Author Q&As
26 April 2020: V.V. James
Eleanor Pender chatted with V.V. (Vic) James on Instagram about her latest book Sanctuary, Hogwarts Houses and writing through Lockdown.
You can watch the whole conversation on YouTube. .
9 April 2020: Q&A with Mark Alder
Our second Twitter Q&A was with Mark Alder @aldermark, aka MD Lachlan @mdlachlan aka Mark Barrowcliffe, to celebrate the publication of his new novel The Devil’s Blade.
Mark is invited to #Cymera2020 because we love a good escapist romp, and The Devil’s Blade has a cracking adventure story, a fabulous (if rather foul-mouthed) female main character and the Devil.
What more could we want?
Let’s start off easy: Give us your best Twitter Pitch for The Devil’s Blade in 140 characters or less.
To quote The Telegraph website: A riotous semi-historical romp through 17th century France in the company of Julie D'Aubigny, opera singer, duellist, lover of men and women, and servant of the Devil.
That is cheating, but we will allow it.
Well, to quote the book ‘of course I’m cheating. I’m the Devil!'
We’d never heard of Julie d'Aubigny. Where did you first come across her?
In a book on the history of the sword called By The Sword by Robert Cohen. It’s an excellent and easy to read book.
What made you decided that what her story really needed was an encounter with the devil?
The story has been told many times in France, so I wanted to add something new. She killed 11 men in duels, so I thought ‘that’s almost 13, which sounds more suggestive’. Then you why she might have killed that number. That’s where the Devil came in.
There is a great cast of supporting characters in the book. Are they all real people Julie d’Aubigny would have encountered in her life?
Sérannes was a fencing master she was involved with and Charlotte existed, though there’s no evidence they met. Obviously, the royalty and aristocrats were real historical figures and Monsieur – Louis XIV’s brother was her friend. She was actually in love with the singer Moreau
Do you have a favourite out of all the supporting characters, and if so, why?
I like Monsieur. He’s a lauded war hero, fierce as a lion, who walks around in a dress and a full face of make up most of the time. It makes me reflect on my own preconceptions. I imagined him being played by Rik Mayall.
Our favourite character is the Devil. Did she come to the story fully formed or did she make you work for it?
This emerged as a combination of John Hurt’s Caligula from I Claudius and the Faerie from Jonathan Strange with a bit of something else thrown in. God’s very male in Christianity, ‘you will do this, you will do that’, I thought it was natural for his opposite to be female. She’s an extension of the character of Loki in Wolfsangel (written as MD Lachlan. I seem to have written about the Devil a lot – The Son of the Morning (the first in the Banners of Blood series) is Lucifer.
Do you believe in the Devil?
No. I’m an atheist. But I’d like to - my conception of him/her is a lot more pleasant than the God represented in The Bible! If I did believe in supernatural entities I’d believe in Lucifer.
Did you feel you had to stick to the “real” story as much as you could?
No. Julie’s as much myth as fact. In my other books – the Banners of Blood series, I was meticulous about matching the events of the 100 Years War to the story but not in this one. It takes itself less seriously and it’s set in an imagined 17th century.
There is a lot of historical detail in the book – how much research did you do to get the setting right?
I do it as I go along – if I need to know something such as ‘did the Bois de Boulogne have gates?’ I research it there and then. I bought an old map of Paris and read a couple of books on the period then just looked stuff up as and when I needed to. The joys of the internet!
I do try to reflect the thinking of the time, that’s more important to me than detail. Charlotte’s astonishment when Julie asks her what the servants think, for instance.
That scene really struck us, and the whole attitude the aristocracy had towards servants ...
I think some readers might like the characters more if I gave them modern attitudes but, for some reason, I don’t seem capable of doing that!
It doesn’t mean the aristocrats can’t like the servants but it would be like I like my dog. I wouldn’t ask for his opinion on things.
Will there be more books featuring Julie?
It depends how successful this one is! I certainly don’t have it planned out but I guarantee she will swing from a candelabra if there is a next one. I omitted that and, in a swashbuckler, that is unforgivable.
We particularly enjoyed all the fight scenes. There is a lot of fencing terminology in there – are you a fencer? And if so, how did you go about choreographing the fights?
I’m a fencing coach, though duelling is very different to modern fencing. So much more comes in psychologically and people tend to be much more cautious than at sports fencing. The fencing terminology would have been part of everyday speech at this period.
What do you hope readers will take away from reading the The Devil’s Blade?
I hope they’ll enjoy it. It’s written as escapism - it doesn’t have anything particular to say (I don’t think it does anyway). Maybe an insight into how the outlook of our times is just that - an outlook of our times. People in the past thought differently about so much.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Absolutely, from as young as I can remember. I’m the boy who found Tolkien glamorous. The man, not the work.
Once people have finished The Devil’s Blade, what other books would you recommend to them? What have you enjoyed recently?
I’d recommend my own Banners of Blood series – starting with Son of the Morning for more devilment, this time set in the 14th century. I’ve enjoyed Ben Aaranovitch’s False Value and I’m reading Pine by Francine Toon right now, which is pretty good.
The Devil’s Blade is now available to buy from your favourite book supplier.
