Today,
Renee Scattergood, author of the dark fantasy series Shadow Stalker, has
graciously agreed to be interviewed by Chillers
and Thrillers.
As
the author of the urban fantasy A
Whole World Full of Hurt,
I am glad to welcome Renee and to hear her views on the fantasy genre
in general and the dark fantasy subgenre in particular.
Renee's
books, which have received outstanding reviews, are available on
Amazon.
C
& T: Welcome,
Renee! Chillers and
Thrillers is glad to
have you as our guest speaker.
R
S: Thank you for
inviting me! I’m really excited.
C
& T: How would
you define “dark fantasy”?
R
S: I would define it
as any fantasy that has dark (as in psychologically dark and twisted)
or horror themes.
C
& T: I know that
George Lucas inspired you to become a fantasy author. In writing the
screenplays for his original trilogy, Lucas said that he followed the
pattern of storytelling laid out by Joseph
Campbell in Campbell's book The
Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Has Campbell's understanding of the structure of such stories
influenced your own work?
R
S: Somewhat. I often
follow certain aspects of the heroes’ journey, but only in such a
way that it drives the plot of my own story, and each story is
different.
C
& T: In writing
The Flame of the Sea,
my action-adventure Viking novel, I modeled the plot structure on the
paradigm of Vladimir Prop's Morphology
of the Folktale.
Most of my other fiction is modeled on Gustav
Freytag's
pyramid, which is adapted from his Die
Technik des Dramas
(The Technique of
Drama), which he
based on his analyses of ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama. Have
you found these—or other—approaches to structuring stories
helpful to you in the writing of your novels?
R
S: Honestly, no. I
tend to go by feel more than anything. Not sure if that makes sense.
I guess you can say I’m more of an instinctive writer and, rather
than follow a structure or formula, I tend to go by feel. In the end,
there is a structure to it, but I don’t plan it that way.
C
& T: What
authors, of fantasy or other types of fiction, have inspired or
influenced you as a writer?
R
S: I’m a big fan of
Terry Goodkind. His work has really inspired me and whenever I’m in
a lull, I can read one of his books and it always puts me in a
writing mood. Lindsay Buroker is another author that has inspired me,
and while I love her work, she has inspired me in a different way.
She’s self-published, like me, and has made a good living with her
work. She shares all her failures and successes, and it helps me with
my own work.
C
& T: It's always
refreshing to me to see a fantasy series presented from the point of
view of a female protagonist, as is your own series. How do you think
a female protagonist shapes your narrative? Does such a protagonist
provide attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, desires, emotional responses,
ideas, judgments, or values that differ from those of the genre's
male protagonists? How would your teenage protagonist, Auren, differ
in these ways from, say, young Lucas Skywalker? What does a female
protagonist “bring” to fantasy that a male protagonist may not?
R
S: To be honest, when
I originally wrote Shadow
Stalker, my
protagonist was a male. It was also a much different story. I guess
in many aspects it was a lot like Star
Wars. A friend of
mine, who is a published author, gave me some feedback and suggested
I rewrite it with a female protagonist.
I
don’t know why it didn’t occur to me. I suppose, growing up, all
the heroes of the stories I read were guys, so in my mind that’s
the way it was supposed to be.
I
was amazed at how much the story changed when I made the protagonist
a female. For one thing, her life goals are different. My male
protagonist was looking for adventure, whereas my female protagonist
wanted to go to college with her friends and have a normal life. She
enjoys adventure but doesn’t want her whole life focused on that
adventure.
Everyone
expects the male to be the hero, but it’s a surprise when it’s a
female. The men around her want to protect her, but she doesn’t
want to be protected. She wants to show them she can be just as
strong.
Mostly,
a female protagonist inspires the young women who read about them.
They may not be superhuman or heroes in the same way, but it inspires
them to be more than what society expects them to be.
T
& C: Many of the
reviews
of your series cite your characters as one of the elements readers
enjoy. What makes your characters intriguing to readers? What tips do
you have for writers concerning how to create interesting characters?
R
S: I start every
story I write with the characters. The story develops around my
characters, and I really get into their heads to show the readers
what the character is thinking, feeling and experiencing.
I’ve
likened it to how a method actor researches and gets into the heads
of their characters. If you want your readers to really connect with
your characters, then you have to get into their heads and bring them
to life.
C&T:
Reviews
also suggest that your plots are gripping. Do you have any particular
techniques for creating, maintaining, and heightening suspense?
R
S: I think that comes
from how I develop the characters as well. As I’m writing, I’m
picturing the scene in my head, from the character’s point of view,
as though it’s playing out like a movie. I write what I see and
feel as though it’s happening to me.
C
& T: One reviewer identifies “punishment, torture, and execution” as being features
that make your fiction “dark fantasy.” Do you agree with this
assessment? Are other elements of dark fantasy present in your work?
R
S: Oh absolutely.
It’s the main reason I labelled it dark fantasy because I know it’s
a trigger for a lot of people, and other just don’t like that. But
someone who is looking for “dark” stories expect that sort of
thing.
Another
reason is because of the twisted mentality of Drevin (the main bad
guy at the start) and the Galvadi Empire (which was created by
Drevin).
C
& T: You have a
lot
of reviews for your Shadow
Stalker series,
Renee! What's your secret?
R
S: I don’t have a
secret, really! I’ve just followed what other successful authors
have done. I connect with my readers on a personal level on social
media and through my newsletter. I ask them for reviews when they
read my work in my newsletter and at the end of the book. It’s
really important to have a medium where you can interact with your
readers, and don’t be afraid to ask them for help. If they love
your work, they’ll want to help you.
C
& T: Is there
anything else you'd like to tell us?
R
S: Just that I’ve
really enjoyed this interview, and I hope your readers enjoy the free
copy of Shadow Stalker. I hope
they’ll give it a read and let me know what they think!
C
& T: If you'd
like to write an article to share on Chillers
and Thrillers, we'd
be glad to follow up your interview with your article, on the topic
of your choice.
Thank
you for taking time to speak with us today, Renee. We enjoyed your
insights and look forward to reading many more of your novels. To
learn more about Renee and her work, subscribe to her newsletter
(and get one of her books, free)
and check out these great resources (click
the title to access
the site):
1 comment:
Thanks so much for the interview! Hope your readers enjoy it as much as I did!
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