How I failed NaNoWriMo gloriously... and why I'm very ok with that

The start of early notes planning out Hocus Potus, my NaNoWriMo novel

WE'RE not far past midnight as I type this, a midnight that doesn't just see one day tick into another, but the month page turned on the calendar too. November is gone, and with it NaNoWriMo.
Back at the start of the month, I sat down and joined in with the goal of writing 50,000 words of a novel while November's page still hung on the wall. I wasn't alone, by any means. NaNoWriMo is a global phenomenon and these past few hours have seen many of its participants scribbling urgently away trying to reach that target - or joyously ringing the bell to say yes, they had done it, target achieved, novel written. Among those is a fellow author from the Tales From The Tavern anthology, Matthew Harvey, who muttered after reaching his mark that on Sunday he "had done basically nothing except write" as he surged towards his winner's badge, before raising a well-deserved glass of brandy.
I have fallen a long way short of that - and you know what? That's all good.
My measure is about halfway at the end of the month. There's reasons why of course. A pesky flu in the finishing straight and a bunch of edits I wanted to clear out of the way so I wasn't selling them or the novel short by turning double duty. There's always reasons. And... it doesn't matter. It's fine. Because I've got a whole bunch of stuff that I wouldn't have had if I hadn't tried at all.

Scribbled notes and character sketch

I have a novel that is begun, that I'll continue to work on and which I think has some game to it.
And for that, NaNoWriMo, I thank you.

PODCAST REVIEW: Putting gender in the spotlight

Previously published in The Tribune's Weekend section on November 27, available online here. 

One of the refreshing things about the range of podcasts out there is the sheer breadth of subjects being tackled. This week, we focus on gender.

What does it mean when you define things in gender terms - even with pronouns when not necessarily needed? The Wagonpod team explored giving up gender pronouns - with mixed results. 

Wagonpod

The Wagonpod podcast team of brother and sister of Julie Kinn and Marc Shechter have a strong theme for their show – every time, they give up something that is an integral part of our lives. And last time around, they gave up gendered pronouns. What is that, you say? That's when you refer to people as he or she, or refer to his or hers, and so on. Why would you do that? Well, such a way of speaking can be problematic. Ever read a book and been annoyed because it describes people only in masculine terms rather than saying his or hers? The assumptions behind such terminology can be frustrating to people, and that can exclude them from the conversation. The hosts look back on the history of words – and how there have been efforts to create non-gender specific pronouns in the past, such as the word “a” in the 1300s which could refer to either gender, or “hiser” in 1850, “shim” in 1972, “herorhis” in 1975 through to the modern day, where Tulane University asks students to provide a first name and pronoun by which they would prefer to be identified. It's an intriguing discussion – and the hosts admit they struggled to avoid using words such as him or her in the week they tried to do so, because such words are so deeply ingrained in our habits of speaking. It also touches on discussions about transgender people, for whom his or hers is sometimes too definite and problematic. The pair really do give a great insight into how we define the world through our use of language, even when elements of the world resist such definition, and the struggles that ensue from that conflict.

Website: www.wagonpod.com

Bradley Cooper in Burnt - but why are chefs routinely seen as being a male-occupied role, especially when men make up a minority in the food industry as a whole?

Stuff Mom Never Told You

Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin are the hosts of Stuff Mom Never Told You, a podcast that, as it says, looks at the business of being women from every possible angle. They look at a host of different subjects, from the presence of women in the visual effects industry, through perfectionism and what it means for women, and a host of other topics. The show I first tried, however, felt like it missed the mark. It was a shame because it looked at life in the kitchens of restaurants and how the role of chefs is routinely seen as being a man rather than a woman. There were interesting facts shown up in the discussion, for example how the statistics show a majority of women working in the food industry but only a fraction in the top jobs as chefs. The kitchen in top restaurants is often portrayed as a macho environment – the hosts reference TV shows with the likes of Gordon Ramsay hurling abuse at staff, and movies such as Chef or the recent Bradley Cooper movie Burnt as examples – but when it comes to discussing the reasons why women are so excluded from those top jobs, it feels like the show doesn't quite get to the heart of what is going on. Perhaps it's a time issue, but the suggestions don't seem to delve deep enough. Certainly, issues such as family life are discussed and working hours, but perhaps some more interviews with women in the profession might have dug into the problem more thoroughly. Still, it's a good listen, and other episodes are well worth visiting for an exploration of gender issues.

Website: http://www.stuffmomnevertoldyou.com/

Another Round

More thoroughly getting to the heart of the issues they're discussing are Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu over at Another Round, which discusses in a more light-hearted fashion issues of race and gender, but also throws in earnest debate over how scary squirrels are and oddball questions such as would you rather have legs for fingers or fingers for legs. Yes, it's a bit odd like that. But that light-heartedness lets them loosen up their guests to have a bit of fun and makes them more open as they tackle the heavier issues. For example, in the episode I listened to, they chatted to Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, who created a street art project called Stop Telling Women To Smile which looks at issues of street harassment – issues which the Hollaback group here in The Bahamas have also been highlighting. It's a great interview, talking about how men who try to tell women what to do on the street are essentially trying to assert a power they have no right to assert. They also discuss the reaction of men who have in the past been street harassers and how they changed once their behaviour was pointed out to them. I don't entirely agree with the artist – she says for example that she can't deal with people who say they understand where she is coming from but who then add the word “but...”. She seems to want complete agreement without discussion, without leaving room for people to learn and question. The episode also discusses the use of the word “female” by men as if they were referring to another species, and how, as the segment says Men Gotta Do Better. The issues raised are sparky and completely worth listening to, especially if you want people to do better.

Website: www.buzzfeed.com/anotherround

Got a podcast you'd like to see featured in the review? Tweet me here or leave a comment below. Would love to hear your feedback too. 

Q&A: Four questions about Quartet with author Leo McBride

The blog catches up with... the writer of the blog in this Q&A with Leo McBride, pen name of Stephen Hunt, to ask a few questions about Quartet, his collection of short stories published earlier this year through Amazon and available on Kindle. 

