Zealot Script

Before I was a writer I was the sort of guy who tries many things but settles to none. I started out as a Royal Naval officer; driving torpedo boats around North Cape during the cold war was fun. I worked for several technology companies, but Corporate America wanted my British soul and didn’t understand my sense of humour. After a row with my boss I became a freelance consultant to release time to write. I’ve finally found my professional niche, and now write full time. When not crafting words I’m a keen amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist.

What’s your favourite part of the lifestyle of an Author?

Having time to dream, and then creating something I think is good. Best of all is when people agree with me.

What made you start writing?

I didn’t fit into the corporate world; I had a CEO so arrogant that his pelvis seemed to precede him into meetings. I was like a disbelieving heretic among evangelists; colleagues would punch the air and shout ‘awesome!’ at the news of a sale, while I’d be staring out of the window and thinking about plot lines and characters for that book I’d write, one day… Then I had that parting-of-ways argument and decided to do it. Opportunity met a great dollop of hubris. Keeping going was the hard part.

Is there an Author that you consider your inspiration?

Some years ago I discovered Guy Gavriel Kay, and was enchanted. Until then, fantasy worlds of even the great authors, like Tolkein’s Middle Earth, might have been wonderfully written, but they were never my world. However real, I was always drawn into someone else’s creation. GGK’s worlds become mine, even if I only recognise them from history books.

What’s your number one tip for an aspiring Author?

Seek criticism. Learn from it. The feedback we most need is hardest to hear.

What type of book do you like to read and does this differ from the genre that you prefer to write?

I’m a late-comer to epic fantasy so I’m devouring authors like Kay, Mark Lawrence, and Robin Hobb. I also enjoy good historical fiction, and have occasional forays into literary fiction. I like a book to have pace as well as characters; the plot must draw me onwards, not leave me wondering how far I still have to go.

Which one of your characters would you most like to spend time with?

There are two strong female characters in the Rune Song series. The heroine, Adelais, is a weaver’s daughter who’s adored as an angel, hunted as a witch, and may be both. Agnès de Molinot is a hard-drinking, hard-riding aristocrat who treats life as a jolly adventure, and they become great friends. By the time I’d finished Hammer of Fate I was a little in love with Adelais, but I’d probably laugh more with Agnès.

Which book do you consider a must-read?

For afficionados of fantasy I think it must be Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Al-Rassan. It’s a clash of faiths, set in a world redolent of 13th century Iberia, in which no-one and no ‘side’ is wholly good or wholly bad. Outstanding, light-touch fantasy.

What’s been the hardest edit that you’ve had to make? Why did you want to keep the material in?

The hardest edit was throwing away the book I’d changed careers to write. I had a slow, heavy realisation that it didn’t deserve to be published. That hurt.

If you could live in a book, which one would it be?

That’s hard because I’m temptedt to qualify the answer with ‘but only if I could be…’ Some years ago I read Tim Pears’ The Horseman and it spoke of the England of the early 20th century; a harsh and unjust world but a simpler one where people were rooted in the soil of their birth and where the horse was the primary source of power and transport.

Is there any conflict between what you want to write and what you think your readers will like?

In the past there has been conflict between what I liked to write and what publishers are prepared to buy. I’m proud of my previous book, Draca, but it ticked too many genre boxes so mainstream publishers did not want to know. When it finally came out, readers loved it.

What effect can a review have on you, if you read them at all? Both the good and the bad.

I try to ride the highs and learn from the lows. I think the only ones that irritate me are the comment-less 1* ratings in a gratifying string of 5* reviews.

Can you sum up your life story in ten words or less?

Amiable meanderings towards an unknown goal.

What’s exciting you about your next project?

Adelais and the Rune Song trilogy have been a large part of my life for several years, and I’m still editing Blood of Wolves, the final book. I’m very excited to have the series out in the wild. It’s a bit like sending your daughter off to university, and wondering how she’ll fare.

And finally, you have one quote to be remembered by, what is it?

‘Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ – Samuel Beckett;

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Hammer of Fate, the first of the Rune Song epic fantasy trilogy, was released by Second Sky/Hachette on 1st June 2023. The sequel, Runes of Battle, will be released on 13th July 2023, and the third book, Blood of Wolves, in October.

You can find links to Geoff’s web site and Amazon pages here