Hi everyone! It’s moving later in the Summer, and the 9nth Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off is going its way. Today, we have Anne Mattias, whose first draft was sucked into another world via a haunted cellar, and her SPFBO9 entry is …
Kingsrise
A
sleepy town on the west coast of England. Nothing really happens here. Until now…
Two stabbings. The victims: a man named Arthur and a mysterious knight. Detective Inspector Niamh Khalid finds herself drawn into a world of myth, magic, and betrayal. Can she solve an impossible case and keep her brother safe?
Things aren’t looking too great for DI Niamh Khalid. Her brother Lance has been arrested, her superior officer is breathing down her neck, and she is investigating an attempted murder, with no suspects and no clues to the identity of the victim.
Then, Lance and his friends discover another dead body: a young man, dressed as a knight.
Soon, a series of terrifying incidents threaten to derail Niamh’s investigation. Lance is clearly hiding something, and Niamh’s journalist ex-fiancé is back in her life, asking awkward questions.
When criminal barrister Merlin Rhys seeks her out with a stunning revelation, Niamh begins to appreciate just how strange and frightening a mystery she and Lance have become involved in.
Can myth and magic be real? Can they help Niamh solve her case, and save both her brother and her world?
Is the arch on the cover supposed to remind me of Stonehenge?
Onto the Questions!
As a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) Entrant, you’re not just independently published, but self-published. Can you start by explaining a bit about why you chose that route and how it’s been for you?
To be honest, self-publishing was an option I considered early on. I did some querying for my novel, Kingsrise, but decided fairly quickly that – as I’d already spent money on editing and proofreading – I’d rather do the whole thing on my own than wait for someone else to make decisions on my behalf (and experience a lot of rejection in the process).
As many authors will tell you, there are upsides and downsides to being both self-published and traditionally published. I certainly haven’t regretted my decision to self-publish Kingsrise. It’s been a steep learning curve, but it’s taught me loads of valuable things, and I’ve learned plenty of new skills that transfer well to other areas. I’ve really enjoyed finding out how everything works, such as learning ways to market my book (which I have much more to learn about), the use of social media, how to format books for print and ebook, and so on. It’s also given me a fresh perspective and a new appreciation of the process of publishing, and the hard work that goes into it. I have nothing but respect for everyone who decides to undertake that journey, whichever publishing route they choose.
I think SPFBO is going to be another great learning experience for me, especially in terms of where exactly my book does or doesn’t fit in.
However, I’d say the best thing about self-publishing – at least for me – is the community that you become a part of as you go along. I’ve met a lot of truly wonderful people, who are extremely supportive of each other.
Having these people around really helps with the kind of rough patches I’m sure we all go through, when we start doubting ourselves, our work, and whatever we define as success.
What’s more, having complete strangers read and enjoy what I’ve written is a huge achievement for me personally, and that’s something that self-publishing has helped me do, while also giving me a much better sense of what that achievement really means. I’ve really enjoyed myself throughout the whole process, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.
It is really awesome how fun this can be for everyone: readers getting what they love, authors getting to enjoy that! Win-win!
On a related note, why did you enter the SPFBO contest? How do you expect to find it? Refreshing your blog’s page every five minutes, or sit back and chill?
I can’t quite remember when I first heard about SPFBO but I’m pretty sure it was sometime in March or April when I noticed people talking about it on Twitter. The actual credit for me entering, however, goes to another indie author – the awesome Alex S. Bradshaw – who was a semi-finalist during one of the previous SPFBOs. Alex recommended SPFBO to me and encouraged me to enter. I’m glad he did.
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. I certainly did not imagine that the 300 places would be filled within 41 minutes! I kind of guessed they’d fill more quickly than in previous years, but I’d expected maybe a couple of hours.
Then, once I’d managed to enter, I didn’t think I’d hear anything about it for a few weeks or even months while the judges picked their favourites – bear in mind that I’m still quite new to the self-publishing community, so I wasn’t aware of much that happened in previous years.
