Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, in which I talk to Rob J. Hayes about his new fantasy novel Along the Razor’s Edge – which is available to order in ebook and paperback right now. This is the first time for this series that I’ve chatted to an author who has chosen the self publishing route for their books, so read on to find out more about who Rob are, what he writes and what his latest book is about, and to talk a little about his experiences of self publishing. Rob is well known in the self-published world, so who better to talk to about self publishing?
Without further ado, let’s get straight into the interview.
Track of Words: To start things off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself as an author? Who you are, where you’re from, what you like to write…
Hi! I’m Rob J. Hayes, author of fantasy and science fiction books, owner of monstrous beagles, and consumer of vast amounts of tea. I live in Derbyshire in the UK, which is pretty smack bang in the middle of our little island. I mostly write fantasy, and it’s usually considered on the darker side of things, but I’ve been known to dabble in science fiction…which was also probably on the darker side of things.
ToW: Can you remember a defining moment when you were growing up, or a particular book or author, that steered you towards science fiction and fantasy?
RJH: I think there were two major moments in the fantasy side of things, that both really coincided with certain books/series. The first was when I was about six or seven years old and I was ill and off school. My mother brought me a book from the local library – The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis (The Deptford Mice series). It was my first real experience with reading fantasy and I absolutely loved it. The second was when I was about 16 and I started reading Aurian by Maggie Furey (The Artefacts of Power series). Those were the books that really made me want to give the whole writing thing a proper go. Of course, this was a long time ago and everything I wrote was trash, but the drive was there at least.
On the science fiction side…I must admit I don’t read much sci-fi, but I absolutely love sci-fi in the medium of TV and film. I have such fond memories of my childhood, my entire family crowding into the living room(lounge) and watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and Babylon 5. My father has always been a big sci-fi fan and it’s a love he transferred onto all his children.
ToW: You have an impressive back catalogue of books – tell us a bit about what you’ve written, and what readers can expect from your writing
RJH: That’s kind of a tough one as I tend to do very different things with each of my books. Though, for the most part they are all considered pretty dark. Some people claim they’re Grimdark, but I argue against that. I think, in general, people can expect character-driven stories from me. I love delving into the differences between characters and making each point of view feel real and unique. Also, expect some twists! My stories are rarely as straightforward as they might initially seem.
But all my series are very different. From my Wild West-inspired debut of The Ties that Bind, to the piratical Best Laid Plans duology to my Asian-influenced, martial arts-inspired sword & sorcery book Never Die. I love trying new and different things with each book and exploring themes and issues I haven’t touched on before.
ToW: All of your work to date has been self published – could you talk a bit about the pros and cons of self publishing, as you’ve experienced it?
RJH: Somewhat weirdly, I would say most of the pros are also cons, and vice versa obviously. So one of the biggest pros has to be the royalties. Typically, a self published author will earn more per book sale than a traditionally published author. However, they will likely have a much smaller reach, so will sell fewer books. Additionally, there is no publishing house to foot the bill, so the production of the book comes out of the author’s pocket. That’s actually a fairly major one. Producing a book is an investment, and it can be quite a costly one, with no guarantee of a return. At the same time, the success of the book is largely down to the author. You don’t have a marketing department behind you, so it’s down to you to learn to market it effectively. But, if you do so, you will probably earn more than most trad authors.
Another side of things is the freedom. You can make the book and series what you want, and have things happen how you want. There’s no external pressure to focus it any particular way. On the flip side, that means you don’t have an editor with you along the way to push you into changing things for the better. Unless you pay for an editor, which you should.
That was a bit rambly, but I think a lot of it boils down to this. With self publishing, you get a much larger slice of the pie, but the size of the pie is entirely dependent on how much effort you put into it.
ToW: Your latest release is Along the Razor’s Edge, book one in The War Eternal series. What’s the elevator pitch for this book?
RJH: I actually heard a great elevator pitch from an advance copy reader:
‘Mistborn meets Prison Break as written by Mark Lawrence’.
