Tell us about the book you want to talk about today.
Hell Becomes Her
Angels should be a human’s worst
nightmare. Del didn’t think there was anything worse than angels, or their
fallen kin, demons. She and her partner Marrin helped to keep the world safe
from the horrors of escaped demons for generations. But when Del’s daughter is
kidnapped by a shadowy group, Del will find that the world is even more
dangerous than she suspected.
There are worse things than angels and
demons.
Give
us an insight into your main character.
In the past, the children of angels and
humans, the Nephilim, were allowed to lead their lives as they willed. But they proved too strong, too ambitious,
and too cunning for their own good. They
became warlords, conquerors and emperors, causing war and strife until the
Throne stepped in and forced them to submit to Its will, or die. Unlike most of her fellows, Del, one of the
first Nephilim, had no interest in conquest and domination. Del unwillingly works for the Throne, obeying
the commands of the angel Ahadiel. She
helps to keep the world safe from the horrors of escaped demons. At the same time, she keeps herself in the
Throne’s good graces. Whenever a rogue
demon breaks free from Hell, she and her partner, Marrin, another Nephilim,
work together to banish it.
What
genre are your books?
Urban fantasy
Did you self-publish or publish traditionally and why?
I’m a small press author with Wild Child
Publishing. Wild Child picked me up and
dusted me off, they saw something special in what I was doing, and provided me
with a guide. My editor is great, and
I’m so glad to work with her on a near daily basis. I’ve become such a better author from the
first book Tears of Heaven to this
book Hell Becomes Her.
What do you consider the most important part of a good story?
Telling a good story well and hitting
some epic high note moments. It’s hard to not to get carried away from the
reality of, say, a sword fight or a battle scene, and into the unrealistic.
Keeping the physics of actions and reactions on target is something I really
strive for and enjoy. This is especially enjoyable when readers catch the effort
that went into making a fight scene exciting, but still within the realm of the
real. I have to say that my favorite is when a reader comes to me and says,
“You bastard, I can’t believe you killed this character. He was my favorite.”
They really aren’t mad at me, but it means that I connected with them through
that character, and I achieved a realism of life between their mind and the
book with that character. That’s magic right there.
How long have you been writing?
I’d like to say that I started writing
when I was born, but that would have made for a difficult and unusual delivery,
and is flatly untrue—but somewhere shortly after that. In grade school, I’d turn sentence and
vocabulary exercises into stories. I
told my mother I wanted to write plays and movies for a living. I thought it was just another kind of job
that people did. I had no idea you
needed “talent”!
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
If I can get away with it, I won’t even
wear pants—they just catch on fire when a plot concept comes along.
What is your writing process?
Scotch, Scotch and more Scotch. Scene concepts and plot turns seem to be the
easiest for me. The big picture of where
we’re going and how we get there. I
understand how to get from A to B to C on down the alphabet like a boss
kindergartner. It’s the little details
that I get bogged down in, and those my mind has to chew on like pitbull with a
femur. I’ve learned to not fight with a
chapter or a scene too much, but get up, walk away, and let my head mill it
down until it’s fine grain. Then,
somewhere, mostly the shower or the middle of the night for some reason, it
will click into place, and I’ll have to bolt to my composition pad and write
until my wrists are sore.
What part of the writing process is the hardest for you?
I really can’t speak for anyone
else. At least, that’s what the judge
told me. And my friends. And my wife.
For me, if I’m not writing, it’s because I’m being lazy. I don’t get blocked by a story, where to take
it, or what to do with it, but I will get tired of the grind of writing. Writing is definitely a job, the same way
sculpting or painting is—you have to do the physical work before you live the
jet-set, lavish, playboy lifestyle!
What advice would you give an author just starting out?
Drink heavily. Also, get an editor who knows what she is
doing. Not just someone who will find
your misspelled words and your redundant commas—someone who will help you find
your voice, make certain your characters and story flow, and that you aren’t head-hopping
or switching narrators. This isn’t about
becoming a homogenized, generic, corporate storyteller. It’s about getting past the basic mistakes
and really writing some good stories.