It seems wrong to welcome you to your own blog but... welcome! Back in August, you took the step to become a published author, with your self-published collection of short stories, Quartet. How did that come about and what was your plan with regard to publishing at that time?

Thanks. And honestly, I'm not sure anything could necessarily be said to fit the word plan - if I could borrow a line from Indiana Jones, then at the time I would have shrugged and muttered "I don't know, I'm making this up as I go along!"

At that time, a few other aspiring writers and I were working on creating a compilation of short stories, Tales From The Tavern, all with a fantasy leaning (about which more here - Ed). Now, while I've done editing work and ebook creation in the past, and we were all very vocal with regard to how one another's work could be tightened and improved, what was missing from our knowledge pool was the actual nuts and bolts process of publishing the book on Amazon, and it occurred to me that the easiest way to do such a thing was... well, to just do it.

I didn't want to do that with someone else's work, so I decided to pull together a few of my own short stories and, thus, Quartet was born. It was a fairly straightforward process - very enjoyable too at times. The excitement of waiting to see it appear for sale was palpable!

So was it just finding stories you had available or was there a process to picking the stories you included?

There was a definite process. They're all short stories, so I'm obviously a little hesitant at giving too much away about each of them for people who haven't read them, but I'm sure I can hint a little without too much worry! While each of them is standalone, I regard them all as linked thematically in some way to the first story in the compilation. That story sees an old man and a young boy in a semi-fantasy setting during an encounter that is important to them both for very different reasons. It's a piece where it gave me a chance to examine issues of trust, expectations and perceptions, loyalty and friendship. The second story, The Grandfather Clock, expands on the connection between different generations, while the third, about a photographer looking back through his catalogue of images and questioning what it was he had actually captured on camera, again looked at perceptions. The final story, Percy, brings the fantasy context to a modern setting, and while it's the least connected to the first by thematic link, to me it feels closest in spirit to the opening. I want to come back to Percy too, revisit him and see where else he'll take me.

They were all short stories I'd written over a period of time, so there wasn't anything new I wrote specifically for the release, rather I cherry picked ones I personally liked and that felt right for the anthology, if that makes any sense.

Certainly it does - so what has the reception been like? 

That's the hardest thing about this process! Everything people have told me has been good, but it's been tricky to encourage people to leave reviews, so I'm grateful for all who do! And, you know, as a new writer, you're putting your material out there and you don't know for sure how much people are really meaning what they say about your work or if they're just being polite. All the second-guessing you do of yourself is torture! But people have spoken to me specifically about elements of the stories and what they liked, and wanting to know more, and wanting to read what happens next, which is, I guess, the perfect reaction you want from someone. Always leave them wanting more... who was it said that? Barnum? I'll take a dose of that medicine. But y'know, for anyone who's read Quartet and not reviewed it yet? Just hinting there!

You mentioned Tales From The Tavern, and since then there has been a companion volume, Tales From The Mists, which also featured one of your stories. So you've gone from not having anything published to having your name attached to three separate compilations inside of, what three and a bit months? So, given that, and we promised four questions rather than five so we're choosing between this and what future plans you have, what has been the most valuable part of the process to you in these three months?

Well, quickly on the future plans, keep an eye on the blog! But really, I can answer a little bit of both. It's funny how your expectations and goals can change. Before August, I considered myself a writer pottering around with ideas. Thanks in large part to fellow authors from the Inklings Press compilations, particularly Ricardo Victoria and Brent A Harris, I've now already taken that step to becoming published. I can pick up my Kindle and there it is, there's my book. It never fails to amuse me that Amazon keeps recommending it to me as something I might like, though! That's always a "Well, no **** Sherlock!" moment. But having done that, I feel like I've become more focused on the end result, in working to finish at least one of the novels I've been working on with the goal of publication next year. I'm not going to get ahead of myself, one is the goal, but given the state of the stories I'm working on, it's not outside the realms of possibility that two might fit into a single year.

Certainly, timing wise, one might more advantageously be published at a certain time of year than the other for marketing purposes - and that really brings me to the most valuable part of the process in the question. The biggest part of this whole process has been the learning curve, the understanding that it's not just putting the book out there and hoping things happen with it. It's hard work to put it in front of people and make them think yeah, that's worth a couple bucks of my money to read while I have my coffee.

It's been great to reach out to other authors, and see how they go about doing things, what they've found that's worked, what hasn't, and hopefully that will stand me in good stead when it comes to publishing that novel! For example, some of the free stories I've put up here on the blog have been great at attracting in potential readers - but you've also got to make sure that the material you make available for free is decent stuff, that it reflects the work you do, otherwise you either put off a reader or mislead them as to your content. I've probably made that sound like more work than fun - which isn't true, it's been a great experience putting all of this together and doing it. Proof of that is that I want to keep doing it!

Four questions asked, four questions answered. Many thanks!

Quartet, by Leo McBride, is available in Amazon stores worldwide. For more on the anthology, including reviews and a direct link to purchase, see this blog post here. Photographs by Shawn Hanna. 

NaNoWriMo: Hocus Potus chapter one

I've been taking part in this year's NaNoWriMo. Not a huge amount done so far, but plugging away. Here's the first chapter of this year's entry. The prologue is here. Nag me on Twitter here to write more words!

Chapter One

As witches went, Juniper tried to avoid the stereotypes. Sure, she had a cauldron, where else to make the potions? However, she had a polite giggle rather than a cackle, there wasn't a wart or boil in sight – and goodness help her if there was, it would make the Presidential Make-up Team faint. There was, though, one thing that fit the image. She could shriek.

“WHERE IS MY CHIEF OF STAFF?” she demanded of the hapless secretary outside the office that was notably devoid of the object of her outcry. The reaction was instant, not least because the secretary had not seen her coming. He was sitting down, an error in itself, so he exploded into the air in a gangly mess of elbows and panic. Yes, the shriek worked wonders.

“Where is Algernon?” she asked as the secretary pulled his flailing limbs into a semblance of shape again.

“Ah... Madame President... ah...” he gasped, eyes searching around.

