[Interview] Tahlia Newland

Australian writer, Tahlia Newland has worked as a high school teacher and as a dance, mime and mask performer.

She has also written novels, scripts for theatre and short stories for children and adults.

In this interview, Tahlia Newland talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

In 1997, I began writing a series of children’s stories for my daughter (then 4 years old), but I didn’t think much of them, so I stopped. When the inspiration for my present YA series hit in 2007, I started again and couldn’t stop. Scenes from the story kept leaping into my mind demanding to be written, so I wrote.

Fairly early in the process of writing Lethal Inheritance, after some positive feedback on the story by an industry professional, I realized that the story was good enough and that if I could write it well enough, then I might be able to get it published.

As time passed, I became more and more determined to make it good enough. I had put so much work into it that I didn’t want that work to be wasted. I also discovered how much I loved writing and I knew that readers would enjoy the story and love my characters as much as I do.

I wrote passionately. I studied what made good writing, mostly via the web and library books. I revised and revised. I had a manuscript appraisal and worked on the weak parts, and I developed the ability to objectively criticise my own work. I also studied the publishing industry and researched how to make submissions, write a query letter, a synopsis and so on.

I sent submissions to every agent in Australia who was open for them, and by the time I was rejected by most of them, some of the others had opened their books, so I sent submissions to them too. It was in the second round of submissions that I got my agent.

Which authors influenced you most?

Garth Nix in his Old Kingdom trilogy and Stephanie Meyer.

I loved the drama in the Old Kingdom trilogy and the way Garth used of the third person to look into the minds of a variety of characters.

Stephanie showed me how far I could go with the love story and that the beauty of keeping language simple is that more young people can read it easily.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My personal experience of working with my mind has directly influenced this series, and my interest in eastern philosophy is reflected in the world view of the Warriors and the hidden realm in which the story in Lethal Inheritance takes place.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Mind, perception, the nature of reality and dealing with emotions as well as writing well enough to do my ideas justice.

I work at improving my understanding of what makes good writing, and constantly evaluate and revise my work in the light of this.

Do you write everyday?

Yes, I write everyday unless I have finished a project and haven’t started a new one. Even then I am likely to write something for my blog or maybe play around with a short story.

When writing, I begin by re-reading what I wrote the day before and making changes where necessary, but I don’t spend too much time on it.

Then I write whatever scene is uppermost in my mind. It won’t always be what comes next in the timeline of the story.

I end either when the scene is satisfactorily completed, or when I have to eat, cook, sleep or tend to the family.

How many books have you written so far?

Lethal Inheritance is finished and my agent is in the process of sending submissions to publishers.

I have written the second drafts of the following three sequels: Stalking Shadows, Demon’s Grip and Eternal Destiny.

How would you describe your writing?

Modern day fantasy with strong urban elements.

What would you say Lethal Inheritance is about?

When demons kidnap her mother, Ariel is catapulted into a mysterious realm in a hidden layer of reality. Stuck on a rescue mission she doesn't want, she must negotiate an intriguing and unpredictable world where demons who feed on fear are hunting her, and they’re aiming to kill.

She needs help fast, but can she trust the quirky old guide who says he can teach her how to fine tune her mind into a powerful weapon? And what is this volatile energetic connection between her and Nick, her enigmatic traveling companion?

How long did it take you to write the book?

Three years, but I also did the second draft of the other three books in that time as well.

Who is your target audience?

Young Adults (roughly 14+) and Adults who like the freshness and romance of YA fantasy.

What motivated you to start writing for this audience?

My daughter was 14 when I started writing, and I love that age group; they’re funny and sophisticated but still fresh. It’s an exciting age when everything seems possible, and it’s an age when stories of empowerment are very important, especially for young women.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Lethal Inheritance?

I loved it all, but it was difficult at first to know if the idea was good enough to be worth pursuing. I was also terrified of it not being good enough, which made early criticism difficult.

I dealt with this by working at becoming a better writer and I got a well-respected industry professional to do a manuscript appraisal. When the appraisal came back with rave reviews, I had the confidence to really get stuck into it.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy it all, but I love the initial writing when you immerse yourself in the fantasy world and get to know the characters. It’s a very magical time.

I also love it when the characters surprise you and when something new comes up during the revision process.

What will your next book be about?

Stalking Shadows will tell us what happens next for our heroine Ariel and her companion, Nick as they make their way up Diamond Peak in search of Ariel’s mother and the Master Demon.

Their challenges will require them to work with overcoming arrogance and jealousy; the dividing lines between friendship, love and intimacy; sorting out allegiances and re-defining opinions.

