On 29th October 2015, I published my second fantasy novel, The Curse of Besti Bori.
This is my second publication anniversary in three days! As with Breadcrumbs, I thought I would celebrate Besti Bori's 1st birthday with a self-inflicted interview.
What is The Curse of Besti Bori? The second novel in my Nephos fantasy series, in which magical creatures live in secret on top of the clouds. The first novel was The Sheriff.
So, this is a sequel? No. It is set in the same world as The Sheriff but focuses on entirely new characters and locations. It is less of a sequel and more like an equal. I foresee Nephos being like Discworld. You can read them in any order.
When was the novel written? The first draft was written between June 2014 and August 2015. The majority was written in both Junes because I used JuNoWriMo as a way to motivate myself.
Why Besti Bori? In the novel, Besti Bori is the jungle cloud which used to house a peaceful population of skinchangers (people who can change into animals) but fell into ruin when an infection struck the cloud. The infection caused the skinchangers to become a mash-up of their human and animals selves, whilst giving them a zombie-like hunger. The cloud has been quarantined ever since.
And the front cover? I made a quick sketch myself but the real magic came from my illustrator Matt Miles. The cover depicts seven characters from the novel: the minotaur Sheriff Baran, the heroine Sheriff Shaula, and the five hornets (warrior fairies) called Goldrush, Whiteout, Blackjack, Redshift and Greensleeve.
Which is your favourite part? I love the opening poem. I love the bar fight. I love the hornets. Mostly I am proud of the showdown at the waterfall and the events that unfold there. I planned that scene first and worked backwards.
Which is your least favourite part? The beginning needed a lot of redrafting to break through some of the exposition, so that was the most laborious part. A few readers have commented that the beginning and the ending are overlong, but I think that is just my style. I love The Lord of the Rings, so lengthy build-ups and wind-downs feel right to me.
How many copies have you sold? A popular question. It's hard to be exact but definitely less than 40. I don't plan to market any of my novels particularly hard until I have written my third Nephos novel. Three novels seems like an appropriate milestone, after which I will switch gears and put a marketing plan into place.
This is my second publication anniversary in three days! As with Breadcrumbs, I thought I would celebrate Besti Bori's 1st birthday with a self-inflicted interview.
What is The Curse of Besti Bori? The second novel in my Nephos fantasy series, in which magical creatures live in secret on top of the clouds. The first novel was The Sheriff.
So, this is a sequel? No. It is set in the same world as The Sheriff but focuses on entirely new characters and locations. It is less of a sequel and more like an equal. I foresee Nephos being like Discworld. You can read them in any order.
When was the novel written? The first draft was written between June 2014 and August 2015. The majority was written in both Junes because I used JuNoWriMo as a way to motivate myself.
Why Besti Bori? In the novel, Besti Bori is the jungle cloud which used to house a peaceful population of skinchangers (people who can change into animals) but fell into ruin when an infection struck the cloud. The infection caused the skinchangers to become a mash-up of their human and animals selves, whilst giving them a zombie-like hunger. The cloud has been quarantined ever since.
And the front cover? I made a quick sketch myself but the real magic came from my illustrator Matt Miles. The cover depicts seven characters from the novel: the minotaur Sheriff Baran, the heroine Sheriff Shaula, and the five hornets (warrior fairies) called Goldrush, Whiteout, Blackjack, Redshift and Greensleeve.
Which is your favourite part? I love the opening poem. I love the bar fight. I love the hornets. Mostly I am proud of the showdown at the waterfall and the events that unfold there. I planned that scene first and worked backwards.
Which is your least favourite part? The beginning needed a lot of redrafting to break through some of the exposition, so that was the most laborious part. A few readers have commented that the beginning and the ending are overlong, but I think that is just my style. I love The Lord of the Rings, so lengthy build-ups and wind-downs feel right to me.
How many copies have you sold? A popular question. It's hard to be exact but definitely less than 40. I don't plan to market any of my novels particularly hard until I have written my third Nephos novel. Three novels seems like an appropriate milestone, after which I will switch gears and put a marketing plan into place.