Ask the Author: Lissa Oliver
Answered Questions (26)
Lissa Oliver
I self-published "Nero - The Last Caesar" initially because publishers had provided excellent feedback, but it was a niche audience and unsuitable for mainstream marketing. Therefore my first piece of advice to self-publishers is to ensure your book is good enough for publication before racing ahead. Professional feedback is crucial. Also ensure it is perfectly proofed and edited, professionally if necessary.
As an "indie" author, you have sent your typescript to a printer and taken possession of a quantity of books (I would recommend just 200 at a time, re-ordering as they sell). Now comes the hard work - marketing. Press releases, interviews, radio, book signings, whatever you can think of. Wholesalers won't touch small volumes, so you must also drive round to every book store, leaving in six copies to each on a sale-or-return basis, arranging to either collect the sales (minus the store's 33% commission) or the unsold books in four to six weeks.
That's the donkey work a publisher spares you, but you are in full control and know exactly how many copies are selling where. I found "Nero - The Last Caesar" sold well in university towns and from museum shops, but not in my hometown, despite 'local author' publicity. It continues to sell well on Amazon.
My next novel was a horseracing-based thriller and very much mainstream. "Chantilly Dawns" was accepted by a publisher and all I had to do was sign the contract. Contracts are tricky and the Irish Writers' Union provides a free negotiation service to its members, so that was invaluable. My publisher offered the perfect contract, however, so no negotiating necessary and I have found Maverick House excellent to deal with throughout our three novel (to date) journey together.
It was hard not having control or direct knowledge of sales, but that's rectified by a statement twice a year showing sales and royalties due. The royalty payments follow the statements. Much easier than physically collecting monies from book sales!
The only pitfall to watch for when getting a publisher is the contract. Ensure the rights will revert back to you after a reasonable period, you are not responsible for libel where the publisher has made changes, and royalties are within Irish Writers' Union recommendations - 10% of gross cover price, at least 25% rising scale on eBooks.
Having a publisher removes much of the post-publication hard work and leaves me free to write the next book, although I am still expected to contribute to marketing by agreeing to interviews and engaging in social media.
I would recommend finding a publisher as a first choice, but not to fear self-publishing, if you take a professional and unrushed approach. Indie authors are currently doing well in the marketplace. Just don't be in a hurry to get your book out there - take your time and do it well.
As an "indie" author, you have sent your typescript to a printer and taken possession of a quantity of books (I would recommend just 200 at a time, re-ordering as they sell). Now comes the hard work - marketing. Press releases, interviews, radio, book signings, whatever you can think of. Wholesalers won't touch small volumes, so you must also drive round to every book store, leaving in six copies to each on a sale-or-return basis, arranging to either collect the sales (minus the store's 33% commission) or the unsold books in four to six weeks.
That's the donkey work a publisher spares you, but you are in full control and know exactly how many copies are selling where. I found "Nero - The Last Caesar" sold well in university towns and from museum shops, but not in my hometown, despite 'local author' publicity. It continues to sell well on Amazon.
My next novel was a horseracing-based thriller and very much mainstream. "Chantilly Dawns" was accepted by a publisher and all I had to do was sign the contract. Contracts are tricky and the Irish Writers' Union provides a free negotiation service to its members, so that was invaluable. My publisher offered the perfect contract, however, so no negotiating necessary and I have found Maverick House excellent to deal with throughout our three novel (to date) journey together.
It was hard not having control or direct knowledge of sales, but that's rectified by a statement twice a year showing sales and royalties due. The royalty payments follow the statements. Much easier than physically collecting monies from book sales!
The only pitfall to watch for when getting a publisher is the contract. Ensure the rights will revert back to you after a reasonable period, you are not responsible for libel where the publisher has made changes, and royalties are within Irish Writers' Union recommendations - 10% of gross cover price, at least 25% rising scale on eBooks.
Having a publisher removes much of the post-publication hard work and leaves me free to write the next book, although I am still expected to contribute to marketing by agreeing to interviews and engaging in social media.
I would recommend finding a publisher as a first choice, but not to fear self-publishing, if you take a professional and unrushed approach. Indie authors are currently doing well in the marketplace. Just don't be in a hurry to get your book out there - take your time and do it well.