She placed her knuckles on the desk and leaned forward, eyes narrowing. Very carefully, deliberately, she repeated, “Where. Is. Algernon?”

The secretary swallowed. His eyes swiveled. He gulped out a single word.

“Congress.”

Juniper smiled. “Thank you,” she chirped, then whirled on the heels of her shiny red shoes and crisply marched out of the office. Molly fell in alongside her, matching her stride.

“You don't have to terrify that poor man,” Molly sighed. “He's nervous at the best of times when working with Algie.”

“I know,” smirked Juniper. “It's just it's so easy. Besides, I really did need to know. It's an hour to the vote. If Algie's over at Congress, he must be making sure everyone is doing as they were told.”

Molly shrugged. “I thought you'd already taken care of that. A little potion here, a little notion there...”

As they breezed back past the cramped desks of the West Wing, large men in dark suits at their heels, Juniper lowered her voice. “More notions than potions this time,” she said. “Though there were a few swing votes that needed a drop or two in their brandy at last night's late session. Petersen and Maloney, Wilbur and Awford should all be thoroughly supportive today.”

“Do you think...” Molly began, a cautious note in her voice, “I mean, do you ever wonder if.. we're doing the right thing?”

Sweeping in through the door to the Oval Office, Juniper glanced back at her press secretary. “Of course,” she said, cocking one eyebrow. “We're the good guys.”

The next hour flew by. There were papers to sign and hands to shake, never enough time and phone calls to make. Sometimes it's like being trapped in a Dr Seuss rhyme, she thought. Except Dr Seuss rhymes never talked about soldiers or debt, or the things senators wanted so their needs were all met. Wait, she thought again, once you start rhyming, you can't stop.

There were papers on the plans for the expansion at the Library of Congress – though it might be nice, Juniper mused, if some of the members did more reading. There was a briefing on the tiniest of shifts in the Secret Service protocol that grim men had mulled over for three months before asking her to say yes. A couple of ambassadors stopped by for handshakes and photographs they could show back home. And there was no call from Algernon.

Molly stopped by with press clippings of note, and rolled her eyes as she told how a reporter was asking about Juniper's husband's golfing trips. Of all the things they could ask about, she said, and they're busy asking about Brian.

Then Molly turned up the sound on the news from C-SPAN as the members of the House started their vote. “Any time now...” she said.

***

“Any time now,” Molly had sighed, as the election count came in. Back then, they were in a hotel suite, a ballroom below packed full of supporters waiting for the crucial races to report in.

Molly had constantly been at Juniper's side through the election race, at every town hall meeting, at every local constituency gathering. She'd seen every handshake, every little piece of glamour cast to persuade any lingering doubters.

But still, Juniper didn't know for sure if it would work. After all, no one had ever tried using magic to convince people to vote for them before. She didn't know if the glamour would last long enough to carry the person she cast it on into the voting booth and to mark the X next to “Arkwright” on the form. She didn't know if the TV debates would count against her with the inability to cast spells to influence the viewers. Instead, she sipped her apple zest before the cameras rolled and persuaded the reporters afterwards that she had won, which they duly wrote.

So there were nerves as she sat in that hotel room waiting for the news of the vote, as 24-hour news channels gushed eagerly over every poll, over every early set of returns.

And in the middle of it all, Juniper felt something very odd. She felt... unsure.

She had excused herself for a private moment and then, in her own room in the suite, she had slid out the suitcase that she insisted on carrying everywhere herself, despite the many hands of helpers. She laid it on the bed, popped it open, and lifted out The Way of Odd.

It was more battered than ever after all the years she had carried it around. From school bag to college backpack to bulging briefcase to the suitcase of a presidential candidate.

She sat with it on her lap and leafed through it, though she knew it like her own reflection. She knew the worn-away name on its side, she knew the chunk bashed in its side from a locker slammed on it by a clumsy college-mate. She knew the space where five pages were missing and always had been since she first received it from Molly. She finally settled on a page with a simple spell, a spell to soothe and calm.

I want to be commander-in-chief, she thought, I ought to be in command of myself.

And the room was suddenly still. After all the pell-mell of the campaign trail, after the tiredness and exhaustion, the sleeping on buses and planes and flashing smiles to mask the weariness when cameras were around, here she was at peace. Blissfully, beautifully calm.

And that's how Molly found her a few moments later when she burst through the door with phone in hand.

“Here it is,” she shouted as champagne corks sounded behind her like a fusillade of cannon, backed by party streamers and cheers. “This is the call!”

***

There was a knock on the door and Mrs Eudelay entered the Oval Office, Juniper's private secretary. An older lady with gentle manners but firm heels when you tried to cross a line you could not cross, she was the watchdog at the door, the honey scent to sweeten visitors. Her lantern eyes nodded towards Juniper. “Mr Crowtree on line one,” she said in a low voice.

“Algernon! At last,” said Molly.

Juniper smiled. “About time we got the confirmation,” she said. She made her way around the desk she had been leaning on, looking at the presidential seal in the middle of the carpet as she reminisced about that champagne cork day. She sat down, tapped the speakerphone into life and called out.

“Algernon, thought you'd fallen down a well. How much did we win by?”

There was a cough at the other end, a spluttering as Algernon cleared his throat.

“Madame President, well, you see, the voting began 20 minutes ago and...”

“Out with it, Algernon. It's been a busy day. What's the margin?”

“Ahh. Yes. The margin. Fifteen, Madame President.”

Juniper leaned back and smiled. “Fifteen. That'll do. Thanks, Algernon, tell everyone good job and well done on the win.”

Algernon coughed again. “Ahh. Yes, Madame President. I will. Only... here's the thing...”

“The thing? What is it, Algie?” she asked.

“We didn't win by fifteen.”

She frowned. “What do you mean? You just said the margin was fifteen.”

“Yes,” he spluttered back. “But we didn't win by fifteen. We lost. We lost by fifteen.”

What if... Vader survived Return Of The Jedi? (Part One)

Guest blogger Ricardo Victoria is getting in the mood for the upcoming Star Wars movie by flexing his fanfic muscles. Without further ado, a trip into the world of what if...

