Guest Interview:
- Has writing
been something you always did, or was it a discovered talent that came to
you at a later point?
I’ve always written, and I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer of some
kind. At school I wrote stories that featured my friends and made fun of the
teachers – it was how I tried to be cool. Someone really should have told me
there were easier ways to be cool. At university I worked on my college
newspaper, and I went into journalism and advertising copywriting. I still do
bits and pieces of all kinds of writing, but on my own terms: I have the luxury
of variety and being able to pick and choose and somehow being able to get by.
- Do you remember
how it felt when you were offered that first contract? What emotions stand
out in your memory?
Getting a contract from a trad publisher can
be an incredibly long and drawn-out process! The first hint was when a fellow
author heard from a contact at the publishing company that they were interested
and that I should expect to hear from them. Several weeks later I received a
letter asking me to call them (this was before everything was done online).
They made an offer, invited me to London for lunch and got me hopelessly drunk
(publishers have way more alcohol resistance than most young up-and-coming authors)
and it started to sink in that it was really happening for me. And several
weeks later, after I’d taken on a literary agent to negotiate the details for
me, I actually got my hands on my first book contract. So my memory is of a
very slow process, punctuated by ohmygod
moments when I realized it really was happening.
- Is this a first
book, part of a series, or the latest in a long line of many?
Hunted: a Shifters' World novella
started off as a short story (published as Lone
Wolf). The setting and the characters took a powerful hold on my
imagination and by late last year I’d written three more stories in the series.
Rather than just collect the four stories together, I decided to rewrite them
into a single narrative, which became Hunted.
It was important for me to do this extra work, as it gave me the opportunity to
tighten the writing and expand on some parts, and to remove the inevitable
repetition you need as each separate story reintroduces the world and
characters. While Hunted is a
complete story in its own right, there will definitely be more: I want to
continue the story of my three main characters, but also I’ll be setting other
stories in Shifters’ World - it’s a setting rich with so many possible stories.
- What is the
oddest thing that’s happened to you since you chose to become a
professional writer? Will it ever make it into a book, or is that a
secret?
Much of my work
involves ghostwriting: writing books (usually ‘autobiographies’) that will
appear as ‘by’ some kind of celebrity or other notable figure. These are all
covered by non-disclosure agreements, so I can’t reveal the strange encounters,
requests, demands and anecdotes I encounter, but this kind of work-for-hire is
full of them! I’m scrupulous about these NDAs, too, which can lead to
complications. I need to make sure I don’t take inspiration from my
ghostwriting and let it seep into my other work. Also, most of my friends and
family know I write, but because of the confidentiality they don’t know what I write. I’m sure they all think I
write that Fifty Shades stuff ;)
- Do you have your
next book underway, or other titles in the planning stages?
I do. There’s an ‘autobiography’ on the go,
and in my fiction-writing I’m part way through a New Adult romance thriller
under a different name; I haven’t started on the next Shifters’ World story,
but I’m busy scribbling down notes at every opportunity and can’t wait to get
under way!
- Do you have a favourite
genre and why? Is it one you write in, read in, or both?
One of the real joys of the current stage of
my writing career is that I can write in multiple genres, reflecting my
magpie-like reading tastes. I’ve always been drawn to stories with a bit of other to them: paranormal, fantasy,
suspense stories where there’s more than just a will-she won’t-she at stake.
- What, to you,
is the most exciting part of the writing process? Does it change from book
to book or remain the same?
I actually enjoy all stages. There’s a real
buzz when I’m just jotting down ideas, as I am now for the next Shifters’ World
novella. I love the way ideas and insights can come at any time, and then the
process of writing them down sparks more. I love being in the thick of a first
draft when the characters are really coming alive and the plot is thickening
and I’m wondering how I’m ever going to pull it all together. And then there’s
the complete change of discipline in rewriting, when you’re really crafting and
refining the raw words. Did I mention that I love writing?
- If you could
co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why? What kind of
book do you think would come from the collaboration?
Ooh... tough one! Can I choose Chris O’Dowd?
I’ve no idea if he can write or not, but Hell, I’ll take care of the writing:
he can concentrate on that quirky, cute Irish thing that he does so well and we
can take long lunch-breaks, and... A girl can dream.
- Where can
readers find you on the web?
All the latest news on my writing and
publishing can be found on my website and on my Amazon author page;
also, why not join my mailing list, or hook
up with me on Facebook?
Ruby Fielding is a British author, currently living in the heart of a New
England forest. She travels widely, and has lived in England, Scotland, the US,
France, India and Australia. Wherever she happens to be living, you're likely
to find her at the nearest wifi hot spot with her laptop and a large mug of
coffee.
She writes mainly paranormal erotica and
romance, sometimes in collaboration with her old friend Polly
J Adams; their joint stories are published separately and
collected together into the single volume, Seduced by Moonlight.
Ruby’s
new shifter novella, Hunted, was
published by James Grieve Press on 16th January:
Should she struggle to survive alone or
give in to desire and risk the - perhaps deadly - company of others?
In a world where plague has swept
civilization away like leaves in a storm, where viruses that cause people to
shift and change have altered what it is, for most, to be human, a few
survivors hold out in a desperate attempt to save the human race. Selene lives
alone in the forest, protecting herself from human and shifter alike until one
day a stranger turns up: a young man called Skinner, out on a quest to hunt
down and destroy any shifter he can find. Torn between desire and fear, Selene
must confront her true nature and make some impossible choices if she is to
survive this harsh, post-apocalyptic future.
Hunted:
a Shifters' World novella - a shapeshifter erotic
romance of survival and desire in a deadly future from the co-author of Seduced by Moonlight and The Touch.
"He put a
hand to her face then, his knuckles brushing along her jaw and then he buried
his fingers in her hair, tipping her head back. His mouth came down on her
neck: hard lips and then the wet heat of his tongue and the delicious pain of
raking teeth, dragging across her skin to that point where too hard is exactly
hard enough."
Hunted: a Shifters' World novella is
currently available from:
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