Tag: debut author

Interview with Nikky Lee (The Rarkyn’s Familiar)

Published by Frances Denny on March 26, 2022

Nikky Lee is a multi award-winning author of science fiction and fantasy. She’s twice been placed in the Aurealis Awards for Best Young Adult Short Story and Best Science Fiction Novella. She’s been published in multiple presses and magazines, including Deadset Press and Breach Magazine.

Lee’s debut novel, The Rarkyn’s Familiar, will be released in April. I was lucky enough to read an ARC copy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read my review here.

Most of your works are rooted heavily in science fiction and fantasy, what is it about this genre that sparks your interest? Was it a conscious decision to stick primarily to one genre?

I’ve always been drawn to the unreal. I think it comes from my inner child who’s always wished magic was real. There’s a sense of wonder and wanderlust wrapped up in it too, I love exploring strange lands and different cultures—real or in my head. And intellectually, I enjoy playing around with ‘what if’ scenarios and imagining how worlds, technology, social structures and culture would develop if they have (or don’t have) certain magic or technology.

I don’t think it was ever a conscious decision to write primarily in the spec fic genre. It’s my favourite genre to read and I never imagined myself writing creatively in any other genre.

It’s no secret that you are a prolific short story writer, snapping up many awards and appearing in many publications, do you have any tips for writers who are looking to submit work to magazines, anthologies or short story competitions?

For the longest time I didn’t think of myself as a short story writer, my ideas were always these big, sprawling epics. Then I discovered that writing to a specific theme—be it a submission call out or even just a prompt—helped me narrow down my options and come up with a “small(er)” idea. The more short stories I wrote, the more I realised that limiting myself in this way actually makes me more creative.

It’s been said that learning to write a good short story can help tighten your prose and sharpen your plot in novel writing. How has your experience in short story writing helped you with writing your debut novel?

Not so much with my debut—I’d finished writing The Rarkyn’s Familiar before I fell in love with short stories. But writing short stories did make a massive difference when I was writing the second book in the series. I could rave for paragraphs about how good they were for experimenting with voice, style, tense—even just to practise elements that I knew I was weaker on or wanted to improve on. For example, Dingo & Sister, which won two Aurealis Awards, began because I wanted to prove to myself I could write a story with deep characters. Short stories have also been excellent for teaching me word economy.

On the project front, they have also been a great palette cleanser between bigger projects. Because they’re short, you can write one and then move on to the next idea pretty quickly. Plus the writer’s high you get from completing a short story is just as good as finishing something longer.

I know that you’ve been careful with which publisher you’ve chosen to work with. Could you talk us through your decision process? What advice can you give to aspiring authors?

I knew that I wanted to try and get published in the US or the UK since the markets there are so much bigger than little Aotearoa! I’d been querying The Rarkyn’s Familiar for about a year and a half, and had some nibbles of interest but they eventuated to nothing. At the same time, I was learning a lot about self-publishing and getting quite tempted there after seeing several Kiwi indie fantasy authors do exceptionally well. There was also the potential to earn a good return off a series, which is what The Rarkyn’s Familiar would be. However, the initial outlay to get even the first book professionally edited, formatted and cover designed was very off-putting.

Then I participated in #PitDark on Twitter and got an invitation from Parliament House Press to submit to them. I went to their website, checked out their books on Goodreads and Amazon and liked what I saw. The covers were fantastic and the quality of the interior samples was high, so I submitted. When the offer came through, I hired an agent from Australia to vet the contract and make sure there were no red flags that I hadn’t picked up. I also contacted a few of Parliament House’s authors to ask how their experience with the publisher had been. They all came back with glowing reviews—with the usual caveats of choosing to go with a smaller publisher: I’d be expected to do some marketing and self-promotion myself and not to expect bestseller sales. I was okay with that. I view publishing as a long game, it takes most authors several books to start earning a decent income. So I don’t expect to quit my day job anytime soon!

In other interviews, you’ve mentioned how you’ve drawn on your own experience with anxiety in The Rarkyn’s Familiar. From my experience reading your book, you dig quite deep into this topic and I can imagine it might have been difficult to write. What did your self-care routine look like when writing this book?

I was very fortunate to write the majority of The Rarkyn’s Familiar when I was in a good place mentally. I hadn’t had an anxiety flare up for a couple of years and was fairly confident I had it under control (all that changed when Covid arrived!). When I was searching for a way to deepen Lyss’s internal struggles, I realised my journey of understanding and accepting my anxiety was very similar to Lyss’s journey of discovering and accepting her magic: at first she doesn’t understand what is happening to her, then she initially tries to suppress it and fight it off, until she finally realises that accepting it lessens its power over her.

