D. Hart St. Martin

I make female heroes badass AND believable

fantasy

Interview – J. Conrad

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J. Conrad

J. Conrad, a fiction author who was born in St. Louis, and I have been following each other for years on Facebook and now Twitter. About ten years ago, when she started writing her first fantasy series, she only knew she wanted to write. After finishing a lot more books and doing a little soul searching, she realized a subconscious desire to teach lessons about human nature was what dragged her to the keyboard every day. That’s where her primary inspiration comes from, and she’s found putting it to use is the best feeling in the world.

J. and her brilliant husband currently live in Louisiana, but she dreams of moving back to Texas where they’ll live forever in a cute house amidst a field of bluebonnets.

J. loves connecting with readers and other authors. Feel free to contact her in the following ways on Facebook, Twitter, and, in particular her great website.

Hart: You write in several genres. Tell us a bit about how that works for you and what attracted you to those genres.

J.: Writing in several genres actually came about as an experiment. I consider myself a young adult fantasy author, but young adult is a much smaller market than some others, such as mystery, thriller, and romance. Thriller was the larger genre in which I could tolerate writing, so in 2017 I wrote Blood Red Winter. Interestingly, because I didn’t love it as much as fantasy, it was easier to be more objective about my own writing. My experiment was a success and that book outsold every other book combined I’ve written to date. I learned so much about writing and marketing from the experience it was worth the effort. I might even do a new thriller series, but I’ll always come back to fantasy.

H: My favorite genre (she says with a smile). Do you schedule time for your writing? Or do you just grab the odd minute or hour when it makes itself available to you?

J: For the most part I try to stick to a schedule. Currently I’m writing in the afternoon, and I have a minimum daily word count quota of two thousand words. If I stick to this routine, I can have a rough draft in about two months. This has been workable for staying productive while not getting burned out, but I’m trying to develop an even better schedule which will allow me to write in the morning as well, with a break in between. I’d love to become proficient at writing great books faster over the next couple years.

H: What research do you find absolutely necessary to keeping your story authentic?

J: It depends on the story, but with my fantasy novels I think one of the biggest points is researching the time period in which the story is set and making sure I don’t accidentally add anachronisms. Especially in the dialogue, it’s incredibly easy to do and sometimes tricky to spot, because we don’t always realize how relatively new some of the phrases we use in everyday speech are.

For example, my Cinderella retelling series, The Joining, is set in an imaginary place, but the time period roughly corresponds to what we might think of as the late 18th century—but without firearms. They don’t have guns in Edim. I have to be mindful not to use common idioms which have derived from the use of firearms (there are more than one might think!). Also, the main character has telepathic ability with animals and Fae, but the word “telepathy” didn’t come about until the late 19th century. So, I use the term “thought-speak” instead. Since Edim isn’t a real place, I have some liberty, but it wouldn’t feel the same to readers without the right language.

H: I totally get that. Things like the verb “trigger” are out in my books as well. Tell me, how do you see the role of women in fiction these days?

J: I see the role of women in fiction as one which teaches that because women are insightful and observant, they often find their own unique solutions to complex problems. Might isn’t always right, and sometimes actually giving a damn about the opposing party wins the day. Exhibiting emotional depth and looking beyond the surface manifestations of life isn’t a sign of weakness, but humanity. Women often exemplify the most human quality of being able to emphasize with others. Yes, there are differences between women and men, but different doesn’t mean better or worse. I believe our female fictional characters help to show that.

H: So true. In depicting battles and wars in my books, I’ve endeavored to give them the “feminine” edge, showing a battle, but then opening up negotiations. That sort of thing. And how do you promote women in your work?

J: With the exception of one thriller novel, all my books center around women and their relationships with one another. I think in some ways, women bond more deeply with other women than they do with men. Think of that best friend you’ve had since high school, a sister you’re close to, or a mother and daughter. Those bonds are unbreakable. Growing up, I loved reading stories such as The Mists of Avalon, a story of King Arthur but told only from the viewpoint of the women. Now in my own writing, I love to teach lessons through the interaction of female characters and the strength of their spirit.

H: Yes, The Mists of Avalon was a real eye-opener for me as well. Do you have a current release to share with us?

