Kate Harrad has noted that, “In 2002,” when she began writing All Lies and Jest, “the idea of a fundamentalist theocratic United States that was trying to impose theocracy on the UK was definitely in the realm of speculative fiction. Now, while I hope it’s still unlikely, it’s a lot closer to the real world than it used to be.”

Her debute novel addresses fundamentalism, “the dangers of being so open-minded that your brain falls out,” vampires, bisexuality and alternative subcultures in a whirlwind of fun. The book will be reviewed here tomorrow; for now, Ms. Harrod offers the following tidbits from her sharp mind and sharper wit.

​–How would your advice for new writers differ from advice you would offer writers who have been in the game for a while?

Mostly they’d differ in the sense that I wouldn’t dare offer advice to writers who’ve been writing for a while! I’m not even sure I’d have the confidence to advise new writers.

But if I were put on the spot? I’d tell new writers that as well as being able to write, they’ll need to be prepared to read their work in public, to promote it endlessly and yet subtly on social media, and to learn when it’s OK to write for free and when it isn’t.

I’d also send them to Tim Clare’s blog on writing, Death of 1000 Cuts, whis has some funny and devastatingly accurate advice on writing techniques. 

–When you take a break from writing, is it a full and total break or is your mind constantly parsing the world for fodder?

I’m only writing a minority of the time, because I also have a job and two children. So the only way to manage that is to always be slightly ‘on’ – to let my mind wander when I’m on public transport or when I’m walking round London, and see what comes to me. Sometimes that’s to do with observing what’s going on around me, and sometimes it’s more about things I’ve read online or conversations I’ve had. It’s often not a conscious process.

–From your perspective as an author, what do you feel is the biggest challenge to the publishing industry today? Is there a way to solve that challenge?

Everything has changed. When I first wanted to be a writer I was five, it was 1980, and books were something you bought at WH Smiths and had to save up for. Now I can read a million books on my Kindle, for free or for almost nothing. How do you stand out in that market? Is it true that good writing will still be recognised? Was it ever true?

That’s the challenge for publishers and for writers – how to get the good stuff seen. But it’s always been the challenge. Maybe now it’s actually easier, because there are more ways to be published. My novel All Lies and Jest was published as an e-book and print-on-demand by Ghostwoods, which is a small press run by people who’ve become my friends. The book I’m currently working on, Purple Prose, is a guide to bisexuality in Britain, and it’s being published by another small press, Thorntree, via crowdfunding. It’ll be in shops by August.

Could I have got either of those books published 20 years ago? I doubt it. But can I make a living out of writing? No – that’s the disconnect. Probably in another 20 years things will have changed again and settled down a bit. Right now I don’t know the answer to my own questions.

–What books are you currently reading?

I’ve just finished Jeff Noon’s Falling Out Of Cars, which is an even stranger book than I was expecting. It takes the concepts of plot and character development and basically sets fire to them. Wonderful.

I’m also reading The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Roberto Calasso, which is another very strange and wonderful book, about classical myths. I’m reading it very slowly. Here’s a quote:

“Alpheus and Arethusa: water with water, the spring that gushes from the earth, the current that rises from the depths of the sea, the meeting of two lymphs that have traveled far, the ultimate erotic convergence, perennial happiness, no bastions against the world, gurgling speech. Between the waves of the Ionion and those of the Alpheus, the difference lies in the taste, and perhaps a slight variation of color. Between the water of Arethusa and the water of Alpheus, the only difference is in the foam on Alpheus’s crest as he rises from the sea. But the taste is much the same: both come from Olympia.”
–Which authors do you think are underappreciated in the current market, and why? 

It’s not so much specific authors for me as types of author. BME (Black and minority ethnic) writers are underpublished, underpromoted, and underappreciated – for example, according to the upcoming Bare Lit Festival, 96% of the writers featured in the UK’s biggest literary festivals are white. I’ve heard numerous accounts of writers told to make main characters white, or having their book covers given images of white people even when the characters aren’t white.  I’m not BME myself but everyone should be fighting this. [Ed. note: check out this Patreon page dedicated to this issue where you can get involved.]

–Which new writers do you find most interesting, and why?

I haven’t read many new writers recently and I’m not sure why not – I reread a lot, and I’m always trying to catch up with writers I haven’t read enough of. I did love Marion Grace Woolley’s Those Rosy Hours At Mazandaran [Ed. note: reviewed on this blog here, author interview on this blog here] – she’s a fellow Ghostwoods writer and I was given a pre-publication copy of the book, and was gripped completely.

I’ve got lists of books I want to get round to reading this year – this for example [a list of 2015 books from diverse authors].

–Which “get writing” techniques are most effective for you?

I do find it very hard, especially with childcare – when I wrote All Lies and Jest I didn’t have children. Now even short stories take ages, because I can’t write unless I’m uninterrupted.

Sometimes I take my laptop to the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank and write there. Or shut myself in my bedroom. Knowing my time is limited can make me more productive, because I know I have to get started with something. Deadlines help too – it’s a lot harder to write something on spec.

Also, to be honest, occasional selfishness is essential. If I’m writing then I’m not spending time with my children or helping with housework, and I need to accept I’ve made that choice and not spend my writing time overcome with guilt, because then nothing useful happens at all.

–Can you give us a sneak peek into your current project?​

I’ve just finished my first collaboration, writing a short story with American SF author Greg Stolze, which was exciting. Now I’m trying to write a story for an anthology, about a mysterious voice that orders people to travel to a Cornish island to have their lives judged.

