UKYA Spotlight: Bex Hogan, author of Viper, Venom and Vulture - Q&A with Holly Race

Bex Hogan is the author of the rip-roaring, heart-pounding The Isles of Storm and Sorrow trilogy. My sole pitch when telling friends to read it is 'lady pirates!' which usually sees them scampering straightaway to the (online) bookshops. In reality, this trilogy is far more than that - it hooks you with a brilliant, bad-ass female pirate heroine, and keeps you with politics, magic, and a world to you'd give your writing arm to swim in (have I made enough sea-based puns yet?)

Bex kindly answered questions about her world-building, her fantasy casting, and what's in store for her and her heroine Marianne. Be warned that there are a few spoilers for Venom and (very lightly) for Vulture.

- Hi Bex! Can you start us off by introducing the world of Viper?

I would love to! The Isles of Storm and Sorrow series is set on the Twelve Isles – six eastern and six western. The two used to be allied, but have long been divided by war. Viper is set primarily in the Eastern Isles, the six without magic, and the six which the Viper ‘defends’. The Viper is the most feared man in all the Isles, supposedly working for the King to protect the people, but in actuality is terrorising the lands, stealing and murdering as he wishes. Marianne is his daughter and his heir, but despite being raised on a ship of assassins, she’s not so keen on killing. She’d rather be a healer, but that would mean standing up to her father, something no one’s done and lived to tell the tale.

 

- Marianne goes on some incredible journeys - both physical and emotional - during the course of the first two books. Can you give us some idea of where she ends up at the end of book two, Venom?

Oh poor Marianne! By the end of Venom she is in a bad, bad place. It’s fair to say she’s made some mistakes – because who doesn’t? – and she’s put her trust in the wrong people. One of the things I like about Marianne is that she really is torn between wanting to do the best for others and putting her own desires first and she doesn’t always get the balance right. During Venom it’s the first time we see her living outside of the very large, oppressive shadow of Captain Adler, and she’s still very much figuring out the kind of woman she wants to be, while having a lot to prove. She’s young and impulsive, often a bit reckless, though her heart is always in the right place. But the events of Venom leave her utterly betrayed and that’s going to have an impact on her.

- Can you give us any hints as to what we can expect from Vulture?

Vulture picks up directly where we left off in Venom, and we’re straight back into the action. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say Marianne is alive (it says so in the blurb!) but she’s not doing so well after the events of Venom. And things only go from bad to worse! I describe Viper as quite a piratey book, lots of action on the water, whereas Venom is more land-based, and maybe more political. Vulture is a combination of the two – there are sea battles and land battles, so it’s a good balance to conclude the series.

- You've created a vast world with the Twelve Isles. Did you have any inspiration for the islands, and (this feels like a bit of a silly question, because why wouldn't you want to write about pirates, but...) what made you want to write about pirates?

The whole idea for the series stemmed from a dream I had, a very vivid scene from Viper. So I knew from the beginning that it was set on at least one island. When I started envisaging the world, it made sense for me to draw a huge amount of inspiration both from the Cornish coastlines where I’m from, and the Isles of Scilly which I visited a lot growing up. And if you’re going to have a world with ships and islands, why wouldn’t you make your sailors pirates?! Especially when they’re a particularly cruel lot! 

 

- Well quite, why wouldn't you?! I love that the story came to you in a dream! The magic system that Marianne learns in Venom is beautifully drawn and so grounded in the geography of the Isles - can you talk a bit about how you came up with it?

Ooh, I love this question! So, about seven years ago, we bought our first house and with it, our first garden. I had never been particularly interested in gardening before that, and although I’d always been a lover of nature, it was only when I started getting my hands in the earth that I realised quite how magical it was. How grounding. I take an enormous amount of comfort from the natural world, whether it’s the resilience of plants, the warmth of the soil, or the beam of the moon, and knew that the magic in the Twelve Isles would be entirely based around its own natural world.

 

- That love of the natural world is so evident in Marianne's story. Each book - and the trilogy as a whole - are so intricately planned. Do you have any plotting tips for writers who are currently struggling to map multi-book, epic fantasies?

