I would like to welcome to M.T. Ceres, the author and creator of the Gaiadon Universe. Thank you for taking the time for an author interview and welcome to my blog.
Hi M.T.,
What authors influenced you the most early in life?
Very early influences would have been European folktales by The Brothers Grim, Hans Christian Anderson. I recall reading stories like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and being really annoyed at how the women could only become ‘something’ if a prince kissed them. I tend to invert that relationship dynamic in my writing especially in Sacral Shore, where the Witch Queen Pai, uses sexual energy as part of her magical rites.
Favorite authors?
Robin Hobb for the scale of her worlds, character arcs, but especially her imaginative and descriptive style of writing.
Ursula K Le Guin, for the exploration of human rights in her work.
As a college English professor, I often tell my students that anyone can choose to be a writer, but usually, (at least in my experience), it’s the other way around. An author, a creator of worlds and characters, is often tapped for the profession by her/his muse(s). It’s a driven need to write and get the words on the page. If we don’t write, we’re miserable. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
It seems like always, but first and foremost, I always knew I wanted to tell stories, and that is primarily what I do. I tell stories that explore concepts. Gaiadon Lore is an exploration of the Laws and Lore, including cosmology, that enables a planet and its people to exist in a higher dimension.
Regardless of how folks say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” book covers are the readers’ first impression when they seek to discover new authors, and in a way, the initial handshake before gaining more insight about the adventure inside the book. Your intriguing covers definitely demand a closer look to your worlds and the adventures inside. Do you design your covers?
I do design my own covers. Initially the first components are hand drawn, digitally painted, photographed, and collaged. I really enjoy the artistic side of cover design. I don’t use AI or cover creator programs.
The whole idea around my writer’s journey is that I wanted to embrace and explore the experience of an indie author and creative fully. Therefore, I do everything myself.
What book are you currently reading?
I’m reading Robin Hobb, Realm of the Elderlings (again!). A dissertation on Veganism and the Killjoy in 1960’s French Film, a book on Witchcraft, another on Sacred Sites as well as Breverton’s Nautical Curiosities.
What inspired The Gaiadon Universe?
The Gaiadon Universe is a response to personal life events and their impacts as well as larger concepts and themes I wanted to explore. Shadow on The Other Shore began as a response to my late father’s battle with dementia. Dagger Path is a response to ideological extremism and what the price for that is. Black Void is an exploration of the field of manifestation and the concept of Time as an organic structure. Sacral Shore is about life-death-life. However, my novels are written following Genre styles, but they are personal spaces where I went to process inner turmoil through the act of writing.
Your descriptions for the scenes in your books are effectively visual. Please tell us about how you create such vividness?
When I am creating a scene in the book, the vividness is driven by an almost artistic portrayal of the scene, it’s like painting a picture with words, but I do understand that highly descriptive fantasy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
However, while the reading experience can be passive and I hope enjoyable, as an author, I am consciously describing, presenting, and layering signs, symbols, and archetypes within the scene. Fantasy readers, either consciously or unconsciously understand this language. Therefore, I align the signs, symbols and archetypes with relative colours, character mood or traits, even weather, and environment. For example, the descriptors for the (archetypal) Witch Queens are very much aligned with the chakra’s that inspired them. While I have not explicitly made the chakra correlation in Gaiadon Lore, the mountain Silver Tower (Hiriwa Pourewa), is representative of the third eye chakra so, the language I use to describe Silver Tower is a cipher for the third eye.
What time of the day is the best time for you to write? Do you have a set schedule?
I don’t have a set schedule. I imagine that my muse is flighty, and tardy, and visits only when they are passing. I know they are about when I start dreaming of Gaiadon.
How long does it typically take for you to write the first rough draft in the Gaiadon Universe Series?
It depends but usually the whole process takes a minimum of two years as I am not writing/creating in the same sense as other indie writers. I am writing for myself, experience, and the exploration of concepts and themes that mean a lot to me through the medium of fantasy literature. This means that my output is not the same as is generally expected from the indie author market.
Great writing comes from rewriting and editing. The editing process can be tedious at times. How many times do you revise a novel after you’ve finished writing it?
