot elements to click seamlessly together. There are certain questions that plagued me throughout the writing and only found solid answers as I neared the end. The easiest part would have to be the actual writing – once I knew what I was doing and where I was headed, I could just kick into gear and let the words flow.

Research has become a very important part of my process, because I can’t bear the thought of someone more knowledgeable on a subject than me reading my work and thinking, “Pfft, that’s not how it is.” In this case, I had to look into a great many things – chart hits of the year 2000, post-WWII Polish history, what kind of radio a car in 1964 Australia would have, and so on. I read books on the Narungga people and Australian cave systems. I used to be a lazy researcher, but the advent of the internet means there is no excuse for that. Don’t be a Donny Didn’t-Look – Google that shit or check out a book, and make sure you’re getting it right.

What’s next on the writing horizon for you?

I’m trying to decide which of the short stories clamouring for my attention need to be written next and I’m plotting out two future novels, both of which are proving more complicated than I’d expected! I’m always looking for new opportunities to get my work out there in front of people, new ways to raise my profile.

Thanks for a fascinating interview, Matthew!

More about Midnight in the Chapel of Love …

Matthew R. Davis, winner of two 2019 Australian Shadows Awards, follows the well-received release of his first horror collection If Only Tonight We Could Sleep with the publication of his first novel, Midnight in the Chapel of Love, by JournalStone on January 29, 2021. The book is available for preorders through the publisher’s website with more options available soon. You can find Matthew at his own website here.

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Autumn in New Orleans: A Flash Fic

How did I come to live in a forest looking like a freak with Betty McLean, leaving school, friends, and family behind?

Well for starters, the red-gold leaf was as big as my face. Which is why it was kind of bad it stuck to my forehead, nose, mouth, chin like glue. I wrestled with it, and you’d think I’d have won easy-peasy on account of it being a tender sugar maple versus a boy, but it wouldn’t budge. I think I had a panic attack – certainly, it was hard to breathe, and I soon hated the taste of crisp bitterness and dirt mixing with saliva. I bashed into other trees in the national park (I’d gone for a picnic and wandered off), seeing blue stars behind my lids, none of which helped either. Falling in a heap, crying and a-shivering seemed the only thing to do.

That’s when the coven found me.

I should have expected something of that nature, living in New Orleans and all, but usually they’re fake new agey types rather than, you know, actual witches. These ones prodded, the wood bristles of their broom poking into my arm and chest as they whispered.

That’s when one drew my hand in hers, kissed the inside of my palm (I later learnt that meant ownership, that she’d sealed me as personal property). “What’s your name, kid?”

“Troy,” I said, “and I’m thirteen, which is old enough to fight if I have to and young enough my parents will come find me if I’m not home by dark.”

“Why is there a leaf on your face, Troy,” she snickered. “I bet you’re no crash-hot fighter with that obstructing your vision and your parents won’t want a leaf-boy for a son neither.”

She had a point. “It won’t come off,” I said, looking at my feet.

“No,” she said, way too calmly. “We’re trying a new enchantment. Good to see it worked. It’s more interesting than rats, rabbits, or a pumpkin, don’t you think?”

“If it’s all the same to you, miss, I preferred being a boy, and I’m getting mighty dizzy and sick in this darkness. I’d be much obliged if you’d help a kid out.”

She placed a cool finger to my leaf, muttered an incantation, carefully ripped the waxy cells so I had eye and mouth holes. “Will that suffice?” The other witches cackled around her.

“As I said, miss, I was really hoping to get back to straight homo sapien.”

“But you see, I need a new familiar, and you crashed right into our circle.”

That’s how I came to live in a forest looking like a freak with Betty McLean, leaving school, friends and family behind.