Firstly, be kind to yourself! These things take time and so be prepared for lots of brainstorming hours, some of which will be productive, others not so much! But no time is ever wasted. Find a way that works for you – for me, I like to make chaotic notes in my trusty notebook, but I know some people prefer a more orderly approach! There really is no right way. And don’t expect it to all happen at once. It’s very much a layering process, I think. Start with the big, essential basic – so for me that was Marianne’s arc. I knew very early on the main beats of all three books, and then built around them, finding the right path to connect them.

- This is your first series - how are you feeling about coming to the end of the trilogy, and what are you doing to distract yourself?!

 

Honestly, I’m trying not to think about it too much! Having two-thirds of your trilogy come out during lockdown is far from ideal, and I haven’t been able to celebrate either Venom or Vulture the way I would have liked. I’ve distracted myself by working on other projects, investing in new characters and their journeys, but honestly, it’s going to be very hard saying goodbye to Marianne and her crew. They’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

- Are you able to tell us a little about what you're working on next?

I’ve been working on a couple of adult projects, one epic fantasy which is going to take me some time to complete, and another one that’s quite a different beast. But there’s a couple of YA fantasies I’m busy with too. Plus something else that’s neither adult or YA! I like to keep myself busy to breaking point!

 

- There's busy and then there's... that. How are you finding the time?! Which may make my next question a bit redundant but... what are you reading at the moment? Any recent recommendations?

I wasn’t going to answer this question at first, because I’ve honestly barely managed to read anything this year. But actually, I think it’s important to admit stuff like this. With everything going on in the world, and finding myself homeschooling along with trying to do my own writing, something had to give. I really struggle with this, because I truly believe reading is essential for writing, but there are only so many hours in the day! So instead of focusing on what I haven’t done, I’m going to look forward and share the things in my TBR pile I’m most excited to get to – The City of Tears by Kate Mosse, The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna, Death and the Maiden by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman – and later in the year I’m looking forward to The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani, Monstrous Designs by Kat Dunn, and A Gathering Midnight by you! (Holly Race, be professional, Bex!)

 

- You are too kind, thank you! That's a fantastic list of books to have on one's TBR, no matter when you get around to reading them. Finally, which actors would you want to play Marianne, Bronn and Torin in a screen adaptation of the books?

Two of these are so easy, I don’t even have to think! Zendaya is my dream Marianne, and Colin Morgan my perfect Torin. But when it comes to Bronn? I honestly have spent years trying to head-cast him, and still can’t think of the right person. He’ll have to be a newcomer who can capture that mysterious, tortured soul!

And we'll be swooning over him when he does appear, I'm sure! Thank you so much, Bex, I can't wait for everyone to lose their minds over Vulture, which is published on 8th April 2021. You can find out more about Bex at her website, here.

You can buy Viper here, Venom here and pre-order Vulture here - I'd urge you to get all three because I made the mistake of only getting one and then had to wait a full TWO DAYS for Venom to arrive, which was unacceptable.

Holly worked for many years as a script editor in film and television, before becoming a writer.

Her debut novel, Midnight's Twins, is published by Hot Key Books. Its sequel, A Gathering Midnight, will be released in June 2021. She also selectively undertakes freelance script editing and story consultant work.

www.hollyrace.com

www.patreon.com/hollyracewriting

UKYA Spotlight: A Crown of Talons by Katharine and Elizabeth Corr - Q&A with Holly Race

Katharine and Elizabeth Corr are sisters and co-writers of The Witch's Kiss trilogy and A Throne of Swans. The second novel in the Swans duology, A Crown of Talons, was published in January by hot Key Books. Katharine and Elizabeth very kindly answered some questions about how they approach series of different lengths, how to build fantasy worlds and creating suspense.

- Hello! Thank you for chatting to me. To start off with, can you introduce the world of A Throne of Swans, for anyone who hasn't yet read it?