Related articles:

• The plot thickens: children's literature not just kid's stuff, By Linda Morris, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 11, 2011
• Chapter One, Lethal Inheritance, By Tahlia Newland, April 7, 2011
• Writer Wednesday Welcomes Tahlia Newland [Interview], By Julie Anne Lindsey, Musings from the Slush Pile, December 1, 2010

[Interview] Jason Kahn

Jason Kahn lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn and works as a medical editor for a New York-based cardiology research foundation.

He is the author of works that include the e-book, The Killer Within (Damnation Books, 2009) and the blog novel, Dark InSpectre.

His short stories have been featured in anthologies that include The Best Of Gryphonwood 2007 (Gryphonwood Press, 2007); Strange Stories of Sand and Sea (Fine Tooth Press, 2008); Christmas Fear (Static Movement, 2010) and Best Left Buried (Static Movement, 2011).

In this interview, Jason Kahn talks about his writing:*

When did you start writing?

I was headed toward a journalism degree my second or third year in college, so I knew then that I wanted to be a published writer. But it wasn't until the summer after my senior year that I discovered I wanted to be a writer. I'd been reading sci-fi/fantasy books since I was a kid, and during my senior year, my then-girlfriend, now-wife, said to me, "Hey, why don't you write one of those?"

Incredible as it may seem, the thought had never occurred to me before.

That summer I started writing, and haven't stopped since.

I began by writing a couple of novels. I had no idea what I was doing and they turned out to be way too long and extremely over-written. But I slowly revised and revised, and got them pared down to pretty decent shape. But then, after several rejections, I turned to the short story market.

It wasn't until I submitted a short story to Jim Baen's Universe that I really learned the craft of writing. The comments and feedback I received there were invaluable. I learned more about writing in a few months than I had in several years. That's where I got my first (and thus far only) professional short story sale, for a story called "Devil May Care".

Since then, I have had other short stories published in various places, and am continuing to write.

How would you describe your writing?

My current writing is best classified as dark, paranormal crime fiction. It's a series being produced by Abandoned Towers Magazine called Dark InSpectre. I'm writing episodes that are posted every two weeks.

Here's the blurb for the story:

In a near-future society where 'normals' fear and mistrust those with telepathic ability, Jack Garrett leads a special police unit of telepaths with the unique talent of contacting the psychic awareness of the dead.

Seven years after solving a notorious murder spree that culminated in the killing of his best friend's daughter, Jack starts receiving visits from the murdered girl. Determined to follow her paranormal clues, Jack uncovers a web of police corruption that threatens to end his career and his life the closer he gets to the truth.

As of my writing this, there are still five episodes left in the current story arc, but they've already been written.

I've already started writing the next story arc for Dark InSpectre, which I'm very excited about.

Who is your target audience?

My target audience always starts out with myself. What story would I like to read?

Hopefully, the story matches up with other demographics.

In general, I'd say I write for people age 16 and up, since that's my general frame of reference.

Which authors influenced you most?

Many, many authors have influenced me: Raymond Feist, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Leguin, Anne Bishop, Patricia McKillip, Steven Brust, Katherine Kurtz, Sheri Tepper, Fritz Leiber, David Eddings, Stephen Donaldson, Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman, and James Ellroy to name a few.

Early on, I would say Feist and Eddings influenced me the most as I tried to write fantasy-adventures, but lately, much more Ellroy as I've been writing more noir crime fiction.

I read several detective fiction authors as I worked on Dark InSpectre ... Raymond Chandler, Peter Lovesey ... and then I read James Ellroy ... The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, and many more ... I wasn't prepared, my mind exploded ... I could not put them down ... The first-person narrative style he uses in some of his novels and the way he illuminates the darkness that dwells the souls of his protagonists is very compelling. And his prose hits you like a hammer.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

My personal life has influenced my writing in both subtle and obvious ways.

First there were a few things from my childhood. On the positive side, a young friend of mine was instrumental in introducing me to sci-fi and fantasy books, which I read avidly and which formed the foundation and reference frame from which I write.

The negative side can best be summed up by the following anecdote: One day in fourth grade, the books we ordered through Scholastic came in. The boy who sat at the desk across from me took one look at the book I had ordered and said: "Jason, you're always reading such weird stuff!"

And it wasn't in a nice way.

That book was War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. I got this sort of reaction quite a bit, and it made me somewhat self-conscious about my reading preferences, which carried over to my writing, and still does to this day.