I generally go through 3 stages of editing, loosely, developmental, structure, and line. I can honestly say it takes however many iterations it takes. However, because Gaiadon Lore is about an evolving artistic exploration of concepts and theme, it has never been about product, the consumer market, and meeting the requirements of that space which are a construct of patriarchal systems. In fact, my writing and especially Gaiadon Lore is the opposite of that, in so much as it is intuitive, non-formulaic, fluid and therefore a conscious attempt at a more feminine approach to writing and creating.
Do you hire an editor or use beta readers and proofreaders?
I don’t and that is because the exploration of writing and creating is about a personal journey of self-discovery and the processing of events through the medium of fantasy literature.
Drink of choice while writing? (Coffee, tea, or other?)
I LOVE TEA
What do you love the most about writing?
The moment when you have completely engaged with the muse, you are in the world you have created, and the flow of creativity is a tangible thing. It is only after hours have passed that you know you have been somewhere else.
What do you dislike the most about writing?
External pressure to write, edit, produce, and format as well as publish in a certain way.
I have a wicked muse. Often, a phrase or a simple bit of conversation comes to me without warning, and after writing it down, a novel emerges. Do your ideas come to you in this fashion or differently?
Yes. Definitely. The intermittent downloads that become increasingly persistent. It can drive you quite mad. I have a lot of notebooks, everywhere. (Me, too!)
Do you listen to music to set the mood while writing? If so, what music do you prefer?
I don’t. I write in silence; it’s like a meditation of sorts.
What environment allows you to write more productively? (home, office, coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)
Home, and the comforts of hot tea.
Outline or no outline while writing a novel?
A loose outline, and the bare minimum of plot points otherwise I would veer into formulaic writing, and I am trying to avoid that medium of self-expression.
Have you ever had a character do something you didn’t expect her/him to do?
Yes, at the end of Black Void, Cassandra Novantae does something extraordinary, so much so that I couldn’t believe that I would then have to write around that. It was obvious in Dagger Path and Black Void that she was committed to the Light Flame, but I didn’t know how far she would take her extremism, and indeed how she had been lured into that state of being, nor what the price of her extremism cost her in the end. However, because of her action, a huge piece of the puzzle in the war between the Lords of the Light, and Dark Flames, falls into place. The cosmological war between the Light and the Dark is about extremes, the main concept in Dagger Path is about consciously taking the middle-way (the Dagger Path which is the way of the self-seeking warrior) and honoring your own sovereignty. Cassandra really made me work hard on plot and cosmology after the thing she did, which I can’t go into here as it’s a massive spoiler!
For the reading audience, could you please give us a brief overview of the Gaiadon Universe?
There are 5 books in the Universe, book trailers, and art.
The Bloods Bane series is two books set in the North of the planet.
In the Hall of Records, is a novella which introduces us to demon evolution in an off-world setting. I had a lot of fun writing this novella as I got to play with inner demonic voice.
Shadow on the Other Shore is the main story that is set in the North of Gaiadon. It is about a group of humans that have been kidnapped, from Earth, by the demon king and brought to the Gaiadon universe; in doing so, the demon has inadvertently activated a strand of DNA that gives the humans potential to access galactic power. To thwart and drain the power from the humans, the demons implant them with a nano device. The writing is in Russian style, so the themes are political corruption, social instability, the search for meaning, and the portrayal of complex, alienated characters with dark magic and rebellion aplenty. It was my first attempt at Dystopian/Gaslamp/Alchemical Fantasy, but it isn’t the entry point story to the Universe.
Gaiadon Lore is a 3-book series, Dagger Path is the entry point story, followed by Black Void, and Sacral Shore. The novels are more traditional, descriptive, high or epic fantasy, set on a world in another dimension with its own cosmology, history, geography, and distinct rules of physics and magic. It has a much more epic scope, with more focus on the war between good and evil, with questions around extremism, self-sovereignty, what makes something good or evil; Dagger Path does begin with a classic hero’s quest which I then go on to subvert when I put the characters through events that ensure that they are willing to walk the Dagger Path and therefore the path of the self-seeking warrior – they aren’t with catastrophic results in the battle between the Light and the Dark. There are different and extensive magic systems, fantastical creatures, elaborate worldbuilding and each book has a word count appropriate to the genre.