Obviously, the silent waiting game I was expecting hasn’t happened. There’s always something going on around SPFBO, which is great. It’s also slightly more daunting than I thought it would be – 300 entries, everyone hoping for their book to stand out, people sharing their TBRs and their thoughts about each other’s work, bloggers starting to share reviews, and announcing who is still in and who is out. There’s a lot of potential for both gratification and disappointment as you find out how your work stacks up compared to others. It’s going to be interesting, to say the least. (I’m a bit terrified – can you tell? 😉)
So, there’s been a bit of both: constantly checking Twitter, while also trying to keep a level head. I’m definitely very excited about getting in, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
That’s understanding! I’ve been oscillating between being a bit more nervous than I was previous years and not worrying about it at all myself, too. But this kind of touches on one of the reasons I’m doing these spotlights: this should, hopefully, be a no-tension space, where people can find out about your books!
Book titles. Why did you choose the title Kingsrise? (I must say, combined-word titles like yours appeal to me.)
My book is called Kingsrise, and it’s been described (accurately, I think) as a police procedural-meets-Arthurian fantasy. People have also remarked that it’s got a bit of urban horror thrown in. To be honest, I hadn’t thought of the horror bit that way, but it’s true.
The title doesn’t give any of that away, but then I don’t think it needs to. It does allude to some of what happens in the book, and it’s also the name of one of the locations that are pivotal to the narrative.
I’ve got to admit, the title was one of the last aspects of the book that I finalized. I think it had at least two different titles before. Choosing titles is hard; I’m sure other authors find this too.
I used to do a bit of journalism and science writing in the past, and even then, I often found titles the hardest thing to come up with. You want a title to sound good, you want it to fit your piece of writing – whatever that may be – you want it to get a reader’s attention and so on. And of course, it needs to be something that isn’t already out there.
However, while it was challenging to come up with, I’m pretty happy with my title now; it’s simple, hopefully memorable, and it connects to what’s in the book. I hope I’ve chosen well.
Titles are sometimes harder than other times! And I do think your combination of cover and title implies a touch of Arthurian fantasy!
I won’t ask for your favourite scene since I know some people don’t have those (like me; I never have favourites), but can you share a scene or two that you really love, without spoiling too much?
Oh dear, this is quite a challenge 😊 I immediately have a scene in mind, but it is a big spoiler for the book, so it’s quite difficult to write about without revealing too much. It’s a moment in the story where the characters are on a bit of a quest to find something they really need, and obviously, things get more complicated than they’ve bargained for. The reason it’s one of my favourite scenes isn’t just because they find out something which they – and I hope the reader – didn’t quite expect, but also because it properly introduces one of my favourite characters.
Speaking of which, there’s another scene a bit earlier on, in which the main character – Niamh – receives a surprise visit from someone she really didn’t expect to be involved in the crime she’s investigating. I still really enjoy reading that scene, because I like the way the visitor is introduced, and how the characters interact. It’s one of my favourite pieces of writing and on days where new writing doesn’t come easily (we all have those, right?), it helps me stay confident about what I can do.
Ooh! A scene that gets the introduction of a favourite character down right pat is AWESOME!
What are some elements or themes, or combinations thereof, that really make your book stand out to you?
One of the main elements of the story is the relationship between my main character – Niamh – and her younger brother, Lance. Niamh is ten years older than Lance, and she has been his legal guardian since she was eighteen (she’s twenty-eight now), so she’s also somewhat of a single parent to him. Lance has just turned eighteen, so he’s now legally an adult, he’s been having a few difficulties recently (including with some of Niamh’s colleagues in the police), and the two of them aren’t always finding it easy to negotiate their way through their changing relationship. Ultimately, though, they love and care about each other very much, and they have a very strong bond. This, to me, is one of the key elements of the book, and one of the things that I like best about it. Readers have remarked on this as well, which I’ve found very encouraging. Obviously, it isn’t just something that stands out to me, but to others, too.
A sibling bond!! Even if it’s half-way to being a parent-child relationship. Still. A sibling bond with a protective, caring sister, and her younger brother. And some … difficulties. NICE!
