Welcome to another fantastic instalment of my author interviews for the Winter Solstice event. I would like to welcome Suzanne McLeod. We've got an interview with Suzanne, then I'll share some information about her books and finally we have a giveaway for you (end of the post). Suzanne is a UK author & I'm a UK blogger so it's a great meeting :-)
An interview with Suzanne McLeod!
Please introduce yourself and your books.
Hello, I’m Suzanne
McLeod, and thanks to Jenny for having me here for her Winter Solstice event. I
write the Spellcrackers.com urban fantasy series about Genevieve Taylor. Genny
is a sidhe fae and she works as a magical trouble-shooter in present day
London; but it’s an alternative London with witches in Covent Garden, goblin
workers on the Underground, trolls in the police force, celebrity vampires in
Leicester Square, and other fae such as naiads, dryads and satyrs. Book four –
The Shifting Price of Prey – is the latest book out in the series (UK only so
far, but it’s available from the Book Depository with free worldwide delivery
*inserts obligatory self-promo* :-D)
Why did you decide to become a writer?
When I realised my
five to eight book-a-week habit was getting more and more difficult to sustain
- I just wasn't finding enough of what I loved to read in the
bookstores anymore (this was back in 2003; sadly bookstores seem like
they’re becoming an endangered species just now L ), and my favourite authors where taking too long to write their next
books ;).
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I always knew I wanted to
write a series with a character who got involved solving mysteries and
murder. From there it was finding my
main character, Genny, and working out her back story and the world in which
she lived; and how both had shaped her. Then I wanted her to have a job that
would bring specific problems to her, problems that it would be logical she
would deal with. But I didn’t want her to be police [too many rules and
regulations to take into consideration] or a PI, hence Spellcrackers.com where
her job is to clear up any nasty or dangerous spells. As for more everyday
inspiration that comes from anywhere and everywhere: walking the Hound,
documentaries, history, books, overheard conversations, visiting places,
meeting new people, TV, books, and of course, the internet. :-D
Can you talk us through the process you go through when you write a book.
I'm a plotster
(which is a combo of outlining a plot and writing by the seat of my pants). I
start with the ‘baddie’, the character who is behind the book’s problem
(usually a murdered person) that Genny, my main character is going to end up
dealing with. I work out what the ‘baddie’ wants and why, and what he’s done/is
prepared to do to get it. Then I work out how Genny is going to come up against
the ‘baddie’ so she can thwart his nefarious plans, and how everything is going
to go down the big (hopefully exciting) climax of the book.
After that I work
out where’s the most appropriate and interesting place to start chapter one,
and then outline where I go from there in a list of one-line (or sometimes
one-page if my imagination gets carried away) chapter summaries until I get to
The End. Then I start writing, which is where the panster bit comes in, and things/situations/characters
which I never imagined appear. At which point I have to decide if they fit with
the overall story, and if they do, how. Then it’s write and repeat until I get
to The End, which sounds way simpler and less full of self-doubt than it
actually is. :-)
If you could have dinner with one of your characters who would it be and why?
Hmm, that’s a hard one. Ricou
(he’s a naiad – one of the water fae) would be a great choice as he’s into one
of my favourite foods: sushi (a tad cannibalistic, I know, but hey, some fish
are like that). But then dinner with Finn and the rest of the satyrs would be a
wild time. (Everyone knows what they say about those Bacchanalian evenings they
have. *wink*) I’d love to have some alone time with Tavish – not only is he a
good couple of millennia old so he’s got lots of tales to tell, he’s also got
quite a few personal secrets that I’d like to tease out of him – only trouble
is he’s a soul-tasting kelpie so I’d have to make sure dinner was nowhere near
water. And, of course, there’s Malik, but while he would be perfect company,
I’m not sure I’d be comfortable eating when my dinner companion isn’t able to
satisfy his own hunger, especially when he’s a vampire and I’m the evil creator
of all his problems. *g*
If you were not a writer what would you be?
