Can you tell us about your journey from being an artist and potter to becoming a writer of speculative fiction? What inspired this transition?
Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an artist. My hands were in all sorts of art. After school, I studied pottery and I was in the zone. And soon after, I welcomed a beautiful baby girl, who hated to sleep and thought life was a party. Pottery and babies certainly didn't go together, so I put aside pottery planning to go back after a few years. That didn't happen. Instead, I turned to books and picked up the pen. Writing became my new medium for my art practice and now that baby girl is 15 and I have only just begun to write.
How has your background in the visual arts influenced your writing style or the way you craft your narratives? Do you find any connections between these two forms of artistic expression?
For sure! I'm a very visual person. I often see the world and the unusual things that aesthetically makeup that world before I see the characters and what's happening to them. In my earlier writing practice, I would create an entire universe and all the inner workings before I knew how the story was going to start. But I quickly got that out of my system and I work directly with the characters these days. They are far more fun to discover the world with rather than throwing them in to see how they react.
Your stories are described as elaborate, strange, dark, and twisted. What draws you to this particular style of storytelling, and what themes or ideas do you often explore in your work?
I swear I am trying to find more happy endings in my work, but I do have a tendency to see the dark on the brightest day. Equally, I can also find that spark in the darkest of spots. What I really do focus on is how multi-facet our world is and how amazingly dynamic people can be. And in a way, that snowballs into elaborate stories. I really struggle to stay in one character's head and I love to head hop because one situation seen from multiple perspectives is far more dynamic that viewing it from on set of lens. Therefore, I never follow one set of rules or even themes and as a result every single book is totally different to every other one I've written.
Could you share some insights into your writing process? Do you have any specific routines, rituals, or habits that help you create your unique stories?
Every time I've tried to explain my process, I overwhelm whoever I tell. Ha! I don't have the same process. In fact, every single book I write is it's own process. One book I wrote purely on post-it notes decorated across the walls. Another was fully hand-written. Then the next book was typed out in dot points and then expanded. A few I've written front to back with no plan (usually shorter ones). But most of all, my books come together with loads of ideas on scraps of paper thrown together over the table and knitted together. Perhaps I might have a better answer to this question in twenty years. Ha!
Speculative fiction often delves into the realms of the unknown and the imagination. What motivates you to explore these uncharted territories in your writing, and what do you hope readers take away from your stories?
I love anything brand new - new worlds, new colours, new smells, anything that I haven't seen or experienced before. If it's unusual, that's even more tempting because it's exciting. We have such a diverse planet and I love exploring everything about it. But the universe! That's where I get really excited. Where would we go first? How are things done differently to us? The ideas are endless and I love pushing my imagination to go to those what if places.
"Pandora Unleashed" is described as a mythology retelling. What drew you to the myth of Pandora, and how did you decide to put your own spin on it?
Pandora's Box was a real spanner in the works for me. I've been writing massive books for years that still haven't come out and will continue to be in production until they are ready. And a reader reached out to me and asked me for more new books. That's exciting! But I had nothing coming out. So my friend challenged me. Publishing something! Even if it's small. I shrugged off the idea and got back to writing. Then I had to do the dreaded thing and clean out my office as I was moving. I had found a piece of paper with a summary version of Pandora's Box. It had cut the guts out of the story and left the raw bones and I sat on the cold floor staring at it for hours. My imagination had run away. Unfortunately, packing my office up became a stand-still and yet Pandora Unleashed was born.
"A Fantasy Christmas: Tales From The Hearth" is a unique take on the holiday season. What inspired you to create this collection of stories centered around Christmas, and what can readers expect from it?
This was the very first anthology I published and it was amazing. I was chatting to some authors and I proposed a theme: Fantasy + Christmas. Thirteen amazing stories were contributed and each one is so different. It was absolutely amazing to be part of such a creative experience that three more anthologies have been published since that one.
Can you tell us about any upcoming projects or works in progress that you're particularly excited about? Any hints or details you can share with your readers?
I have so much in the works and just taking my time to make sure everything is right before sending out into the world. At the moment there are several anthologies in production with plenty planned for the future. Plus The Reluctant Wizard book two half way through. And some brand new projects nearly ready for the editor.
