Welcome Wednesday says hello to Steve K. Smy, author of horror/future fiction/fantasy.
Steve sent along Kate Wellesley, from G1:The Guardians series, to be interviewed on Familiarise Friday of 14th June but today, it's Steve's turn to be on the hot spot for an interview.
Hello, Steve, it's nice to talk to you again.
Hi Nancy. Thanks for
inviting me to appear on your blog! It’s
an honour to be here.
Your bio tells me that you live in Ipswich,
Suffolk, England. Can you tell us a little
about Ipswich, please? And what the visitor
would love about Suffolk
itself?
I confess that I dislike Ipswich
intensely. It suffers all the modern
ills without any truly redeeming features.
Most of its history is forgotten, or even destroyed when convenient. Large parts of the town are little more than
abandoned commercial sites. The historic
port has been ‘modernised’ and lost all its character. The Vikings once raided and burnt a large
part of the town. Now, that’s left to
the local politicians and developers who start work and then leave before they
finish.
Now Suffolk
is another matter! If you can ignore the
bad roads, there are some truly beautiful parts of the county. From the ‘Sandlings’ (heathland) along the
coast in the east, through fairly flat areas to very cosy little places in the
west, there’s a surprising variety. The
historic Constable Country stands astride the Suffolk/Essex border in the
south. There’s a rich heritage in the
county and it would take many visits to even begin to scratch the surface. With the ‘sister county’ of Norfolk to the north, there’s a wonderful
variety, including some impressive pine forests. If you love the gentle or the wild and
windswept, Suffolk
has the extremes. It’s also home to the
vanishing port-town of Dunwich, which has been slowly claimed by the North Sea, and about which there are many legends. It was once one of the largest, most
important, ports in Europe, if not the
world! South along the coast, you now
have Felixstowe Docks, which enjoys the same reputation in the modern age. And finally, there are some lovely nature
reserves, including the gorgeously beautiful Minsmere, an RSPB Bird Reserve.
I haven't managed to visit that area, yet, but it sounds my cup of tea since I'm very 'history driven' during my holidays. This may sound like an odd question, but people get ideas
from many sources - Does living in an area of historical significance
have any bearing on your ability to create fantasy?
To be honest, I don’t think so, though living in a country
that has such deep roots may help more than I realise. I attribute what I write more to my tastes in
reading since childhood. I actively try
to not reflect English history, which
has too often been bloody and brutal, a cruelty that began at the very
top. It’s also a very immoral history
for long periods.
My hearty congratulations go to you! You’ve published a lot since ‘becoming serious’ about your
writing in 2012. Were some of those new writings sparked by ideas/ notes/
partially completed work you’ve had for some time?
I tried to pick up a few threads from old ideas but they
didn’t work out, so I ended up starting from scratch. Since the latter part of last year, in fact,
some of the developments have been the result of experimenting with entirely
new genres, like my G1: The Guardians
series. There’s no way I would have
written anything like those tales in the past.
What kind of things kick-start your imagination and lead to
a new book?
That has always been a fascination for me! The kicks are so very random and
unpredictable. It could be seeing a
shape in clouds or a discussion on some issue.
The ideas come from all over, sometimes too many too quickly, and at any
time.
You describe your ‘Guardians’ series as novelettes. Many
authors of today are tending to publish what they term novellas and find they
are popular with readers. Do you see any difference between a novella and a novelette?
I was looking to write more short stories at the time the
novelettes began to appear. Not sure as
to what qualified as a short story and what was a novella, I looked it up on
Wikipedia. I found a very handy
reference there that gives a qualified idea of word counts and terminology for
them. It was the first time I had ever
encountered the word ‘novelette’. Of
course, since the fourth novelette, the word count has risen, to tell more
about the characters, so I’ve progressed to novellas, which are the next step
up. I like both as they can be quick
reads for when you really don’t want to wade into some heavy tome. Wikipedia does say that there aren’t any hard
and fast rules about word counts, but I’m sticking to their guide. You can find it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
Can you please tell us what you consider to be the best word
length for a novelette?
I like to stay in the top bracket, really. That puts it at somewhere between 15,000 and
17,500 words. If there’s a lot of very
short words, though, I might still regard a book as a novelette if it strays a
little beyond the 17,500 limit.
I tend to write pretty lengthy novels and am honest enough to know that - without a lot of hard work and practise - I couldn't write very short stories. You write in the fiction sub-genre of horror/future fiction - for readers, like me, who have not read much of these categories, do you see any
differences between dystopian writing and your horror/future fiction?
Horror/future fiction is actually quite new for me. It has a similarity to dystopian fiction, but
only very loosely. For me, ‘future
fiction’ is simply a device, allowing me to create conditions that suit the
story as a frequently vague backdrop, with the occasional technological
curiosity and changes in Society. It
doesn’t have to be dystopian – it could actually verge on Utopian, depending on
other factors. It could, in fact, be
both side by side, with an almost perfect Society alongside a totally bankrupt
ex-Society. It suited my purposes to
have quite unpleasant conditions, but they aren’t totally dominant, hinting
that change lies in the hearts and minds of people, rather than in the powers of
institutions or governments.
You also write fantasy short stories. What word length would
you consider to be the cut off point of a short story?