Lissa Oliver
What a good question and one I ask myself frequently! Sometimes my daily work is of huge benefit to my fiction writing, because I'll uncover fascinating facts or research about things relevant to my characters or plot. But writing non-fiction for long periods of time (my day job wouldn't always be 9-5!) can really blunt creativity and imagination.
Sometimes, as with all writers, the day job simply restricts writing time and I grow further away from the work in progress. It's still in progress, in my head, racing away from me, making it harder to catch up when I can sit down and write.
So maintaining that balance is so important. I'm not always sure how to best maintain it, I probably prioritise the wrong things, but if I can prioritise my fiction work without neglecting important things, I will.
I am so lucky, though, that my daily work always inspires or reinforces ideas.
Sometimes, as with all writers, the day job simply restricts writing time and I grow further away from the work in progress. It's still in progress, in my head, racing away from me, making it harder to catch up when I can sit down and write.
So maintaining that balance is so important. I'm not always sure how to best maintain it, I probably prioritise the wrong things, but if I can prioritise my fiction work without neglecting important things, I will.
I am so lucky, though, that my daily work always inspires or reinforces ideas.
Lissa Oliver
I wish I knew where the inspiration came from, for times when it might fail me, but truthfully I don’t know. It all begins with the character and the variety is just because no two people are alike, not even those created by the same author. I think of this new person, my new lifelong friend, and I just keep asking “why?” until I know them inside out. In Marcel’s case, why is he such a good jockey? Why does he have such an affinity with horses? Why was he bullied? Why did his parents not give him the usual parental care? He answers that one himself at one point with a single throw-away line that belies the huge impact it may have had on his life. Sometimes the smallest things are the most important. Why was he defensive? So many whys until all my questions are answered. Then I understand what he wants and what his fears and weaknesses are, which I’ll use to obstruct him in his quest. The antagonist is just as important – why do they want to hinder or harm? Why do they feel this way? Why do they act this way? Why? I may not always know exactly why, some secrets they won’t give up, but I need enough empathy with all the characters to make my own guesses – as will the reader. It doesn’t matter how great the story is, how thrilling the plot is, if you don’t like the main character you just aren’t interested in what will happen to them.
If inspiration came from somewhere and not just magically emerging in my head, it would be from minor little mundane things daily seen or overheard or a look in someone’s eye. What are they thinking and why? What if...? Real people and events don’t inspire because it’s already happened, been done. But it’s when imagination takes hold and you think “what if..?” and wonder what it’s like in those shoes, for someone else, that a fictional person starts to emerge. Then I wait for them to reveal their desires and flaws so that they create their own story. As an author, I have very little input in that.
If inspiration came from somewhere and not just magically emerging in my head, it would be from minor little mundane things daily seen or overheard or a look in someone’s eye. What are they thinking and why? What if...? Real people and events don’t inspire because it’s already happened, been done. But it’s when imagination takes hold and you think “what if..?” and wonder what it’s like in those shoes, for someone else, that a fictional person starts to emerge. Then I wait for them to reveal their desires and flaws so that they create their own story. As an author, I have very little input in that.
Lissa Oliver
I don't usually take any time off, as fortunately it is my hobby as well as my profession. We have family holidays to various music festivals throughout the year, so I don't physically write during the festivals (2-4 days), but the book continues to be written in my head, ready to be typed later!
We did once have a "proper" family holiday, a week spent on a Spanish beach, and I fetched a pen and exercise book instead of a reading book. As happens, sand got in everywhere, including the novel! You will find a chap called Sandy within the pages of Sainte Bastien, so now you know where I was when I wrote that chapter!
We did once have a "proper" family holiday, a week spent on a Spanish beach, and I fetched a pen and exercise book instead of a reading book. As happens, sand got in everywhere, including the novel! You will find a chap called Sandy within the pages of Sainte Bastien, so now you know where I was when I wrote that chapter!
Lissa Oliver
Sadly, Shergar has already had his biography written, but there will be another equine hero who I'll get first dibs on and I'll do him or her proud. But mainly my interest is in human character.