Hi there, this is Ricardo. I thought I would share with you the very first piece of writing I did in English, which I found while putting my hard drive in order. Of course before posting it here, I gave it another look to correct grammatical mistakes. I mean I hope to have improved in the last ten years as writer in a second language. Now this is a very small piece of fiction, lets say is more a brief character piece that was meant to be expanded (and maybe I will expand someday somehow, taking advantage of the upcoming new movie). The idea is what if Vader survived Return of the Jedi thanks to Luke and now he is hidden, trying to work his way back to the Light Side in secret, like a recovering addict, and is keeping a holocron diary recording his inner thoughts. I hope you like it.


--------------

Holocron entry DGB17015

I woke up again, trapped in this metallic body that I´ve always hated, the true memento of my deeds, the ones that took away my love. Through the red eyes of the helmet I see the swamp and the little hut where Master Yoda lived so many years, hoping that someday I returned to the light. Well I´m working on that now...

Today, if I´m right, my son, Luke, will come to pay a visit, as sometimes he does. I don’t blame him if he still feels uneasy, after all the things that I did, to him, to his friends, but he is different from me, while I still have anger inside of me, he doesn´t, he is in full control of his feelings.. Oh Padme, you would be proud that your kid is now a Jedi Master and a very powerful one.

After the lightning of the Emperor struck my heart, I was sure that death was close, I even asked him to remove my helmet to see him with my real eyes. I felt the last of my breath escaping my burned lungs and my eyes losing the last sight of true colors, reflected in Luke’s eyes, ones that are like to my own eyes, but also hopefully have the spirit of my mother.

Strange enough was the fact that I woke up, a few days later, in a medical chamber, a secret one, where Luke spent some time, helped by a medic android, repairing not only my hand, but my vital systems. Still now, I don’t know why or how Luke kept me alive. Maybe he did so because he wanted the opportunity of knowing his father better, the awful being who tried to turn him to the dark side. Maybe it is because he is a good spirit who believes that I can reach the redemption or just maybe, because he feels alone. Being the only Jedi in the Galaxy is a heavy weight, with no one to share the fears, the doubts, the responsibility of carrying the hopes of a renewed order, and that was only my fault.

Luke told me that I just passed away, having being weakened by the Emperor's attack. So he, using an old Jedi technique, that I´m sure even Obi Wan never expected Luke was going to learn, kept my vital signs from fading. He connected my wrecked body to a stasis chamber in that shuttle, jury-rigging the life support systems – I never expected him to be as masterful with mechanics as he is - and started to work against the clock to save me, me the sinner, the killer, the bastard…

He made a fake burning ritual, burning a knock-off of my suit, since he knew that I would be sentenced to death if the Rebel Alliance upper echelons knew that I was alive. He hid that fact too, in order to avoid more pain to his sister, Leia. Ironic that the Rebel Icon, the spirit of the Allaince was my daughter, the same little girl that I tortured in the Death Star, that I forced to witness the destruction of her adoptive home planet and the mistreatment of her now husband, General Solo. Indeed, Padme, when I see Leia, I see you in her eyes, her voice, and in her resolution to fight against the odds for the helpless. She is your daughter in every sense of the word. Leia has your fire, is so alike to you as I would wish Luke was to me when I was more human than machine.

Thus my son had a great idea, at least for him, he surely has the ironic knack of you, Obi Wan. He left me here, in Dagobah, a forgotten planet, where next to Master Yoda´s hut, lurks the ancient evil of a dark side user, trapped in a tree, probably, the best place to hide a former Dark Lord who is now searching for peace.

Even more ironic is the fact that now, in some way, I’m the student of my son, through the ways of a new Jedi code, which Master Windu would find quite heretic... Love for someone special, love without attachments, freely given, freely received, appreciated for its fragile existence and eventual demise. At least he is strong enough to love without any attachment… I have a lot to learn yet from him, although sometimes I feel anger to be alive, trapped in this mechanic body … and  then I feel also the dark side running through me, enticing me, with its seductive voice, whispering me to conquer the galaxy now that Palpatine is dead. Only the memory of the selfless sacrifice of my son to bring me back no matter if he had to give his life to redeem the monster I was, that I still feel that I am. Remembering the strong will of Snips, my former padawan, keeps me on track. The patience that Kenobi tried to teach me for years, now a guiding example. The fire burning in my heart is only put out by the memories of the tears that Padme shed for my cause. Luke said in his teachings that emotions and memories like that could be used as a tether to return to the light side. His wisdom grows with every moment he used to find a way to keep me in check, like an addict in the way to recovery. And where I was prideful once, as padawan and master, now I humble myself as a willing apprentice. Ha, maybe there is still hope for me if my son bears with me long enough.

I hear my son´s star fighter landing. Soon we are going to chat about the lost memories, the paths in the Force that only a Jedi could know. But I feel in him a great sorrow, his heart and mind is in trouble. I need to finish this recording now and turn off my meditation chamber in order to wear my dammed armor and welcome my new master, my son…

End of the recording.

Anakin Skywalker

Holocron turning off.

PODCAST REVIEW: Podcasts to inspire writers during NaNoWriMo

This article previously appeared in the Weekend section of The Tribune here. 

EVERY November, writers around the world take part in the National Novel Writing Month challenge - known as NaNoWriMo. This week, we look at podcasts that help writers as they try to make the leap from initial idea to seeing their work in print. 

DIYMFA

For writers, the DIYMFA site is a treasure trove. The podcast section is just one part of this sprawling collection of resources and advice for writers. The podcasts themselves cover a wide range – but perhaps the best of them are the interviews with various authors. Rather than straightforward interviews, though, each takes a specific focus with regard to the process of writing. For example, there's a chat with Linda Fairstein, author of the Alex Cooper series and a former Manhattan prosecutor. She was chief of the Sex Crimes Unit in Manhattan which inspired the Law And Order SVU series – and she talks about bringing your setting to life. She speaks about adding little details of history to your writing to make the setting a vibrant part of your novel. She also chats about how you go about getting access to locations so you really know what you are describing – and the persistence that is sometimes needed in order to get through that door. There's a real focus on the process of writing and creation here, and it's full of useful advice.

