Celebrating the release of Keir – An Interview with Pippa Jay

I’d like to welcome author Pippa Jay to my blog today. We’ve been online friends for awhile now, and I’m happy to have her here a week after the release of her first novel, Keir. Exciting! So Pippa, how long have you been writing with the hopes of publication?

PJ: Just two years. I’d never even considered publication as an option until after I’d finished writing Keir and thought “Okay, what shall I do with it now?”. I submitted a Doctor Who book way back in my late teens, but even then I never really considered that I might ever be published – I just needed to write.

I think it’s that need that defines us as authors. What genres do you write in, and what appeals to you about those genres?

PJ: I’ve always written in the realms of speculative fiction, although my preference is definitely for scifi. I like things that are at least a step outside the normal world. I love the contrast to what we consider normality. And part of the attraction of writing is the escapism – and the further the better!

So true! What titles do you have published?

PJ: I have a free scifi short that I self-published on Smashwords – The Bones of the Sea. The main character is contracted to demolish an obstruction on the seabed of Ulto Marinos, but her survey of the site leads her to a startling discover and a moral dilemma.

What can you tell us about your recent release?

PJ: My first full length novel – Keir – released on the 7th May from Lyrical Press Inc. It’s a science fiction romance with elements of time-travel and fantasy, a tortured hero, and a feisty heroine with a dark past.

And what are you working on now?

PJ: I have a sfr novella (Tethered) in progress, a straight scifi novella (Gethyon) that needs tweaking after some feedback, a straight scifi short story (Samaritan) that I plan to self-publish, and the sequel to Keir (Lost Serenity) in editing.

It’s great to be busy. What author(s) have influenced your writing style?

PJ: My earliest inspirations were authors like JRR Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey…I could go on and on! But more recently it’s Jaine Fenn, Neal Asher and Linnea Sinclair.

Do you belong to a critique group or have critique partners? If so, what have you learned from them? How has it affected your writing?

PJ: I used to just have a couple of critique partners, but that has expanded into a small group since I did a creative writing course – some of my fellow students now give me critiques too. I’ve also just joined CritiqueCircle.com, originally just to crit a fellow sfr author’s work, but I’ve since posted some of my own writing on there and read a few others. I’d say having someone come in and read over with a fresh eye is invaluable – they can spot plot holes and inconsistencies more easily and can give you great feedback on the flow, whether things are explained well enough, and whether characters are believable. It’s also made me more analytical about my writing and made me question what and how I write.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to aspiring authors?

PJ: As Commander Quincy Taggart from Galaxy Quest would say “Never give up – never surrender!” If you don’t at least try, you’ll never make it.

Great advice! Where can my readers find you?

PJ: Blogsite – http://pippajay.blogspot.com/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/pippajaygreen

Facebook:  Keir – Beyond Redemption (book page) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Keir-Beyond-Redemption/114058821953752

Pippa Jay (profile) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001581482219

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5054558.Pippa_Jay

Where can my readers find your books?

PJ: Keir – http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=81&products_id=513

Blurb:

Outcast. Cursed. Dying. Is Keir beyond redemption?

For Keirlan de Corizi–the legendary ‘Blue Demon’ of Adalucien–death seems the only escape from a world where his discolored skin marks him as an oddity and condemns him to life as a pariah. But salvation comes in an unexpected guise: Tarquin Secker, a young woman who can travel the stars with a wave of her hand.

But Quin has secrets of her own. She’s spent eternity searching through space and time with a strange band of companions at her back. Defying her friends’ counsel, Quin risks her apparent immortality to save Keir. She offers him sanctuary and a new life on her home world, Lyagnius.

When Keir mistakenly unleashes his dormant alien powers and earns instant exile from Quin’s home world, will she risk everything to stand by him again?

The Bones of the Sea – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/60031