Ask the Author: Phil Syphe
Answered Questions (2)
Phil Syphe
My next novel will be a sequel to "Escape to Deira", titled “Lost in Deira”, Book 2 in my Sons of Deira series. Set in early seventh-century Britain, it's a fast-past adventure story with violence & intrigue, drama & danger.
Deira was an Angle kingdom, whose borders are roughly the same as modern day Yorkshire. Depending on ideas & reader interest, I'm aiming for the series to span the entire medieval period.
On a totally different note, I started writing a sequel to my novel "The Marquise of Darkness: A Novel of Madame de Brinvilliers" two years ago. It's a completely fictitious story called "Son of Darkness", though some characters are/were real people.
I decided to shelf this when I began work on "Escape to Deira", though I'd like to revive it at some point. I have a full novel outline to work from, plus I've written the first five chapters.
It's about Madame de Brinvillier's youngest son, fathered by Madame's lover Godin de Sainte-Croix the poison maker. I call him Louis, though his real name is unrecorded.
Likewise, his history is unrecorded, as is the history of other "real" characters in the story. That is, their respective lives after Madame's death in 1676 is unknown, so this gives me scope to write what I like without altering historical facts.
Deira was an Angle kingdom, whose borders are roughly the same as modern day Yorkshire. Depending on ideas & reader interest, I'm aiming for the series to span the entire medieval period.
On a totally different note, I started writing a sequel to my novel "The Marquise of Darkness: A Novel of Madame de Brinvilliers" two years ago. It's a completely fictitious story called "Son of Darkness", though some characters are/were real people.
I decided to shelf this when I began work on "Escape to Deira", though I'd like to revive it at some point. I have a full novel outline to work from, plus I've written the first five chapters.
It's about Madame de Brinvillier's youngest son, fathered by Madame's lover Godin de Sainte-Croix the poison maker. I call him Louis, though his real name is unrecorded.
Likewise, his history is unrecorded, as is the history of other "real" characters in the story. That is, their respective lives after Madame's death in 1676 is unknown, so this gives me scope to write what I like without altering historical facts.
Phil Syphe
Writer’s block is essentially a mixture of procrastination & distraction, which leads to lack of new ideas.
The way I get back in the grove is to mull ideas around in my head for a while, otherwise I just sit gaping at a blank page, which is no good for the soul.
Once an idea’s on place, I get on and write. Focus is the main thing. To keep going with the smallest of an idea can blossom into something unexpected.
For example, I needed to come up with two new short stories for one of my MA creative writing assignments. I was stuck for ideas for a few days until remembering a scene I had in mind for a novel that I ended up not writing.
Thought this would be flash fiction, maybe 300 words max, but the germ of an idea grew, with the two featured characters “taking over”, improving the story. When I needed to stop for the day it’d topped 800 words and it still wasn’t finished.
In short, when experiencing writer’s block, I leave the blank page alone, think long and hard, and when the slightest of an idea presents itself, I get on and write and see where it takes me.
The way I get back in the grove is to mull ideas around in my head for a while, otherwise I just sit gaping at a blank page, which is no good for the soul.
Once an idea’s on place, I get on and write. Focus is the main thing. To keep going with the smallest of an idea can blossom into something unexpected.
For example, I needed to come up with two new short stories for one of my MA creative writing assignments. I was stuck for ideas for a few days until remembering a scene I had in mind for a novel that I ended up not writing.
Thought this would be flash fiction, maybe 300 words max, but the germ of an idea grew, with the two featured characters “taking over”, improving the story. When I needed to stop for the day it’d topped 800 words and it still wasn’t finished.
In short, when experiencing writer’s block, I leave the blank page alone, think long and hard, and when the slightest of an idea presents itself, I get on and write and see where it takes me.
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