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A quick interview with L. L. Hunter: paranormal romance writer

My December author interview is with L. L. Hunter, whose Midnight Ball series concludes this month. Here’s some info from Laura about this particular series:

The first book, Reign of Secrets came to fruition about 7 years ago. I had this image of a princess with magical jewellery that could portal to different worlds. But the full world building of this series didn’t happen until earlier this year. My writers’ group helped me plan it out. We chatted about the rules that governed the world. I also wanted to write a story featuring gods and goddesses. At the time there weren’t many around in bookstores, but it seems stories of gods and goddesses are quite popular haha. I was glad in a way, because the book was received really well and is one of my highest bestsellers to date.

The sequel Crown of Lies, begins straight after the end of Reign of Secrets. I left it on quite a cliffhanger (sorry, readers!), but I planned to release each book fairly close together so readers wouldn’t have to wait that long.The last book, Queen of Midnight, follows Grace, as she not only deals with the aftermath of the gates of the underworld being opened, but her power growing stronger, and a couple of bombshells being dropped on her in the form of family secrets. She also doubts herself a lot in this book, so there’s a personal journey she has to take as well so she can eventually be queen and unite the kingdoms.There’s also the angsty romance between Grace and Maddi which I absolutely LOVE. I think they’re my new favourite couple.

So now I’ve whetted your appetite, it’s time for the interview to begin!

You mention in your bio you used to write fan fic. What fandom did you love and how have they influenced your original works?

Yes, I have written some fanfics. I loved writing Supernatural, and a few others. My friend and I actually wrote a Supernatural / X files crossover. I also had a Vampire Diaries one that was pretty popular online, as well as a few based on the Shadowhunter books by Cassandra Clare. They’re still published on Fanfiction.net. And no, I will not tell you my penname…

You’ve studied many different fields … vet nursing, forensic science, dramatic arts … how do they inspire this trilogy?

I’ve found that in studying many different subjects, it’s prepared me well for research when writing a book and as an author. I used some of my forensic science knowledge to write the Adelaide Paige Saga for instance.

You mention writing plays and musicals in your bio which I think is so cool! Any faves and how do they inform your novels?

With my drama class, back before I started writing my first novel, I wrote, produced and directed a series of musicals entitled No Frills Airlines. They were so much fun. Play writing and screenplay writing is a whole different ball game to writing a novel, but I guess they help you with plot. They use the same story arcs.

What speaks to you about paranormal romance? How do you think this trilogy stands out from the crowd? Also, any other great paranormal romances you’d recommend to readers?

I have loved paranormal romance since as long as I can remember. I love writing the creatures, their powers, you know, angels and demons with wings and glowing irises, and a man that can change into a dragon, etc. I think there’s something so interesting and magical about paranormal stories.

In thinking about the Midnight Ball series, when I was trying to market it, I couldn’t really think of a series that was similar. That’s good and bad. You want something to stand out from the crowd, but also something that fits, so readers finished one fantasy or paranormal series, can pick up another similar in theme and genre etc. When I first started writing and plotting Reign of Secrets, there wasn’t anything published that was like it at the time. And now a year later, I’m finding a lot more stories featuring gods and goddesses and epic adventure fantasies out there.

Can you give us an elevator pitch for the series as a whole?

The Midnight Ball series is about a young princess named Grace with magic blood. She lives in a kingdom named Sydlandia, which she then finds out is part of a bigger world called Aurum, and then that world is part of a bigger universe. There are secrets and magic and curses, witches, mysterious demi-gods as well as gorgeous gods and goddesses. Grace finds out her parents had been lying to her throughout her entire life, and she is part of a hidden destiny meant to restore peace throughout all the kingdoms and to unite the worlds. There is also a LGBTQ romance at the heart of it.

Tell us a bit about the trilogy’s protagonist and why we’ll love her.

Grace is naive at first, but only because everyone has been lying to her. But when she finds out about the lies, and experiences further betrayals, she really grows into her own skin and has to grow up quickly. She becomes strong and powerful and empowered, and that’s why I loved writing her. I hope you will love her as much as I do.