Website: www.diymfa.com

The Worried Writer

In the same vein, there is the Worried Writer site – the blog site of author Sarah Painter. As she says on the site, fear of failure (and success... and everything) stopped her from writing for many years, and the Worried Writer site is her way of paying back all the support and advice that helped her overcome her self-doubt. There are guides, pointers and more here – and the podcasts are a delight. I listened to the recent one featuring the splendid Catherine Ryan Howard chatting about her process of writing, who advises: “The more you write, the more you want to write,” but then freely admits that she often leaves things until the last minute before getting the bulk of the work done. She also chats about the way she plans her writing, and how she deals with editing of the finished work. It's great to hear that perspective on the writing process. She also talks about the differences between self-publishing, which is where she started out, and traditional publishing, under which she has her first book coming out next year. She is very open about it, including how to deal with bad reviews, and it makes for a splendid listen – if a little long at a little over an hour.

Website: www.worriedwriter.com

Planning or pantsing is often cited as the two strands of writing - setting out your planning in notes or flying by the seat of your pants and working out the plot as you go. 

Get Published Podcast

This podcast may have come to an end this summer - but its archives are full to the brim with useful information. Its last episode was a straightforward interview with author Chris Hite - who was published for the first time in the Dimensional Abscesses anthology earlier this year. It's a good interview - with his father, Jeffrey Hite, part of the Get Published podcast team - in which he discusses what the biggest challenges were in going through the process of having his story edited and what inspired him to do it, as well as that determination that authors need to "just keep going". Often you'll find interviews with authors who are well established, but this is a chance to hear the rawness of the process from someone discovering it for the first time. Late last month, producer Michell said it was time to end the podcast - but don't let that put you off investigating, the episodes that are there are a treasure trove - and who knows what future plans will come. 

Website: http://www.michellplested.com/category/getpublished/

Got a podcast you'd like to see featured in the column? Send me a tweet at @chippychatty. 

PODCAST REVIEW: Unintended consequences

This review previously featured in the Weekend section of The Tribune on November 6. 

The law of unintended consequences tells us that whatever we might intend to do might not always work out as we thought it might. That being the case, what will be the consequences of our continuing experimentation with new forms of communication. This week's podcast review takes a look.

A post by Twitter user @Sunny_and_Char showing Colgate University students taking part in a three-day protest over concerns about racism. 

Reply All

Reply All is a podcast that hopscotches around a number of topics – but two separate recent shows focused on apps that allowed people to communicate in different ways. The first of those is an app called Somebody which, rather than calling someone or texting someone, sends a message to someone near the person you want to contact and asks that person to deliver the message in person. The thinking behind the app is that messaging has become too impersonal, so having someone – albeit a stranger – deliver the message restores the feel of personal communication. Weird, right? Even weirder is the example they talk through – when a man at work has a strange man walk up to him and say hey, I totally love you. The podcast goes on to talk to both the man who received the message – and was somewhat startled by it – and the ex-girlfriend who sent it to him, asking why she chose this way to declare her love, and what the implications of it are.

A second podcast from the same team looks at the Yik Yak app, and how it led to an explosion of racist debate at the Colgate University in New York State. Yik Yak is an app that allows people within a ten mile radius to post anonymously to its message board, and has taken off on college campuses as a quick way of sharing details about parties, gossip and so on. But at Colgate, it became used to target black students for racist comments. That led to a sit-in protest by students, which led to a flood of responses from people who had been affected by bullying and from those wanting to offer support. Teachers stepped in to help, posting positive messages to the app and, importantly, signing their name to each message, taking the anonymity out of the app's usefulness. The podcast chats to one student affected directly by the racist abuse and tells us at the end that she is back at the same university now, this time as a staff member, and doing her part to tackle racism.

Website: https://soundcloud.com/davidthefu/sets/reply-all-podcast

You Are Not So Smart

Concerns about technology have always been with us – early philosophers such as Socrates were concerned that books would bring an end to dialogue, for example, because you could not argue with a book and to him, knowledge was debate. Equally, he feared that books would be an end to memory, and that's a concern that some have expressed over technology. When was the last time you memorised all the phone numbers in your phone, for example? Or who starred in such-and-such a movie when you can just look it up on imdb.com? Or memorised a poem rather than look it up on the web? However, the show host and his guest argue, memory has always been an unreliable tool. Often, we have relied on our social network – wife or husband, friends, colleagues – to prompt our memories for different things, and technology expands that social network. Find yourself nowadays in a zone with no internet access and, guest Clive Thompson reflects, you find yourself being less curious, just because you have lost your way to double check. And this isn't a new thing, he says, citing the encyclopaedias that used to gather dust on people's shelves and were perhaps checked once a year. Concerns remain – such as new technology making it easier to find people who agree with you and make you feel you are right, even if you are blatantly wrong. It's a fascinating debate, discussing how our interactions have changed with the effects of different technologies and, while a little over an hour long, you feel you could go on listening forever.

Website: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/you-are-not-so-smart/e/40428389?autoplay=true

NPR Technology podcast

After that lengthy podcast, here's a bite-size one. The NPR Technology podcast is a series of snippets, five minutes or so each. A recent one discusses in just three minutes a plan by The New York Times to deliver virtual reality glasses to its customers and to begin producing journalism in that format. A vision of a migrant's journey in virtual reality is one possibility mooted. A child's return to his war-damaged country is another. What will be the effects of putting people in the virtual shoes of those in the news? That, we shall have to remain to see.

Website: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/npr-topics-technology-podcast/e/in-virtual-reality-the-new-york-times-will-help-viewers-bear-40918995

FREE STORY: Dealing with the aftermath by Ricardo Victoria

Guest blogger Ricardo Victoria stops by to share a free short story. 

