Ask the Author: Anna Stephens
Answered Questions (17)
Anna Stephens
Ooh, great question. I've certainly thought about it. At the moment I've got some new ideas and worlds that I want to explore, but the Godblind universe was my first, and my first love. Even if not in novel length, I think I'll go back there some day.
Anna Stephens
Hi Phil, thanks for asking. I do have an update!
The trilogy is definitely being published, never fear.
The Jaguar Path was supposed to be out later this year, but due to ongoing pandemic and supply chain issues, it's been delayed until February next year. Which isn't really that long in the cosmic scheme of things. Hope you pick it up! Anna
The trilogy is definitely being published, never fear.
The Jaguar Path was supposed to be out later this year, but due to ongoing pandemic and supply chain issues, it's been delayed until February next year. Which isn't really that long in the cosmic scheme of things. Hope you pick it up! Anna
Anna Stephens
Hi! Thanks for asking. This is the first in a four-book series and so the answer should be made apparent in a later volume that follows the mystery of Mhurghast.
Anna
Anna
Anna Stephens
Hi Etienne
Thank you so much for getting in touch! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. There will be a translation for the second and third books - I think they're being released almost together, or one very soon after the other, near the beginning of 2020.
Merci beaucoup!
Anna
Thank you so much for getting in touch! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. There will be a translation for the second and third books - I think they're being released almost together, or one very soon after the other, near the beginning of 2020.
Merci beaucoup!
Anna
Anna Stephens
Hi there! Darksoul, the sequel, is out in the UK and is coming to North America on January 1st! Book 3, Bloodchild, should be out next August in the UK.
Glad you're enjoying it - and sorry for such a long time to respond to your question.
Glad you're enjoying it - and sorry for such a long time to respond to your question.
Anna Stephens
I wanted to write a story that had elements of issues we face in the world now, but couch them in a very different setting. I've always been fascinated by religion and how people can use it to justify committing all sorts of horrors. People use major religions of this world to justify murder, rape, theft and all sorts, though they profess to worship a loving god. So I wanted to see what people would be like who worshipped gods that didn't profess to be good. Turns out they're no different to any militant fanatic.
Anna Stephens
Hi, no its the first in a trilogy. Sequels are due end of May 2018 and 2019.
Anna Stephens
Oh this is a great question and there are SO MANY possible answers! Middle Earth is pretty much a given, but also Joe Abercrombie's The North, where I'd be a badass warrior and a Named Woman; the OASIS in Ready Player One just to experience full VR immersion; 17th century Japan in James Clavell's Shogun, where I'd be a female samurai; and, of course, Rilpor, from my own Godblind. In Rilpor I'd be all of my favourite characters one after the other, and see what it was actually like to experience those moments, those horrors, save those lives, be that hero. Although I feel like I live in that world all the time, actually, really being there would be a dream come true.
Anna Stephens
Hi, I have SO MANY favourite books we'd be here all day if I listed them! Top 5 are Lord of the Rings (trilogy, but I count it as one!), Green River Rising, Shogun, The Heroes and The Sunne In Splendour. I think everything I read can be inspiration of sorts, but I have to be careful that inspiration doesn't become plagiarism! But I'm always curious to see how other authors handle certain topics or situations. There's always something to learn.
Anna Stephens
Definitely the big fantasy debuts of this year - so Age of Assassins, The Dragon's Legacy, Blackwing, Court of Broken Knives, plus a couple of trilogies to finish off - Pete Newman's and Edward Cox's. After that, or in between, I'd like to delve into a few classics to take a breather from spec fic and also to absorb a different style of writing and world building.
Anna Stephens
Why my sister and I both have the exact same placement of freckles on our right cheeks but neither of our parents do...
Anna Stephens
Some days are harder than others - like today! Sometimes what I might do is draft an action scene, something that's in the wrong place in the plot, but a battle or a chase or a fight gets the creative juices flowing and helps me begin the writing process for the day. Then I'll get back to the plot I'm supposed to be writing and carry on. As for the scene, I copy it into a separate document full of random scenes for use later on. It might be used, it might be discarded, but it's served its purpose in getting me going.
Anna Stephens
Skip the bit you're stuck on - if you know you need a scene that initiates a conflict next, but you can't come up with, write the outcome of that conflict instead. Quite often I'll find that writing the next bit tells me how I need to write the bit I'm stuck on.
Anna Stephens
Always having friends to talk to, even if they are made up and only exist in your head or on the page!
Anna Stephens
Read every day, write every day, don't be afraid to ask for and take advice on your writing. If you write horror, don't just read horror - read everything from classics and translations up to modern fiction. Read non-fiction. Do research. Arm yourself with as much information as you can to inform your writing.
Anna Stephens
Book 2 in the Godblind trilogy.
Anna Stephens
I'm currently drafting the sequel to Godblind, so this was always something that was going to be written. The plot evolved naturally as I wrote Godblind - I always knew what needed to happen next, and I always knew Godblind was the first in a trilogy.
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