In terms of self-care, exercise is one of the best things for me. When I’m starting to feel stressed or anxious, it’s a sign I need to get up and move, even if it’s just a walk around the block. It does wonders for my sleep too, which then sets me up for the next day. Routine also helps (hence why Covid threw a spanner in the works). For managing a flare-up, I find square breathing works well along with making a conscious effort to set aside time for relaxation—be it some yoga, a hot bath and a book, or a short guided meditation. Lastly, the biggest leap forward in my self-care was the decision to go to the doctor and get professional advice—that has made a world of difference.

There are no real heroes or villains in The Rarkyn’s Familiar, which is one of my favourite aspects of your debut novel. To write such morally complex characters, what were some of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

I’m of the belief that villains aren’t born, they’re made. When I started writing The Rarkyn’s Familiar, I wanted to do more than the standard good versus evil setup. The antagonist’s motivation needed to be more than “because they’re evil”. I wanted to show characters who are the product of their society and their experiences within it; characters who think they are the heroes of their story, even when from another point of view, their behaviour is heinous.

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Interview with Fran Laniado (Beautiful)

Published by Frances Denny on March 3, 2021

Hello Fran, you’ve recently released a stunning debut novel called Beautiful. What was the journey like to getting it published?

It was a long process. After I had a draft, I was unsure how I wanted to go about getting it published. I started by querying agents, but as I learned more about the publishing process I started to wonder if “traditional” publishing was right for me. You can spend years querying agents, revising and resubmitting your work according to their specifications, before finding the right agent. Then an agent can spend years submitting it to publishers, who then take a few years to publish! I felt like, if I was lucky, readers might see something resembling the book I originally wrote in 5 years!

So, I started to research other options. I spoke to several “independent” authors who published their own work and used various online resources to get it to readers and get the word out. In some ways that seemed very doable: I could have control over the process, and I could make the changes that I felt were appropriate. But it was also very scary! In a traditional publishing environment, you have different people who take care of editing, formatting, marketing etc. If I decided to publish independently, I’d be more or less on my own. But different blogs and groups were very helpful in helping me find beta readers, and freelancers who edited it, formatted everything, did the cover, and helped me put it all together. I’ve found that the writing community is generally very encouraging and supportive.

Beautiful is a Beauty and The Beast retelling. I know you’re releasing a sequel based on the Snow Queen. There have been a few series inspired by fairytale retellings over the last two decades – the Lunar Chronicles, The Kendra Chronicles, Ella Enchanted and Fairest – what sets this series apart?

I’m a big fan of several of those series! One thing I love about fairy tales is how many different variations there are. If you look at a single fairy tale, the Disney version may be very different from the Grimm’s brothers telling, and that might be different from the traditional French version! I think that gives a writer a lot of freedom. You can borrow elements from the different versions, but personally I don’t feel constrained because there’s always room for something new and different.

My “Beauty and the Beast” is a bit different from other retellings because it’s centered around the character who curses the Beast. She takes on the love interest role eventually, though I wouldn’t call her “Beauty” … But then again, I wouldn’t be so quick to call Finn, the character she curses, a “Beast” either. They have elements of both in their characters. That’s why I gave it the subtitle “A Tale of Beauties and Beasts” The line between the two isn’t always clear.

How many books do you intend to have in this series?

Right now, my plan is to do one book for each of Eimear’s (the protagonist of Beautiful) sisters. My next novel, based on The Snow Queen, is centered on her sister Aoife. I’ve started some very early drafting for a third book about Deidre, another sister. There are four girls in the family altogether and I’d love to have one book for each sister. But I’m not as fast a writer as I’d like to be! I have a lot of ideas, but they take a lot of time to develop and work my way through. So, things may change…

What’s your favourite fairytale and can you tell us a bit about why it’s your favourite?

To be honest I think Beauty and the Beast has always been a favorite. I love almost every version I’ve read/seen (yes, including Disney!) It’s strange that one of the elements that always appealed to me was the forgotten, enchanted, castle where the Beast lives, but that’s an element that I didn’t include in my retelling at all! I definitely like that it tries to debunk our conventional notions about beauty, but I do think that if it’s done poorly it can end up reinforcing them, so that’s something I wanted to avoid. Another common pitfall is having the central relationship resembling Stockholm Syndrome. I don’t think that’s the intention at all, and that was another pitfall I was anxious to avoid.

Are there any fairytales you wish were retold more often? Are there any that you feel have received too much attention from writers?

It’s strange: I think Beauty and the Beast gets a bit too much attention, but that’s the one that I felt like I had something to say about! So, I found myself writing my own version. I’m having a similar experience right now with Cinderella. We have a million variations on that story already, but I started to have ideas for my own. So, I’m exploring that currently.