This is a little short story I posted some years ago at a webforum and reposted in my old blog. It was an early attempt to flex my writer's muscles in English and in the superhero genre. It might appear or not in a modified way in my novel, depending in how it goes. Meanwhile, I hope you like it. - Ricardo

Dealing with the aftermath

By Ricardo Victoria

She was sitting on the roof of the three-storey building that served as their base. Located on the side of a hill, the spot allowed her to stare at the skylights of the inner city, the skyscrapers piercing the bleeding sky, with the sunset coloring the clouds with a reddish tone. Very fitting, she thought, considering the events from earlier that day. The taste of her own blood still clenched her tongue, despite being recovered from the fight. She was feeling miserable. Because despite winning that battle, the personal cost of losing someone she knew - someone she was starting to get closer to - was eating her alive.

Then, from the window next to her, he came, carrying what was left of a six pack. She tried to smile, but she wasn’t in the mood for it. She still didn’t understand why he kept coming to her, despite all the rejections of his romantic advances and gestures of good faith. Then again, it was his nature to do that, at least outside the costume. It was funny to see how his personality changed so drastically in and out of the costume and yet the core remained the same. Maybe that is why he was good at this. Or maybe that is why he managed to cope with being a superhero and what that entailed.

He sat silently next to her and observed the sun setting in the horizon, early stars now noticeable to the bare eye. They spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, until he spoke.

"Nice view, isn’t it? And the wind here feels so good without being chilly. I tend to come here to relax and clear my mind. But you already know that. That is why you are here."

He smiled lightly, trying to keep the mood friendly, but anticipating the storm of yells and insults she usually unleashed, normally when she was sad or angered. But the storm never came, she didn’t even look at him, just asked an honest question filled with grief.

"How do you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, how do you it? How you cope with being a superhero? With all the crap we witness everyday, with all the pain, with all…"

"The loss?"

"Yeah."

"To be honest, I don’t."

That answer stunned her. She expected him to crack a joke, to tell her that everything would be ok and tomorrow would be another day, another fight and maybe he would try to ask her on a date again. But he didn’t, he just kept quiet, gazing into the stars. She turned her head to him, hoping she would get a better answer this time.

"Seriously, how do you stop it eating you alive? You are always trying to make a joke, or complaining or even hitting on me. I can count on one hand the times I have seen you stressed about anything that is not your daily job."

"Truth to be told, most of the time I feel the same as you. Maybe I’m just better at lying to myself. To all of you. Those jokes? They are just my way to relief some stress. The complaints? It’s how I vent my frustration. But what none of you usually see is that when something goes wrong I’m the first to kick myself again and again thinking what went wrong, what I should have done different. And when I get angry, I either hit the shooting range until my fingers bleed from pulling that string or I take it out on that scum or a wall."

"But you are always so controlled in a fight."

"That is because I have to keep my powers in check. I know what will happen if I let go. That is why I come here to think and clear my head and luckily, get over it and don’t get down that road that will make me like them."

"You never said any of this. Do the others know?"

"No, I guess some of them might suspect. I know I had lost my temper a few times. But I’m so sick of the motivational crap that everybody tells you to cope with your problems. That is why I don’t give motivational speeches, nor do I talk about this with anyone."

"So I ask you again, how you do it? How you deal with the loss of someone you couldn’t save despite your best efforts? How you keep it inside and don’t get crazy?"

He turned to her, with a sigh. He was still sporting a few bandages in his forehead. He had taken a beating during the fight. But as usual, he found a way to turn the tables.

"Hmmm… I just try to remember the ones I did save. How every day I manage to make a small difference. Like that guy from the liquor store where I got these cuts. He was being robbed and I’m pretty sure he was going to get killed, so I just beat the crap out of the robbers and paid for the beers. And hopefully that guy would go back home to his family, thankful to be alive. And maybe he will tell this story to his kids and his kids will learn that being bad is wrong and maybe I just managed to set a good example. When I get sick of being a superhero, I just remember that I do this not for me, not for the glory or the adventure, though those are pretty sweet. I do this for them, the ones that can’t defend themselves. We have a gift that allows us to make a difference that hopefully will make this world just a little better. Even if we fail sometimes, the ones where we succeed, no matter how few, are the best reward. It is the best way to keep us going."

They remained in silence for a few minutes. He was just gazing at the sky, she was thinking over his words. He was right, as annoyingly usual. Now she started to see why he was good at playing superhero. It was because despite the falls, all his flaws, he kept going, no matter the odds or the pain, because his heart was in the right place. Even if he was a little bit out of his mind. And then she remembered something. With her ‘know-it-all’ tone, she asked.

"So, to be perfectly clear, you stopped a robbery as a civilian just to bring me a beer? You are unbelievable."

With a smug smile, he just replied.

"I know. Do you want one?"

He opened a beer and offered to her the rest of the six-pack. Rolling her eyes in disbelief, she took the pack and opened a beer.

"I thought you didn’t or couldn’t drink…"

Shrugging his shoulders, he only replied, Both. But sometimes, one should make small sacrifices for his friends and the people that you care about. And I know you like this stuff, so it’s no big deal."

Taking a sip from the bitter liquid, relaxed his shoulders and continued gazing towards the horizon. It was then when she realized that for him, despite the constant rejections, she was not only a crush nor a teammate, she was more. Because he had just bared his inner feelings to her. Not even his closest friends in the team knew about what was going on in his head or heart. But that changed because she knew now. About the daily struggle. And now she knew she wasn’t alone.

"It never gets easy, right?"

"Nah, but we should keep trying. And with time the pain will hurt less and something will come along to make things better."

"You are such a dreamer."

"I like to think I have hope. Helps to get out of the bed every day."

It was in that moment that she took a decision that would change their lives. She gave him a small kiss in the cheek, leaving him stunned. He put his hand in his cheek, covering the place of the kiss.

"Wow, that is a first. I wonder if this is not beer but something else…"

He raised the can and started to examine it with critical eye, making her laugh. She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Don’t be such an ass."

"Sorry, it's just that it was unexpected. Usually you just yell at me. Especially if I ask you out, which I promise I won’t do any more."

