Lazette Gifford
Publisher & Editor
zette@cableone.net

Interview:

Building a Better Fantasy

An Interview with Valerie Griswold-Ford

By Lazette Gifford
© 2007, Lazette Gifford

You can learn more about Valerie and her work by checking out her website at www.vg-ford.com .

Vision: What genres do you write in, and why? And would you like to try your hand at any others?

 In addition to non-fiction, I write dark fantasy and paranormal romance.  I’ve got a few ideas for urban fantasy, and I’m playing around with a more traditional high fantasy novel concept as well.  I’d really love to write a classic space opera, though.  That’s my dream.  And a mystery.

 Vision: Your debut novel, Not Your Father's Horseman, was a finalist for the Foreward Magazine Best science fiction of 2005.  Was this the first novel you'd ever written?

 Actually, no.  I wrote my first novel in high school, as part of my senior portfolio.  It was awful. *grin*  A mix of everything I was reading, watching and listening to at the time.  My heroine was pretty much Buffy Sommers with the serial numbers filed off.

Vision: Did getting this kind of notice affect your later work -- for instance making it harder to write the next book?

 In a way, it did. I wanted the second book to be better than the first, and being nominated right off was a high bar to have set.  But it was a great challenge.

Vision: Tell us about the rest of the books in the Apocalypse Cycle, and the related Edgewood trilogy.

 Dark Moon Seasons and Last Rites follow Nikki, Rick and Justin as they look for the other Horsemen.  The villains aren’t quite who they seem, and not everyone is going to survive the ending.  I’m exploring themes of balance and how things are not always what they seem to be.  The Edgewood Trilogy takes place in the same world at the same time, and follows the story of what the StarChild, Shanna Greystone, is doing while the Horsemen are showing up – namely, that she’s dealing with an evil the Council of 9 thought they had dealt with a long time ago.

Vision: Who has influenced your writing?

 Oh, gosh.  Everyone.  My parents are avid readers, and I’ve been reading since I was three or so.  I read everything. There isn’t really a genre, except hardcore military science fiction, that I don’t enjoy, and I pull inspiration from all of them.  My favorite authors are a massive mix: Anne McCaffery, David Edddings, HP Lovecraft, Tamara Siler Jones, Diana Wynne Jones, Robin Hobb.

 Vision:  You were co-editor, with Tee Morris, on the previous work in the series -- The Fantasy Writer's Companion.  Was this your first job as an editor?  Did you have any particular problems moving from writer to editor? 

Nope, not really.  I was an editor for a newspaper for five years, so I was used to working with people, and used to editing.  It’s just a matter of shifting hats.  I do some work for Dragon Moon Press as an editor as well, so it’s not that big a switch for me.

Vision:  Your co-editor for The Author's Grimoire, Lai Zhao, lives in Hong Kong, while you are in the eastern part of the United States.  How has that worked for the two of you?  Were there any unusual problems? 

Thank god for the Internet!  Actually, there was one problem – right around the end of last year, an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia cut off Lai’s internet access for about two weeks, just as we were trying to get the final edits done.  Luckily, we were able to get enough of it done before she lost the access that I was able to finish it, and she looked at it when she came back.   

Other than that, Skype has been a real help, because we can actually talk to each other.  So we can each have the files on our ends, and talk to one another in real time.  It’s just a matter of coordinating schedules.

But there are downsides – I have to do most of my own promoting, and you have to be prepared to have some bookstores look down or refuse to deal with you.  I had that happen several times while trying to set up signings – getting told that “We don’t deal with small presses.”  *shrug*  I chalk it up to their loss and move on.  You have to have a thick skin to be a writer, and especially to be a small press writer.

Vision: Do you see the Internet as a good tool for upcoming writers? How should they be using it, if it is? 

RESEARCH!  There is so much information at your fingertips now – use it!  There’s no excuse for not doing your research, whether it’s finding out that there’s a Sal’s Pizza in Salem, NH, but no Papa Gino’s, or what the blue-footed boobie actually eats, or any number of things.   

It’s also a great place to learn from other writers and professionals in the writing industry.  The amount of writers, agents and editors that have blogs and websites is staggering.  There’s really no excuse not to know what’s going on in your field.

Vision: More specifically, do you find that being in a writing-related chat room has any value for authors?  What are the pros and cons, if any? 

Pros: well, you can connect with others in your profession, which is great.  Especially since writing is usually such a solitary profession.  You can find people to bounce ideas off of, which is wonderful when you’re stuck on something.  Cons: chats can be time-sucks.  So can research.  Don’t forget that the number one reason you’re a writer is BECAUSE YOU WRITE.

Vision: How has writing changed who you are or how you see the world? Are there themes that matter most to you? 

Writing has definitely changed me – it’s made me far more detail-oriented and organized than I was.  It’s also made me steadier.  I was pretty flighty before I really started writing.  Of course, now I look at everyone and everything as fodder for stories, which can be a bit disconcerting to friends and family.  Then again, my family’s pretty used to my weirdness, so maybe it’s not as disconcerting to them.

Vision: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Has your career progressed the way you thought it would?

I’ve always written – my first story was written at the age of 6.  Luckily, first my parents, and now my husband, have all been very supportive.  As far as the career goes, no, it really hasn’t.  Then again, I’m not sure anyone’s career goes exactly how they’ve planned. *grin*

Vision: What is your average day like? Do you write every day?  

Every day.  Even if it’s just blog entries.  I work a day job, and I have a part-time job as a consultant on top of that, so I have to squeeze in my writing, but I do.  It’s about making choices. 

On an average day, I get up around 10 am (I work nights), and write for at least an hour before I go to work.  I work until midnight, and come home to write for another hour to three hours.  It depends on deadlines and what else is on my plate at that point.

Vision: Tell us about Merlin and why he works so well for you as a writer. 

Merlin.  My wonderful laptop, without Internet access.  I have kept him free of Internet deliberately, so I have no excuse not to be writing when I work on him.  I have treatments that I have to do once every eight weeks, so I bring him to them and usually can get another 2-3k written in the doctor’s office.

Vision: What do you have coming out that we should look for? What sort of things do you plan, or hope, to write in the future?  

Well, Dark Moon Seasons should be out by the end of this year.  I’m working on a paranormal romance called Belladonna Dreams that I’m going to start shopping around soon.  And, of course, The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy: the Author’s Grimoire will be coming out this spring.

Vision: Thank you for taking this time for this interview. Any last words you'd like to say to our readers? 

Don’t ever stop writing.  Or reading.  No matter what anyone else tells you.

You can learn more about Valerie and her work by checking out her website at www.vg-ford.com .