An Interview with Rae Gee

Many of you will know that I'm compiling a catalogue for the Independent Paperback Gift Shop, and during the compilation process I met a number of authors including up and coming Steampunk author.Rae Gee, who, I discover, lives just down the road from me, the next county along in Leicestershire.

Naturally, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself and Rae agreed to take time away from her busy schedule to talk to us. 

You can also see how the catalogue is developing, as I am going to display Rae's catalogue page on the Gift Shop blog.

Its a Steampunk double bill.

http://independentpaperbacks.blogspot.co.uk/

Tell us a bit about yourself? Who are you? Where are you from? Do you write full time? Do you work?

Hi Wiz! Thanks for giving me time on your blog. I really appreciate it!

My name's Rae, and I hail from a small town just outside of Leicester. I wish I could write full time! That's my ultimate dream. That and make documentaries and take a huge, Easy Rider style road trip across America. 

During the day I work as an events manager for a care home. No two days are ever the same, which is just the way I like it. But one day I hope to walk out of there and to permanently in front of my computer.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=leicester&ie=UTF-8

Wiz Notes: Leicester is home to the National Space Centre. Walkers Stadium and for American readers, is the birthplace of cruise crooner, romantic balladeer and notorious used panties collector, Englebert Humperdinck. 

My mother loves Englebert Humperdinck, Rae.

Does she?

Do you know what his real name is?

Is it Arnold  Dorsey, Wiz?

That's right, it is. He has a pool outside his house with a big inflatable dome over it. Near Oadby.

Oh.

Okay. Anything else about you Wizardwatchers ought to know?

I have a tattoo of a Boeing 747 on my back haha.

Fantastic stuff! On to writing. How do you write? 2500 a day? Straight onto WP? Notepads? Lost Weekend style word binges?

I aim for a thousand words a day. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I manage 5,000. Sometimes it's lucky to make it a hundred. It depends what else is there to distract me, like someone jumping out of a pod from 24 miles above the earth. Now that was worth taking 3 hours out of writing for. I'd quite happily watch something like that every day over the multitude of reality shows we now have. 

Notebooks - There are notebooks everywhere. By the bed, in my work bag, by the computer, under the bed, under the sofa, by the TV. Scattered through them all are a multitude of ideas which, at some point, have to be pieced together. Only most of the time I seem to forget what I've written in them and go on a completely different tangent. And no, I don't plan at all! I'm a real “fly by the seat of your pants” writer.

Ray Milland - the everyday life of a writer. Lost Weekend 1945

You know, I haven't been on a Lost Weekend style word binge for a very long time. I did it about 10 years ago. The results still linger on a hard drive somewhere...

Lost Weekend Original Trailer

Tell us about Mars On The Rise, Rae: Mars on the Rise started as a paragraph while I was sitting on a train. 

Originally it was supposed to be for a friend to illustrate but, while sitting at one of the train stations, I looked at the bricked up arches. It went from there really. It follows Cedo Reilly, who's a storyteller on the pier. He finds himself being propositioned by Erus Veetu, who promises to make Cedo a star of the stages. 

Erus owns the country's largest weapons company and Cedo doesn't like what he does. He spends a lot of time trying to talk Erus out of what he does. There's a lot of twists and turns, dark alleyways and government conspiracies, 

Steampunk oddities, fearsome weapons and a man who has nothing to lose. A lot of people enjoyed it for the exploration of gay relationships in the Victorian era. I never set out to write it with gay relationships but, as we know, anything can happen when it comes to writing! You never know where the muses will take you.

You have a distinctive look. What do you wear when you write? Do you wear the top hat?

Haha, actually I do! Especially if it's cold! It depends what mood I'm in. 

Sometimes I just wear jeans and a t-shirt, sometimes I'll wear full Victorian clothing. You can imagine the looks when I have to answer the door to someone!