Again, using the Wikipedia guide as a baseline, I aim for
between 5,000 and 7,500 words. If the
story is aimed at an audience beginning with fairly young children, it may be
less.
I've had a go at different sub-genres -ancient historical and contemporary mysteries - but I'm not sure which I like best, yet. Which of your sub-genres would you say is your
favourite?
For fiction, there was a time when I would have struggled to
decide between science fiction and epic fantasy. That’s shifted in recent years, however, as I
consume more and more books. I don’t
think I could comfortably name any one genre, especially since discovering
mixed genre for my own writing. At the
end of the day, I just like a good read.
For Non-fiction, it would have been ancient history and military history
– that hasn’t changed vastly, it’s just broadened to encompass more recent
history. I’ve always loved myths and
legends, too.
You’re also writing a longer novel. Is it too soon to tell
us anything about it, or can you share a little?
That’s a tough one! I
collided with illness which stopped all progress just short of the climactic
chapters. To resume, I’m going to have
to actually read the more than 120,000 words I’ve already written. That’s a job I really don’t relish, but
there’s no other solution. As a
consequence, there’s every possibility of some drastic changes being
introduced. All I can really say is that
it concerns the ‘Matter of Britain’ – which is a misnomer, as far as I’m
concerned – meaning the Arthurian tales.
At the time, there wasn’t a ‘Britain’, as such. It takes elements from the legends,
especially those with roots older than the French fantasies about the subject
that have become so dominant. But, of
course, there’s changes, new ideas and some distinctly different views of the
greatest history never truly told.
Have all of your stories been self- published so far? If so,
can you share with us what you’ve found the most challenging aspects of
self-publishing?
They have indeed. As
a result of health issues, I don’t have the option of doing battle with the
traditional methods, with all the difficulties, heartaches and such. I decided, therefore, that all I really
wanted to do was to share. If that was
the case, self-publishing made sense.
It’s immediate and can be done on a non-existent budget. You get your work out there and some may
enjoy it. Whether ‘some’ means ‘one’ or
‘a thousand’, it really doesn’t matter!
And if it’s ‘none’, that’s okay too.
You can only put out the buffet.
It’s up to the guests to eat – or not.
Perhaps that’s why I don’t really view anything as having been a real
challenge. If pressed on that, I guess I’d have to say getting
the word out that you’re offering your works to any and all comers.
I’m currently seeking beta readers for a historical novel
that’s almost complete, though I’ve never used them before. I know that many
authors really appreciate their feedback. Do you have a particular editor you
like to use, or a bank of people who are your beta readers?
Here, I
have to be utterly honest. Until I
started having books turned into paperbacks, I had just one beta reader and one
editor – myself. I simply can’t afford
to pay others and I didn’t have any contacts, or even enough friends, to call
on to be beta readers. With the advent
of paperbacks, I’ve had some help from the guy at skoobebooks, who has read
everything I’ve sent for publication.
He’s picked up a few errors (nothing too glaring). Then again, with a ‘real’ book to work with,
I’ve found some other things, including some isolated parts that I’ve reworded
to fit better with later events. So new
versions are on the horizon for some. I
should say that another company like skoobebooks, FeedARead, were happy enough to sort out the pdf proofing and such, for the
printers, but they didn’t give anywhere near the same level of help and
support.
Which
project is your latest release?
That would
be the novella, The Sigil of Ahriman,
which is the third part in the G1: The
Guardians series. But hold on a
minute! No, it may be another, the
fourth part, by the date this goes out.
I’m still writing it at the moment, and it’s going to be the longest in
the series yet! There’s a possibility it
may not yet be released, though, because there’s getting the cover design,
editing, and everything else to be done.
It only has a very vague working title, so far, and I’d rather not
divulge that or anything else, just in case it’s not done.
What do you see as your biggest writing related challenge for the rest of this year?
With health issues to contend with, I’d have to say that they’re the
biggest challenge. I can’t always write
as much as I’d like, or wish, to. Other
than that, it will be keeping new stories coming and possibly even having a
crack at sorting out the novel.
Fantastic answers, Steve, and thank you for being so frank with my nosey inquiries!
Steve can be found at:
Imagineer
on facebook
Twitter: @SteveKSmyAuthor
Twitter: @SteveKSmyAuthor
Steve's writing:
Short Story eBooks:
Novelette eBooks:
Shade of Evil (Smashwords, also available from all
Amazon sites)
For the Sake of Mercy (Smashwords, also
available from all Amazon sites)
The Ossilan Affair (Smashwords, also
available from all Amazon sites)
Evil Under The Circle (Available from all Amazon
sites - search ASIN B00CA74SX6)
Novelettes in Paperback:
For the Sake of Mercy (skoobebooks Book Store
only)
The
Ossilan Affair (skoobebooks Book Store only)
Shade of Evil (FeedARead only)
He has written and published (as ebooks) stories in three series: the "Thief" series of fantasy short stories, the horror/future fiction "G1: The Guardians" series (two novelettes, to date) and the science fiction "Captain Henri Duschelle Stories" (a short story and two novelettes). The first novelette in each of the last two series has now been published in paperback - contact the author for details.
Mr Smy is also a blogger with a growing readership.
Slainthe!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks hugely for this, Nancy :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Steve!
Delete