Why gods and goddesses? What about them appeals to you? Did you draw upon particular myths and legends for your trilogy?

I hadn’t written about gods and goddesses really before, and it’s something I’ve wanted to explore for a while. As well as creating a brand new world built from the ground up that has its own lore and rules. The trilogy was inspired by Greek mythology, such as the tale of Persephone and Hades, but in my books, Hades calls himself Aed.

Tell us a bit about what we can expect from the romance in Book 3.

Without giving away any spoilers, Grace and Maddi’s romance and relationship as a whole will really be tested in Queen of Midnight. But I promise you, there is a happy ending

A quick interview with C. E. Page: Epic Fantasy Novelist

So this is a bit exciting … I decided a while back to interview authors to showcase their latest work and so I could learn more about what’s happening in speculative fiction, celebrating with some amazing writers. So, every month I’ll be (hopefully) putting out a new interview. My first interview (again, so exciting!) is with Australian author C. E. Page. She’s just put out her debut novel, Deathborn, and kindly answered questions for readers.

Here’s the blurb for Deathborn:

Corruption is a disease with no cure that ends with a rapid descent into madness and violence. And until now it only targeted mages.

When an infected warden shows up challenging everything Margot thought she knew, she is thrown into the chase to find the impossible cure. But to understand this new revelation she needs someone who knows possession … She needs Nea, and lucky for Margot, her warden friend Garret has been tasked with tracking the rogue necromancer down.

Garret is used to dealing with deadly mages so this should be like any other job: find the mage and deliver her to the king. But from the moment he finds Nea he is dragged into a deadly game of dark secrets and brutal machinations. Now he must make a choice: deliver Nea as promised and place a weapon in the hands of a mad man or deny his king and change the lives of wardens and mages forever.

Now you know about the novel, without further ado, let the interview begin!

Deathborn is an epic fantasy, a genre a lot of readers love. What other fantasy books would you say Deathborn is comparable to? Are there authors or books you’ve been inspired by in writing your own trilogy?

Oh I always find this question a hard one, I am not sure why because I know other writers can easily rattle off a whole list of books that theirs compare to but my mind always goes completely blank. I guess it is similar in feel and theme to a more adult version of Maria V Snyder’s Healer Series or perhaps The Aware by Glenda Larke or maybe (if you tilt your head just right) Medalon by Jennifer Fallon.

Inspiration is much easier not just for this trilogy but for my writing in general; Juliet Marillier and Kate Forsyth, particularly her The Witches of Eileanan series, have both been big influences. But also authors like Jennifer Fallon, Garth Nix and Robin Hobb.

You like playing video games. Have any of the games you’ve played or even the way games work inspired your own story-telling? How?

Most certainly. Games can teach us a lot about story mechanics in the same way a good movie or tv series can; and likewise they are inspiring for many of the same reasons. The biggest inspiration I get from videos games comes in the form of character. I love characters that make you feel, whether you love them or hate them, as long as they make you feel something. Games like Red Dead Redemption, Horizon Zero Dawn and The Witcher Series present inspiring characters and not only in the form of their respective protagonists and antagonists, but the side characters are often well sculpted as well. In this regard video games are not only inspiring in that they make you want to craft characters that make people feel something, but they can also teach you a lot about character development. I often have long, nearly one sided, conversations with my partner dissecting the motives and development of some of my favourite (and not so favourite) game characters and those discussions certainly fire up my inspiration.

Where did you get the inspiration for Deathborn from? Did you do certain kinds of research to create the world and magic?

I’m a discovery writer so I don’t usually go in with a plan. In the case of Deathborn, I sat down to blank page one day and two hours later I had what is now the start of chapter five. I had no idea where the story came from, what truly inspired it, or where it was going but I know it was influenced by my love of magic systems and rich fantasy worlds and I had just finished reading The Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier. Juliet’s books always leave me inspired and chomping at the bit to get my own words down on paper. I didn’t do too much research for the actual worldbuilding and magic system, that just formed organically over time. I did however research writing fight scenes, for which Alan Baxter’s Write the Fight Right was a great little resource. And I also researched herbal medicine and lore, though a lot of the herbs used in the book are purely fictional they are based on herbs found in our world.

