Today,
I welcome Pippa Jay for an Author Interview and an Excerpt from her New
Release, Keir’s Fall. She describes her books, her writing and her life as a busy mom and author of science fiction romance stories.
Tell us about your latest release, including
its genre. Does it cross over to other genres?
Keir’s Fall is a science fiction romance novel,
the second in my Redemption series. Like
most of my works, it straddles the borders between multiple genres. In this
case, Keir’s Fall is probably more sci-fantasy
than science fiction (like Star Wars),
with paranormal elements. It also leans more to the space opera side of SF than
the first book in the series - Keir -
which was very much a time travel romance.
Why
did you write your book (or series)?
Writing the first book was a sanity
saver and an unexpected epiphany. I’d been a stay at home mum for several
years, and my youngest had just reached his first level of independence—being
able to walk and play with his two older siblings—and I felt like I’d lost my
identity. I was proud of being a mum and a wife, but somehow I felt that’s all
I’d become, that I wasn’t really me anymore.
So I grabbed an old, unfinished short story, sat at my computer with some music
on, and wrote a 40K draft. That turned out to be two separate stories, so I
split off the first and eventually it became Keir—my debut novel with a publisher. The other half of it went on
to become Keir’s Fall, which I
finally released in December 2015. At the time of starting, I had no plan to write
and be published, or to be writing a series. I just wrote. Three and a half
years on Keir’s Fall makes my twelfth
title to be released.
What
do you find are the best and worst parts of being an indie author?
The best is total artistic control
(aside from relying on my excellent cover designer to interpret my crazy
requests into a stunning but workable book cover). But that also brings the
worst part - being totally responsible for every aspect of a book from writing
the first draft right through to release and promotion, and having to do all
the work and fix all the problems. You’re pretty much on your own! (I have to
add having awesome friends and an editor and cover artist who are massively
supportive and always ready with help and advice does make it easier).
How
much of your personality is in your main character?
All of my characters have some
element of my personality in them—that’s unavoidable. Usually it’s one or a
handful of my traits, often emphasized sometimes to extremes in a particular
character. For Keir, it’s my own insecurities, my certainty that I’m not worthy
of the attention, loyalty and love that I have from friends and family. But he
also has my deep sense of morality and loyalty that, despite the terrible
things done to him, he refuses to respond in kind (though he’ll fight to defend
himself and those he loves when necessary).
Are your stories driven by plot or character?
Character.
I’m a pantser, so the plot often doesn’t appear until I’m well into writing the
story, while it’s always the characters that inspire the first words.
How do you balance a life outside of writing
with deadlines and writing muses?
With
difficulty. It’s a constant juggling act. When my monsters were younger I’d
have to get up at 5am to squeeze in writing time. Once they were all at full-time
school it was easier, but now I find much of my time taken up with updating and
promoting the titles I already have out, and editing the ones still unfinished
from those earlier days. Real life stuff has also taken more of a priority in
the last few months and will continue to do so. Right now writing is at the
bottom of the pile, and I’ve barely written more than a couple of paragraphs so
far this year. It’s also the reason I had to step down from my work with the
SFR Brigade, which broke my heart but has spared my remaining sanity.
Do you have any pets at home?
We
currently have a flock of five bantam hens (half size chickens - Scoop, Chiana,
Rush, Kyru, and Eowyn), a leopard gecko called Yoshi, and a tank of fifteen
tropical fish (guppies, zebra danios, cardinal tetras, kuhli loaches, pencil fish,
a panda cory and a pepper cory).
What themes and ideas do you often
explore in your writing?
I
love to write tortured characters, and most are often seeking redemption for
the wrongs they believe they’ve committed. I also love the concept of soul
mates, of luck and destiny.
What
book, movie or TV show has most influenced your life or writing?
Pretty much anything scifi and some
fantasy. In terms of books, mostly those by Anne McCaffrey because she wrote
the same mix of SF, Fantasy and Paranormal that I prefer to read and write.
I’ve watched Doctor Who all my life
(both my parents were fans), and the first novel I ever completed was a DW
story, and my first attempt at getting something published, so that’s been a
huge, life-long inspiration. But perhaps the biggest inspiration was the first
time I saw Star Wars on TV at age
eight. I was hooked immediately (and Luke Skywalker was my first crush), and
switched from writing fantasy stories to scifi. That’s been my main genre ever
since.