Lissa Oliver
With difficulty! I believe coming to journalism from fiction was a huge asset, because I think in story format, I see the hook and instinctively fit what I hear into the classic Beginning, Middle and End of the story-telling format, be it an interview or technical reference. But when you have spent long hours writing interviews or works of reference, or event reports, the craft may be the same, but it’s hard to get back into an imaginary world once more. I have to read my novel-in-progress from page one up to where I left off in order to become immersed again, which can take all the time I’d allotted to writing! Non-fiction has a stiffer delivery than fiction, so it takes some loosening up to switch back to fiction.
Lissa Oliver
Good question! I had no difficulty switching from ancient Rome to a modern horeracing setting, as I was so totally immersed in both, at the time of researching first century Rome. That was nearly 20 years' ago, but although if I returned to ancient Rome for my next novel I'd need to refresh my knowledge of history, I would have no difficulty with the writing process, which is the same no matter where, or when, I set my stories. It's still about the characters having a voice and leading the story.
If you were to ask me how I switch from journalist mode to fiction mode, now that would be a different answer altogether!
If you were to ask me how I switch from journalist mode to fiction mode, now that would be a different answer altogether!
Lissa Oliver
No apology needed, it's good to get the brain exercised! And a spot-on observation, I do have an interest in characters who are conflicted, because that's the essence of drama. Without conflict, there is no drama - and without drama, there is no story. Taking a normal person and setting them down in an abnormal situation, or taking an unusual person and setting them within a normal situation, are probably the most common structures of story, particularly comedy. The big attraction to Nero, for me, was that he was forced into a situation that he couldn't safely escape and, worse, one that was at direct odds with his own political and social beliefs.
The theme I read into both your books was of the search. The characters of The Golden Age Dawns are searching for something, not always knowingly; and there was a strong sense of the author needing to answer his own questions within Easter Rising 1916: A Family Answers The Call, a personal search for justification of events, as well as the quest for freedom which is at the book's heart.
The theme I read into both your books was of the search. The characters of The Golden Age Dawns are searching for something, not always knowingly; and there was a strong sense of the author needing to answer his own questions within Easter Rising 1916: A Family Answers The Call, a personal search for justification of events, as well as the quest for freedom which is at the book's heart.
Lissa Oliver
Marcel in Chantilly Dawns is suffering from loss, not only of his career, but his sense of worth. Similarly, Pete in Gala Day is always conscious of the glittering career he let slip from his grasp, but is fighting to regain it. Everyone in Sainte Bastien has been adversely affected by loss. In Nero, that was fact-based and not of my creation, but his loss was of a normal childhood and personal freedom. I don't think it was a deliberate theme, but I can see how it's coming through that way. A lot of people coming to creative writing classes have been past victims of bullying, perhaps it's in our nature as writers who live within ourselves, and I was conscious of the different damaging effects of bullying on some of the characters in Chantilly Dawns and Sainte Bastien. Each character has come out of it in a very different way.
Lissa Oliver
That's a very good question, Gabriel, and I recognise a clear theme in your book, but will have to stop and think about it in my own work. To be honest, I'm not aware of a theme, and not an intentioned one. Looking back, I think many of the characters are coming to terms with a sense of loss, but I'm not sure that's an important theme. It's more to do with creating hurdles for them to overcome in order to build drama and character arcs. Wow, that was a tough, thought-provoking question! Maybe my readers can answer that one and surprise me!
Lissa Oliver
HaHa! Both would be interesting topics, but dare I say a little too comfortable and not enough menace? I suppose that would be down to how they're approached. If I approached them, I'd not want to cover the same path, so it would be AFTER Shergar's disappearance and too short to say "he was shot soon after", which I believe. I should say I knew him when he was in Newmarket and he was a bit of a terror. So to create a fanciful life after kidnap for him, it would be a sort of Black Beauty-esque story, but not sparking my interest. I love horses and they have such great individual characters - my own is a bit of a "Ralph Wiggum" with the lowest intellect I've ever encountered, but adorable - but for writing, I am more attracted by human character and its complexities. That said, a horse figures prominently as a main character in the novel I'm currently working on, but unlike Black Beauty it isn't told from his view point.