In the story, corruption is an important motif (both literally and metaphorically) – what made you want to write about this?

I wish I could say that the corruption motif was intentional from the beginning. It actually evolved over time and is most likely my subconscious processing of the current state of our world. That seething corruption that can cripple empires has always existed; it permeates history and yet we, as a society, do not seem to learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. Once I was aware that the motif was there though I grabbed hold of it and teased it out to the surface. I wanted to highlight that a lot of times the corruption is there before you realise it; it is not always a switch that is flipped and suddenly it is there screaming in your face. It can build over time, sinister and scheming, waiting to make itself known only after it is too ingrained to be easily dealt with.

Whilst I didn’t intend the corruption to be a motif, I did intend to play with the ideas of grey morality. In that everything is not always black and white, that our choices in any given moment can have consequences that we cannot fathom and that our intentions, no matter how noble, can betray us. The road to hell and all that. Both Nea and Garret (protagonist’s in Deathborn) have done morally questionable things in their past with the intention of helping the greater good, but that intention does not excuse them from the ramifications.

What other hobbies do you have outside of writing and how do they inform your writing practice/ideas?

I read of course and not just fantasy, I read a bit of everything, except horror. I also play a lot of video games and I quilt. I put so much of my creative brain into writing that quilting, whilst still a creative endeavour, allows my analytical brain to come out and play. It involves at lot of planning out colour combinations, different block layouts, and how that will all go together to make a quilt. I guess it is kind of like writing a book, you start with the bare bones then flesh it out and put it all together again and then you have a story. That might be how plotters work from the start, I wouldn’t now, the actual plotting for me comes after I already have the second or third draft.

Can you give some spoiler free clues as to where the series will go next?

We will get to see more of the physical world in the next book as events will take us to the neighbouring continent of Osmar. And we will get to explore the Between as well as learn more about lost forms of magic and the seeds that sprouted some of the legends of the world. We will also get a new point of view character and meet an actual god or two.

I haven’t announced it anywhere else yet but I can tell you the title for book two is Brightling.

There are three POV characters in Deathborn. Can you tell readers about these three characters and why you love them? Is one of them more like you than others? Why?

We’ll start with Margot, she was the hardest to write and still is, I always have to do more rewrites of her chapters than anyone else’s. She is compassionate and kind and not as sure of herself as she lets on but I like how that softness of character is tempered by the sometimes stern and no-nonsense attitude needed for her duties as a healer. She is very good at reading a room and knowing exactly what is needed and I admire that about her.

Nea on the other hand is mercurial of mood and has a habit of being reckless with her own safety in the effort to protect others. Her lip chewing, fidgeting and love of peppermint tea are all traits she got from me. She was the first character of the story to come to me and in fact the entire first draft was written in her point of view only. I didn’t add the Garret and Margot chapters until the second draft when the whole story got a massive overhaul. I like her bravery and selflessness, but I do agree with Garret that she could be a little less reckless at times.

Garret is my favourite to write, he’s hard at times too because there is so much going on beneath the surface with him. He’s steady, calculating and prefers to have a plan and Nea drives him mad half the time by ruining those careful plans. Like Margot, he wasn’t going to get a point of view originally. I actually wasn’t sure he was going to survive but I’m glad he did.

It is hard to say who is the most like me as they all inherited some of my traits. However Nea has the most of my mannerisms and general likes and dislikes.

There’s a focus on healing arts, tea and beautiful gardens in parts of the novel. Are these things that are important to you? Tell us more about that.

