Roald Dahl was a Dude

Tweet If you ever needed proof that Roald Dahl was a total dude, here it is. In 1989, a seven-year-old named Amy wrote to the author to send him a present - in this case, a bottle containing a mixture of oil, coloured water and glitter; in other words, one of her dreams. Dahl could have totally ignored the reference to The BFG, but he didn't, he chose to send back this charming letter.

You can now find Amy on Twitter here. Dahl, you were a true dude, sir.

Letter courtesy of Letters of Note.

Say hello to Nerine Dorman

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I love throwing open the doors of my blog to different writers, so today I'm very pleased to welcome South African word mistress Nerine Dorman! Nerine Dorman works as a newspaper sub-editor and writer by day; at night she writes and edits fiction. Her novels are an indulgence in black magic; vampires; tall, dark and looming...

You've got several books available, and more on the way. What first attracted you to writing as a career?

This is one of those very difficult questions I’m not quite sure how to answer. It’s safe to say, I’ve been story-telling since a young age, be it my worlds of make-believe I’d dream myself to sleep to, or make up games with friends. During my young adult years I used to do a fair amount of fantasy role-playing with my geek friends.

But I remember very clearly at about the age of 13 when I wanted to write a novel. It seemed such an unattainable goal and I had no idea how I was going to go about it, but it kinda stuck through all my phases—like the time I was convinced I was going to be the next best thing after Trent Reznor and Peter Steele for the South African music industry. I’ve always come back to the written word.

You work as both a writer, and an editor. Which gives you greater satisfaction?

This is a tricky one. I love both equally. I’m always thinking up better ways to say stuff. Nothing gets my goat more than reading a passage and wanting to reach for my red pen. I guess it stems from the fact that both my parents were school teachers.

But seriously, I get as much kick out of writing as I do making authors improve their writing. When an author turns around to me and says “thank you” or refers to me as their “super editor” on a blog, it makes me go all warm and fuzzy, and I have to go sit down ’cos I feel all teary-eyed. Working with an author who visibly improves after the first novel is just the best feeling ever.

As November is nearly upon us, what do you make of the NaNoWriMo phenomenon, from both a writer's and an editor's perspective?

Luckily this year I’ve talked myself down from the very high place of doing NaNo. I know I can do it. After all, at the start of the year I wrote a 95 000-word novel in just over two months. But to be honest, it’s very intense and since I’ve already proved that it can be done, I don’t want to go down that road again. It’s exhausting. Also, with my editing deadlines—I’d be treading dangerous ground headed for a burn-out.

NaNo is great if you’re a writer who needs the focus but as an editor, I see a lot of authors rush off their manuscripts the moment they’re done, and that’s not always so good. Usually about a month or two after NaNo I see an influx of submissions. Not all these are ready for publication.

Speaking of editing, you recently launched an editing service. Tell us about it.

At some point I’d like to resign from my day job and do the work I really enjoy—which is editing from home and not having to commute or get out of my PJs. I’d like to build solid relationships with authors who need a personalised editing service that isn’t going to cost them an arm and a leg; my rates are, I believe, affordable. I’ve been editing professionally now for a number of years and have a pretty good handle on the most obvious issues that occur in a manuscript. My preferred genres are horror, urban/dark fantasy as well as epic fantasy. I’m not averse to romance, erotica, BDSM or paranormal.

What hobbies or interests do you have that you find most compatible with writing?

I have a huge love for music. Considering that music features in a lot of my stories—some characters are involved in the industry—this is definitely a plus. I have particular soundtracks I prefer to listen to while I work that help to create a positive mood for my writing and editing. After that it’s magic, history and philosophy. These themes are recurrent. After that it’s travel and the environment.

Travel’s a big one for me because it offers me a lot of inspiration for creative world-building. Many of my readers have commented that my settings are very realistic. Even if they haven’t visited Africa, they feel as though they walk every step with my characters.

I am, by proxy, also involved in South Africa’s subcultures—be it the goth scene, the body mod tribe, indie filmmaking and the fetish scene. My husband is an indie filmmaker and photographer. I meet some VERY interesting folks; this ties into my writing quite nicely.