2 April 2020: Q&A with Ben Oliver
Our first ever Twitter Q&A was with Ben Oliver @benjamin0liver on the publication of The Loop, his debut YA Science Fiction novel.
Ben is invited to #Cymera2020 because he ticked a lot of our boxes: Made in Scotland, YA and debut. And he wrote a pretty cracking book.
Ben Oliver began writing creatively at age seven, and was promptly placed into the lowest reading and writing group at school. Frustrated by his lack of immediate success, Ben chose to step-down from the world of writing.
Three years later, he came out of retirement to write a 'What I Did During My Summer Holiday' assignment, where he claimed he saved the world from the apocalypse. Encouraged by an enthusiastic teacher, Ben returned, triumphantly, to writing.
A mere twenty-two years later, and now a high school English teacher, Ben’s first novel, The Loop, is out now.
Give us your best Twitter Pitch for The Loop in 140 characters or less.
Luka and his fellow inmates must break out of a hi-tech death-row for young-offenders in order to figure out why people have started mindlessly murdering each other. A fast-paced futuristic thriller... with mutated killer rats thrown in for good measure
Tell us a little bit about what inspired the book? It’s been branded 1984 meets Prison Break, but there’s definitely some Matrix vibes too.
Some of the darker, grimmer aspects of The Loop (scientific testing on inmates etc) were inspired by (horrific) historical events. The rest of it is looking at the path humanity is on and trying to guess where we'll be in the future... the darkest timeline of our future of course
Luka Kane is the main character. Tell us a little bit about him.
Luka is a reluctant hero. His main goal is survival and protecting his friends and family. His bravery leads to others looking up to him and seeing him as a leader. He has been locked up for a very serious crime though... so a bit of a dark past?
There is a great cast of supporting characters in the book. Do you have a favourite, and if so, why?
I love the supporting characters! It's so hard to choose a favourite... but it's probably Pander Banks, she's so fearless and cool! Ready to rush into a fight at any moment!
Do you put people you know in your books? (Should we be worried?)
I don't put people I know into my books, so you don't need to be worried... but I do use the names of people I know, almost all of the tertiary characters are named after my wife's brothers and sisters!
The Loop is a trilogy – have you got it all planned out? And how much is written already? Do you have titles? And are you allowed to say?
The Loop IS a trilogy. Book 2 has been written and I am currently editing - it's really exciting, I think it's better than book 1! I'm not allowed to reveal the titles of books 2 & 3 YET, unfortunately
Science Fiction is in part about the science. Did you do any research to back up your writing?
I did a little bit of research into the future of medical-science, but the great thing about futuristic sci-fi is I get to make a lot of it up Face with tears of joy so mostly I just let my imagination run wild
Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes! The moment I could read I wanted to write. I'd copy Roald Dahl stories when I was very young, I'd change the plot and write new scenes... I think that's called plagiarism! When I was 18 I wrote my first novel. It was terrible but it was a start
And now that you are one, is it what you were expecting it to be, worldwide pandemic aside?
It's still a bit strange to say I'm officially a writer! Smiling face with open mouth one thing I didn't know was how many people it takes to complete a novel. The writer writes, and then there's your agent, editor, proof-readers, cover designer, sales, publicity...
it's a massive team all working towards making your book the best it can be, and every one of them (certainly in my experience) is a Jedi-level genius who improves the book a million percent. I’m so lucky to be working with my book team!
Once people have finished The Loop, what other books would you recommend to them? What have you enjoyed recently?
I've read a lot of great books recently!
1: Reverie by Ryan La Sala @Ryality
2: The Good Hawk by Joseph Elliott @joseph_elliott
3: The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth @CiaraNicG
4: Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran @hcor
5: And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando @DanielleJawando
@Melliver asked
How did working with your editor change the book that you originally submitted to them?
It made it 1000X better Kesia Lupo @keslupo is my editor and I swear she's a plot/pacing ninja! The ending changed too based on her suggestions :)
@jazzbartlett asked
If you were stuck in #theloop and could only choose one book to have with you, which would you choose?
Ahh! That's SUCH a hard question... just ONE!? I'd have to choose between The Stand by Stephen King. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collines or The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger... I can't do it though
Virginia Crow @DaysDyingGlory asked
Is *The Loop* the book you've always wanted to write? Are you working on other books (apart from the sequels!) at the moment? Or are you a one-book-at-a-time kind of person?
The Loop is was the best thing I'd ever written (until I wrote the sequel, of course Smiling face with sunglasses) but I feel like I get a little better with each book. I have ideas for my next book, and can't wait to get started
Crowvus @CrowvusLit asked
Are your favourite books to read the same genre as your favourite books to write?
I love Sci-Fi and I love YA novels. They're my favourite genre, but I read widely. It really depends what I'm in the mood for... but usually I'm in the mood to re-read The Hunger Games or find a new Dystopian YA book
Petal @Petal_real_talk asked
How much did you edit the novel? Is the book similar to your first draft?
It's at least 20% shorter. I worked with my agent at 1st to get it ready to send to publishes, then I worked with my brilliant editor who helped to bring the themes out more. We also changed the ending. So, it changed quite a lot from the 1st draft