If you ask me the coffee vs tea question. I will always answer tea, herbal or black, sometimes with lemon and honey or milk but never with sugar. I like to think that everyone in the book has their own signature tea: Nea’s is peppermint and chamomile maybe with tiny bit of vanilla or liquorice for sweetness. Margot’s is something sweet and fruity like apple and berries, and Garret’s is spiced apple perhaps with a little chamomile thrown in for good measure.

The gardens are most likely a reflection of my love for nature. I grew up on one hundred aches of bushland and currently live on a modest acreage in rural suburbia. Gardens and the natural world have always been a big part of my life; I don’t do well in urban settings with little or no greenspaces and this is often reflected in my writing. The fact that Nea goes to the closest garden when she needs to calm herself and gather her thoughts is a good example of this.

As for the healing arts? They fascinate me; both science-based medicine and more wholistic or spiritual modalities that others might consider airy fairy. I think it all has a place and often healing is not just about the physical body, which is where mind mages and necromancers come in the world of Deathborn.

What’s your writing process? What was the hardest part of writing Deathborn? What was the easiest?

As I said before I’m a discovery writer. I don’t plot and plan my stories. I sit down and the words just come out and the story takes form organically. I don’t give any thought to story mechanics or structure until I am rewriting and even then only briefly. It usually starts with a character and from there I explore them and their place in their world. I am not aware of the actual plot or how everything fits together until I have been “living” the story for a while. But that is how storytelling has always been for me. It’s an almost intuitive practice, I’m more of a conduit for the words rather than a careful methodical planner who follows a formula. It is messy and organic and definitely not perfect, but I can’t do it any other way.

The hardest part of writing Deathborn was teasing out the actual story. Because of the organically evolving nature of my drafting process a lot of the early draft was very ambiguous. I knew Nea was different to other mages and that Evard wanted her for more than what had happened in the lead up to her disappearance. But I didn’t know exactly why until about mid-way through the first draft. Once that piece clicked into place, however, everything else pulled together and I could follow the threads linking it all.

The easiest was Garret, once I decided he needed a point of view. Getting inside his head might have been hard but his chapters always flowed so easily and they still do. He is just such a pleasure to write, though the new point of view in book two might be giving him a run for his money.

Could you share your favourite passage from Deathborn for readers?

I would love to unfortunately my favourites scenes are all a bit spoiler heavy. Here’s one I like though:

Sometime in the middle of the night, Nea was woken by someone calling her name. She rose slowly and listened but there was nothing stirring in the darkness. Sliding from the bed, she pulled Emma’s shawl around her shoulders and moved to the door. She leant out into the hallway and listened again. Nothing.

There was a gentle pool of light coming from under Garret’s door but no sounds, and certainly no one in sight. With a shiver, Nea turned to go back to bed but heard it again: a sing-song whisper and the subtle tug of magic at the back of her mind.

She tiptoed down the hall, following the thin string of channelled source, the rush of her own blood in her ears drowning out everything else like she had her head underwater.

When she reached the hall that led to the south wing, she stopped. She drew a slow breath as she watched the shadows, waiting. Then she heard it: the tiniest whispered “Nea … ” and a soft whimper like that of a child. She lifted her foot to step forward, but something closed around her arm and dragged her backwards.

“What are you doing?” Garret put himself between her and the dark hallway. His hair was standing on end, like he’d been running his fingers through it, and his shirt was rumpled, as though he had pulled it on in a hurry.

“I couldn’t sleep.” She tried to edge around him, but he put his arm out to block her path.

“Emil assured me he had warned you about the south wing.” He glanced over his shoulder at the pooling darkness.

“He did, bu—”

“But what? You thought you’d go poking around in there regardless?” He took a step, closing the space between them and forcing Nea backwards.

Nea lifted her hands in defeat. “I heard something, saw something. What’s down there?”

A muscle in Garret’s neck twitched as his jaw tensed. “Nothing of consequence.”