As your day job is related to writing and you do so much in your non-day job time, do you ever worry you'll get bored with the written word?

Bored? What’s that? I don’t have time to get bored. There’s always one more deadline I need to take care of. If I need a break, I play in my garden a little or spend time with my animals. To be honest, I’m on the go nearly all the time. I compulsively have to fiddle and if I don’t have a computer keyboard, book or ereader handy, I start getting twitchy. Sometimes I get a yen to play music on one of my guitars or even haul out my piano accordion. The sounds I produce are usually so discouraging I go back to my computer. A wee bit OCD—that’s me. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

You can find Nerine's author page on Facebook here, while her editor page is here! Go and check out her blog here, or go and follow her on Twitter @nerinedorman. 

[Spotlight] Amnar - I J Black

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I J Black is promoting the latest instalment in her Amnar series, called The Inheritor, and she's dropped by to have a bit of a chat about the expansive world of Amnar.

How would you sum up Amnar for newcomers?
Amnar is an epic fantasy, set in a world very different from Earth, but where the people face the same kind of problems. It's a break from the traditional, Lord of the Rings-style of quest and focuses on politics, legal drama, personal struggles and mystery as well as a splash of illusion and the occasional dragon.

What inspires the plot lines?
I'm inspired by lots of things. I've been lucky in having had the opportunity to travel a great deal, and much of Amnar has been developed from that. Most of it came from growing up in a household where there were a lot of books and there was much interest in history. All the years of study have been poured into Amnar and I find a lot of my inspiration in reading non-fiction.

Do you ever base your characters on existing people, either in the media or that you know?
Not consciously, no. I've related or adapted the experiences of people I've met, though. I travelled through China a few years ago and one of the guides who discussed her experience of surviving the Cultural Revolution inspired me to think about how individuals cope in a hostile regime - some of her stories influenced the creation of characters like Io and Nenja.

Which of the books has been your favourite to write?
I really enjoyed writing The Inheritor, but as I'm working on the sequel to that, I'm also very much enjoying writing exchanges between Vasha and Arandes. I have managed to scare myself. The third book I wrote was full of horror, very much a psychological thriller, and I used to scare myself writing it late at night after work.

Do you outline and plan your books, or stick to the tried-and-tested "make it up as you go along" method?
I do outline and plan. Once upon a time I just made it up as I went along, but Amnar books are too complex to make that easy, and I've found that the more I plan, the better and easier it is to write.

You started out giving the books away for free on Smashwords. What prompted you to step it up a notch and branch out to Kindle?
Smashwords has had continued issues with Amazon, and getting books onto the Kindle is obviously an important step to take, as people look for books there more than they do anywhere else. I think it was a natural next step, and I like the ease with which you can put work out on the Kindle.

If you were to compare Amnar to the work of existing authors, who would you choose and why?
It's very much a cross between China Mieville (in terms of its political focus), Philip Pullman, and Ursula Le Guin. I don't write like Mieville, but I do have the same interest in politics, and you find a lot of that in Amnar. Then there's the more spiritual side, the interest in religion, which appears in later Amnar books, as well as exploration of consciousness found in Philip Pullman's work. Finally, there's the personal journey of Io and other characters, and the interest in sociological perspectives that's found in Ursula le Guin.

Do you have plans for further Amnar novels?
Yes, indeed. There are a full seven books in the Inheritor series, then three in the Execution series, plus the possibility of writing more prequel series around Arandes Nashima, where he came from, and the civilisation that predated Amnar. I could probably keep going for the rest of my life and not run out of ideas.

Say an Amnar movie is to be planned. Who would you like to see direct it, and who would you cast in the principal roles?
I'm not sure about directors, although I do like Ridley Scott's work a great deal. I'm not sure about other roles, but recently, I've been convinced that Ellen Page would make a brilliant Io. She's young, but she has the kind of determination and attitude that Io does.