I’ve come to writing
after having a lot of other jobs so I’ve already tried a lot of things that I thought
I might like to do (and enjoyed nearly all of them), and really, it doesn’t get
any better than writing. Though, I would love to learn to play the saxophone;
sadly I’m tone deaf.
What is the best thing about being a writer?
Doing something
that I love and actually getting paid for it is fab, obviously, but having
people tell me they love my books and my characters, has to be the absolute
best.
And the worst?
Deadlines is one.
No matter how distant they are, and how well you plan, they always jump out and
surprise you like a manic, cackling Jack-in-the-box. But I think the main one
is worrying that, no matter how hard I work at it, the story isn’t going to be
good enough, and that I’m not going to do my characters justice, and that I’ll
disappoint those readers who love my
books. I try hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Did you have a favourite author as a child?
As I was a total
bookworm I had lots, too many to mention really but here are some: CS Lewis, Elinor Brent-Dyer (The Chalet School books), Lucy Maud Montgomery, Noel
Streatfeild (Ballet Shoes), John Wyndham, Tove Jansson (The Moomin books), Enid Blyton, Elyne Mitchell (The Silver Brumbry), Louisa May Alcott, Susan Cooper
(The Dark is Rising), and Alan Garner.
What do you do in your free time?
Read! Read! And read some
more! Bake cupcakes and biscuits. And sew. Watch TV. Visit graveyards. Oh, and maybe
the odd bit of online window shopping *looks shifty*.
You can visit one place in the world right now, where and why?
Somewhere hot and sunny, with a
heated pool, a buffet restaurant, tea and time-turners on tap, and a
slave-driving muse. That manic Jack-in-the-box deadline is cackling in my ear.
Can you give us an odd fact about yourself?
I love anything pickled. Well,
nearly anything . . . stop sniggering in the back there! . . . eggs and onions
are the exception.
A few quick fire questions:
Coffee or Tea? Tea. I love the scent
and taste of coffee but caffeine hates me.
Summer or winter? Summer. (Though not too hot. Picky,
I know.) It’s great to have the windows open and lots of fresh air in the
house.
Physical book or ebook? Ebook (90%. My
absolute favourites still have to be in print). I love having hundreds of books
for the space of a paperback, the instant reading, and the ability to change
the font size (my eyes get tired now I’m *cough* years old). It all makes me
glad I read in the future. :-D
Wild night out or cosy night in? Cosy night in. With a book, chocs,
maybe some pickles, and a margarita, of course!
Thank you Suzanne, excellent interview which gives us a real insight into your authors world! It's great to meet a British Urban Fantasy author, I love the London settings of the Spellcrackers.com books!
About Suzanne McLeod
Suzanne has been a cocktail waitress, dance group
roadie, and retail manager before becoming a writer. She was born in London (her favourite city and the
home of Spellcrackers.com) and now lives on the (sometimes) sunny South Coast
of England, about a mile away from the sea, with her husband Mr Mc, and Bella
the Hound.
Suzanne's Books
(Links to Goodreads)
About The Shifting Price of Prey
Sometimes a bit of magical help might cost more than you
bargained for . . .
London
is hosting the Carnival Fantastique, and Genny's job has never been busier or
more fulfilling. Only not everyone is so happy. Genny believed she’d cracked
the fae’s infertility curse . . . but the fae are still barren. It’s a
devastating plight to which the mysterious Emperor may have the solution – if
Genny can find him.
She
needs help.
She
turns to the vampire Malik al-Khan, only to find he’s wrestling with his own
demons and, when the police request Genny’s assistance with a magical kidnap,
her own problems multiply too. Is it all unconnected, or can the Emperor help
her solve more than the fae’s infertility? Soon Genny is hard on his trail, so
it seems she’ll have a chance to ask . . . but will the answer cost more than
she’s willing to pay?
Giveaway
Win a copy of one of Suzanne's books (anywhere the Book Depository ships to!) - Winners choice which book
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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