A way in which my personal life influenced my writing in an overt way derived from my inspiration for the Dark InSpectre series. It sprang from a dream I had, which turned into the first scene of the story. It involved the psychic ghost of a dead girl leading the main character, a telepathic cop (me in my dream), into a room with four prisoners (brothers) encased in blocks of semi-translucent material.

Yes, I know, very strange dream. But more important than the actual scene was the mood. It was futuristic and very dark and brooding.

I mulled over my dream for about a month as I wound a story around it. I saw it as a cross between L.A. Confidential and the psi-core of Babylon 5. And at heart it was a hardboiled crime thriller.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, as always, is to tell a good story, no more, no less. Whether it's a high fantasy or a dark, sci-fi piece.

An idea will pop into my head and I've got to get it out and onto paper. Sometimes it will be pretty quick, sometimes it will take much longer.

It usually starts with the all-powerful "What If?" question. Then I flesh it out, saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if this happened?", "And then that?"

Pictures form in my head, and I try and relate them as faithfully as possible through words.

Each story is different, but the goal is the same. To provoke that indefinable wow! by the end of it. To transport the reader for a brief time and take them on a journey, whether to somewhere dark and scary or bright and airy, and to give them a hell of a ride while they're there.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

I'd say the biggest challenge is finding the time. Both to write and to just think about a story, to work it out in my head. I'm a news editor by day, and my job is extremely busy. I'm also a husband and father of two boys in elementary school.

I'll write whenever I can, but long stretches can go by during which I'm not writing. It can be very frustrating.

I go on business trips about four times a year, and I find that I can get a lot of writing done on the plane if I'm traveling by air. It's great getting a few hours of uninterrupted writing time during a flight.

Sometimes the writing itself can be hard. Not the "big scenes," those are usually pretty well thought out. It's the little scenes, the transitions, the mundane stuff. That can be extremely hard for me to write.

Do you write everyday?

I don't write every day. I wish I could, but time unfortunately does not allow. I write whenever I can.

A session will start with me at my computer, either at home or somewhere else (like with my laptop at my older boy's karate practice, for instance) and me typing away.

I'll review the last section I wrote and try and push on.

Either I've got the scene worked out already, or I have to muddle through, seeing where the story leads.

I'll stop when I have to due to time constraints, or if I'm at a natural breaking point.

How many books have you written so far?

A short story of mine, The Killer Within, was released in September 2009 as an e-book by Damnation Books. It is a paranormal crime thriller.

In terms of other fiction, the Dark InSpectre series is currently running, as mentioned above.

In addition, I have a fantasy short story, "Cold Comfort", coming out in the print version of Abandoned Towers Magazine in May 2010.

How would you describe The Killer Within?

For The Killer Within, here's the blurb:

When Metro City's number one crime family develops a drug that turns ordinary people into mindless assassins, detective Frank Arnold makes it his mission to bring them down. But things take a turn for the worse when the syndicate targets someone in the police department to carry out their next hit. Everyone's under suspicion, including Frank himself as he tries desperately to crack the case before his time runs out, permanently.

I chose the publisher because the story seemed like a good fit in terms of the genres Damnation Books was interested in. The whole electronic book concept, though, is pretty new to me.

The Killer Within is not available in print. It's solely an e-book that can be purchased from Amazon and a whole host of other e-book distributors. But do people really buy or read short stories as e-books? I honestly have no idea. I thought it was worth a try and was an interesting avenue for my work.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The only difficulty was finding the time to write, same as with any of my stories. Most of the time I deal with this by writing after my kids go to bed.

Unfortunately, this makes for some very late nights.

The Killer Within predates the Dark InSpectre. It represents my first foray into noir, crime fiction. I found it immensely enjoyable to get into the hardboiled detective mood and voice. I can't really explain it, it's just a lot of fun to write in that genre.

What sets the e-book apart from other things you've written?

Most of my writing has been fantasy or science fiction. The speculative element in The Killer Within barely qualifies as sci-fi. It's almost purely a crime fiction story.

The Killer Within is similar to the Dark InSpectre in that they're both hardboiled crime stories, but the Dark InSpectre is darker with a much more sci-fi angle.

What will your next book be about?

I have many other short stories on submission that I'm waiting to hear back about.

I can say, though, that the next story arc for the Dark InSpectre will involve a direct threat to Jack's unit and a drug that only affects telepaths.

*This article is based on an email interview with Jason Kahn which took place in June 2010.

Related articles:

• Interview with short story writer Jason Kahn, Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews, June 21, 2011
• Guest Interview: Jason Kahn, By Kelly A. Harmon, Moving on to Fiction, June 14, 2010
• Interview with Jason Kahn, Lily, October 16, 2009
• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008