But my main project is Purple Prose (purple-prose.co.uk), which is in the copy editing stage now. There’s no contemporary, accessible book about British bisexuality, and I’m very pleased to have been part of creating one.

If you enjoyed this interview, consider supporting this blog by leaving a tip of any size.

Jeffrey Ballard writes speculative fiction…and is giving away the book reviewed on this blog for a very limited time. Check out his website here.

​-How would your advice for new writers differ from advice you would offer writers who have been in the game for a while?

New writers or those writing their very first piece of fiction are often in a rush to get where they want to go—usually sign an agent or a traditional publishing deal, or jump in with indie-publishing. I understand the enthusiasm (I had/have it to!), but often I think the idea of practice is lost on some new writers.

I like to compare writing to learning to play the violin. Most people after one year of first picking up a violin wouldn’t expect to sign a record deal. Yet many new writers have this expectation about getting their first novel or story published, often at the expense of writing something new.

My advice would be after finishing one story, submit it to agents and editors, but start writing something else immediately, dive into your chosen craft and learn as much as you can through consistent practice.

-When you take a break from writing, is it a full and total break or is your mind constantly parsing the world for fodder?

“Breaks” from writing for me tend to be on the order of hours rather than anything extended. It’s not that I’m a workaholic, it’s that for me writing is a stress-relieving activity. It helps me stay sane.

Now publishing—that’s something I need breaks from. But I think as an artist, we’re always parsing the world around us to use in our art. It’s one of the reasons I now love to travel (I didn’t use to). Getting out in the world and seeing different cultures and meeting different people is a sure-fire way to turbo-charge my creative voice with lots of new ideas. I always come back with copious amounts of notes to one day use in my fiction.

-From your perspective as an author, what do you feel is the biggest challenge to the publishing industry today?

I think the advent of the e-book and the Netflix effect have dramatically changed the publishing landscape in the last five years. Netflix is changing consumption habits from a steady-drip type of consumption to a binge consumption model. Rather than watching one episode a week for thirteen weeks, consumers now wait until the entire season is available and watch the season over the course of a few days.

For publishers this means rolling out one book a year in a series is too slow, or at least not optimal. The series loses momentum as the binge-consumption part of the market waits until more than a few books are out before beginning to read. And because the traditional publishing industry often has long lead times (generally a year or so) associated with releasing books, I think many series lose out on that market and associated momentum, which can lead to a series getting prematurely killed by the publisher for low sales.

The introduction of the e-book has facilitated this trend to binge consumption. The e-book is much easier to both produce and distribute. In a single day, a publisher can generate the e-book and distribute it world wide, while a traditional print run takes months to print, warehouse, and then ship (not to mention determining the size of the print run and handling returns). The consumer can also purchase the e-book with minimal effort versus having to overcome the barrier of physically getting to the bookstore. This is why most indie publishers are focused on e-books and print-on-demand as it allows the rapid release cycle that is necessary to take advantage of the binge market.

Traditional publishing and bookstores aren’t going anywhere. But I think the traditional market is already trying to adapt and will continue to adapt to tap into this binge market.

-What books are you currently reading?

I just started the Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. The opening drew me right in, and I’m very excited about the unique setting. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the world building as the series progresses.

-Which authors do you think are underappreciated in the current market, and why?

Orson Scott Card is the first name that popped to mind, oddly enough. Not in the context of sales or other metrics of success, but rather in appreciation of craft. Every time I read Card, I’m blown away at his mastery of craft.

He’s made some controversial statements in the past, and I’ve heard other writers call for boycotts of his works in response to that, which I think is too bad. Card is one of the greats that many writers can learn from. And it’s worth mentioning that there are legitimate ways to read (and by extension, learn from) authors who one does not wish to financially support, such as libraries or discount book stores.

-Which new writers do you find most interesting, and why?     

I am horribly delinquent on finding new writers to delight in. However, Ramez Naam who wrote Nexus is on my radar. He gave a very compelling seminar on mind control at the 2013 Worldcon in San Antonio that has stuck with me ever since. In answering this question I went and pulled Nexus off the shelf and then browsed online and saw that the trilogy is complete as of May 2015. So now I know what I’ll be reading after I finish the Leviathan Trilogy (binge-consumption again!).

– Which “get writing” techniques are most effective for you?

I recently read the book The Diary of a West Point Cadet by Captain Preston Pysh, and one sentence in particular struck a chord with me: “Habits become character, and over time, one’s character becomes his destiny.” Make writing a habit rather than a task.

Personally, I wake up early every morning to write. Some of those sessions are stellar with one to two thousand words written, others are abysmal with no words written. But there’s a great quote by Madeleine L’Engle, “Inspiration usually comes during work rather than before it.” Which I’ve found to be true in my own work.

When I’m stuck in a story, or just not feeling “it,” I sit down anyway, tell myself it’s okay to have a bad writing session and then see what happens. Usually getting started is like pulling teeth, but once started the creative juices start flowing and I end up further along in the story than before I had sat down–even if it’s only fifty words.

-Can you give us a sneak peek into your current project?​

I’m busy writing a new novel series tentatively titled Sunken City Capers. It’s based off a novelette I published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and subsequently Indie-published.

The premise is that much of the world is underwater due to a major terrestrial event in the past and our heroes make their living by pulling underwater heists in sunken cities. The character interactions in this series crack me up, to the point that I was laughing out loud while writing in a coffee shop. I had to stop writing to explain to my spouse who was with me, what I was laughing at.

The first book is scheduled to be released in October, 2016, with new novels being released in November, December in the same year, with more in 2017.

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