Sunset
Over Abendau, the sequel to the best-selling debut novel by Northern
Ireland’s Jo Zebedee, will
be released on 16 April. Looking back on the last
12 months, and ahead to that
release, Jo Zebedee has kindly agreed to an interview.
TW: It’s
been an eventful year for you, publishing your first book and
accruing sales to such an excessive
degree some might call it selfish. Having achieved best-seller status
with your first book, does
that lessen or intensify nervousness ahead of the sequel’s release?
JZ: It's
been a crazy first year. Lots of attention - more than I ever
expected - and a huge juggling act (I also
have a day job and a not-quite-so-young-anymore family.) In the weeks
leading up to the launch
I'm running a writers' event, attending Mancunicon (and being on a
couple of panels) and editing
another book, so I don't have time to be as nervous!
I
think, though, this time I will enjoy it more. Reviews on my first
two books (I self published a
standalone
novel last year) have been astonishingly good, and I have a lot more
confidence, so
less
feels like it's riding on Sunset. I spent too much time worrying last
year and not enough
enjoying
it - I'd like to reverse that this year.
TW: What
advice would you give it aspiring authors, whether just starting out,
or as they approach the release
of their first book?
JZ: Be
realistic. Few hit the market and do well straightaway. If there are
slow weeks, don't panic. But, also, no one else will promote it as well as you can. You were passionate
enough about the idea to spend
months, sometimes years, writing about it. Get out there, on whatever
platforms you feel able
to interact on, and make connections.
Oh,
and up until that first release writing will have been relatively
sedate. Once you're promoting, editing
the next and trying to come up with something new, things get crazy.
So enjoy the buzz and the
rush of the first when things aren't too chaotic.
TW: Obviously
you’ve written the Abendau trilogy, but in addition to that, what
else have you been writing,
and how many projects do you usually have on the go at once?
JZ: I
have lots on! As well as the trilogy I self published Inish Carraig
last year, which ended up on a recommends
list for the Hugo award, which was a real shock. Inish Carraig is set
in my native Northern
Ireland; in 2017 I have another Northern Irish based story coming out
from Inspired Quill. This
one will be my first fantasy, which is exciting.
I'm
also working on a new sf thriller and have plans for a fantasy series
when I find the time to write it. I also wouldn't rule out a return
to Abendau at some stage.
TW: Do
you like reading the same sort of things you write?
JZ: Yes.
I read a huge amount of fantasy and sci fi, preferring deep
characterisation and escapism to technology
and whiz-banging (although I do like a nice, zippy spaceship).
But
I also read lots that I don't write - magical realism, for instance.
It's a million miles from my normal light description (although my fantasy book coming out in 2017 has a
feel of it). I read lots of genres- general fiction, crime, literary.
Anything that intrigues and takes my fancy. I think it's good for a
writer to read widely.
TW: When
you aren’t writing, what do you do to relax?
JZ: Ha!
I have time to relax?
I
find it easier in the summer because I like walking and gardening - I
grow a lot of veg - plus cooking.
Very domestic for a dark sf author! I also love spending time as a
family, cinema, that sort of
thing and try to keep a good portion of my weekend free for that.
TW: Over
the last 12 months or so you’ve had your first book published and
prepared for the release of the
trilogy’s second instalment. What’s been the best and most
difficult moments of the last year?
JZ: Best
- knocking Star Wars off number one in the charts was hard to beat!
And the Hugo/Campbell call-out.
I also had a fab launch night for Abendau's Heir at Waterstones in
Belfast which was great fun, and a great first convention as a
panellist at Titancon in Belfast.
Most
difficult - the slow weeks when sales were tough. And the work/life
balance - I'd like to swing that
a bit more in my favour at some point.
TW: Sexual
violence against men is an area that’s largely neglected in
history, fiction and the modern media
(a third of the Rotherham victims were boys, though this is rarely
reported). How difficult was
it to write about that?
JZ: Tremendously
difficult, and I didn't set out to do it. However, I did set out to
write an accurate portrayal
of torture and its impact and, once researched, it became clear that
sexual violence fills a large
component of that, both to men and women. Once my character was in
the position he was in,
it was inconceivable that he would not have been subjected to it.
Finding
research into men was a little tricky - most rape studies are about
female victims. Once I found
the source material, it was utterly harrowing.
I
hope I did the subject justice. I hope, more than anything, it wasn't
gratuitous - and the reviews tell
me it didn't come across that way. I chose not to overtly show the
sexual violence in a scene, but
instead did a slower, more personal reveal of it - as the impact is
deeper than the event alone could
have shown. In fact, I felt if I portrayed it on-page, I'd reduce its
impact. It's easy to write a scene
that shocks - it's much harder to write one with real pathos.
I
hope, as well, in the sequels, I do justice to its impact.
TW: Do
the events in Sunset Over Abendau follow on immediately after
Abendau’s Heir, or is there a gap
[if so, what’s happened in the meantime]?
JZ: There's
a ten year gap, mostly where the changed order reflected at the end
of Abendau's Heir is implemented.
But it's easy enough to pick it up as the follow-up as those ten
years have done little to
reduce the impact of the events of book one. That was important to me
- there can be no quick fix
to the ordeal I've portrayed.
What
was also important was to show that impact wasn't just on Kare. He's
the epicentre, yes, but everyone
surrounding him has been affected. As the story moves on, it becomes
much more of a shared
narrative.
Overall,
the characters are older, cagier and more world-weary. I like the
older tone - and that deepens
further in book three.
TW: What’s
the premise of Sunset Over Abendau?
JZ: Kare
promised he'd hold the Empire for ten years and no longer. A decade
later, he's no nearer to freeing
himself. Haunted by past events, in a role he hates, the temptation
to walk away bites deep.
When
the lost heritage of his father is revealed a new future opens to
him, one threatened when old
enemies rise against those he loves. To safeguard them, Kare will
have to fight for the Empire he
hates and face the deadly secret hidden deep in Abendau's deserts.
TW: Abendau’s
Heir had a pretty tight focus, and a relatively small set of
characters we got to know very
well. What new characters will we see in Sunset Over Abendau?
JZ: A
few new characters appear - we learn about Ealyn's heritage and are
introduced to the Space Roamers
who hold the key to that revelation.
We
also find out more about the desert people through Baelan, a young
adult point of view, one of two
key YA voices in it (I often write cross over material.) The desert
people hold the key to understanding
the Empress, so his voice is important to the trilogy.
But
we also have old favourites - both good 'uns and thoroughly bad eggs.
TW: What
are your plans for the future?
JZ: I'm
busy, with writing work lined up to the middle of 2017. In the
Autumn, Abendau's Legacy will come
out to complete the trilogy. I also have a number of short pieces
coming out in various anthologies.
I
blog weekly, at least, on jozebwrites.blogspot.co.uk and plan to keep
that up.
In
the meantime, I'm writing new material - a sf thriller at the moment,
and then I hope to get stuck into
what I'm calling a frontier-fantasy duology. I might also tackle a
sequel to Inish Carraig. And somewhere
amongst that, I'd like to find time to hunt out a new agent - I think
I'm at the point where
I need someone in my corner.
Sunset Over Abendau can be pre-ordered here.
Thanks to Jo for the
interview, and best of luck with Sunset Over Abendau.
Thaddeus