Moriarty out of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen wants you silenced and sends his gremlins to Leicester. You are captured while walking down the High Street and incarcerated in an Antarctic dungeon. Your gaoler, Faustus, is a kindly gremlin and allows you three books, two CDs and one DVD to pass away the time. What would you choose.

Books

“War of the Worlds” - H.G. Wells

“Anno Dracula” - Kim Newman

Brilliant horrorist, anthologist, archivist and fantasy fiction/Steampunk guru
Kim Newman

“Contact” - Carl Sagan

Introduction to Carl Sagan's Cosmos

CD's

“Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?” - Megadeth

Megadeth - Peace Sells

“Appetite For Destruction” - Guns N' Roses

DVD

“Firefly box set”

That's a bit cheeky!

Well it all comes in one box, doesn't it!

I'll let you off! What are your personal ambitions. Do you want to write full time? How feasible is that in today's crowded market place.

I'd love to write full time. It really is the dream and I'm hoping to achieve it one day. I think it is still feasible in today's market place. Yes, the market is more crowded but with e-readers becoming more popular and self publishing not being seen as merely a vanity press, I think it's a growing market. And if you can make a niche for yourself then the world really can become your oyster.

I'm also hoping to go back to documentary film-making. It was my first love when I was younger and not so confident in my writing. I want to go and make happy films rather than ones which show the harsher side to life. The world really is a dark place right now and it needs something to help lift it. Books help a lot of people to escape the drudgery but we do need something to help people feel better about themselves and to remind them that they're not just a number in a very big system.

At some point I'd also like to own a Spitfire. 

You can buy flyable kits from several places and I'm half tempted to give Rolls Royce a call to see if they'd build me a Merlin engine. 

I'd love to fly it for charity and to make people happy. 

That's the aim of my life; make people smile and think!

A writer and a musician arrive at your door with a bottle of vino collapso and a bag of Walkers. Who would you like them to be and what food would you prepare/go and eat.

David Ellefson (Bassist for Megadeth) and Carl Sagan. I'd love to just spend an evening geeking out with them about life, the universe and everything. As for what I've cook... Apparently I can do a mean curry when the mood takes me. 

One of Rae's amazing curries, potentially.

Rumour has it that my homemade meatballs are also fairly good.

haha! What do fans of Rae Gee have to look forward to in 2013.

We're holding the book launch for Book 2 of the Veetu Industries series in April. It's going to be an evening of Steampunk splendidness. Everyone's welcome to come and join us, so feel free to check out the website:

Rae, thanks very much for an entertaining interview. I'm sure our readers will really enjoy it if the writing in Mars is as good as the way you come across!

Thank you, Wiz. That's really kind. Best of luck.

You can contact Rae here.

www.raegee.co.uk
www.facebook.com/Veetu.Industries

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Mars-Rise-Rae-Gee/dp/1610403053/ref=tmm_pap_title_0/175-8855130-8756818?ie=UTF8&qid=1335703965&sr=1-1

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mars-Rise-Rae-Gee/dp/1610403053/
ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1345235197&sr=1-1

Late addition: Rae's novel and innovative
Boeing tattoo!

Lyrics:

"And you know all the long while,
It's the journey that you seek,
It's the miles of movin' forward
With the wind beneath your wings." ('River' - Izzy Stradlin)

An Interview with Bathsheba Dailey

Bathsheba Dailey

By great fortune, I was introduced at the last minute to Bathsheba Dailey, poet and advertising guru, and with no preparation, and despite never having heard of Wizards and Cauldrons and such, she agreed to have a chat with me over the Wizphone, somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Your Wizard is a huge fan of poetry and his mien brightened when he found out that the resident of West Virginia was indeed an Odesmith. 

And extremely pleasant too. I caught up with her on a lake where she was fishing and here's what she had to say!

Hi Bathsheba.

Hi Wiz. Nice to meet you.

The feeling is mutual. Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? Where do you live? Do you write full time? How do you come to be here?

