As with all my books, scenes just began appearing in my mind, so I wrote them down. After a while, I saw that these apparently diverse scenes did actually belong to one story.
Tahlia Newland – 19 April 2015
The Back Flap
‘The barrier between the worlds shatters like the window. The beast is loose. My nightmare has become real. The guy has totally lost it. If he finds us here, we could die. No, I don’t doubt it; we will die.’
Author and editor Prunella Smith inhabits a multilayered reality. Physically, she lives in the Australian bush with her crazy cat Merlin. In her work world, she edits the love story of Kelee, a Magan Lord’s daughter, and in the cyber-world of social media, she’s subjected to slanderous attacks by a disgruntled author. To complicate matters further she sees things through the eyes of a Tibetan Yogi, has strange dreams and relives forgotten memories.
Separate worlds, interconnected and complementary, but can they help when Prunella becomes victim to a real life stalker and her sanity is threatened?
Worlds Within Worlds has a unique perspective on the nature of creativity. Its touch is light, its humour distinctive but it reaches deep into the nature of human experience.
About the book
What is the book about?
It’s about Prumella (Ella) Smith a reviewer/editor/author who is cyber bullied by an author upset by the negative review she wrote of his book. When the anonymity of the internet dissolves the bullying becomes life-threatening. Worlds Within Worlds also has a large metaphysical and transrealist aspect in that the events in Ella’s life are echoed by those in the worlds of her dreams, memories, past lives, mediational experiences and even in the fantasy novel she’s editing. The book explores the nature of identity and creativity, and ways to handle cyberbullying.
When did you start writing the book?
2014
How long did it take you to write it?
About seven months.
Where did you get the idea from?
As with all my books, scenes just began appearing in my mind, so I wrote them down. After a while, I saw that these apparently diverse scenes did actually belong to one story. I guess the bullying theme came from the abusive interactions I had with a couple of authors who didn’t like the results of their Awesome Indies reviews. I also knew an author who was the victim of systematic bullying by another author.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
Yes, I had such trouble writing the emails and Facebook posts and fake reviews written by the bully that I asked other authors to contribute. I just couldn’t get my head around being someone that mean.
What came easily?
The memories, past lives and scenes from the book Ella was editing. Also the conversation she had with fictional characters.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Merlin the cat is totally my cat Prince George, a cream Burmese, and Ella is very like me in that she lives in the Australian bush and has a cat. She is also a writer and was a dancer, but in all areas she took the paths I didn’t take.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
Garth Nix’s Dark Kingdom series influenced my YA fantasy writing, but I’ve never read anything remotely like Worlds Within Worlds, and I read so many books that I can’t really pin any author down as a particular influence.
Do you have a target reader?
Authors who like a bit of metaphysics in their books, particularly if they’re interested in how to deal with a cyber-bully, or the review process, or meditation, or the nature of creativity. The protagonist is thirty three-year old woman, so that age group would be the prime target.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I have a vague outline of where a book’s going, but I write what inspires me, so I don’t plot as such until it gets to a point where I have to. Then I use dot points for scenes. Not sticking to a set plan allows characters to surprise me, and they do. It’s what I love most about writing. I feel as if the story is already there, as if it happened in some other reality and my task is to uncover it and do the story justice in my writing.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
For this book I didn’t do an outline until I was about half way through. Then I used sticky notes on a time line – different colours for different story threads – and it was just scene headings and sometimes a sentence description.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I try not to edit as I go in case it interrupts the flow, but since my job is an editor, I tend to anyway, but only a little. I prefer to just write what comes into my head for a first draft, then go back and edit when it’s finished.
Did you hire a professional editor?
Of course. My adult books are published by AIA Publishing which I run myself, and we have several editors that I subcontract to.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
No, I find it distracts me from the soundtrack of the movie in my head, the one I see when I write.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I did for my first book (Lethal Inheritance, book one of the Diamond Peak YA fantasy series) and I found an agent who represented me for 2 years but though we almost got a publishing deal, in the end we admitted defeat.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
My agent approached all the big publishers and wasn’t interested in working with small publishers—not enough income for her, I guess. She also advised me not to seek small publishers because if you sold only a few books—which she said was most likely—it would work against you when trying to get a major publisher for a later book. I also couldn’t be bothered at that stage going through the whole process again. I just wanted to get the book out. Though my agent also advised me not to self-publish, I did it anyway. It was either that or not publish at all, and since I scored an agent, I figured the book was worth publishing. I wanted to do it properly though so I set up a publishing company. I now publish books for other authors as well on an author funded submission model.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
I designed this cover myself, but I had Rose of Velvet Wings Design actually create the final product. For other books I either work the same way—my design with her execution and improvements—or I just hand it over to her to design. I have an arts background but my photoshop skills aren’t adequate for a final product.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I’m winging it. I’ve had marketing plans in the past, but I’ve never met targets, so they seemed pointless in the end, and it’s time consuming. I want a life outside of writing and publicizing books. Selling books for me, perhaps because my writing is a bit out of the box, is a slow process. It takes time and rushing to fit a plan doesn’t seem to help, it just gives me stress I can do without. I prefer to work on the next book so that when readers do find my work and like it, they’ll have lots they can buy.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Don’t. Unless you have a great story, marketing skills, business skills and are willing to learn a new job, i.e., publishing. It’s a steep learning curve, incredibly time consuming, and if you get a service provider to do it for you, you need to do a lot of research to make sure that you don’t get ripped off. There are a lot of sharks out there preying on naive authors. It’s hard to do well and even if you do manage to put out a good book, it will be just one of millions of books. Getting it seen by readers – let alone selling it – is incredibly difficult.
That said. Now that I have those skills – except the marketing expertise. I just don’t seem to be able to think like a salesperson – I’d be reticent to try mainstream publishing again – unless it’s a big publisher. I like retaining artist and pricing control and the fact that, though I don’t sell a lot of books, I get the majority of the income.
However, if you are going to go indie. I have two vital bits of advice:
- Don’t rush. Premature publication is a big problem in SP books. Leave your book alone for at least 3 months during which time you read a lot of quality books in different genres then look at your book again before publishing. When compared honestly to other books you may find yours still needs work.
- Be prepared to pay for editing. Think of your first book as a hobby and don’t be afraid to invest in it without concerns for covering that cost on that first book. And make sure you have comprehensive editing, not just a copy edit, but developmental and line editing as well.
Oh and also, join the Alliance of Independent authors, they’re a great resource for information that will help you to self-publish well.
End of Interview:
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