The main kingdom of A Throne Of Swans is Solanum. It's part of a world ruled by the minority - the nobles - who can shapeshift into huge, people-sized birds that represent their family line. In Solanum the ruling family are swans. Everything is organised for the convenience of the nobles. For example, the roads are bad because the nobles don't use them, and the architecture reflects the fact that they arrive at places by flight (so there are landing platforms built into their dwellings). The majority of people are flightless, but they have few rights and little representation and are kept down (mostly) because the shapeshifting power of the nobles allows them to burn flightless with the slightest touch. Solanum is ruled by a monarchy, advised by a royal council and a larger body that represents the nobles, mostly following ancient laws known as Decrees. It's divided into six dominions, each of which is controlled by a Protector. 

- Aderyn's our way into the world of Solanum - a noblewoman who is drawn into Solanum's politics in A Throne of Swans. Can you talk a bit about where we find Aderyn at the start of A Crown of Talons?

[Spoiler alert!] A Crown Of Talons picks up about three months after the events at the end of A Throne Of Swans, when Aderyn decided to enter into a political marriage with her cousin, Aron, in order to save her lover, Lucien, and stop the country falling into civil war. She is now queen, and is trying to steer the country towards reform (particularly with regard to the treatment of the flightless) at the same time as searching for the villains (no names because spoilers!) who fled at the end of Swans. She's also dealing with the emotional trauma of trying to be happy in her marriage while still being in love with Lucien. Into this mix is thrown another problem: the flightless of Celonia, a neighbouring country, have risen up and driven out the nobles. Aderyn tries to steer a line between giving sanctuary to the Celonians and stopping Solanum being drawn into a war, or ending up embroiled in its own revolution. There are plots everywhere!

- There are! I love it! It’s such a brilliant idea to retell Swan Lake. I remember seeing the ballet once as a child and reading A Throne of Swans gave me exactly the same feeling of poetry and romance and graceful, magical danger. What inspired you when you first came up with the idea?

We've both always enjoyed watching ballet, and Kate and one of her daughters takes ballet lessons too. It was her daughter who first suggested Swan Lake as a source of inspiration. But we decided straight away we didn't want to do a retelling that stuck too closely to the original, particularly since we were more interested in the villains: what caused Rothbart (the evil wizard) to turn Odette into a swan, and why did his daughter Odile go along with it? Aderyn was called Odile in our original draft, and eagle eyed readers will spot from the family tree that Aderyn's father is indeed named Rothbart.

- A Crown of Talons has, from the outset, an incredible sense of menace and claustrophobia. We don’t know who Aderyn can trust, even amongst the characters we’ve come to know and love. Do you have any tips on how to create that atmosphere and feeling of paranoia, for any writers reading this who are crafting stories with political or thriller elements?

There is a lot of politics in Talons, and we found that writing in the first person helped with developing that sense of menace - as a reader you're really up close with Aderyn's thoughts and plans, and her sense of anxiety - and sometimes panic - comes through. It's also helpful to thread hints through the story. For example, we included a scene in Swans where Aderyn overhears Lucien dictating a letter in the middle of the night. It's not until about a third of the way through Talons that particular bird comes home to roost, so to speak! We were constantly sowing little seeds of doubt as we went along, trying to keep the reader on the edge of their seat!

- You succeeded! The world of Solanum is so rich and detailed, and we see a lot more of it in A Crown of Talons. How much of the world building - the Pyre Flames, the litanies, the other islands (which I won’t talk about in detail in case of spoilers!) etc - did you work out before writing A Throne of Swans and how much did you invent as you drafted?

We worked out most of it as we were drafting. We knew up front that we wanted the setting to have the feel of the English eighteenth century. So for example they have telescopes and clocks but they don't know what fossils are. We also had in our head the sort of things that we'd need to think about to build a convincing world: social structure, religion, geography, history and so on. But we didn't have all the details pinned down in advance; the world almost revealed itself to us as we were writing it, if that makes sense.

- Your first series - The Witch's Kiss - was a trilogy. How different is it to plot a duology as opposed to a trilogy?

With The Witch's Kiss we knew we wanted to take the classic trilogy approach of having the second book end up in a dark place; book two ends on a cliff hanger with no certainty that either of the two main characters are going to survive. With the duology, we decided that we needed the first book to have an ending that wasn't a cliff hanger as such but that did leave very obvious questions to be answered.

- I understand that as a writing duo, Katharine is the one responsible for character deaths and Liz is the one trying to save them? I love that! Has your writing dynamic changed at all over the years that you’ve been writing together?

