NZ Speculative Fiction Blogging Week

It's NZ Speculative Fiction Blogging Week once more.


Grace Bridges, author, publisher and new president of SpecFicNZ posted an interview with me here earlier today. And because symmetry is fun, here's me interviewing Grace, well, here.

Why did you start Splashdown Books?

I came to the publishing scene just as indie publishing was becoming a viable option. Boosted by the example of the likes of Jeremy Robinson and Frank Creed, I decided to learn how to do it myself. So I did that for my first book, which was Faith Awakened, but only after getting a ton of critiques and assistance from the wider writing community in order to ensure I was putting out a good product. Then, once I knew how to make a book, it was only a short step to the decision to do it for other writers.

What is the Splashdown philosophy?

Quality books, quality people, and plenty of weird ideas. I seek new manuscripts that need minimal editing to be ready for the world, and I seek new authors who are good team players. Stories have to be the best they can be. Authors help each other out with tasks across the board, from editing to design to marketing. We’re a family.

How did you get started writing fiction?

When I was nine, my Nana gave me a hardbound notebook. It looked like a real book, so I thought I had better write one in it. I started by carefully numbering all the pages in the bottom corners. Then my Dad started me off with a generic story prompt “Zebra” which I managed to spin into a long-running illustrated science fiction tale alternating between infantile cops-n-robbers in space and ripping off recently-viewed movies.


Do you deliberately incorporate themes and purpose into your work?

Not deliberately. I feel these things need to be organic. Story must come first. You can have a great story and a fun read without a theme, but a themed story can be pretty lame sometimes. If a theme suggests itself then I am happy to exploit it and increase its power, but I won’t add an artificial one just for the sake of it.

How would you describe your writing?

Literary-influenced, deeply personal, descriptive, and characterised by evocative vignettes.



Find Grace:
http://grace.splashdownbooks.com
http://www.facebook.com/gracebridges1
http://pinterest.com/splashdown