I kinda love that for a single line pitch.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
RJH: The main character is Eskara Helsene (Eska). She’s a child soldier, taken from her family and trained to be a weapon for her kingdom, to use her magic to fight in the greatest war mankind has ever known. However, the book starts at the end of the war, and Eska is on the losing side. She’s stripped of her magic and thrown into an underground prison. Now she has to learn to survive without magic, make new allies, and figure out how to live without a war to fight.
ToW: Can you tell us a little bit about the world in which this story takes place?
RJH: The world is called Ovaeris. It’s an epic fantasy world with a number of sentient races, a couple of flying cities, and a magic system called Sourcery which involves the ingestion of crystalline magic. But the crystals were never meant to be used that way and the use of them comes with some pretty dire consequences. There’s also two sets of gods in the world, the Rand and the Djinn, and they’ve been at war with each other for as long as the world has existed. There’s also another world known only as the Other World, which is full of monsters.
ToW: Why this story? What made you want to write this in particular?
RJH: There’s a couple of things really. Along the Razor’s Edge is set entirely underground in this prison called the Pit. At the time of writing it (2016) I had never read a fantasy book set entirely underground before, and it seemed like a really interesting setting. I love the feel of claustrophobia that can be evoked from having walls all around, and having it set in such gloomy atmosphere allows for some great tension. I also really wanted to try writing a book from a first person perspective, which is something a bit new to me. I figured it was a great marriage as the atmosphere of the Pit really comes alive through the very personal view point.
ToW: What were your main influences when writing it?
RJH: I definitely took a lot of influence from Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire series, Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy, and Skullsworn by Brian Staveley. Those books really made me want to give first person perspective a go. They’re such powerful stories with unique characters that give the worlds they live in extra life through the tinted glasses they wear.
Given the setting of the Pit, I also took quite a bit of inspiration from films like Pitch Black and Descent, that really play with the feeling of encroaching darkness, the fear of what waits beyond sight, and the claustrophobia.
ToW: How does this story compare to the rest of your work? Would this be a good place for someone to start with your writing, or is it a bit different to your usual style?
RJH: It is very different to my usual style. Not just because it’s told in first person, but also because it’s told from the perspective of a much older character looking back at her life and telling the story of it. Much in the same way that Kvothe does in the Kingkiller Chronicles. Only Eska doesn’t aggrandize or sugarcoat anything. She’s more than willing to tell you how much of a bitch she was as a child. But I would definitely say it’s a good place to start. I personally think it’s the best thing I’ve written so far.
ToW: What do you hope fantasy fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
RJH: I hope they’ll find a fresh voice and perspective in Eska. Love her or hate her, she’s a force of nature. And I hope they’ll get to experience a setting they maybe haven’t before. So, I guess, I hope they’ll find something new to enjoy within the book.
ToW: What can you tell us about the next instalment in the War Eternal series?
RJH: Book two is called The Lessons Never Learned and it’s releasing April 28th (book three is releasing May 26th). It’s set directly after the events of book one and really opens up the world, exploring more of it and the conflict at the heart of it. It also sees Eska doing a lot of growing up.
ToW: What else can you tell us about what you’re working on, what you’ve recently had released or what you’ve got coming out over the coming months?
RJH: I’m currently working on the second and third Mortal Techniques books. These are standalone novels all set in the same world as my Asian-influenced sword & sorcery book, Never Die. Readers kept telling me they wanted more, so I am giving them what they wanted. The second Mortal Techniques novel is called Pawn’s Gambit and that one will be releasing late this year.
ToW: When you’re not writing, what might we find you getting up to?
RJH: I’m an avid gamer, both on the Xbox and also with cards, miniatures, and board games. I’ve recently been playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps on my Xbox which is a fantastic platformer with a rich world and heart-rending story. Plenty of time spent walking the dog, and I like to get out for the odd run when time allows.
ToW: If someone wants to keep up with what you’re doing, how’s best to do that?
RJH: I’m active on Facebook and Twitter, and you can keep up with all my latest news and blogs on my website.
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I’d like to say a massive thanks to Rob for taking the time to do this interview! You can find my quick review of Rob’s Black Library short story Anarchy’s End here, and I’m aiming to read and review more of Rob’s work soon so keep an eye out for further content. In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or other thoughts please do let me know in the comments below, or find me on Twitter.
Click here to buy Along the Razor’s Edge.
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