It's remained remarkably constant, especially re the killing / saving aspect! If anything, it's become a little smoother. We both know what our strengths are now so we have no difficulty dividing up the work in a way that best reflects that.

- Are you able to tell us a little about what you’re working on next?

We would love to but it's still under wraps right now! Hopefully later this year we'll be able to spill the beans... 

- I can't wait! Right, finally, which actors would you want to play Aderyn, Aron and Lucien in a screen adaptation of the books?

That's a tough one! We're not great at picking actors, but here goes: -

Aderyn - Florence Pugh

Lucien - Xolo Maridueña

Aron - Luke Newton (though he'd have to dye his hair!)

I love love love these choices! Thanks so much, Kate and Liz - it's been a total pleasure.

Thank you so much for having us on the blog, Holly!

You can buy A Throne of Swans here, A Crown of Talons here and The Witch's Kiss here. They are beautiful, evocative YA fantasies with hauntingly dark edges.

---

Holly worked for many years as a script editor in film and television, before becoming a writer.

Her debut novel, Midnight's Twins, is published by Hot Key Books. Its sequel, A Gathering Midnight, will be released in June 2021. She also selectively undertakes freelance script editing and story consultant work.

www.hollyrace.com

www.patreon.com/hollyracewriting

Dystopia in a dystopian world by Holly Race

On a recent Zoom meeting with someone who works in television drama, I found myself discussing the mood of the nation, and realised that the book I am writing doesn't fit in at all.

There was a definite sense that the dark, gritty crime shows and thrillers that have been keeping us hooked for years were not necessarily what people wanted to see right now; that people would be looking for more uplifting stories. And who can blame them? In a time when so many are frightened and lonely, sometimes ill or angry, we just want to cuddle up with the hot water bottles of literature and TV and film. I can relate - I signed up to Disney+ with the intention of watching The Mandelorian and have instead imbibed the endlessly optimistic Diary of a Future President. I've resorted to comfort reading the stories of my childhood - Carbonel, Charlotte's Web and The Snow Spider.

'But where does that leave me and my semi-dystopian novel featuring an angry heroine?!' I wailed to the TV person.

And then I thought about that fact that some of the most powerful moments in my favourite books are those glimmers of light in the darkest moments. The salute of District 12 in response to Katniss volunteering as tribute; Isabelle's silent, relieved acceptance - her hand placed over another's - in Jennifer Donnelly's Stepsister; the warming hug of a little girl in Philip Pullman's exquisite Clockwork.

As Anne wrote below in 'Hope in a Scary World', there are moments of light in this crisis - and humans have the incredible ability to generate such moments. It's a yin and yang. We create buoys for ourselves proportionate to the strength of the current trying to drag us under. Feeling powerless and lonely? Go into the street and clap. Worried about running out of food? Start growing fruits and herbs on the windowsill.

Closer to home, one friend sent me a handwritten letter, and in return I sent him a DVD of a film we'd meant to watch together at my home. Instead we watched it apart but at the same time, connected by Whatsapp and Frances O'Connor's brilliant interpretation of the much-maligned Fanny in Mansfield Park. Neighbouring friends have set up a socially distanced cake run, to spread a little sugary love (while our stocks of flour last).

Humans are brilliant, aren't they?

So I went to work. My first book is being published in June, and I'm deep in the middle of drafting the second in the trilogy now. It's a darker book anyway - I don't think it will be a huge spoiler to say that the villain's forces are growing stronger. It's all too easy for me, in my own moments of anxiety and depression, to lean in to my heroine's anger and fear.

But with all of those fresh memories of our ability to find light in the darkest of times, I have been trying to allow my characters to do the same. Those flashes of light may only be momentary, but they're enough to illuminate the path forward - whether that's a shared moment of connection with a love interest or friend, saving a frenemy from certain death in a battle, or the simple act of sharing their last cup of self-raising.

Holly Race worked for many years as a script editor in film and television, before becoming a writer.

Her debut novel, Midnight's Twins, is published by Hot Key Books on 11th June 2020. She also selectively undertakes freelance script editing and story consultant work.

www.hollyrace.com

www.patreon.com/hollyracewriting