Author Interview with
Cedar Sanderson
Author of The East Witch, Tanager's Fledglings, and the Pixie for Hire series
Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.
The
current works in progress are a space opera, with star-traveling pirates, a
trader’s ship full of an odd family, and a plot to use them for espionage. It’s
the sequel to my earlier work, Tanager’s Fledglings. The other one I’m working
on when I get stuck there is a military fantasy my husband and I are cowriting,
an imagining of how Ragnarok gets supported… you can’t have combat troops
without support troops!
The book
that was just published is contemporary fantasy in some aspects, but not urban
fantasy. In fact, it’s set in the howling wilderness of Siberia. The title, The
East Witch, refers to the old witch of Russia: Baba Yaga.
Where did you get the idea for this book or
series?
The East
Witch is set in the same world as my Pixie for Hire series, but the idea behind
the book is only loosely related to those books, it’s intended to stand alone.
I’ve wanted to do a Russian fairy tale book, and especially one with Baba Yaga
in it, for a long time. Using the premise of the fey underworld, and politics,
allowed me to weave in the Wild Hunt and set them in opposition to the old
crone who seeks power for herself. Throwing an innocent human into the mix
gives me a way to tell the story through fresh eyes.
Do you write in more than one genre?
I do. I
primarily write, as you may have guessed from the first answers, fantasy and
science fiction. I also write mystery, contemporary Westerns, and occasionally
dabble in horror.
Tell me about something that you believe
makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.
I have
the honor of having a sub-genre named due to one of my books. Tom Knighton
dubbed it ‘banjo fantasy’ after a conversation about my work, compared to the
broader category of urban fantasy. There is no urb in my books, or very little
indeed. I write rural fantasy, which sparked Tom (himself an author) to come up
with Banjo Fantasy. He’d been reading my book Possum Creek Massacre, which is
set in rural Appalachia, in an area I know well through my in-laws.
Is there anything about your personal history
or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?
I tell
stories about the places I have lived and loved. Alaska, where I spent a part
of my childhood, and have many family ties to. Kentucky, where my husband’s
family lives, and I fell in love with the countryside at first sight. Between
my settings, and my background in science, I give my books a lot of me, I
think.
What else would be helpful for readers to
know about you?
I’m also
an artist. To list it all out, I’m an author, an artist, a scientist, a
photographer, a mother, a wife, and that’s probably enough for the moment. I’m
an autodidact, because I was homeschooled, so I am constantly looking for new
things to learn. The artist is directly applicable here – I also write and
illustrate children’s books. The Cute Moose is the first of these, it came out
in late 2020.
Excluding your own work, what underrated
author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?
Dorothy
Grant’s work is not well known and should be. She writes science fiction, with
great characters. I love her stuff and am always happy when she comes to me for
another cover, because that means I get to read the book. She writes tactical
romance, which is difficult to define but it’s basically sensible people
falling in love during a running firefight with perfectly correct tactics – she
doesn’t have a military background, but she has a research group that does, and
she manages to convey it terrifically well in her work. Really, these books need
to be read by more people.
Which of your books do you most highly
recommend? Why?
A great
starting point is Pixie Noir, it remains one of my best selling titles, and
people love it. I love it – I started writing it to make someone laugh, after
reading Mickey Spillane. It turned into a trilogy and it was so much fun to
write. I really think that comes through to the readers.
Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous
circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?
I came
into writing seriously right around 2011. Just as the Indie revolution was
kicking up. I was able to start my own publishing imprint (Stonycroft
Publishing, since folded into Sanderley Studios) and maintain complete control
over my own books. I hire work I can’t or won’t do myself, like editing, and I
have been able to keep my rights in-house. I had some fantastic mentors who
really encouraged me to do this, like Sarah Hoyt, Larry Correia and Dave Freer.
That gave me the guts to do it and I’ve never regretted it.
What question do you wish you would get asked
more often?
"Are the
philosophies of your characters your own?”
The
answer to that is no, even when they do align with mine. I’m a pantser – I
don’t plot and build characters. They pop into my head fully formed, right down
to their views and beliefs. It’s odd, but it seems to work.
Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you
like? What is it? And why do you choose it?
I don’t
think I have a catch phrase. With nine novels in print, there’s not a lot of
overlap! I know I tend to write rural country folks, but they aren’t all the
same person, if you follow me.
There’s a
line in Pixie Noir where Lom, the titular pixie, makes a crack about coffee:
black nectar of the gods! And there you have in one line my deep love of coffee
that does come up in several of my books.
_____________
Thanks to Cedar for participating. I have to admit I'm a little ambivalent about the term "Banjo Fantasy."
In my own writing, Promise of Carnage and Flame (which I have decided to make book four in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series, rather than making a sequel trilogy) has arrived at the completion of Iago's side adventure. I'm ready for the last quarter of the book, it Alex can get his stones in a row, so to speak.
Here are is my account of some recent turmoil. Check out the my new website while you're there.
As you can see, I'm really flying now.
No comments:
Post a Comment