“Really? Because—”

“Neeee-aa.” A sing-song voice drifted from the darkness and Garret turned, pulling Nea behind him and out of sight.

“You’re no fun, Garret. Let the little mage come and play. She smells ever so sweet.”

“Back to your room, Nea.” He took another step backwards, pushing Nea farther away from the wing.

As they moved, she caught sight of the waifish shape of a girl pacing the end of the hallway. Where her bare toes met the wooden floor, a line of rune marks shone in the moonlight. The magic signature was one she knew all too well; it was her father’s. She lifted her gaze and met the ice-blue eyes of the girl. Amelia. A darting pink tongue chased a wicked smile over pallid lips before they drew back to show sharp, impossibly white teeth. The neckline of her nightgown was askew, revealing one very pale shoulder and a small flower-shaped purple birthmark marring the flesh just below the corner of her collarbone. She lifted her hand and curled one finger in Nea’s direction, causing the lank ribbons of her black hair to move over that exposed shoulder like snakes.

Nea felt the hooks of magic digging into her mind and some deep part of her called out in caution. But it was too late. The sticky fingers of Amelia’s keen were past her defences. She twisted around Garret, ducking under his arm and lashing out with her magic when he made another grab for her. He froze as she pressed down against his soul, pinning him in place.

Amelia’s wicked smile widened, the sleeves of her filthy nightgown fluttering as she beckoned Nea forward in earnest.

Thanks so much for the interview today!

You can buy Deathborn from all the usual places by following this universal book link: https://books2read.com/deathborn

C. E. Page has been dreaming up stories of faraway places and strange magics for as long as she can remember. She lives on the east coast of Australia with her partner, Evan, two balls of pure energy in the shape of young boys, and a honey badger masquerading as a dog.

An avid reader and gamer, she loves devouring a good story in whatever form it takes.

You can find her on: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50368106-deathborn Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/cepageauthor and at her Website: http://www.cepageauthor.com

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The Lamplighter: A flash fic

The ghost stares me down from behind the glass. I’d been balancing on my wooden ladder, arm stretched out to light up the gas, minding my own business, when there were its black lips grinning, its veil rippling back even though there’s no wind inside the lamp. My heart leaps but I tap my hat – Ma’s always telling me its best to be painfully polite to a fault and I can tell this ghost is quality – and say, “how d’yer do,” as the lamp’s flame burns through its chest.

Its mouth stretches and I can smell decay, and something vinegar sharp. “Aren’t you afraid, good Sir? It’s October after all, and though I hate to point it out, you’ve got a long drop if you lose your grip.” Its voice is low and deep, a matron’s voice.

My heart’s hammering fit to wake the dead now – too bad that someone already has – and I dig nails tighter into my precarious perch. Just in time. With a sudden whoosh of cold air, the ghost’s floating, its nose to mine. An ache spreads through my chest, like the winter chill. Suddenly, I’m glad I have my knife in my pocket.

She’s a woman. I can tell ‘coz she’s all in dusty white, her crinoline showing off full skirted splendour and lace at the bust. Her starched cotton gown is dry against my knuckles, dry as animal carcass salted within an inch of its life, and I kind of like it. Reminds me of that time Lucy let me stroke the triangle of stiff linen at her lap. Poor Luce married off to that drunkard, Willie. Free Willie, we call him, on account of his easy way with the young girls at his inn. She might be respectable now, all chignon buns and silks and furs and in a good strip of London where the posh toffs go but—Well, I was glad to leave her sitting at my kitchen this morning. I’d promised her I’d not make her go back, that she could stay with me as long as she needed, until she found her feet.

“Don’t you want to know why I’ve appeared?” The ghost lady asks politely. “I’m told most people do.”

I run through my worst transgressions as fast as I can. Until this job, I stole watches on the corner, pickpocketed coin while I boot-blacked, guarded a brothel.

“None of that,” she says, amused. “Petty, small things, and you needed to do them to survive. I’m no sanctimonious rich philanthropist in the House of Lords to lecture you.”