J: Yes, Cinders and Fae is the second book of the current series I’m working on. It’s a Cinderella retelling with fairies, shifters, witches, animals, and lots of magic. The main character Elin Kendrick is part Fae, and her prince Trystan is a wolf. Elin is telepathic, but only with animals and Fae. Trystan is a shifter who hides this fact from most humans, including his own father King Odswin. He was raised in secret by his mother, the queen of the wolves. In book 2, Elin and Trystan plan on marrying, but the Fae Queen is challenging Elin’s lineage since she’s only one-quarter Fae—she must prove herself by manifesting her inborn Fae abilities which thus far have eluded her. This is a clean fairy tale telling and not a steamy shifter book, suitable for just about anyone who likes fantasy. Cinders and Fae is currently up for preorder and will release on July 11th. Here’s the blurb:

What really happened after the ball?

My bloodline is in question, my marriage to my wolf fiancé forbidden by the Fae Queen unless I pull off near-impossible feats of magic to prove myself. Can I truly change my stepmother into a human… and turn her evil heart to good?

As time slips away toward my deadline of the spring equinox, I’m losing hope. But after the castle is attacked, I meet with Trystan secretly and make wedding plans against the queen’s orders. All I have to do is show up at the appointed time.

But I still need a way to escape my assignment, and I’m terrified what our decision means. If I marry Trystan now, I might be imprisoned—or worse. But if I play by the rules and fail the Fae queen’s test, she swears she’ll marry my fiancé to a more suitable bride—my own mother! How can I make a choice that won’t end in losing the two people I care about most?”

Thank you so much for interviewing me on your blog, Hart! I absolutely loved your  Lisen of Solsta series and I’m looking forward to reading more of your books in the future!

H: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. And thanks for the kind words.

REVIEW – Cadoc’s Contract by Chris Rosser

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Cadoc’s Contract:

I’m a fan of Chris Rosser. His The Weaver’s Boy was a delightful look into his forthcoming The Lords of Skeinhold, and Cadoc’s Contract, a prequel to The Weaver’s Boy, does not disappoint as a new addition to the series.

It’s a rough tale peopled with soldiers whose lives, like those of all soldiers, have not been easy. The story begins on a ship bringing Captain Cadoc and his men back home from war, and Rosser has a gift of phrasing that puts the reader on the ship as it fights its way through a storm with our hero on board. We can feel what Cadoc feels, and as we learn more about the bargain hinted at in the title and then the first chapter, we begin to recognize he’s paid and is still paying a high price for his own survival in the war, and it’s begun to wear on him.

Rosser is a consummate wordsmith. His metaphors and similes are perfection, and his ability to draw us into the moment with the hardened-soldier voice of his narrative evokes all the right emotions. Cadoc is a warrior returning home from war. It’s Ulysses in brief, and although he’s only been gone a year, it’s as though a lifetime has passed.

In brief, Cadoc’s Contract is one fun ride.

Extending the Proper Invitation to the Story

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Beginnings are delicate things. First line, first paragraph, first chapter all require meticulous attention on the writer’s part. They serve as layers of an invitation to the reader to join the writer on a journey, and if the invitation fails to ignite the reader’s passion, they will get up and walk away, leaving the writer behind. No matter how amazing that journey may be, if an author can’t draw a reader in, they’re gone. So where middles and even endings can survive the sin of losing their bearings now and then, beginnings must be perfect.

I am about to slash my first chapter to shreds. I generally don’t go back and read something from earlier in a book while I’m in the process of writing or editing—I am, by nature, a linear writer—but in this case I took a look at chapters 1 and 2 last night because I’ve sent those chapters to a friend. I finished up chapter 1 with “meh” and “it’s too long,” while chapter 2 garnered my thumbs up. Why? Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?

I didn’t want to dwell too heavily on it, not while I’m neck deep in a complicated rewrite of changing both the point of view (from limited 3rd to 1st) and the verb tense (from past to present). (I wrote about this a few weeks ago.) I am immersed in this and pushing to get it done, so I didn’t want to get myself hung up in perfecting chapter 1, not now, not while I’m making good progress.

But I couldn’t help it. I went to bed, sat on the mattress edge and thought about it. It was then it occurred to me. I may (or may not—the jury’s out) safely eliminate reference to a particular entity throughout that first chapter and give it its due in chapter 2. Will I be able to make it work? I don’t know. And I won’t know until I return to chapter 1 on my next rewrite. I’ve placed a large Post-it® on the cover page with some brief notes of what I want to do, and that’s going to have to be it before I get back to it.

