As mini follow up to our birthday giveaway (Get your entries in quick! You only have a few days left!) we've interviewed the lovely Laure Eve, author of Fearsome Dreamer. She opens up about writing Fearsome Dreamer, her love of Tarsem Singh and the fictional villains she'd run a mile from...
Welcome to Blogger's Bookshelf Laure! So, how does it feel to have your debut novel on bookshop shelves for the world to see? How did you celebrate?
It feels strange and lovely, to go into a bookshop and see it on the shelf as if it has a right to be there. To celebrate, I had a party with a lot of wine and cake. I can highly recommend this approach.
You've said in interviews that the idea of the book came to you in a dream, what was it like taking it from the initial fuzzy dream concept to a fully fledged idea for a book?
The dream was the fun bit. It was there, buzzing around in my brain, and all I had to do was let it splurge out onto the page. It’s like coming across a scene in the middle of a movie with no idea of who the characters are or what the plot is, but finding the scene fascinating. Then the work comes in finding out who they are, where they are, what they’re doing there, and what happens next. Sounds simple. Took about a year :D
The world of Fearsome Dreamer is pretty complex, how did you go about creating places like Angle Tar, World, and Life?
Angle Tar and World, in many obvious ways, are opposites. I find the pull we as a species experience between wanting to be close to nature, and the sparkly lure of technology, an interesting one to explore. I grew up by the sea in a very rural area, and I miss it. But equally I’d probably shrivel without the Internet and the convenience of decent public transport.
The concept of Life feels like a natural progression from where we are now. Things like Second Life already exist, as do virtual reality worlds. I honestly think that Life, or something like it, will be real enough in no time at all.
With the book split between the three voices of Vela Rue, White and Frith, which character did you enjoy writing for the most and why?
I think the one I most enjoyed writing was Frith, and probably because he’s the least like me. He’s an accomplished liar, and has some interesting skill sets. You never know what he’s thinking, so it was fun to show that in the writing – the face he puts on for the world and the real him he hides.
YA book-to-movie adaptations seem to be all the rage right now, let's get honest here...have you already fancasted Fearsome Dreamer in your head? Which actors would you want playing which characters? Who would your dream director be?
I have TOTALLY fancasted – actually you can see my choices
here in more detail. As for directors, I’m going to go with either Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men! The third Harry Potter movie!) or maybe David Cronenberg, an old favourite. People might remember him for the crazy visceral stuff like Scanners and The Fly, but his later films, like Eastern Promises and A History of Violence, show intensely good, tension ridden character work.
Okay so you can tell I’m a movie buff because I’m going to add in one more. There’s a director called Tarsem Singh. You should only watch two of his films – The Cell and The Fall. The Fall especially. It’s jaw-droppingly, achingly gorgeous. The man has the eye of an artist.
If you could pinch a fictional character from another novel to appear in Fearsome Dreamer, who would it be and why?
GOOD question. And there are so many. Maybe Granny Weatherwax from the Discworld novels. She’d have taken one look at Frith and sent him packing. Of course, then it would have been a much shorter and duller novel...
You've been tracking the publishing process on your blog, what's been the best part of the whole journey and what's been the worst?
There are so many highs from the process – it’s a journey of firsts. The first offer you get, the first time you see your cover, the first time you get sent page proofs, the first time you see a finished book with your words inside it. Each of these moments are special and should be treasured – there are no more firsts like this from here on out.
The worst part I think is the wait. Publishing takes time. There’s so much work that goes into each book, I can’t tell you. And publishers have lists – you’re obviously not the only book they’re working on. It can be frustrating. All I can say is that maybe use that waiting time to work on something else. Something sparkly new.
As someone who is also working in publishing full-time, has it been weird seeing the process from the 'other side'?
Very weird, actually. I have this whole new level of sympathy for authors. And I feel like I understand both sides much better now, which can only be a good thing for both jobs.
You've written some pretty awesome blog posts on self publishing vs traditional publishing, what advice would you give to budding debut authors mulling over which route to take?
The only advice I can give is don’t rush into a decision, and do plenty of research. There’s such a wealth of material out there on both traditional and self-publishing, and only you can decide which method is likeliest to produce the results you want.
Sounds a bit scientific, but hopefully you know what I mean.
Do you have any unusual methods for beating writer's block?
Turn off the TV and stay away from the Internet. Writer’s block to me is just a phrase meaning ‘procrastination’.
Any sequels on the horizon? How about other book ideas?
Yes – there’s a sequel to Fearsome Dreamer out next summer, with the working title of The Illusionists. I’ve got a couple of ideas cooking at the moment, one of which includes a kind of Mad Max meets The Crow meets Game of Thrones. With fighting champions. Yes, it sounds insane, doesn’t it.
Our blogger's recently shared their favourite fiction villains for our October group post, which fictional character sends shivers down your spine for all the wrong reasons?
Pretty much any Stephen King villain ever, but for now I’m going to go with Andy the robot from Wolves of the Calla. I hated his metal guts. Another one for good measure would be Mrs.Coulter from His Dark Materials. Like most of the best villains, she’s terrifying because she absolutely believes that everything she does is for the right reasons.
And finally, we're all about book recommendations here at Blogger's Bookshelf! Could you give us some to add to our 'To Read' list?
Oh my. So so many. I’ll keep it to YA and say, of recent reads, my favourites have been Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, and Every Day by David Levithan. Three beautiful, immersive books. I loved getting lost in them.
Thanks Laure!