Don’t let the language get in the way of your vision.
What tips can you give on how to get through writers block?
I can’t speak for others, but I
generally don’t have writer’s block.
Maybe the Scotch kills it?
Probably it’s best to understand that fiction and fantasy are really
reflections of our world, only better. Even dark fiction or dystopias tend to
hand us heroes that rise up above the blackness and are able to make choices
that sort out the good guys from the bad guys—they can decipher good and evil,
right from wrong. That’s not always true in our own world, and so it’s quite a
relief to sit back and be transported to place where considerations over
extremism, and Ebola and politics aren’t realities. Or, if they are realities,
they’re going to be handled, in one way or another, by the characters. Once you grasp that the characters are
dealing with something, and need to deal with it, then you should be able to
move forward.
What kind of music do you like to listen to while you write?
Anything without words, otherwise I’ll
start to sing and that’s not good for anyone.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Fighting sprinklers, mostly. They’re a vile evil conjured up from the
darkest depths of the Underworld. I also
play with my three boys, although that should probably be “try to keep up while
they get bigger, stronger and faster.”
I’m a pretty big runner—not physically big, but just how much I love to
run. I like to listen to fantasy/fiction
podcasts when I go running, and that was something that didn’t even exists five
or ten years ago. Now, you can get them for free, and they’re wonderful,
imaginative, innovative and amazing. The storytelling is more intimate, too. If my health is up to par, I’m generally
running. Reading almost always.
Who is your favorite author?
Patrick Rothfuss is easily one of my
favorites. He should be the king of the
hill, if only he would release his third novel (and then keep writing). I would love to strike up a hate-hate
relationship with him that had him gnashing his teeth and pulling his hair
about my superior talent. Patrick, if
you’re listening, this is my first shot over your bow, feel free to respond in
kind.
Bernard Cornwell is excellent historic
fiction. The guy knows his stuff. I like my historical fiction and fantasy to
have dirt in the pages, with contemporary heroes who have legitimate flaws of
time and place.
What is your favorite book?
Tolkien’s The Hobbit was given to me as a gift and really opened the castle
gates of fantasy to me. Suddenly, there
was a whole world of swords, magic and fantastical creatures to meet. Immediately after I finished, I took all the
money I had and biked down to the bookstore to buy everything else Tolkien had
written. I had no idea I was getting the
seminal fantasy series: The Lord of the
Rings.
Who is your favorite character from a book?
Just one? That’s like trying to pick a favorite Scotch,
or a favorite Scotch!
Read anything good lately?
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. This was recommended by a friend in order to
help tide me over until Patrick Rothfuss deigns to provide us with the third
installment of his Kingkiller Chronicles. Respect the Rothfuss!
Have you had anything else published?
I’m the author of the urban fantasy Tears of Heaven winner of the 2014 Best
Science Fiction and Fantasy Preditors & Editors Reader’s Poll and a 2015
EPIC eBook finalist, and Hell Becomes Her. My shorts have appeared in In Shambles (with Kevin J. Anderson) Nine Heroes, and Gears, Gadgets and Steam.
What's your next project?
Del gets at least one more book, so
another in the Flames of Perdition series. I’m sitting on a couple of completed works, a
steampunk detective and a full fantasy epic.
Is there anything else you’d like to
add?
I’m compelled by any world where dragons
can make an appearance. They don’t have to show up, but the idea that they can?
Please and thank you. I also like any world where a woman is as strong or
stronger that most of the men around. Personally, I prefer a woman who can go
toe-to-toe and sword-to-sword with anyone else. So my preferred genre is
fantasy, but I’ll take urban fantasy, science fiction and even historic fiction
off the shelves for those reasons.
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22RA%20McCandless%22
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobRoyMcCandles
Great interview! Thank you!
ReplyDelete