He smiled with a larger grin and it was then when she noticed that he was carrying a nasty scar to the right of his upper lip. A scar he got helping her earlier that day.

"I know and I promise that when this hurt less, when I feel ready again, I won’t yell at you if you ask me out again."

"Does that mean that you will say yes if I ask you one more time? Just one date?"

"Maybe."

"Good enough for me. And for the record, I think you are a great superhero. I know you will be fine."

He gave her a brief pat in the shoulder and kept drinking. The afternoon became night and the temperature dropped a little bit. But she didn’t care. She got closer to him and drank her beer, smiling in the inside. Being a superhero is never easy, nor painless. But it was worthy and good enough for him. It will have to be good enough for her.

Ricardo Victoria is featured in the fantasy short story anthology Tales From The Tavern, available here. He is also featured in the new horror short story anthology Tales From The Mists from Inklings Press. The latest anthology is available here. You can follow him on Twitter here. 

A Q&A with Matt Hardy and Edward Bentley of Mad Robot Comics

Matt Hardy and Edward Bentley are the team behind Mad Robot Comics, whose first three issues of Madhouse are now available. In addition, they are starting out on the convention circuit - with an appearance in Brighton this weekend. They stopped by the blog for a chat. 

A scene from The Gulls, another production from the team. 

Hi Matt, Edward, and congratulations on the first three issues of Madhouse. How has the reaction been to the comic?

Edward: It’s been surprisingly good. Considering it is our first venture in the printed form, I am really happy with the reaction from everyone. It’s a hard road when self-publishing and promoting a piece of work like this. You initially have only a certain local/friend base to work from and then slowly you feel it start to snowball as you produce more and show it more. And that's where we are now. just starting to get it into more public spaces and conventions and getting a more unbiased view of our work. 

Matt: Positive, but cautious - Madhouse is a little different from most books out there. Structure, style, colour even. It's is written as a showcase for Ed’s art so each issue radically shifts the perspective and the landscape. It’s an adjustment for some. 

To complement Ed's bold, aggressive art I try to write some big moments and shocks into each issue so our hope is that it’s challenging but still a thrill ride. 

Things get messy for the hero in Madhouse...

What's your pitch for Madhouse? What's your one-liner to hook people in?

Matt: Hmmm - “Do you really trust the word around you? - What if it all just fell away?” 
Or “You don’t need to be insane to get Super-powers, but it helps!"

Edward: I'm really liking ‘Complete insanity, its just a state of mind’ at the moment. It's Matt's tagline for the poster and sums up the work pretty well. 

I get the sense that you two have known each other a long while – how long is that, have you always talked comics or has Mad Robot brought you together?

Matt: Hah. We’re both gamers. I got tired of Ed beating me all the time so I suggested we do a comic. Ed’s an artist, animator, painter. I spend my days scribbling story ideas on the back of rail cards and beer mats. Synergy? 

Edward: Matt and I have been friends for a long time now… I’m gonna guess about 12 years but I’m sure he knows the exact date. Matt has always talked comics and I can blag my way through it sometimes. We have spent a lot of time before Mad Robot coming up with stories and small comic strips and stuff before we got serious. Last Exit [Editor's note: Last Exit To Brighton, another project from the team] was the first full-time project we did and i have a real soft spot for it as it really showed the commitment that we both had for making comics.

So what are the comics that you talk about? Which are the ones you're passionate about? And what is it about those comics that you love? 

Edward: This is a pretty sore point for us as Matt is a huge comic fan and I have a few that I love but I am mainly influenced by films and street art. so we do find ourselves crossing swords on comics a lot. But as a writer and artist, I think that works as we are both looking for different things and when they come together they make something that I hope is a little different.

Matt: I read comics across all genres and publishers. I prefer character-driven works, but I admire writers who have the ability to weave multiple plot-lines. Good recent stuff - Paper Girls (‘Goonies' with Girls as I’m calling it), Jason Aarron’s Dr Strange relaunch (a template for the movie I’d say), Airboy (don’t let your wife read it), The Dead and the Dying, Slott/Aldred’s Silver Surfer, Soule’s Lando book, We Stand on Guard, I could go on. I adore comics as a format and there is so much great stuff currently being published. 

I bought Ed a copy of Scottie Young's I Hate Fairyland as I liked the concept and I knew the art would appeal to him. I’m also pushing him to read Fraction’s Sex Criminals. 
I nag Ed to read comics. He tells me to watch more TV and films. We are both right.  

One for you, Matt, on the writing side of things – what are your influences there? Whose comic writing is it you admire and what draws you to their work? 

Matt: Always looking for a way of storytelling never attempted before. Using the written word to expand personal reality. Awed by James Robert’s ability to have a throw away line from a character three years past suddenly take on new meaning and feed back pivotally to the main story. Such dense plotting. Charles Soule has hit the ground running (loved his She-Hulk). Currently I can’t pick up a book by Jason Aaron without having some level of emotional response (in particular Southern Bastards). I’m love the work of Peter David, Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, Jonathan Hickman, Dan Slott, Scott Synder, Mark Waid, Keiron Gillen. How much room do I have here? 

Hah! Think we'll cut you off here before you start organising them into alphabetical order too! Edward, there's hints of Frank Quitely and Jamie Hewlett by my reckoning in your work so I imagine they might be influences. Am I right, and who am I missing from your hit list? 

Edward: You are defiantly right on Hewlett, Tank Girl and the Gorillaz really influence my colour palette and my over-exaggeration quite a bit. As for Quietly, I don’t know masses of his work but I remember the day I read his Batman and Robin books and just being in awe of his use of sound effects… I definitely need to read some more. As for other influences, Ramos’s ‘out there’ had a big impact on my work, his bold lines and crazy mouth shapes really helped my style progress and I hope as time goes on I can marry these all together into something just as special. I can’t really talk about influences without mentioning Terry Gilliam. He has always had a huge impact on me and my work and even when I look at madhouse now, I can see Bruce from 12 Monkeys in the main character, Andy.

