Written by <a href="/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=784:nyssa&catid=167:staff&Itemid=318"><span class="small">Nyssa</span></a>
Now that you’ve written so many books, how does it feel looking back on Trinity?
I cringe. Can't help it. It's not so much that if I wrote it again it would be a different book, but it would certainly be a more polished story. That said, I'm always astonished by the readers who discover Trinity after having read some of the other books and get a big kick out of it. Many, many readers love Trinity, especially slightly younger readers and there is something to be said for having a story that is so epic and such a wild romp of a tale. I do feel sentimental about Betrayal - it was my break into publication, it was a story that was exploding out of me, it was the first time I'd tried any creative writing and although that might show, I can't help but love the actual story. It's a solid tale with plenty to enjoy, some characters to fall in love with a totally evil villain who makes you want to hiss every time he appears. It's a black and white sort of story. These days I have a greater understanding of the shades of grey in storytelling and I'm also nearly a decade older so I've matured as a person as much as a writer.
In comparison to your three earlier series, how do you feel about Valisar?
Ah, Valisar. It's reasonably well known I don't plan my stories. I simply write and each writing session brings surprises for me because I really have no idea where the tale is going, or which characters might die, or anything about new characters who suddenly emerge. It's a freaky way to write in more ways than one but that's how I do it. Right now I'm halfway through Book 2 of Valisar and I'm rather mystified at what's occurring. A character I never though would play a major role, suddenly is, and all sorts of developments are taking shape that I could not have envisaged from writing Royal Exile. So I'm intrigued by Valisar really. And what I've discovered....another surprise....is that, just on the quiet, I think it's my favourite story of the four series. I always thought my favourite would remain The Quickening but Royal Exile surprised me at how much I enjoyed the story as it took shape and now I'm even more fascinated by where it could go. It's probably my best writing to date and that seems logical but it's got a confidence to it I haven't experienced previously.
What research do you generally do for your books?
These days I actually do research. For Trinity I made everything up.
For The Quickening I think I might have done a small amount of net surfing, picking up titbits on everything from castle construction to alpine flowers but nothing too specific. For Percheron I began some serious research. I bought books, I travelled to Turkey, I did a fair bit of reading on the Net. For Royal Exile I'd say for every hour spent writing I probably do at least a quarter of an hour's research whether it's net research, ploughing through history books or emailing people who might know a thing or two about a given subject. These days I want to know more about the subjects and landscapes, the time, the lifestyles of the people and places I'm modelling my world on. I travel a lot anyway and have done in my role in the travel industry for the past 20 years so I have plenty of experiences to draw upon. But for Valisar I'm borrowing heavily from recent visits to Wales, Scotland, Cyprus, and bits from Germany, from France. I buy lots of books now for research - general books on all sorts of subjects. Just reading Homer alongside my 17 year old son for his Year 12 Classical Studies is enriching me and I filter all sorts of ideas and notions from this kind of source.
Unfortunately, I get no time for reading for pure pleasure. Everything I read these days is for research purposes but it is neverthless hugely enjoyable. I write crime under the pen name of Lauren Crow and I do loads and loads of research for those stories and that includes a trip to London most years to gather information, photos, ideas, interviewing people etc. It's full on research for the crime and has to be very up to date so I get all my facts right on everything from tube stations to what on the movie posters around the city.
What do you use to keep your support materials (i.e notes, background material, etc) organised for a project?
Hmmm. Nothing really. I don't take notes - I'd lose them anyway.
Fantasy really does come from deep within for me so I rely on my terrible memory. I take the view that if it's important I'll remember it. I've certainly forgotten more than I've recalled but I do trust back of brain to take care of business and it has served me well so far.
For Valisar I tried working with a glossary for the first time, though.
I was in Texas, listening to Robin Hobb promote the benefits of working with an electronic file that notated details, particularly of characters. And I gave it a go. It is certainly an extremely useful tool. But I have to train myself to refer to it. It's a learning curve for me in re-wiring my brain to hunt down the information at the time and not just plonk anything in as 'positional copy'. My style is to just write the first draft in one long haul as a skeleton of the story.
I know I'll go back time and time and time again during the editorial process to fill in facts and flesh out ideas. And it's during this time that I do sleuth a lot of additional material. But no, for my fantasy I don't write any notes although I do like to read a lot of general history, general research. But that's all I do. I read and hope plenty sticks in my mind. When I'm travelling I simply absorb, I don't make notes.
How many books did you send in before you got published?
Betrayal was my first attempt to get published. Bit of a fairytale really!