“Can’t say I do know then,” I say. “And if it’s all the same to you, I’d much rather you left.”

“I can’t do that,” she says. “You see, you’re a good man with a good heart.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You see those men scurrying away in the shadows?” She says.

I look down towards the dark park lined by brass fencing and see four of ‘em, top hats pulled over their heads, toiling away with a coffin on their shoulders.

“They’re grave-robbers and know full well you’re a watchman as much as a lamp lighter. They’d have stabbed you easy as winking afore your knife could flash.”

Cor, I could see she were right. If I’d have shimmied down a minute or so earlier, I’d have happened upon ‘em … “Here,” I say suspiciously. “Why d’ya care so much ‘bout my mortal coil?”

She’s crying now, clear tears sizzling as they hit the air and vanish. “I was William’s first wife. Ran away from a respectable home to be with him and he beat me until I died, a bloody pile of rags. Your Luce was smarter than me. She got away.”

I’m gaping. The ghost is already breaking up, wisping at the edges like a thread pulled loose. She won’t be with me much longer and still I can’t think of anything to say.

“You could try thank you,” she laughs, sounding faint as her mouth smudges out like chalk wiped from a blackboard.

“Thanks,” I whisper, thinking of what woulda happened to Lucy had I not come home.

But the ghost’s already gone.

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Re-watching Sleepy Hollow (1999): One of the most beautiful horror films ever made?

As Halloween approaches, what better way to spend a cold and foggy Sydney evening then curled up on the sofa watching a spooky film? Some friends and I re-watched Sleepy Hollow (1999) and honestly, I can’t help but feel that this little gem is underrated. Yes, Burton has become far less interesting in recent years (Disclaimer: I haven’t seen Big Eyes, and Frankenweenie and Sweeney Todd were both astonishing films), and yes, these days he cannibalizes his own work so that everything feels like something you’ve seen a hundred times before, but something about this particular horror goth confection just works.

Maybe it’s the brooding atmosphere the cinematographers created (sets were built and feats of lighting and smoke and colour paid off – you can read some interesting behind the scenes on this here), maybe it’s Danny Elfman’s beautiful, haunting score, maybe it’s the fun of playing spot-the-Harry-Potter-actor (hint: there’s a lot), maybe it’s the puzzle box script or Johnny Depp back when he was indie or Miranda Richardson stealing every scene she’s in, or the theme of reason and logic versus emotion and heart. Sure, the romance between Ricci and Depp is a bit naff, but it’s all part of the charm.

The Cast

Johnny Depp is an awkward topic of conversation these days (why oh why did you not stay with Vanessa Paradis?) given a raging court case with ex Amber Heard and accusations of domestic violence. It can be hard to put knowledge of his real life dramas back of mind when watching him in a film, especially when many feel he has been dialing his characters up to 11 since the second POTC film. In Sleepy Hollow, he walks a difficult tightrope between leading man and character actor and in my opinion, pulls it off with aplomb. It’s one of Depp’s best performances in my humble opinion.

Police Constable Ichabod Crane comes to Sleepy Hollow from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. His cowardice, snobbery (as a city slicker he sees himself as superior to the rural town he comes to deliver justice to) and childhood traumas make him an interesting lead. Crane is prepared to place women and children in danger before he himself is risked, but also shows courage, grit and determination in vowing to deal with a supernatural creature he only half believes in.

Christina Ricci as the leading lady, Katrina Van Tassel, is so-so and she and Depp have some cringe romantic lines, which in some ways simply add to the charm of the film (it’s so cheesy it’s fun). It’s also fun to see her play a different part (even if the age gap between her and Depp is a little creepy). Miranda Richardson as Katrina’s step-mum is, of course, brilliant (you can always rely on Ms Richardson to deliver her A game and she has an important role in this story). She’s also very beautiful. The supporting cast (including Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Griffiths, Ian McDiarmid and Michael Gough) are all good and each has an important part to play. Christopher Lee has a fun cameo and Christopher Walken is astonishingly memorable in his key part. One things certain, Burton put together a dream cast for this film.