What is your favorite scene in Dagger Path, the first in your Gaiadon Universe Series?
Silas Al Seamist loses his berserker energy just when he needs it as he is fighting a dark-magicked creature called a Dread Entity, and the events that happen immediately afterwards. I wanted to create insurmountable odds, and the scene of a butcher’s yard as a backdrop to the battle between the three companions and the demons who attack them on the physical Dagger Path. This scene also illustrates that the Witch Queen, Marama Rawa, has demons on her isle, but she has done nothing to eradicate them which raises questions about her own allegiances and political maneuvering.
Please give us the rundown of the main character(s) for Dagger Path:
Isknot – the witch queen Mordeana Never Dead’s grandson and apprentice. He leaves the Gold Tower (Koura Pourewa) to find her after she has been taken by demons. However, by leaving the Gold Tower Isknot sets in motion the events that lead to the Eve of Destruction (a battle between the Light and the Dark).
Silas Al Seamist – the Captain of the Realta Sair, he is manipulated by the Witch Queen’s but has determined to free himself from their machinations when he captures a mythical creature that can bestow the gift of prescience, the Eternity Eel. However, he fails to follow the magical rite of eating the eel heart and in doing so he brings the price to be paid down on all who know him.
Cassandra Novantae – a fae seer of remarkable power, she is also the Eye of Hiriwa Pourewa, her favourite saying is, ‘I have seen it; therefore, it is already so.’ She has a tempestuous relationship with almost everyone, but especially Silas.
Have you ever had a secondary character try to steal the show in one of your novels?
I have a lot of characters in my work, but I always give Atarangi Hiriwa (a Moema warrior) voice, and Pouri Kanohi (a Prince who left the royal court to take his assassins vows). I also bridged Black Void and Sacral Shore with a secondary character, who accompanies Isknot, called Semi Sekura. I told her story because her species, magic, and culture were such interesting concepts to explore, her death was harrowing but explained more about the nature of magic on Gaiadon.
Are your books in Audio or in any other languages?
They aren’t.
What genre do you prefer to write in?
Epic Fantasy.
Do you have several works in progress or stick to writing one book at a time?
I have three WIPs now but tend to treat them singly.
If you had to sell your story based on one scene of dialogue, which scene would that be? (Entice us!)
This is from Sacral Shore. Chapter 4, Inola and Peggy, Parley. The scene is an exploration of oral traditions of sharing information particularly around the campfire. The Romarii care nothing for material gain but rely on ‘stories’ to aid them in their fight against the shadow. The telling of a decent tale as well as the content of the intel is equally valued.
Inola sat before her on a stumpy log he had rolled there to use as a seat. Between them a circle of stones held a small charcoal fire, it burned low, a sullen sort of red like gobbets of blood. It threw out a thin halo of warmth that was at once sucked into the vacuum of freezing air around them. An iron tripod held a kettle, and although it almost rested in the heart of the fire it would never fully boil, thin steam drifted from its spout like disintegrating, weak hope, then fell curling down its sides, exhausted. There would be no vaporous elevation where steam turned to cloud and was free to be on its way, only the heavy cloak of the night, and the word spoken softly, but true, within it.
It was several horas before dawn, she had drifted off at some point during the night, only coming awake when they took Silas to parley. Inola had cut her binds and told her he would let her escape if she so wished it. He would even give her a head start but then he would hunt and kill her like an animal. To clarify what he meant he told her he would be the ravenous wolf, and she would be the trembling rabbit who could not run but could only shit pellets of fear in the face of its own death.
The Hunger Moon had almost spun a full arc across the tapestry of the night but when she looked eastwards the sky was no lighter, even though she could smell the dawn approaching.
Inola took the kettle and poured warm water into a metal bowl, then he took a spoon and stirred the brew. ‘Ground barley and oatmeal mash,’ he said when he caught her look hungrily at it. He spooned some into his mouth and chewed slowly while he waited.
‘I don’t have anything to trade,’ she snapped.