How do you manage your plots, whether you write it all out before hand or go on the fly?
I'm always on the fly! Manage plots? That makes me smile. I simply write. Today I have no idea where the story will move. And I feel sure a surprise or two will bob up that will drag me and my characters down a new path. I deliberately don't plot. I want absolute freedom to go anywhere in the story.
If you had a choice, would you prefer to do an audio of your novel or get someone else to do the voice over?
Oh, hideous! Hate the sound of my own voice. Doing podcasts makes me squirm. Yes, definitely someone else, please. Colin Firth perhaps or Hugh Jackman? So long as I could sit in with either of them! <grin>
Would you consider doing a novel in braille or/and is it too costly to do? Do you get a choice or is it up to the publisher?
Absolutely I would but you're right, it's not up to me. There would be publishers who specialise in braille productions and it would be a commissioning editor's choice to take one of my series on to produce in braille. I have no say in it.
Which cover of your books is your favourite?
It used to be Emissary but Royal Exile has taken my breath away and is now definitely my favourite. I love it! I loved it from the moment it was sent through from London and that's a wonderful feeling. And I'm absolutely thrilled that both Sydney and New York have opted to go with this same, very striking cover. We have a global look for this series now - brilliant!
What experience or training do you think helped prepare you for writing?
Well, I don't want to say life and sound glib, but it's true. I wrote my first novel aged 39 so I'd experienced a lot of life before I began to draw on all those experiences, emotions, events, sights and sounds, and so on. But there is no doubt that all of my work as a word cruncher as a PR consultant and then more recently as a travel writer for a national travel magazine, has contributed greatly. I've been married to a senior newspaper editor and magazine publisher for the last 24 years and he's from the old school and is ruthless. My early training alongside Ian is probably the reason my first attempt at a novel got picked up by HarperCollins.
What are your quirks or rituals for writing?
Oh plenty of those! But probably the most sane one that I'm prepared to reveal is the strange equation I work to. It's my partner known as 'the daily word count'. I randomly choose how many words my book might be - let's say 150,000 words. I then choose how many working days I can give this novel. Let's say 70 days. I divide the word total by working days and that gives me my daily word count that I must hit. It's usually very reasonable and providing I am true to it - which I always am because it's so important to me, I always hit my deadlines. I check my word count every half hour to ensure I'm on track and then fill in my DWC word document at the end of each writing session. All of this keeps me motivated. But I also track weekly word count, average daily word count, how many days to go, how many words to go and so on. lots of figures. I'm horrible at maths but I love the wonderful neatness and predictability of numbers. They never let you down.
For writing, do you get dressed and work at it as a job with strict hours, or do you end up nuzzled up to a deadline while wearing three-day old pajamas to get things done?
I'm up at 0600, showered, dressed, hair dried and serving breakfast to my family by 0700, waving goodbye to my sons by 0800 and at my writing desk by 0810. Grooming is important to me - it always has been so I dress each day as though I'm going to an office full of other people to work. It's a mindset too. I walk out of my back door, dressed for work rand I walk down the garden to my writing room, so physically and mentally I'm leaving home behind. I don't wear lip gloss or perfume necessarily but you'll never find me slopping around in pjs or track pants on a working day. Ugh! I love clothes anyway and besides you never know when someone's going to ring up and say let's meet for a cuppa. I'm very disciplined about writing and I usually get my manuscripts done before the editorial deadline because of that discipline. The notion of three day old pajamas makes me feel faint. I know I couldn't work well unless I was feeling clean, groomed, which I think I equate with being in control.
How do you write your dark/torture scenes?
Very easily. I don't know why or how but it just comes to me without having to reach too hard for it. It has since the day I sat down with Bryce Courtenay at his workshop in Hobart and he read the first four pages of a chapter I'd begun that turned out to be one I used in Betrayal. It was Bryce who said why don't you kill the dog as well? I looked at him and something passed between us. Bit of an epiphany for me when I realised that brutality was a quality that I hadn't really considered. Now it seems to be a sort of signature of mine. I have a creed that so long as the dark scenes aren't there simply for shock value then they can stay - providing they move the story forward and have a reason for being there, then I'll give my time and effort to making them convincing.
Who is your favourite villain from your books and why?
Loethar, from Valisar. He's all of my villains put together and the result is this barbarian warlord who is contained, remote, charismatic, very intelligent, who does have some redeeming qualities...even a softer side that he's not afraid of. He's ruthless, tyrannical, but also measured and rarely spontaneous. I like that he not physically impressive but he has incredible presence through his quiet, yet intimidating manner. He's great. I'm really enjoying him.
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