Ask the Author: Lorna Reid
Answered Questions (3)
Lorna Reid
Starting to work on the sequel to Rise of the Reaper. It's called Darkwalkers and will be released next year.
Lorna Reid
As far as The Septic Circle goes, it came about over seven years ago, through a heady combination of cynicism, eye-rolling over the UK’s (then) obsession with the paranormal, and me having way too much time on my hands.
I was bored at work one day and, at the time, the UK’s interest in the paranormal was at a fever-pitch. Psychics, TV shows, ghost hunting tours, you name it. I started joking about with my other half about a pissed off psychic, and what his responses would be like. He created a site called The Jaded Psychic, while I decided to write a diary, and instead of what I had intended, Jay, Fenwick, and Freddy emerged. I couldn’t leave them alone and they became a short-lived web project. Years later, after getting stuck with the fourth book in my fantasy series, I had the idea to develop The Septic Circle into a book. It was ambitious, given that there were five viewpoints making up the jigsaw of the action every week, but I went for it.
So, a few scribbled diaries during dull work days, many years ago, wound up resurfacing and suddenly evolving into a book. No evolutionary stone required.
I was bored at work one day and, at the time, the UK’s interest in the paranormal was at a fever-pitch. Psychics, TV shows, ghost hunting tours, you name it. I started joking about with my other half about a pissed off psychic, and what his responses would be like. He created a site called The Jaded Psychic, while I decided to write a diary, and instead of what I had intended, Jay, Fenwick, and Freddy emerged. I couldn’t leave them alone and they became a short-lived web project. Years later, after getting stuck with the fourth book in my fantasy series, I had the idea to develop The Septic Circle into a book. It was ambitious, given that there were five viewpoints making up the jigsaw of the action every week, but I went for it.
So, a few scribbled diaries during dull work days, many years ago, wound up resurfacing and suddenly evolving into a book. No evolutionary stone required.
Lorna Reid
Don’t give up. There will be days when you don’t want to write, when everything is going wrong, when your characters are being stubborn, and when you end up staring in rage at one paragraph for hours, trying to figure out why it won’t work. You’ll hate your book, you’ll hate your characters, you’ll doubt your plot, you’ll imagine everyone hating it. You’ll want to throw your PC/laptop/pad and paper out of the window attached to an Acme weight.
Breathe. Step away from the chainsaw. It will get better. I have hated every single book that I have written. Each one has been a mess of rage, anger, tears, and frustration. But it was worth it. Like dealing with the horror of a horde of visiting relatives, if you grit your teeth and keep your head down, it’ll all be over at some point. Take time out, by all means, but not so long that you disconnect. Work at it, pile words on top of one another, little by little. Somewhere, at some point, you’ll have a book. Congratulations. You will have then achieved far more than most other writers. Then you’ll realise you have to edit the whole thing and will have a nervous breakdown, but that’s another story.
Also, chocolate cures many ails.
Breathe. Step away from the chainsaw. It will get better. I have hated every single book that I have written. Each one has been a mess of rage, anger, tears, and frustration. But it was worth it. Like dealing with the horror of a horde of visiting relatives, if you grit your teeth and keep your head down, it’ll all be over at some point. Take time out, by all means, but not so long that you disconnect. Work at it, pile words on top of one another, little by little. Somewhere, at some point, you’ll have a book. Congratulations. You will have then achieved far more than most other writers. Then you’ll realise you have to edit the whole thing and will have a nervous breakdown, but that’s another story.
Also, chocolate cures many ails.
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