Sometimes we have to kill our children. It’s a writer’s adage. Editing sucks, and what sucks more than anything is when amazing phrases or metaphors must be sacrificed for the sake of better storytelling and better prose. But we do it. And I’ll do it when the time comes to rip that chapter apart, throw away chunks, saving them for use in chapter 2 but knowing I’ll likely use very few of them, if any at all.

Why do we put ourselves through this torture? It ain’t the money, that’s for sure.

Celebrate the Women

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The final volume of Lisen of Solsta

Okay, so since it’s Women’s History Month. And since I’m a card-carrying feminist—okay, I used to have a card, but I lost it. And since I write YA fantasy with female heroes, I got some explaining to do. How did I build the world in my Lisen of Solsta series? A world that my women’s-rights soul can tolerate? Well, let me tell you.

I began with a promise to myself. I decided to create a world where men and women were absolutely equal. Where labor wasn’t divided up based on gender-specific roles. Some might see this as easy. Just make the women tough and badass.

Uh, no. That wasn’t going to work for me. You can’t simply morph women into men with breasts. Because generally that turns into a situation where these kick-butt women wear skimpy outfits with lots of cleavage. Believe me, I’ve checked these books out. This is what proponents of patriarchy do. They have female heroes trussed up in outfits that inspire a hard-on. And that, my friends, is the easy and misogynistic way out. Let’s try again.

Garla, where Lisen of Solsta unfolds, had to represent my vision of equality. No stereotypical male or female tasks. No teenage heroines climbing trees and running down stairs to the shock of their elders. No soft ladies waiting for their gentle men to save them. But in order to make this world exist in any believable manner, I had to figure out why. And how.

I began with the most basic of questions. Has it always been this way? Or did the world evolve into this? My decision was based on a personal theory that when one “-ism” dissolves (in this case, sexism), the rest (e.g., racism) will fall like dominoes in its wake. I don’t believe societies, on earth at least, can find a way to accept all people as equal at one locus of division without coming to realize rather quickly that other divides are abstract constructs that are equally as meaningless. Therefore, no misogyny → no hatred of people of a different color or religion → the next reason to hate. And on and on and on they’d fall. This would make for a relatively perfect world, leaving little room for conflict. And what is a story? A series of conflicts. So, women and men are equal and always have been in Garla, and all other “-isms” persist.

After I made that decision, the questions became more detailed, more complicated. Physically, the women had to be taller and carry more muscle mass with compensatory changes in the men, making them of equal stature and strength. You see, in my opinion, women are at the mercy of men for several reasons, one of them being physical. Evening up the playing field would give women a chance. So I did.

To that I added a more balanced emotional sensitivity between the two sexes. But what would teach men to carry a bit more of the emotional load? (I figured, because I’m a woman, that we female types would have no trouble with barebones logic and reason, but maybe that’s just my misandry showing.)

Anyway…

The answer was simple. The nurturing of children. Put a man in the position of nurturing a child, invite him to the cradle, and he’ll pick up the load. In our world, men now participate in the labor of the mothers of their children, but that’s a social thing that’s evolving into the norm. How was I to make it something that simply happened in this world from the “beginning of time”? How could I give my male characters the natural-born instincts of a mom?

In early times here on earth, men were the hunters. They focused their skills on two goals—seek out, find and kill food for dinner and stand between the group and predators. Women, on the other hand, gathered berries and nuts, cooked the meals, sewed hides together for clothes, all while balancing a baby on a hip and keeping a toddler out of trouble. They did the nurturing. They had to be soft.

So how would I translate that to Garla?

Teach men nurturing from the womb. And there I had it. In quick order I reconfigured the method of procreation in this world, gave men and women pouches like marsupials have on earth and allowed men to be the bearers of children before birth. It sounds odd if you haven’t read the books, but it’s a beautiful process, with sometimes the mother pouching the child as it emerges from the womb, and other times, the father.

All of this figuring out took years, each solution engendering yet another question along the way. I’ve only included the most basic back story here because it would take a book I don’t want to write to explain it all.