I am a 35 year old single mother of three girls and I am pursuing my degree in business. I am the author of  the "Hearts and Souls poetry book" and the upcoming poetry book "The Unhidden reflections of the heart".

http://www.facebook.com/bathshebadailey

I am also pursuing a venture which advertises other authors and businesses.

http://www.facebook.com/NewBeginningsAdvertising

I have walked a long road of failures and I have decided that I will chase many dreams at once to ensure that one comes true. Life is only what we make it, so make it the best that you can. 

My favorite hobby other than doing things with my girls is writing and fishing. 

Fishing:West Virginia Style!

Sounds of the water calm me when everything seems to be going in the wrong direction. I live in a small town in West Virginia where everyone knows everyone - and they are pretty sure they know those people better than they do themselves! Hahaha.

John Denver - West Virginia's Finest

  I try to write as much as I can but with three girls, school and all the household things that need doing, it is sometimes hard to find time to just be me and write.

I've been singing the John Denver song all morning, Bathsheba hahaha.

It's very catchy isn't it, haha.

It is, yes. Grew up with that song. How long have you been writing poetry?  

I have written since I was a young child. I had a very hard and abusive life until the age of fourteen when I  was finally placed with the greatest parents a girl could have. My foster dad who was to me my real father passed away last week and this has been the hardest and most unbearable time of my life even after a tormented childhood. 

I have always said in my case "water is indeed thicker than blood". I follow any writer or style that heart and soul can be reflected in. 

 Give us an example...

The Empty Quill

The ink in my quill has

started to dry with the

words I no longer want

to share with a world so

full of hate and self

loathing egotism.

I try to see the world

with a clear mind and

an opened heart but the

tales of life's bittersweet

anger is forever stepping

in my way of a worlds

deepest emotion being

that one of hate.

exquisiteness surrounds

us everyday with just the

opening of our eyes and

the air that we so enjoy

to intake.The flowers are

abloom with a beauty we

so deny,too worried are we

of our own sinful thoughts

that we no longer care

about human life unless it

is in the words that commit

their distraught.

That's a lovely poem, Bathsheba. Thank you for sharing. So, tell us about your current projects?

I am currently getting together my alter ego's poetry book "at at no names yet" I have kept her a secret for a year and a half and only very close friends know who she is. 

Latest work

You have an alter ego?

It's a secret, Wiz! Not telling you yet! I am also writing two novels. One about my alter ego, which will tell her fictional biography of why she turned to a world of darkness and a romance novel that is in the setting of times past when raising cattle was how you ate. I am writing my true story biography of who I really am and how I ended up as a state ward. I have also nearly finished with my third poetry book.

 The Baltimore Ravens, under pressure from the City, decide to emulate the Colts in 1983 and do a moonlight flit. You are taken hostage for a month to help the Mayor to see sense. A henchman is sent out to supply you with three books to pass the time. What would they be?

Magnificent Cover for ancient Mitchell
Bodice and Butler classic

Three books hmmmm. That would have to be "Gone With The Wind". The second would be the sequel to "Gone With The Wind" which is called "Scarlet", after whom I named my third daughter, and the third would be "The Killing Fields".

How does an author of Independently Published Fiction get known out there? It seems like a thankless and impossible task. Have you any tips for our readers?

A great way to improve awareness is to join as many groups as you can, even though it can get tiring at times and make sure you have looked into as many online outlets as possible. 

Some of the best would be Goodreads, Blogs, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and tons more. I have to say this, though, it does not matter how many places you find to promote yourself; if you forget who you are you will fail. 

Thanks for that sound advice! What would be on the menu at a meal chez Bathsheba?

My favorite meal is of course a country meal; Fried chicken, homemade chicken gravy on mash potatoes, corn and fresh green beans and then for desert brownie cupcakes.

Country Meal - I'm off to the cafe!

I've been to West Virginia. Visited Charlestown Races!

One of the world's finest and cheapest
buffets at Charlestown Races.

Have you? It's beautiful, isn't it.

It certainly is! What do fans of Bathsheba Dailey have to look forward to in the coming year? 