What else would you like to share? Feel free to take this in any direction that you feel is book- or writing- related!
Something that’s been on my mind a lot recently is how we as authors keep our spirits up when things inevitably get a bit tough.
Perhaps you’ve had a long stretch of not a lot happening, only a few or no sales, or maybe you’re in a slump after the excitement following your most recent (or first) publication.
Maybe you’ve had a bad review, or someone tells you they couldn’t even finish your novel.
Writing can be a difficult and lonely process, and I’d imagine a lot of us have moments when we feel discouraged.
Then there’s the added difficulty that most of us have day jobs and other responsibilities, which also take up a lot of the time we may wish to spend writing, plotting, researching, or reading.
I wrote much of my novel, Kingsrise, on my phone during my daily commute. Which meant I’d do some drafting early in the morning on my way to the office, and then some more on my way home. I’d then re-draft and edit for an hour or so before bedtime. I’m sure a lot of authors – and I’m guessing book bloggers and other people in the community as well – know what that’s like; trying to balance a full-time job, friends, family, exercise, other hobbies (do we have time for those?) and so on with writing.
I’ve changed jobs recently, and I’m now commuting to work by car, so I’ve lost that hour in which I used to sit on a train and write. It’s really impacted my progress (on the upside, it’s also given me an extra hour to listen to audiobooks). And in addition to working on the Kingsrise-sequel, I now also spend some of my writing time promoting my first novel.
All of this is fine, and I am absolutely not complaining – I really enjoy learning how to do all of this, and spending time with the indie and self-publishing communities in particular. Any added workload is part and parcel of being a self-published author, it’s something I have chosen to do, and I feel very happy and privileged to be able to do it.
I’m sure many of us feel that way (or I hope some of you do – otherwise, what am I doing?), but happy though we are to do what we do, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t also feel difficult sometimes, like we’re up against a never-ending workload. Often, it may be necessary to de-prioritize what we feel we really want to do – ideally as our day job – for whatever pays the rent.
That’s why I think it’s important to remember that we’re not alone in this. Many of us struggle, many of us have moments of doubt, perhaps even moments when we seriously consider throwing in the towel altogether. None of that means we’re not writers, or that we don’t deserve to be here.
It’s perfectly okay to feel that way, and when we do, it’s important to remember to take breaks.
I know many people have said this before, but I’m just going to say it again: it’s okay to turn off our phones, switch off our computers, go out and have some fun (or stay in and relax).
Now, all of this may seem perfectly obvious to some or all of you, but it’s something I struggle with as a writer. During those times, I find it helpful to know that other people have similar experiences.
So, hopefully, this little ramble is helpful to some of you.
And just in case there’s anyone out there who needs to hear this right now: don’t give up. If things feel difficult right now, better times and successes – big ones and small ones – are ahead.
And if you have something to celebrate; congratulations, you’re awesome, you’ve earned this, enjoy! 😊
If anyone is keen, I’d really like to hear about how you deal with these kinds of challenges. Drop me a message, I’d love to hear from you.
Finally, good luck and best of success to all my fellow SPFBO hopefuls. As they say – whoever ‘they’ are – it’s not the winning, but the taking part that counts. (But we’d still all like to win, right?)
Thank you for sharing that! — And, yes, to varying degrees a lot of us relate to the same challenges. (In my case, there’s the oft-repeated question of: do I really want to even try to market this or is it taking too much time away from the WRITING I really want to do?)
It was fun to hear from you!
Anne Mattias is a British author, who loves books, films, plays, cats, and cake. She tried writing her very first novel at the age of eight, but the draft was sucked into another world when a portal opened in her great-grandmother’s haunted cellar. These days, when she isn’t making up stories, she enjoys running, swimming, going to the cinema, and catching the latest musical theatre shows.
You can find Anne on her Website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Her SPFBO 9 entrant, Kingsrise, can be found on Amazon, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble.
You can also check it out on Goodreads.
Enthralled By Love 