What are your current projects and plans for
the future?
At the
moment I’m in edits for a side story in the Redemption
series (Reunion at Kasha-Asor), due
to release 21st May, plus a related novel due out in June. I’m also finishing
up a novella in a shared universe series (my second in the Venus Ascendant collection and my first Rebecca finalist), before I
move onto book three for Redemption.
Book
Blurb:
A
seductive tyrant. A lost hero. And a galaxy about to fall...
It's been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.
When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin's diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant's ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.
With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?
Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.
It's been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.
When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin's diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant's ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.
With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?
Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.
Buy
link(s):
Amazon http://mybook.to/keirsfall
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/597197
All Romance
eBooks https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-keir039sfall-1937657-343.html
Print from
CreateSpace https://www.createspace.com/5923295
Print from
Amazon http://mybook.to/KFPrint
Visit the
webpage at http://www.pippajay.co.uk/#!keirs-fall-redemption-2/c1ju0
Book One - Keir - is available from online retailers in print and all digital
formats http://www.pippajay.co.uk/#!keir/c187d
Book
Blurb:
A
seductive tyrant. A lost hero. And a galaxy about to fall...
It's been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.
When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin's diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant's ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.
With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?
Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.
It's been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.
When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin's diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant's ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.
With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?
Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.
Buy
link(s):
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/597197
All Romance
eBooks https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-keir039sfall-1937657-343.html
Print from
CreateSpace https://www.createspace.com/5923295
Print from
Amazon http://mybook.to/KFPrint
Visit the
webpage at http://www.pippajay.co.uk/#!keirs-fall-redemption-2/c1ju0
Book One - Keir - is available from online retailers in print and all digital
formats http://www.pippajay.co.uk/#!keir/c187d
Excerpt
Keir woke in the night to find the
bed empty and the doors to the balcony wide open, a strong, chill wind gusting
into the room. Concerned, he rose and saw Quin standing outside in little more
than a thin slip, arms clasped around her for either warmth or consolation. He
took a blanket and went out, wrapping it around her protectively. With her hair
blowing into his face as he cradled her, he rested his hands tentatively on her
stomach, hoping to warm and comfort her.
“What are you doing?” he asked,
worry tightening his throat so that his voice rasped. “It is freezing out
here!”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said
blankly, shivering. “I had a nightmare.”
He felt her quiver, her thoughts
dark and frightened. “What was it?”
She leaned against him. Lights in
the home opposite sparkled like stars set in tall burnished pillars. The sky
above was cloudy, the last traces of sun turning the edges dull copper. The
whole landscape looked like a bronze casting, delicately sculpted and laid
against a background of watered silk.
“I couldn’t reach you. You were in a
metal cage, locked away,” she said in a haunted voice.
He could see the image in her mind,
feel her desperation and terror, the sense of hopelessness at her attempts to
release him. He suffused her thoughts with silent reassurances and drew his
arms tighter around her.
“But I am not caged,” he said, his
voice soothing. “I am here, with you.”
Quin was crying now, shaking so
badly he thought she might be ill. He turned her, wiping the tears from her
face. Once before he had seen her like this, tormented by nightmares after she
had told him of losing her daughter. Perhaps being pregnant had brought back
those fears to haunt her.
“I couldn’t reach you!” she wailed.
The anguish in her voice set his heart pounding. He held her as her trembling
worsened.
No. It wasn’t Quin shaking. Everything was shaking. The whole
balcony vibrated and a strange whine pervaded the air, hurting his ears. Dark,
seething clouds surged into the gorge, obscuring the lights of the homes
opposite, as something drove them into the gap. Strong winds blasted through
the spires.
Author
Bio
A girl
who writes scifi and the supernatural with a romantic soul. Whovian, Scaper,
and Sith-in-training. Double SFR Galaxy Award winner, and a finalist in the
2015 EPIC eBook and the RWA LERA 2015 Rebecca awards.
Links
Website – http://www.pippajay.co.uk
Blogs –
Adventures in Scifi - http://www.pippajay.blogspot.co.uk
Spacefreighters Lounge - http://www.spacefreighters.blogspot.com
Romancing the Genres - http://www.romancingthegenres.blogspot.co.uk/
SFR Brigade - http://www.sfrcontests.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/pippajaygreen
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/pippajaygreen/
Amazon page - http://author.to/PippaJay
You are welcome, Pippa!
ReplyDelete