The coming year I hope to have all my books done but we can never guarantee what life will throw our way so I just have to take one day at a time!  There are two quotes that I wrote and I try to live by them both;

"A new beginning is better than an old ending" and "Never forget who you are or where you have come from, while in the process of being found by others"  

If you forget who you are so will everyone else!

Bathsheba, it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you and I wish you all the best in the future!

Thank you, Wiz! You too...

Contact:

http://beth-frommyheart.blogspot.com/

http://newbeginnings-bathsheba.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/Bathsheba15

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearts-and-Souls-poetry-group-fan-page/264286140248737

An Interview with Monique Rockliffe

Up and coming Johannesburg
scribe, Monique Radcliffe.

Her fantasy writing 

is attracting rave reviews from readers of Indielit.

The Sword Bearer bares all...

...it's my pleasure today for the second time this year to meet Monique Rockliffe. 

Monique at the Independent Paperback News

It's always a pleasure to talk to her because a) that name and b) she's such an enthusiastic, approachable and warm character to talk to. She is easy to like.

I got on the Wizphone to Johannesburg and caught Monique coming back from yet another intense dance class. Here's what she had to say to Wizardwatchers about a a writer's life, universe and everything.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are? Where you are from? Do you work? Write full time? 

Firstly, thanks for this great opportunity to tell you about myself. I appreciate the invitation, Wiz.

You're welcome anytime, Monique!!

Jazz Dancers

My name is Monique Rockliffe, and I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we are just moving into glorious Spring! I was a dancer since the age of five, and I was so good at it I became a professional dancer, specialising in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and tap dancing.  

Choreography is also a gift of mine, and I frequently choreographed for the three dance companies I was part of , and when I began teaching kids it was still something I could do when the body didn't want to dance all day, every day anymore! To this day I continue to teach ballet at a studio where I work for the owner. I once owned my own studio, but decided it was too boring and found I enjoyed the freedom of freelancing a lot more.

I teach mainly in the afternoons, about three times a week, and the rest of the time I write and do tons of Social Media to promote my books. If I could afford to write full time believe me I would! 

Oh, and during my childhood years, before television came to SA, I devoured every book and comic I could lay my hands on. I guess deep down I always knew I'd become a writer!

Monique influence?
First appearance of eighties disco dancing
mutant superheroine - The Dazzler. If you have to ask
how much this comic is worth, you can't afford it.

What type of writer are you? Methodical? Freeform? Do you lock yourself in a room or do you space it out by the thousand words? What are your ambitions as a writer?

Interesting question 'cause, quite honestly, I'm not sure! The Sword Bearers tetralogy or quadrology is my first work, and the story started coming alive inside me since I was eight years old when I saw the first Star Wars movie.

Star Wars - Major Influence

  I have a brain that can contain every aspect of a story - characters, plot, sub-plots, locations, the goal of the antagonist, the protagonist's mission from start to finish, etc - all at the same time, so I jump around all over the story, testing each aspect, seeing what fits and what doesn't, like a giant mental puzzle, while I make copious handwritten notes, and slowly it begins to take shape. 

Then I finally sit down and type it out. For this series I actually wrote Book 3 first. It was a rough layout, but it was the crux of the story. Then I went back to the beginning and wrote Book 1, The Sword Bearers, my debut novel, in 2009.

I write as much as I can everyday with no limitations because I don't believe in dictating to my Source (from whence all magic comes!) how much to give me and how to give it! I write in a room where I'm by myself with no distractions (except the occasional visit by my one cat who thinks its funny when she bites my feet because I'm ignoring her).

I have every desire to become a great writer, but perhaps what I want to be known more for is being a great storyteller.

 All my favourite authors and movie makers are consummate storytellers and masters of their craft. I want to be just like them.

Storyboarding Video

I want to write the Perfect Paragraph!!! Isn't it wonderful how different we all are, Monique! Tell us about your latest work?