He raised both his eyebrows, quizzically, before he tilted his head to one side while he continued to study her. She shuffled uncomfortably but did not drop her gaze from his, she was a Tree-wish, she did not owe the Romarii anything. Then, Inola, pulled a leather purse, the size of a large fist from behind his back and dropped it to his left. It clinked dully against the hard ground, heavy, and swollen with gold, full to the brim of guilt. He spooned some more food into his mouth and smacked his lips together while his amber-eyed gaze continued to pierce her like two crackling forks of lightning.
Peggy shifted her gaze towards the purse and feigned disinterest. It had been hers; she had given it to Brachtily Silver so the Colenoi could put all her gold in it. It should have been in Drydanward Forest, not here.
Inola continued to study her, a patient kind of waiting, a predator stalking, not prey of blood and bone, but sustenance non-the-less. Truth. She felt her resolve and her shoulders droop together. ‘Food first,’ Peggy said and was glad when the ranger nodded his ascent.
Inola busied himself making her a bowl of mash while he said in a voice hushed with caution, ‘When the parley is finished you must watch the rise for smuggler Seamist.’ He tilted his head to a mound of earth to his left. ‘If he crests it, then get ready to leave. If it is Rovander, then you must make your peace for he has failed and is already dead. Anyone else, and he has traded successfully for your life, and you are free to depart.’ He put a wooden spoon in the bowl then passed her it around the fire. He took his own bowl in one hand. ‘To successful trades.’ He raised his bowl.
‘Do you like stories?’ he asked.
She nodded while she stuffed the mash into her mouth.
Inola ran his spoon around his bowl, lifting it to his mouth he took the final mouthful, then put his bowl to one side, placing it carefully next to the purse of gold. The fire, weak as it was, still set his eyes aglow, and she fancied that this was what sharing a fire with a sleek black fox would be like. He cleared his throat and cast his glance towards the rise, then, satisfied they would not be disturbed he began.
‘Once, a Romarii sat where you sit now, silent like the night and just as dark, he saw a movement across the clearing, and so, he held himself still. Quiet, in the same way silence breathes, he became the eyes of the night, and the forest, and the air, for these are the things the Romarii call kin. Of all of the things he expected to see, animal, bird, or man, he saw none of those but saw instead a creature that has not been seen in these forests for an Age and a half. In one hand it held a portal stone, even rarer than the Colenoi Nympt, who, in full battle-cloth dropped out of the sky, carrying a stash of gold almost as big as it was. Below the roots of yonder wish-tree, that, is where the creature hid its hoard. Then, with words full of magical intent it said, “For Raweni, should he ever need it.” Then away it went back through the hole in the sky while the Romarii watched, and waited inside the night, until eventually, the dawn came and washed the silence held within the dark away.
‘The Romarii went to the stash and retrieved the purse. He opened it, then ran the gold through his fingers as if it were his own, but the metal felt wrong, it was sticky in his hand and left a strange taste on his tongue; on it the Romarii felt a curse, and he knew the gold was not for him. Gold that had once belonged to a Colenoi and was then intended for another would only bring him ill-luck. He had been born a Romarii; what then, did he need with more of the same? So, he put the gold back. The Romarii knew that one day he would know the story, and perhaps the weight of the words shared around the fire would be worth more than the weight of the Colenoi gold.’ He held out his hand and took her bowl, then busied himself making another portion of mash.
It was how she supposed horse-meal tasted, bland and gritty, but it was filling. Peggy looked at her hands while she gathered her thoughts, there were yellow-ish patches in her flesh, and her fingers were numb. The tips of each one, all the way to the first knuckles, were bright red. She pushed aside her worry while she wondered where she should begin. Wherever it was, she realised Romarii parley was undertaken in the way of telling a story about a campfire. Words and the telling of a good tale held value. She wished Semy was with her, studious wise Semy, would have told a tale worthy of their safety long ago with stories from her studies of Gaiadon Lore. She cleared her throat while she blinked away her grief.
‘Once, there was a tree-wish, a creature not made by biological means, but a being made from a desperate wish to have a child by lovers entwined beneath sacred trees…
What are you currently working on?
Book Four of Gaiadon Lore.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Book Three of Bloods Bane
Thank you, M.T., for taking the time for this interview and giving us insight into your writing process! I wish you much success in the future!
To learn more about M.T. Ceres, her books, and social media: http://M.T. Ceres Author Page