The work of Jamie Hewlett is an inspiration to Edward Bentley

Sticking with Edward a moment, I come at things from a writer's angle (and have a tremendous envy of people with artistic skill such as yours!). As a writer, I read other people's work and think wow, love how this person writes, and try to figure out how to incorporate some of the better things they do in what I do. Does the same process hold true from an artist's point of view when looking at how other artists draw their work? And if so, what is it that you've tried to bring in from others, and what was it that wowed you about them? Clearly, by the way I've phrased that, this may be a question you may tell me I don't know what I'm talking about... 

You are correct. I may have answered a lot of this already, but my art is a collage of all the bits and pieces of ideas that I like from others' work, and by doing that you then add to them and if they work they become part of your style and thats how I evolve. Like before with Quitely’s sound effects, when I attempt effects, I will look back over the really good ones that I found for ideas and hopefully pull off something that has the influence but looks like me. As a current example, I am currently using a Hewlett image that i love to help try and help me bring depth to upcoming projects. When I look at the piece, I am blown away by the sheer depth to the image.

I like that. As an aside, my favourite ever sound effect in comics came from an artist's visit to a convention in Japan. As a hero punched his opponent, he snuck in the name of the city hosting the convention, "Sapporo!" as a sound effect! Back to Matt, have you done more writing for comics or in other story formats? How do you find the difference between the two?  

Matt: I have laptops full of short stories - I just don’t have the attention span for an actual novel. Comic-books are not restricted by movie budgets, format restrictions or even that many rules. Comics have the potential to deliver so much information in such a short attention window, to drive home a concept in it's purist form. 

So I find myself drawn to writing in that format.

This is the first publication for Mad Robot Comics, yes? How did the creation of the new imprint come about?

Edward: Madhouse is our first printed comic under the company Mad Robot, yes.When we started making Madhouse, we had to make social media links for it and we already had ones for Last Exit and so it was just a natural decision to have something to pull all our works together under one heading, and Mad Robot Comics was born.

Matt: We’d put out a bunch of comics but needed a marketing identity. We got tired of fighting over a name when drinking. We were nearly Torchlight Comics or Axoim Publications. Ed suggested Madhouse Comics (after our main title), I love giant transforming Robots and somehow Mad Robot turned up. As soon he is done with Star Wars, JJ Abrams is going to sue the pants off us. 

I won't tell JJ, your secret is safe with me and Twitter. You also have a project called Last Exit To Brighton – tell us a little about that and how it came about?

Matt: If I remember correctly, Ed drew this great picture of two oddball detectives on Brighton Pier. I had this heaven/hell/serial killer story all plotted out and I really wanted to write characters with snappy back-and-forth dialogue. Things just clicked. 

Edward: Up until Last Exit, we were just mucking about with small projects and short titles that never really achieved anything. I don’t remember exactly how it came about but I think we had both reached a point where we needed to do something more… something more substantial and I think I said how about a post-apocalyptic Brighton and Matt ran with it and created something quite magical. Last Exit is one of those pieces where Matt's writing is loose and exciting and really fun to read and my art is a little too rough to keep up in places but like I said before, I have a real soft spot for this piece.

Matt: Last Exit was a learning experience for both of us. There is a lot to love and a lot to cringe about - but as a fully realised story with a beginning, middle and end, I’m proud of it. 

And future plans?

Edward: Lots of secret ones…. seriously though we have got to finish Madhouse with a big finale in issue 4. We have just released a new small Hitchcockian comic called The Gulls which may lead to something exciting, and we also are working on reimagining an old and loved idea from our past… very excited about this one.

Matt: I wrote an 12-page introductory comic called “The Gulls” for the upcoming Brighton Film and Comic Con. We plan to follow that up. I also dug up a old story pitch called Cadavers that I put a lot of work into about five years back - I don’t think my writing or Ed’s art at that time would have done it justice, but Ed is experimenting with new technology and new ways to approach his art which I think would suit the type of frenetic, action based story I fancy doing.  

I also have eight pages of notes about Madhouse 4 tying-up all the unanswered questions and likely driving both me and Andy further into insanity . 

I think Matt just spilled the secrets there, Edward! OK, end of the long questions! Last two questions. First, what's the best response you've had from people to Madhouse?

Matt: I’ve a friend who's a teacher and runs a comic-book club for the kids in his class. Their kids review was "weird and gory and not like anything we've read before”. Taking that to the bank. 

Edward: I get a lot of good responses about my art but I love it when someone who doesn’t usually read comics enjoys the story we are trying to tell… Matt's work doesn’t get enough credit and I love to hear nice things about it.

And last question – though I'm kind of cheating because it's two – what are you reading at the moment, and what's the best thing you've read this year?

Edward: I am currently reading (it didn’t take long) the first issue of I Hate Fairyland by Scottie Young. Absolutely love it… completely throw away but it is just jam packed full of exciting little bits and style. I could tell you what the best thing I have read this year is but I won’t… the best thing I have experienced this year and the one thing that has blown my imagination more than anything else has got to be Mad Max Fury Road… a masterpiece on all levels.

Matt: I firmly believe that the most groundbreaking, innovative work is coming out of the comics field at present. Again I could fill your website with a list of great comics. The best thing for me at present is IDW’s More Than Meets the Eye - but if I tell you what it's about, I suspect reader prejudice may stop people from picking up a clever, beautiful, brilliant piece of work. 

Instead,  I’ll steer away from comics and just say that currently I’m wading through some Tales From The Mists [Editor's note: Awww, bless you for mentioning our anthology!] and sitting on my desk waiting to be read is The Shepherd’s Crown. I might stop before the last page just so I’ll always have something left of Pratchett's to read. 

I admire your willpower if you can resist! A lovely note to end on. Matt, Edward – many thanks, and best of luck with Mad Robot. 

You can read our review of Madhouse issue one here. You can find out more about Madhouse and its publisher, Mad Robot Comics, at www.madrobotcomics.com. The team is also on Twitter as @madrobotcomics and on Facebook.

A Q&A with Renee Scattergood, author of Shadow Stalker

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

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100671337443224225702/posts

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/pub/renee-scattergood/56/963/3

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rscatts/