Monique Rockliffe
Book 2

Book 2, The Sword Bearer's Journey, continues the exciting and moving story of KC, who is the main character and the Sword Bearer of the Sword of Heaven, and the most powerful being in the Universe, as she faces even greater challenges than she did in Book 1, The Sword Bearers - both within herself and in her new and alien environment.

 The story continues off her home-world, Theras, and into the galaxy known as N'varda, a place she never dreamed of seeing and exploring. She flees the arch demon, Drakoor s'et, who wants the Sword of Heaven and her soul. He wants to destroy every mortal being, who he hates absolutely, and free his brethren from the Void, a prison for Kurrn's (the Creator God's) fallen angels. The danger for KC and for those she loves continues to escalate as a galactic war ravages N'varda, and she has to find a way to accept who she is and what she is capable of doing before its too late. She has suffered great loss and torment while in the midst of it all finding a love powerful enough to sustain her and keep her focused and strong. Yet still she doubts her preternatural abilites and struggles to truly believe in herself and recognise her enormous potential and the God-power she possesses inside her. While she faces her inner-demons, the Universe waits with bated breath to see if she will be ready to meet Drakoor s'et in the Final Battle, the outcome of which can either mean the end of the Universe's existence or its salvation from the greatest evil it has ever known! And KC is the only one powerful enough to save mortal-kind!

I also have a Sci-Fi short story ready for publication right now that I want to publish straight to Kindle, called The Door. I'm hoping to have that available for the public soon, as well.

I'm sure your many readers will look forward to reading that, Monique. How do you relax away from the word processor? 

When I'm not teaching - which is a great physical workout - I watch all my favourite television programmes at night, and during the day (if free time exists) I read or spend time outside in the garden with the kitties.

Hubby and I love the same kinds of movies so we go as often as we can, and they can be anything from Fantasy to Sci-Fi, action, adventure, paranormal, and good, clever comedy.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Uplifting Comedy

Basically, stories that have as little to do with reality as possible and that make me walk out of the theatre feeling exhilarated and full of ideas for more novels!

Are you one of those writers who never stop thinking? Is everything and everyone around you fair game? Inspiration for your next book?

I think I am completely incapable of quiet mind! I've tried mediation but the brain just won't shut up! Interestingly, I sometimes get ideas for my stories by taking a typical/fashionable theme, ie doorways to other dimensions, and asking myself how I can come up with an original story.

Doorways into another dimension

 I believe that's what makes a novel a best-seller, when the reader goes, "Wow, I've never read anything like this before!" That's my goal as a writer, too. I believe I've done that with The Sword Bearers series because - and I'll let you and your readers in on a little secret in the books - the Sword Bearer doesn't actually carry a physical Sword. You'll have to read the books to find out what I mean by that! 

Your known as a prolific marketeer amongst Independent authors. What's your marketing plan? What would you advise a novice writer to do to get their book noticed amongst the multitude?

As an Indie author this can end up being a very long answer. For me, publishing through a self-publishing company for this series, I have great professional marketing packages available from them, BUT they all cost money!

 If you have the cash then there are endless ways you can market your books, from advertising on every website, book site, book/review blog, and social media site that you can find, or you can do it all for free!

I must say, though, that with the marketing packages self-publishing companies offer they do end up doing all the work for you which can be a good thing in that their reach is much wider than yours as a newbie author with no contacts.

The way I did it was to start a massive social media campaign as money is scarce if you're paying for everything in SA Rands (at the moment around 10:1 to the American dollar). I only joined all the major SM sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, to name but three, in March so I'm still pretty new at it. 

Yet already I have almost 400 Likes on my FB Author Page, and over 1400 Twitter followers. This is a fantastic way to meet other authors, especially when you reciprocate and share and support them, as well.

You need to introduce yourself to the writing world: start a blog and write a post every week then tell your FB and Twitter friends/followers about it; after setting up your own Author Page search for other FB pages for authors and also readers and reviewers and promote yourself there; ask for help and advice from the more seasoned authors who are always willing to help; join sites for authors and readers like Goodreads and World Literary Cafe and Authors.com where thousands of people meet.