The Visuals

Burton has always been known as a visual story-teller and that’s certainly the case with Sleepy Hollow. The contrast between the city and the village is cleverly done through use of fog and colour (or lack thereof), with each and every shot looking like a painting. The costumes are also extremely rich, with Miranda Richardson and Christina Ricci especially, having some beautiful outfits. There are some nifty steampunk touches too which I appreciated, curtesy of Crane’s newfangled detective contraptions from the city.

Some images really stand out … the young child watching a lit Halloween lantern cast shadows on his bedroom wall, the fog creeping as the horseman approaches, snuffing out the village’s torches, Crane’s bird in a cage trick, blood spurting up a pumpkin scarecrow, the way heads spun, the very landscape like a dream culminating in the Tree of the Dead.

Many reviewers at the time noted this is an old fashioned movie, doing visuals lovingly and painstakingly with every ounce of the sweat and tears of the production team evident on the screen. Ian Mcdiarmid was quoted as saying (having just come off the set of Star Wars: Phantom Menace):

Having come from the blue-screen world of Star Wars it was wonderful to see gigantic, beautifully made perspective sets and wonderful clothes, and also people recreating a world. It’s like the way movies used to be done.

For all it’s horror and death, this is a very beautiful film and it makes the journey memorable and worth watching again and again. I notice a new loving detail every time.

The Music

A lot of people feel Danny Elfman’s music sounds the same across Burton films. I’ve always disagreed with that. I think he’s a very good composer and when he’s inspired, his work is truly beautiful. Just think of Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride and the Batman films. I’d add Sleepy Hollow to that count. His music for this film tells its own story, full of eerie choirs, violins and crashing horror sounds. It’s a strong enough soundtrack I can happily listen to it on Spotify. The music really adds to the dread of the film and it wouldn’t be as good without it.

The Themes

I loved the motif running through the film about masculine coded reason and logic versus feminine coded emotion, imagination and superstition. It is only when Crane works with both sides that he is able to crack the crime and find love. I also thought the film did a good job of showing why Crane had fallen so hard on the side of logic (“I am beaten down by it”) whilst allowing nods to Hammer Horror and gothic horror tropes (for this is a film that nods to past films including the original Karloff Frankenstein). It really adds a little something to rewatches when you see how the scriptwriter wove this theme throughout the plot and character interactions.

To conclude …

I’m one of those people that just can’t get enough of Burton doing gothic horror. My favourite films by him all edge into that territory … from Batman Returns to Sleepy Hollow to Corpse Bride to Sweeney Todd, something about his lonely, constructed worlds speak to me. Though Sleepy Hollow was popular at the time, it’s a Burton film I hear less and less about as time goes on. I suggest it’s high time people dusted off their DVD jackets or hightailed it to a streaming service. There’s a lot to enjoy in this bloody, eerie tale. It may have little to do with the original Washington Irving story, but it remains a fun jaunt through a beautifully constructed world that could only exist at the movies.

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Ben: A Poem

Sadly, one of my closest friends passed away 2nd September. Ben was a wonderful friend; warm, kind, loving, gentle, passionate and caring. I hope this month’s freebie (a poem dedicated to him) captures some of what he meant to me.

Ben

We ballroom danced
through your glitter dust
switched partners, said
“encompassing Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne
let’s follow your rose red.”

Foxtrotted to your piping
opened our arms and said “yes”
Give us chai magic and the beat
duck charmed dreams
gentleman’s jacket sewn deep

Silently rubbed skin-
fire for justice
spirit for kindness and care
open heart for love
and passion for fair.

So though death clutches
in conga clasp
this much I know is true;
your song winds on
we’ll keep dancing for you.

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