What do you think draws people to the fantasy genres?
I think they like the complexity of really good alternative worlds. Writing these worlds is fantastic because you have much more freedom to experiment with new ideas and mixing up different ones. In terms of reading, it's an opportunity to let go of boundaries and play with things that simply aren't possible in our own world. I think we get the chance to be people that we simply can't be in the real world.

Do you think the so-called e-book revolution will draw people back to reading for leisure, as opposed to watching movies or playing video games?
I think it's entirely possible. I think there's also a lot of scope for branching out between e-books, movies and games, where good work can be presented in all three media. E-books have definitely made it easier for writers to reach their public, and for people to explore books they might not otherwise buy because it required going to a book shop or shopping online and then waiting weeks for the things to actually show up. It also makes books much more portable, the kind of thing you can carry around like you would an iPod.

* * *

I J Black is an author of several books, and an ex-academic with a PhD in geography and history. She has run her own business and been a cinema projectionist, a writer, a secretary and a whole range of other things. When not world-building, she runs the SkepLit book club, runs and is interested in physical fitness - a great antidote to sitting down most of the rest of the time. She also loves travelling and painting.


You can find out more about Amnar by visiting the website, while the books are available from Smashwords, Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Goodreads

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After some subtle persuasion from Paul Anderson and Carrie Clevenger, I set myself up with an author profile on Goodreads. It seems odd to say that, to call myself an 'author'. I'm not sure why - I have had short fiction published sporadically online since July 2008, I have actually sold copies of my first e-book, The First Tale, and I now have a short story included in a bona fide anthology - the Chinese Whisperings Yin Book. If the definition of 'professional' is doing something and getting paid for it, then I must be a professional writer (even if it isn't my main source of income).

The very supportive Benjamin Solah was good enough to put The First Tale on Goodreads, and it's very cool to see that people are reading it. I genuinely blush when people send me tweets saying they enjoyed The First Tale - and it takes A LOT to make me blush. Yet it's so nice to know that people actually read what you do - and enjoy it. In a lot of ways, it makes the whole thing worth doing. I can't think of anything more sad than being a writer and never letting anyone read your work. I suppose I can understand the reasoning behind it - after all, if no one ever reads it then no one can ever tell you that you're no good. Besides, if you're writing for your own enjoyment and you're keeping yourself happy then it doesn't mean that you need to show it to anyone else.

Then again, writers tell stories. It's what we do. Whether we're novelists, journalists, copywriters or chroniclers, we're all telling stories. Is a story still a story if it isn't read? It's that age old philosophical question - if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? I mean, I tell these stories for two reasons. 1) I write them because I have to (I'd go crazy from the voices in my head if I didn't write down what they said). 2) I write them because I want people to read these stories - I want to entertain people! If someone reads something I've written and can escape from the mundane drudgery of their existence for those few minutes it takes to read a flash, then I consider the whole endeavour worthwhile. If the readers learns something too, then brilliant.

The most momentous stage in setting up my profile was selecting what genres cover my style. 'Short fiction' was an obvious, if generic, term, and I felt compelled to put down 'science fiction & fantasy' as opposed to 'horror' because I feel a lot of my stuff comes under the 'speculative fiction' or 'urban fantasy' bracket, as opposed to 'horror'. I always wanted to be a horror writer, but I realised fairly early on that I was no Clive Barker or Stephen King. Indeed, an email I once received about my short piece Left convinced me of that - the author of said email told me my style reminded him of Neil Gaiman or Ray Bradbury. When I'd recovered my jaw from the floor, I realised that horror clearly wasn't my 'bag' unless it was based on reality. But more importantly, I finally nailed my colours to the mast and put down "historical fiction" as one of my genres. I really enjoy writing things that require research, so you can expect a few more historical pieces over coming weeks.

Of course, one of the many advantages of historical fiction is it covers such a wide range of topics. I can continue to write my tales about bodysnatchers, mental asylums or vengeful knights, but still continue to write steampunk (a genre characterised by its adherence to an historical 'aesthetic') and stories about pirates...