Welcome Back, Booklovers! I am back with another author interview. And this time it's with an indie fantasy author you need to check out. Especially if you're looking for a good enemies to lovers plot.
What inspired you to write Empire of Hanging Swords?
This book had a kind of funny inception in that technically it’s the 4th rewrite of the very first book I tried to write as a 12-year-old on Wattpad over ten years ago. I’m a serial hoarder so I still have those very first hand-written pages which are a total messy Twilight X Percy Jackson and the Olympians rip-off. As a kid, I was always a big reader and naturally took inspiration from books I loved, but thankfully as I got older, I started coming up with my own ideas and focused on developing those instead. In fact, the only things that have ever stayed the same throughout every iteration of this is Dante’s name and the ending.
In a way, it’s hard to give a concrete answer as to what inspired this story because it essentially grew up with me through high school and university so there was rarely a time where I wasn’t working on this. There’s an old game called Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood which sparked my initial interest in the Italian Renaissance and the A Song of Ice and Fire series (which I definitely read far too young) further developed my love of scheming and courtly intrigue as opposed to traditional sword and sorcery type fantasy. Something I know for certain is that I wanted to write about truly terrible people that made you question whether to root for them at all; I wanted to make Nef and Dante objectively bad people but have them nuanced enough that they were still compelling. I liked the idea of having characters whose decisions surprised even myself and who evoked a range of sometimes conflicting emotions in my readers.
Are there any scenes you had to cut that you really wished you could’ve kept?
There’s one chapter in particular that I had to cut from Act One from Dante’s POV that I mourned a lot because the dialogue was very powerful. As writers, we each have our strengths and weaknesses, and for me, dialogue is one of my strengths so this chapter was one of those that I’d read over and think like damn I did that, you know? It was an emotive torture scene, and I feel like the dialogue was really dialogue-ing and Dante’s personality shone so brightly in it. He was someone I’d initially struggled with fully fleshing out when I was younger, so now I’m always extra proud of (and attached to) scenes where he’s in his element. In general, with cutting scenes I’m a firm believer in repurposing so nothing is ever thrown away in its entirety with me—I’m happy to move whatever elements I want into other parts of the book. With this chapter in particular, I ended up re-writing it from Nef’s POV and putting it into the second book and I’m happy that I found a place for it that felt right.
Do you have a favorite line in your book?
I have so, so many it’s outrageous. The one that I’m leaning towards most right now is technically two lines that go together because they speak to one of the core themes of the book which is power. Throughout the story as you follow Nef and Dante, you see them, already so different from how they once were due to their circumstances and lived experiences, cutting away more and more of whatever remained of themselves in their struggle for power and in the consolidation of it:
“Power was never given or bestowed upon the patient and the worthy. It was taken by those willing to sacrifice every last bit of themselves at its altar in the hopes that they might be reborn in the image of something greater than what they once were.”
When planning a series do you have an idea of how it will end or do you discover that along the way?
I am the most Type A, intensive plotter you’ll ever meet lol. The main beats of the series are plotted before I start the first book, and I’ll do a scene-by-scene break-down of an individual book before writing the first draft. The idea of starting a book with no plan or idea where it’s going fills me with anxiety, and I salute anyone who can write that way.
When you decided to self publish, were there any resources you looked to figure out the process?
Self-publishing was something I sort of fell into, so at first I didn’t know a thing about it. The most important thing to me was always making sure my work was ready and in the best possible form it could be. I was fairly confident in my plot, world-building, character arcs etc so didn’t explore options for a developmental editor, but I had to do a lot of searching online for a reputable line editor and a proof-reader within my budget.
Some people don’t get proof-readers because there’s crossover with line editing so it might seem redundant to have both, but I wanted to hire one because I’d made last minute geography changes to my world, switched up the ages of my characters, and have learning difficulties so catching the wrong words or punctuation or whether something should’ve happened over a decade ago rather than three years ago, just seemed impossible and I wanted to get as many eyes on my manuscript as possible to avoid inconsistencies.
As for the process of self-publishing, I found that following other writers who were either pursuing it or had already self-published was a great help in demystifying things. There’s also such a wealth of knowledge online through blog posts, YouTube videos, and such from self-published authors breaking down almost everything imaginable that I was immensely grateful for as well. Even my cover designer I got from an author recommendation on YouTube so it’s definitely worth checking out a few videos and seeing which channels click with you.
Yet there was still a couple hiccups on the way for me even with all the research and preparation I did so I think I’d advise authors looking to self-publish to always be prepared for things to go a little left because it’s rarely ever smooth sailing on this side of the publishing industry.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?
My least favourite part by a country mile is first drafting! I hate it! I’m a perfectionist which naturally makes me the slowest drafter in existence because I want my writing to still be powerful and emotive and lush, but realistically that’s not possible with a first draft. And while I know cleaner writing is only achieved over time with multiple drafts that doesn’t stop my brain from short-circuiting at a choppy paragraph or typo.
My favourite part of writing is actually foreshadowing and doing little call-backs to things I’m sure most readers wouldn’t pick up on during their first read. EMPIRE itself is full of foreshadowing of events that happen later on in the book but also events that happen in the second book, and I literally used to let out little cackles while planting breadcrumbs in the drafting stage for discerning readers to catch.
My one wish with any of my books is for someone to truly read between the lines and catch everything to really see how all the dots link up together because nothing in this book is accidental, not the world-building details, the characters, the dialogue even. There is so much there that I really hope someone sees. I truly see writing as an art form and think having a reader who sees all the small things would make everything worthwhile to me.
What’s one piece of information you wish you’d known at the start of your publishing journey?
As someone who initially pursued traditional publishing and got a deal, I wish someone had warned me about the extent to which it is committed to white supremacy. I wish people had been more honest about the kind of stories people who look like me are “allowed” to write and what happens to those of us who value our art and don’t want to conform to such a narrow expectation. I’ve learned many lessons from what I experienced (which is honestly on the milder side compared to some of the things I’ve heard) but the façade of traditional publishing isn’t one I intend on upholding.
How would you describe your author brand?
I’m not sure actually? It’s not something I’d ever thought of before this which probably isn’t so smart of me. I like being a little unpredictable in terms of the genre and subject matters of my work because to me there’s freedom in being more eclectic. Some things always pop up in my works simply because I enjoy certain elements across media like explorations of grief, anxiety and depression, killing off characters where necessary, interwoven social commentary, and unexpected twists. Is that a brand?
How do you wind down after a stressful week?
Do mindful breathing exercises because I’m probably anxious as hell, order some Turkish food, and then rewatch one of my comfort shows in bed like a true introvert.
Are there any products or media you’re currently obsessed with?
I’m currently watching The Last of Us on HBO which is a phenomenal show and I’m excited to see how it pans out. I’ve been trying to expand my reading tastes and getting into reading more literary books—it led to me finally having a favourite book of all time, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and the next one on my list is called The Beekeeper of Aleppo, after which I’m looking forward to reading The Fortune Men.