As for fairy tales I wish were retold more often, I think a lot of lesser-known fairy tales are wonderful. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and The Six Swans are definite favorites that I feel like I’d love to tackle at some point. I’d also love to see more from non-western cultures and learn more about their fairy tales myself.

If you could be a mythical creature, which would you be?

I like the idea of being a selkie. I like the idea of being able to take off my skin in a different environment and become something else entirely.

You mention on your website that you are particularly fond of theatre and used to act in high school and summer camp productions. How does your love of theatre influence the way you write, if at all?

That’s a really good question. I think that some of the questions I ask myself as a writer are similar to the questions that an actor asks him/herself when creating a character: how does this person walk/talk? Does this person have any habits or unconscious, nonverbal ways of expressing themselves? Sometimes you can convey a lot about a character very efficiently by “showing” what they’re doing. Little gestures like tapping a toe when you’re nervous or putting objects down with more force than necessary when you’re angry, say a lot. And sometimes it’s better if the character doesn’t say “I’m nervous” or “I’m mad”. Maybe that particular character wouldn’t be that open about his/her emotions. So, you find other ways to get it across to the reader/audience.

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Beautiful

Published by Frances Denny on February 24, 2021

BY FRAN LANIADO

When I finished reading Beautiful by Fran Laniado, I had an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not because the book was rubbish. Quite the contrary, I had become so involved, so present with the characters that when the story ended, I didn’t know what do with myself. It was as if I had lost my companions – Eimear, Finn and the horse Eachann. Why did it have to end? I can only hope there’s to be a second book… Is there? 🙁

The story is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and before you roll your eyes, this is not a typical retelling.

The main character Eimear is a socially awkward fairy princess with a weird-looking face and white hair – and before you roll your eyes again, the hair is compared to an old woman’s, it’s hardly exotic.

The love-interest Finn is a beautiful cruel and vein prince from “The World” (human world) whom Eimear accidentally curses, turning him into a sight for sore eyes. But hey, mistakes happen.

The danger with involving a character cursed with ugliness is that it risks communicating favour in conventional beauty standards. Finn was never described in a way that could have been associated with real conditions that result in deformity. In fact, there was a sense of an otherworldly magic in his features.

In fact, what I appreciated most of all was that the majority of the supporting characters were beautiful except for the two main characters. Yes, take that Hollywood and conventional beauty standards. Think you can handle a supporting cast more beautiful than your stars? It’s a big ask, I know. It was hard enough with Ugly Betty, but I have faith in you. You will achieve it someday.

Putting looks and Hollywood aside, Eimear is exactly how I imagine Belle. I know she’s not Belle. She’s the enchantress. But her personality, the fact that she is clearly not neurotypical and that she’s curious but in an introverted manner, it’s exactly what I wanted in a retelling.

I also appreciated the nod to the original story when Eimear suggests she go find a “beauty” for Finn to help break the spell. In the original tale it’s a merchant who fetches the beauty. What’s even funnier is that Eimear is so earnest, even though the idea is absurd and Finn points that out. (Don’t worry, she doesn’t follow through).

Maybe this is me on a delusive tangent, but some scholars believe, as well as those in my community (I am autistic), that changelings were most likely autistic babies. Some believe that even fairies – what with their large ears, expressionless faces, wide apart eyes and high voices – were metaphors for those on the autism spectrum. I may be barking up the wrong tree, but Eimear’s love of people-watching, her love of music, her earnestness, how every emotion is concentrated only in her eyes, her lack of interest in socialising, parties and fashion – everything really – made me wonder if Eimear was autistic. For most of the book I just assumed the likeness was a coincidence, but when Eimear had the heart-to-heart with her mother about how she felt like an alien, I began to wonder if she was meant to be autistic.

Regardless of my wackadoodle theory, I thought Eimear was perfect. It’s not every day that I read a book in three days – mostly because I find it difficult to relate to many protagonists. It’s why I like Belle (Disney cartoon Belle). I mean, she likes books and solitude – an all-round sensible human being. It’s about time we had a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a proper Belle character. It’s a cause I feel passionately about. More stories with Eimears and Belles please!

And some nice sensitive Finns with proper interests like carving and woodwork. None of that “Look at me, I’m shirtless.” Or “I’m so broody and deep and I like my solitude, but hey I do small talk.”

Yeah, Finn’s cool. Apart from when he’s unwell, then he’s hot and sweaty (no swooning matter), but I won’t spoil it for you because you definitely have to read this. I’m calling to all Beauty and the Beast lovers – except those rare fans of Beastly (they tragically exist) – you all need to read this blessing of a book.

And if you’re looking for a heroine whose feelings of difference are not displaced, you’ve come to the right place. (And that kind of rhymed).

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