Renee Scattergood is an author of dark fantasy based in Australia. She has published the Shadow Stalker series as well as a number of other books. She stopped by the blog to chat about what inspires her, what she's working on and how she goes about her writing process.
Hi Renee, a
pleasure to catch up with you. You're the author of the Shadow
Stalker series – among other things! For readers who are just
getting to know you, how would you describe the series? What's your
elevator pitch?
It's a story
about a young shadow stalker, named Auren, who is being hunted by a
former shadow stalker, Drevin, who believes she will enslave the
people of their world. It's all about her struggle to survive, train
as a shadow stalker in less than ideal circumstances, and eventually
stop Drevin's tyranny without succumbing to his prophecy.
You do
something different with the Shadow Stalker series – something that
harks back to the Penny Dreadfuls and their serialised novels or the
episodic flavour of a TV series. It reminds me of when Stephen King
tried to revive that idea and published The Green Mile as a series of
slim novellas that eventually combined into the larger work. What
drew you to that approach?
Originally, it
was meant to be a series of novels, and I do still plan to write a
novelization of the serial starting next year, called Savior of
the Serpent Isles starting with the novel, The Galvadi
Invasion. I had a few false starts with the novels and realized a
lot of my problem was I lacked the confidence to self-publish a full
novel, especially with a story that had been growing for so many
years in my mind and had come to love. So I decided writing smaller
pieces of the story to test the waters would be better for me. I also
felt it would be a good way to build my writing skills on a smaller
scale. I decided to write these in first person from the main
character's point of view so I could really get into her head, and I
wanted them to read more like a TV series.
It's been a
challenge, but I'm glad I did it. It's definitely helped me improve
my writing skills to the point where I'm confident enough to start
publishing the novels. I want to portray a broader view of the world
in that series, so they will be written in third person. It's also
spawned a new serial, which will begin after Shadow Stalker
about how and why the shadow stalkers were created.
What are the
hazards of that way of writing? And, better yet, the benefits?
Most people,
when they serialize something, publish chapters of a larger work. I
didn't want to do that. I actually wrote each episode to read like a
TV series. I wanted each one to be a story within itself, and yet be
part of the larger story. It was a lot harder than I thought it would
be. It's more like writing a series of short stories that have to
somehow fit together. You can't be as detailed as you would in a
novel, so you have to do a lot more showing as well. This was
actually good practice for me.
One of the
biggest cons to writing a serial is they are difficult to promote.
While they are coming back into popularity, there still isn't a very
large audience for them, or if there is, I haven't found them yet.
The benefits,
while not monetary, are there though. If you are new to writing and
need something on a smaller scale to help boost your confidence and
skills, I highly recommend publishing a serial. It's a good way to
get a feel for whether there is a market for your story without
spending months on a full length novel. It's also a great way to
start building your author platform.
The world is
one of dark fantasy – what draws you to that genre?
To be honest,
at first I didn't realize I was even writing a dark fantasy. It took
several months to put my story into the correct genre, which made a
huge difference now that I'm attracting the right audience. I've
always loved darker stories though. I'm not so much into horror or
thrillers. Those give me nightmares, but I love dark, mysterious and
creepy.
While we're
talking about the things that pull you in, who would you say have
been your influences? Who are the writers whose words you devour
eagerly? What books made you fall in love with them?
I've loved to
tell stories since I was a kid and that was inspired, believe it or
not, by George Lucas when I saw Star Wars for the first time at eight
years old. I struggled with reading until I was about nine or ten, so
I didn't read much until then. But when reading became easier for me,
I couldn't stop. I read everything, but I mostly loved fantasy. The
Hobbit was always one of my favorites as a kid. Most of the books I
read throughout my young adult years were Star Wars or Star Trek
books. I didn't read much of anything else. But when I moved to
Australia, my husband convinced me to read the Sword of Truth series
by Terry Goodkind, and I was hooked. I guess you can say he was the
one who inspired me to get serious about writing again after a mishap
that caused me to stop writing for a time. Since then I've been more
inspired by some of the successful indie authors, like Lindsay
Buroker, I've been reading.
Writers often
talk about being either a planner or a pantser, someone who has a
detailed outline of their story or someone who flies by the seat of
their pants and lets the story lead them – I imagine you face a
different approach to many because you're building a bigger framework
than just the one book. Each of yours connects to the next one and
you've got to keep the continuity together. How do you go about that
process?
I started out
as a pantser and quickly learned that was not going to work,
especially for the reasons you mentioned. There's too much going on
in the story to keep it all in my head. I do have the overall story
for Shadow Stalker planned out in my mind. I know how I want
it to end, and I think that's the most important part. I also knew I
wanted to tell the story in four parts. Each part has six episodes.
I've got a
basic idea about what is happening in each part. So when I start the
planning process, I work out the main plot for the whole part/six
episodes, then I can work out "subplots" for each
individual episode and start planning those. After I've got the basic
story worked out, I write the scenes and separate those into
chapters. Then I write a very detailed outline about the story.
Whenever new information about the characters or the world pops up, I
write it into my notes and I check the stories against my notes
before I even start writing to make sure there aren't any
inconsistencies. I do the same if something new comes up during the
writing process. So far, while using this method, I haven't had any
issues with consistency.
You've
mentioned in the past that you have a background in shamanism and
that reflects a little in your writing – how does that show
through?