So happy Women’s History Month, both female and male friends! Let’s continue to fight to make all persons equal. And while we’re waiting for that, ___check out Lisen’s world here.

Coming next week: My current dilemma of creating a world that’s not free of sexism the way Garla was without losing my lunch. And the week after that, I am pleased to present an interview with the inimitable Wendy Steele, author of the Lizzie Martin witch lit series.

Interview – Chris Rosser

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Chris Rosser

Chris Rosser is an indie author based in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from Wales, he moved to Australia as a child, where he was educated and has mostly lived, albeit with several years’ worth of travel. Today, he’s married with three kids and toils away his days as a technical writer for a multinational financial services company. And did I mention he’s a great friend, confidant and co-conspirator I originally met on Twitter?

Hart: Tell us a bit about yourself, Chris.

Chris: I’ve been writing stories as long as I can remember. Yet, for much of my youth, I chased the dream of being an archaeologist. Eventually, I realised that what attracted me to archaeology and history was a love of story and narrative…so I righted the ship, painfully but for the better.
In addition to my books, I run a modestly successful blog over at chrisrosser.net, where I write articles, app reviews and the occasional tutorial – basically whatever takes my fancy.

You can also find me on Twitter, where I spend half my time with the #WritingCommunity and the other half trolling Australia’s rotten politicians. I have a lot of fun doing both!

H: What genre or genres do you write in? What attracted you to that genre? Do you read more books in that genre, or do you indulge in genres outside your speciality?

C: I write fantasy—it’s my first and most enduring love as a writer. While I lean towards gritty realism and dark themes, I don’t know if I’d label my work as Grimdark. I’m not shy of swearing or including sex scenes where necessary, so I don’t think I qualify as YA either! I’m something of a romantic and have long been enthralled by tales of high adventure and magic, things which are exceedingly scarce in our own world—but I’m not afraid to make my characters’ lives bloody awful.

As a reader, my tastes are generally broad, and I read much less fantasy than I used to. I’m also just as likely to listen to audiobooks as sit down and read one made of paper. I love contemporary thrillers, historical fiction, sci-fi and British murder mysteries.

I’ve dabbled in writing other genres. A year ago, I wrapped up the first draft of a modern techno-thriller set in Chicago. I’m also sitting on a historical adventure novel set in 17th Century Italy. Both are gathering dust, and I haven’t decided what to do with them.

H: Do you schedule time for your writing? or do you just grab the odd minute or hour?

C: Being a dad of special needs kids, and working full time, makes it really hard to schedule time. Last year, I tried Sunday afternoons, but life kept throwing obstacles in my path. So, I mostly snatch the time when I can, and usually, that means on the commute into work (if I can get a seat on the train) or into the night after my kids have gone to sleep.

H: What research do you find absolutely necessary to keeping your story authentic?

C: I studied archaeology and history as an undergraduate, which helps a lot when you are writing historical analogues as I do in my fantasy setting. I learnt that much of our assumptions about historical societies—particularly the middle ages—are wrong and based mostly on stereotypes portrayed in film and television. I spent a lot of time reading and analysing primary sources by classical and medieval writers, and it did wonders to build up a picture in my mind of how societies really worked and how people thought.

Unfortunately, these days my time is too limited to spend hours lovingly researching and world-building, so I tend to rely on accumulated knowledge, or I make things up on the fly. It hasn’t hurt my setting, but I admit if I were writing historical fiction, I’d have to dust off those sources again. Then again, that’s one of the reasons why I love writing fantasy—I don’t have to be a slave to facts.

Still, research is essential because if you don’t know what you are talking about, a reader will see through it immediately. So when I do research, it’s usually on subjects of which I have little personal experiences, like sailing or horse riding.

H: How do you see the role of women in fiction these days? How do you promote women in your work?

C: Fantasy has long had a problem with women. For a long time, women were either written as tired clichés—spoilt princesses, warrior maidens, whores—or they were omitted and marginalised, like in Lord of the Rings. Books were always about men on quests, or boys becoming great heroes—a place for young men and boys to live out their fantasies by proxy.

I hope it’s changing. I see strong women abound in novels and their TV adaptations. But part of me feels there’s still an element of objectification to women in fantasy.

George R.R. Martin did wonders to break taboos in the genre, but since HBO got their hands on the series, sex, violence, and sexual violence in particular in the genre have exploded.