Lissa Oliver
A love of reading. As soon as I could hold a pencil, pre-school, I was writing stories, trying to match the books I'd read and bring imaginary worlds and characters to life. If I couldn't read a book, because I was in school or there were none available I'd not read to death, then I'd write one. I started out pre-school writing Enid Blyton-type stories about my teddies and by my teens my stories had become more Dick Francis-style and featured my friends and favourite jockeys! I guess I always wanted to have a story to read, so why not write one yourself, was my motive.
Lissa Oliver
Work currently is an awful lot of background research for reference articles and features for horseracing trade prublications and associations, so I'm finding it really difficult to get my creative fiction hat back on. All of the research is soaking up to maybe use in the next book, which is as far as Chapter Three right now and has been since last year! So it's not time wasted or away from it, but just slowing its progress. But it is in existence and will be much lighter than the trilogy. Three main characters, initially unconnected, with three major problems to overcome, find their lives and problems collide and intertwine, but not with my usual cruelty or deadliness!
Lissa Oliver
Initially, I read Suetonius and Tacitus as Penguin Classics and really enjoyed them, but was surprised by what I read of Nero, who differed greatly from the Hollywood versions I'd been used to. So I went back through both Roman authors, as well as Cassius Dio, and began a biography. I then found four modern academic biographies of him, all telling the same thing, so I switched to writing his story as fiction and bringing him more to life. Michael Grant, Jerome Carcopino, plus several others that were borrowed from libraries, were soon strewn around me like a little magic circle! I had several notebooks and used them all at once, trying to write events in order of date, as Suetonius and Tacitus were sensationalists who often took events out of context for more dramatic effect. After at least four years, I began to write the actual straight biography, which I used as a skeleton frame for the fiction-style story. I always think of it as about four years, but realistically, and according to friends, it was nearer seven. But basically, just reading contemporary accounts, academic biographies and reference books on daily life in Rome, currency values, politics, etc. Just full-on immersal!
Lissa Oliver
Hi, Gabriel,
I guess it was being a teenager and feeling a personal sense of loss when a jockey friend was sacked and relocated abroad. As I grew older, I wondered how that sense of loss must have been amplified for him. The best part of an author's journey is making that trip in someone else's shoes, and from wondering "what if?" a character and story emerges.
Chantilly Dawns ended, but I wanted my journey to continue, so I listened to a very minor bit-player from a previous book (Gala Day) who had been hounding me for a book of his own for many years! That's another aspect of life as a writer - imaginary people take up residence in your head and demand life! When they appear in print and other people "see" them, they are alive and no longer just my imaginary lodgers!
Anyway, I wondered about other characters and how the repercussions from the Chantilly Dawns plot might impact on their lives. And from that grew Sainte Bastien, a very challenging book to write.
As with your own work, Gabriel, my storylines can allow me to raise issues I feel are important and to explore different perspectives.
I guess it was being a teenager and feeling a personal sense of loss when a jockey friend was sacked and relocated abroad. As I grew older, I wondered how that sense of loss must have been amplified for him. The best part of an author's journey is making that trip in someone else's shoes, and from wondering "what if?" a character and story emerges.
Chantilly Dawns ended, but I wanted my journey to continue, so I listened to a very minor bit-player from a previous book (Gala Day) who had been hounding me for a book of his own for many years! That's another aspect of life as a writer - imaginary people take up residence in your head and demand life! When they appear in print and other people "see" them, they are alive and no longer just my imaginary lodgers!
Anyway, I wondered about other characters and how the repercussions from the Chantilly Dawns plot might impact on their lives. And from that grew Sainte Bastien, a very challenging book to write.
As with your own work, Gabriel, my storylines can allow me to raise issues I feel are important and to explore different perspectives.
Lissa Oliver
It wasn't much of a treasure box, just a small cardboard shoe box containing every cherished memory of my life over the past forty years, including loved ones gone too soon. Why today, of all days, on All Hallows Eve, I decided to open it once more, I don't know; but unfortunately, I did...
Lissa Oliver
I'm not entirely sure I would be safe there, but I'd like to visit the Ramtops in Discworld. Hopefully I could stay with Nanny Ogg, who I hope would look after me, but would also be most entertaining. I wouldn't fancy venturing any further than the Ramtops, but it sounds the sort of country, scenery and people I'd enjoy. Going out for long walks each day and frequenting local taverns, being regaled by locals, sounds like a pleasant week's holiday.
