❤ Interviewing Writers ❤

Interview With Arveliot

Dedicated to Arveliot

Q1: What has influenced you the most as a writer?

"What influenced me most as writer was deepening my respect for people and the stories in their lives. Sorry if that sounds a little glib, but there's hardly anything trite or small in nearly anyone's life. The struggles are real and profound, the dynamics complex, the drama heartbreaking, the humour both hilarious and sometimes appalling. Being able to see the grandeur in other people's lives, to see their tales as worth listening to, and worth telling, has mattered the most to my writing. Because art imitates life, and if I can't see value in the choices other people make, I can't write a story that matters."

Q2: What's your favourite genre to read and why?

"My favourite genre to read is Grimdark fantasy. Followed by science fiction. (Grimdark Fantasy is grittier and darker fantasy, like reading Lord of the Rings as if it were a Vietnam war story). Because of the brutal clarity of the genre, the grandeur of the epic fantasy is actually magnified by how far removed it is from the characters on the ground. And to find genuine heroism or nobility in that kind of setting makes it pop more than it might otherwise."

Q3: Do you recommend any writing blogs?

"Writing blogs? I actually don't read any."

Q4: If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting g, where would you choose?

"Istanbul. Bar none, the most important city in the history of the world."

 Q5: What do you enjoy most about writing?

"The thing I enjoy most about writing is, strangely, how imperfect the end result is. Because it can't be perfect, and can never be. Which means I can always do better. Nothing terrifies me more than the idea that I've peaked as an author. 

Q6: Can you tell us about your challenges in writing your first book?

"Worldbuilding. I have a bad combination of being incredibly fussy, and appallingly disorganized. Trying to keep the details of the Everburning City together, and growing, took a lot longer than it should have."