I’m by no means a prude, and I certainly explore sexuality in my books, but for many authors and screenwriters rape has become a staple of female character development, and quite frankly I find it abhorrent.

Fortunately, I spent a lot of my formative years reading books by women, and about women—stories like The Mists of Avalon and The Clan of the Cave Bear. They’ve really stuck with me over the years for their portrayal of the world through a woman’s eyes.

As for me, my stories reflect my real life experiences. I’ve been surrounded by amazing, talented and wonderful women for most of my life. When I originally wrote Weaver of Dreams back in 2004, it was meant as a present for my younger sister, so I chose to make my protagonist a young woman. Not only did it challenge me as a young writer, but it tested my assumptions about the genre. It taught me I could write epic fantasy, with all the action and magic that lovers of the genre expect, but I could do so with a vulnerable young woman at the helm who doesn’t have to morph into a Xena/Red Sonja clone to be a strong character.

Ever since, I’ve tried to make my female characters every bit as rounded and exciting as the males — perhaps more so, because I have to work a little harder.

H: Do you have a current release you’d like to promote?

C: I’m juggling a lot at the moment. As you read this, I’m very close to publishing my second book, Cadoc’s Contract, and launching a new podcast.

Cadoc’s Contract is actually set before my first book, The Weaver’s Boy—blame the muse. It tells the story of how Cadoc became the Lord of Skeinhold. He’s a veteran limping home from a bloody crusade and is struggling to adjust—not least because he’s got a dark secret and owes a blood debt to the gods. I’m really proud of how the story’s turned out, and I think it will make a great prelude to the series.

That Timey-Wimey Thing

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That’s my mess

With first draft done on my WIP, I have begun rewrite. I totally pantsed this one. Lots of notes in a notebook with a ton of Post-Its used to tag the stuff I’ll need eventually, but no outline, no 4 x 6 cards. I love that notebook, messy as it is. It’s a window into the process and a reminder of how far I have yet to go. (And yes, that’s a Wikipedia article on Komodo dragons slipped between the pages. Let that whet your appetite.)

But pantsing presents its own perils, one of which is the fact that one often can’t paint oneself out of a corner until she’s actually painted herself into it first. Well into it. Into it to the point where there are three coats of paint waiting to dry and there’s no getting out until the true color of the paint reveals itself and allows the painter to walk out without marring the finish.

In my case, the corner was a time thing. Or, rather, two time things.

Let me state right off that my current WIP is not a time-travel story. It is a story of a young woman who travels back and forth between earth and another world via a magic gateway (of sorts). But as I wrote, time became an issue. Or issues.

First, I needed time to pass normally wherever my hero (and sole POV character) happened to be at the moment, but no time could pass where she wasn’t until she was there again. This was easy. I gave her companion—a woman who appears to have traveled through the gateway many times before the story begins—a single line which will likely show up at the beginning of the second book. “It’s as though time holds our place and brings us back to precisely when we were last.” One problem solved.

Then there was the other thing. My hero must age from fifteen to eighteen from the beginning of the series to the end, but I don’t want to write a dozen books to get there. I’ve had certain “adventures” set out for her for a while now, and I hoped I wouldn’t have to expand on them. And yet, how do I get her from fifteen to eighteen without filling her days both on earth and in the alternate world with adventure?

I was stuck. I had story enough for four books, maybe five, but needed more to fill the holes created by the extended time required to let her mature. I knew how to get her from book 1 to book 2 with a five-month gap between stories, but I couldn’t use an angry separation between my hero and another main character every time. I’m a writer. I tell stories. I have to be original.

I looked to C.S. Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia. He succeeded in bridging time by aging the children out and using a different method of accessing Narnia in each book. I had one hero whom I planned on aging out but not until I resolved her story and could end the series. I also had one means of transporting her back and forth which I rather liked and didn’t want to change. Especially since it includes another character I want to keep.

The “gateway” perhaps?

Turning to Lewis did prove helpful, however. I allowed the gateway to become an impulsive entity, sometimes receptive, sometimes not—and, hence, unavailable until it was ready—forcing my hero to repeatedly request access over time unsuccessfully until the gateway relented. And that eliminated the second problem.

I love the muse, don’t you?