In our weekly feature, we will take you behind the scenes with some of the talented authors who have been interviewed on Beyond the Pages by Deb McIlroy & Erin Shea on our YouTube channel. Get a glimpse into their creative process, inspiration, and the stories behind their stories. Stay tuned for exclusive insights and anecdotes from the minds behind some of your favorite books.

Which themes resonate strongly in your writing, and what draws you to these particular themes?

Mental health, addiction and the challenging of tradition are the main themes that seem to make their way into all my writing. I think it’s partly a way for me to process my own life experiences and because I believe these themes need constant discussion and awareness. In my particular genre, fantasy, each of these themes tend to be present but not really explored in a deeper way. Addiction tends to be a popular character trait but, in my opinion, it’s often glorified by the drunken genius trope. In my books I show the damage caused by addiction on the affected and those around them rather than have it be an amusing quirk. It’s much the same for mental health and the struggles that come with it. Tradition should always be challenged, in my opinion, just as the world is always changing.

What message or impression do you hope to convey to your readers through your work?

There’s always something beneath the surface, never accept things as they are, always delve deeper and explore. This applies to all aspects of life and hope my books can spark that in readers.

What is your approach to crafting character arcs, and how do you ensure that they are relatable to readers?

I’m not sure I’d say that I have arcs for my characters. Because my books are written in first person they read more like a study of the characters and how they react and proceed with the events of the story. I do make sure that all my characters have flaws. This makes them feel more realistic and relatable. Absolutely no one is perfect in real life and thus no one should be perfect in a book. A lot of my stories centre on the flaws of the characters and how their flaws help or hinder them on their journey.

How do you tackle the challenge of pacing in your narratives? What techniques do you use to keep readers engaged?

I base the pacing off my own feelings writing the story. If I start losing interest in the scene while I’m writing, the reader will definitely have lost interest. I do try to have an even balance of slower moments and action scenes but, due to my own attention span issues, it’s probably slightly off balance to favour action.

In what ways do you incorporate feedback from your peers or readers into your writing?

I do seek a lot of feedback in my writing process, however I will always prioritise the original themes of the story and traits of characters when working though feedback and will rarely change things that could compromise those themes and traits for the sake of fluff or shock value. My partner reads everything I write as I’m writing, I try to do at least two rounds of beta reads and then I work with a developmental editor. I believe a book should be read multiple times and by multiple people before it’s complete and ready for release. Regular readers are going to pick up on bigger issues rather than focusing on the tiny ones that authors and editors stress about.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding part of your writing journey so far?

The most rewarding part has definitely been finding my readers, especially ones that just totally understand what I was doing with my book.

Most surprising has been how many friends I’ve made along the way. I started knowing no one and nothing about the writing space and now I have friends all over the world at different points in their author journeys.

How do you make your settings come alive in your stories? Are there particular methods you use?

I’m lucky that I write fantasy so I have a lot of freedom to do what I want with my world. I do try to base my world in reality though. Many of the kingdoms in my books are based off of real-life civilisations and lands. I’ve obviously taken a few liberties but done my best to have them honour their real-world counterparts. The main continent in my books is actually based off of Australia, in the sense of its multiculturism, and I think that helps it feel more real, especially to Australian readers.

When it comes to bringing the settings to life, I feel, it all comes down to environmental descriptors and not just visual ones, use all five senses, smell, sight, taste, touch, sound. I love to read descriptions and I love to be fully pulled into worlds, by using all five senses I hope that I do this for my readers. Now that doesn’t mean one should spend five pages describing a single street, I find picking out a few key details that stick with the reader is enough.

What are the common misconceptions people have about being a writer that you would like to address?

That it’s solitary. It’s only solitary if you let it be. It’s also not a great idea to be solitary as networking is one of the most important things an author can do, this applies to both traditional and indie authors. I’ve made so many authors friends since I started my journey and I’m glad I did! I’d be nothing without them. The sharing of knowledge is priceless in creative careers.

Could you share an experience where you faced significant criticism, and how did it affect your work?

I’m small enough that I haven’t faced much criticism in my professional author career yet, but I did receive some not-so-great feedback on Greed. Some of it I took seriously and it did lead to some small changes and some of it I pushed back on because it wouldn’t have made sense for the story. All criticism and critique should be taken with a grain of salt, at the end of the day the author is the one who knows how the story is meant to go and reading is subjective. Not every reader is going to enjoy your book.

In my schooling years though I received a lot of criticism for my writing from multiple teachers, being told at one point, in front of the whole class, that I could barely string a sentence together and should just write dot points instead of attempting an essay. This criticism has stuck with me since that moment and actually made me stop writing for almost a decade, now I’m hyper critical of my writing and struggle to accept that people could like it. I keep writing out of pure spite for that teacher.

What role does a supportive writing community play in your life as an author? How has it influenced you?

As I said above, the sharing of knowledge is priceless in creative careers, especially for self-published authors like myself. I’m always reaching out to other self-published authors for advice, mostly with regards to marketing. But in an everchanging industry it’s so important to surround yourself with people willing to help and share. The support of others has inspired me to offer as much support for others as I can and I promise to always share my knowledge.

What advice would you give aspiring authors when it comes to getting published? Any tips on navigating the publishing landscape?

I think regardless of what type of publishing they’re looking to pursue networking and finding friends within the industry is so important. Other authors are your peers not your competition, we should be helping each other reach our goals and supporting each other through disappointments.