SPFBO Interview: Amanda Fleet
And we’re back with a new interview with Amanda Fleet, hope you guys enjoy!
STARTING OFF WITH A BANG
Introduce yourself! An easy question to start off with. Who are you, what do you write?
My name’s Amanda Fleet. I mostly write what I call urban fantasy, but that’s starting to be a very varied genre. Perhaps ‘contemporary fantasy’ is the new term? My books are set (mostly) in modern, real times, but include fantastical elements like demons that can reach into your chest and steal all the energy from your body (killing you). I’ve also published a crime novel and a psychological thriller, and written some other books that are still just lurking in my laptop.
SPFBO DISCUSSION
Is this your first time in SPFBO?
It is indeed.
What book did you enter into this year’s event?
“Aegyir Rises: The Guardians of The Realm book 1”
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Probably Finn is my favourite – the main character’s partner. He’s a real ‘bloke’ (I don’t know if that translates well outside of the UK…). He’s into footie (soccer), he’s protective of his partner Reagan, and he tries to do his best (though doesn’t always get it right, and when he gets it wrong, it can be spectacularly wrong!).
What was the inspiration for the story? What are your future project(s)?
You know, I started writing it so far back, I’m not 100% sure what the original inspiration was, beyond a vague question to myself one day of “What if we’re made up of three things: a physical body, a character, and the energy to make it alive? What happens to the energy and the character when we die? First law of thermodynamics and all that… what happens to the energy?”
Most of my books have started with random questions like that!
What are the key themes and/or messages in the book?
For one character, it’s about working out where she belongs. She’s always felt as if she’s ‘not in the right place’ but then, even when she ends up in somewhere that’s technically the ‘right place’ she doesn’t belong there either. And of course, there are big themes of right versus wrong, but there are also questions about who decides what’s right or what’s wrong. Who decides which life is more important when it comes down to it? If it isn’t possible for both lives to continue, who gets to decide which one has to die in order to save the other?
What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
There were a number, some not related to the book directly! When I started writing it, it was 2014, I was getting close to hitting burnout and a breakdown as a consequence of the job I was working, and I’d developed a serious heart condition (now resolved, thankfully!). There were physical, emotional and mental challenges associated with all of that. Towards the end of 2014, I went off sick from work for just over 6 months. In the summer of 2015, I had a major heart operation, and handed in my notice at work.
After that, I managed a lot more writing 