 Some of these sites offer inexpensive advertising and the exposure you get is quite extensive. The trick is to tell everyone you meet and come into contact with - people in your life and cyber-friends - who you are, what you're doing, and where to find your books.

I read some great advice once:

Keep marketing, keep telling everyone about your books, and eventually they'll take notice and start buying them. 

You have to build relationships first, and from friendship comes trust. And then from trust comes a willingness to lay out their hard earned money to buy your book just because, as a friend, you told them it was worth it! I have personally experienced this, so I know it works. Whatever you do, don't stop working at it! You have to create the snowball effect: once its rolling nothing can stop it!

Build friendships and relationships
before the big sell! That's Monique's shrewd
advice for novice writers of Indielit.

Thats fantastic advice, Monique. Thank you for that. Okay, the Wizard 3-2-1 question. You have been kidnapped by Somali pirates half way through a cruise. Luckily, they are benevolent Somali pirates and they have allowed you three books, two CD's and a DVD to while away the time in your Mogadishu cell. What would you ask for?

Seriously?? Um, well, okay let me try this. The books would have to be one from each of my favourite authors because these guys are consummate storytellers and each have, in their own way, inspired and encouraged me to become a writer. I've learnt style, rhythm, how to thrill, frighten, exasperate, surprise, and delight an audience from these guys: 

1) The Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub

2) Magician by Raymond E. Feist; 

3) The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.  

CDs: 1) Chicago - the movie soundtrack starring Catherine Zeta Jones (awesome music and songs!); 

2) An 80's compilation. Yes, that's what I said! Don't laugh! I can boogie all day and night to the music from that era. I was a teenager then so it's part of who I am. (Ed: Wiz - stop giggling!) 

Early eighties Classic - The Associates 

Whitneh (RIP)- Archetypal Late Eighties SuperDiva

DVD: Oh boy, a toughie! Can't I have two?? Okay, if it HAS to be one then no question: it's Star Wars, the 1977 film that changed my life!

There's a knock on the door, chez Rockliffe. A writer and a creative artist (any) have come to dinner. They're holding a bottle of bubbly and some peanuts. Who, in your fantasy, would you like the pair to be?

The writer is definitely Stephen King. 

Monique dinner guest Horror King King

 This man's mind is like no other I've come across. His imagination is just incredible, and no other horror/supernatural/dark fantasy writer I've read has yet to match him. I'd love to pick his wacky brain!

The creative artist has to be Bob Fosse, one of the most brilliant dance choreographers of all time! He choreographed the original musical Chicago and one of my all time favourite movies, with an actress that is simply brilliant as a dancer and singer as well, is Sweet Charity starring Shirley Maclaine!  

 Eighties Icon Tony "Gold" Hadley plays Chicago

Bob Fosse is another person whose unique mind and ideas changed the way dance was performed and even thought of. He is utterly unique, and that's why he fascinates me. Perhaps understanding how he thinks can help me become a better and utterly unique artist, whether I write or choreograph dance.

What do fans of Monique Rockliffe have to look forward to this year?

Book 3, The Sword Bearer's Awakening, will be out before Christmas!

The tension in the story, and the evolution of KC, the Sword Bearer, continues in this book, and many things that were building up in Book 2 come to a head! A must-read for your Christmas stocking! It will be available as an ebook (Kindle and Nook), paperback, and hardback.

 Monique, it's been an absolute pleasure. Make sure you let Wizardwatchers know how things are going and don't be a stranger!

 I won't Wiz. Thanks for the opportunity! 

Links:

www.amazon.com/author/moniquerockliffe

www.barnesandnoble.com 

www.moniquerockliffe.wordpress.com (blog)

www.facebook.com/TheSwordBearers

www.goodreads.com/author/show/5110217.Monique_Rockliffe

Twitter: @monrockliffe