If I could manage a two-centre fictional break, then I wouldn't mind hanging out at Blandings Castle. I would enjoy spending time with The Empress of Blandings, who is a pig and therefore excellent company for walks and conversation, and hopefully there will be guests staying to keep everyone amused.
If I could manage a two-centre fictional break, then I wouldn't mind hanging out at Blandings Castle. I would enjoy spending time with The Empress of Blandings, who is a pig and therefore excellent company for walks and conversation, and hopefully there will be guests staying to keep everyone amused.
Lissa Oliver
Sadly, I have only one unread Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown, so that's next when I find a spare moment. I may dip back in to his past books after that, but my priority will be for any new publications from Irish Writers' Union members. I love compiling the monthly Union newsletter and it always includes news of new publications by members. By reading those books, I can keep abreast of what my fellow Union colleagues are up to and be introduced to new genres and subjects I wouldn't normally dip into. Living in Ireland, though, I just hope summer comes at all!
Lissa Oliver
I can't actually think of any mystery in my life, so perhaps that's why I enjoy escaping into mystery and adventure through books. I don't expect I'm alone in sharing a common mystery in "where do things disappear to after I've put them in a safe place?" The Borrowers no doubt arose from that, but there could be a parallel universe containing our prized possessions and our puzzled counterparts wondering why they keep finding things they don't ever remember buying. There's one plot, anyway!
My grandparents passed away before I was born and my parents are gone now, too, so there could be plenty of mystery surrounding my grandfather. My mum once mentioned he served with a particular battalion in the army, which I later found out was renowned for the complete opposite of what my mild-mannered, gentle grandad was remembered as. So many characters in a compelling story have a hidden past, and the things someone was forced into in a time of war could well make for a surprising background.
Already my mind is ticking over - did a disreputable person change his or her outlook as a result of regretted actions? Or did a commendable person have to live with the guilt of actions they could not avoid, or did they behave heroically in avoiding such guilt? A lot of possibilities already. That's how great books get written, by always wondering "what if..?"
When I first wondered about this question I thought perhaps I was missing out on something, so lacking was I in mystery, family skeletons or any sort of excitement. Having considered it more, I think that's for the best. A peaceful life provides all the more time for reading and writing books and there's more than enough mystery in those!
My grandparents passed away before I was born and my parents are gone now, too, so there could be plenty of mystery surrounding my grandfather. My mum once mentioned he served with a particular battalion in the army, which I later found out was renowned for the complete opposite of what my mild-mannered, gentle grandad was remembered as. So many characters in a compelling story have a hidden past, and the things someone was forced into in a time of war could well make for a surprising background.
Already my mind is ticking over - did a disreputable person change his or her outlook as a result of regretted actions? Or did a commendable person have to live with the guilt of actions they could not avoid, or did they behave heroically in avoiding such guilt? A lot of possibilities already. That's how great books get written, by always wondering "what if..?"
When I first wondered about this question I thought perhaps I was missing out on something, so lacking was I in mystery, family skeletons or any sort of excitement. Having considered it more, I think that's for the best. A peaceful life provides all the more time for reading and writing books and there's more than enough mystery in those!
Lissa Oliver
It's odd, but most of my favourite books don't have couples. Lady Sybil and Commander Sam Vines in the Terry Pratchett Discworld series spring immediately to mind, together with their compatriots Adora Belle and Moist von Lipwig. Certainly my favourite named couple! But it has to be Demelza and Ross Poldark from the Winston Graham series of Poldark books that rank as my favourite couple. They complement each other, bringing out the other's best qualities. They make each other laugh, which is the best quality in any relationship. And they got through difficult times. They didn't always have trust, but loyalty and above all friendship was key. I haven't read the books for over 20 years, but I still remember one challenging period in their lives where their marriage nearly crashed simply through lack of communication. It was beautifully written. As the reader, I was so frustrated at knowing they both actually felt the same, though their shortness with each other meant they were unaware of that. Had they only sat down and talked! But that was the drama and the page-turner. It's something I recall whenever I write and that tense drama is always what I strive to achieve. Thank you, Demelza and Ross, for the pleasure you have given me as a reader and for the inspiration you provide me as a writer.
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