Most authors
who include magic in their fantasy stories use a sorcery or wizardry
type of magic. Mine is more shamanic in nature in that it is magic
derived from the world of the dead, so to speak. It's something you
have to be born with and you have to know how to "commune"
with the spirit world in order to use it. In Shadow Stalker,
all the shadow stalkers' power comes from the shadow world, and was
given to them by one sect of the shadow people, the human spirits.
There are rules they have to follow too, and they can have their
powers taken from them if they break these rules.
The collected
episodes 7-12 of Shadow Stalker are now available. Do you have a
long-term aim of how many episodes there will be? Where do you see
Shadow Stalker, say, five years from now?
There are going
to be four parts, twenty-four episodes, in all, so it's half way
done. I will be writing the Savior of the Serpent Isles series
over the next four or five years. That will be about eight novels and
it will follow the Shadow Stalker serial. Each novel will
cover the events of approximately three episodes, but it will be
written in third person from the points of view of several
characters, giving a broader view of the world and the story as a
whole.
I also plan to
continue writing novellas and short stories, which are offshoots of
the story that feature one of the characters. I thought this would be
a great way for people to get to know the characters better and see
what's going on between novels and serial parts.
And, as I
mentioned before, when Shadow Stalker is completed, I'll be
starting a new ongoing serial about the shadow stalkers and how they
came to be. It will explain how humans ended up on that world and the
events that led up to the shadow stalkers' creation. I don't plan to
have a definite end for this one as it takes place approximately
20,000 years before the events in the Shadow Stalker serial,
so I can keep it going for as long as it has readers.
And looking
back, for the authors who might be five years behind you and just
starting out, what's the best advice you could give to them?
Make sure you
love what you're writing. If you don't love it, neither will anyone
else. If it's not something you want to read over and over again,
it's not worth writing (and yes, I do read my own stuff over and over
again, and I love it each time).
One of the
things I really like on your website is that you have interviews with
your characters – was that a way of putting your characters out
there or was that a tool you used yourself to get to know them better
for your writing? What prompted the idea?
The idea of
doing character interviews actually came from Katie Jenkins at The
Book Stalkers (at the time DKC) when she planned a blog tour to
promote my very first episode of Shadow Stalker. She sent me
an interview for my main character, Auren. I enjoyed doing the
interview so much, I wanted to do one for each of my characters.
I suspect this
question is an easy one, given the approach you have in your writing,
but if a reader wants to dive into your work, where would you
recommend as the best place to start. (And yes, people reading this
question are rightly shouting at the screen saying “Episode one!”)
LOL, yes
Episode 1 is the best place to start. Although I've given each
episode a little story within itself, it's still a part of an ongoing
story that won't make much sense if you start in the middle. This is
part of the reason I made Shadow Stalker Part 1 (Episodes 1 – 6)
free. It gives all new readers a chance to start from the beginning
of the story and decide whether they'd like to continue onto the next
part.
What are you
working on next?
Next up is the
first novel in the Savior of the Serpent Isles series. I'm
finishing up Part 3 of the Shadow Stalker serial over the
couple of months, then I'll start work on The Galvadi Invasion
in January. I hope to release it around this time next year.
Thank you,
Renee. One last question – well, two really, but what's on your
bookshelf at the moment and what's been your favourite book that
you've read this year?
Oh my goodness,
there are so many books. On my physical bookshelf we have the Sword
of Truth series, of course, as well as Wheel of Time by
Robert Jordan (my husband loves those), Dune by Frank Herbert,
the Twilight Saga (yes, I love those…sigh) as well as so
many others, including non-fiction titles. I also have a lot on my
digital bookshelf, such as The Emperor's Edge series by
Lindsay Buroker (and many others of her books as well), The Fateful
series by Cheri Schmidt, and more than 100 other books. I can't even
recall the titles right now.
My favorite
this year…wow that's a hard one. I've read so many books I loved.
When I'm in full blown reading mode I can read two or three novels
(sometimes more) a week and I average about sixty a year. I'd have to
say my favorite so far this year was The Omen Machine by Terry
Goodkind. I just love his books. They're the exact right amount of
dark, mysterious and creepy for me.
Renee Scattergood lives in Australia
with her husband, Nathan, and daughter, Taiya. She has always been a
fan of fantasy and was inspired to become a story-teller by George
Lucas, but didn't start considering writing down her stories until
she reached her late twenties. Now she enjoys writing dark fantasy.
She is currently publishing her monthly Shadow Stalker serial,
and she has published a prequel novella to the series called, Demon
Hunt. She is also working on a new series of novels, Savior of
the Serpent Isles. The first book, The Galvadi Invasion,
is due to be released mid-2016. Aside from writing, she loves reading
(Fantasy, of course), watching movies with her family, and doing
crafts and science experiments with her daughter. Visit her site for
more information and a free copy of Shadow Stalker Part 1
(Episodes 1 – 6): http://reneescattergood.com
Where you can follow Renee
Website/Blog:
http://reneescattergood.com/
Renee's Author Spotlight:
http://reneesauthorspotlight.blogspot.com.au/
- a blog where I feature indie and small press authors.
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00NTJY1W2
Smashwords Author Page:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/rscatts
Read As I Write (Don't wait til the
book is released): https://www.patreon.com/RScatts
Social Media:
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/reneescatts
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ReneeScatts
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/rscatts/
Thanks so much for the interview! It was a lot of fun! Hope your readers enjoy it.
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