Steampunk Writer Spotlight: An Interview with Rayne Hall

If you haven't heard of Rayne Hall, she's kind of a big deal in the writing community. She has published dozens of books, has mastered the craft of writing, and loves to share her knowledge.

I have already reviewed two of the books in her Writer's Craft series, which you can find in this blog. Her book Twitter for Writers has helped me grow my following from about 60 people in early november to about 6,000 people now.

I also recently read one of the many speculative fiction anthologies that she edited, Cogwheels: Ten Tales of Steampunk, which I will review soon. Each story is by a different author, and together they really explore what's possible in steampunk.

So, I was delighted when Rayne agreed to this interview. Read it, enjoy it, and check out her links at the end. I encourage everyone to follow her on Twitter and to read at least one of her books. Incidentally, most of these books has a Kindle edition that costs just $0.99.

The Interview

Jonathan Fesmire: What do you like most about writing?

Rayne Hall: I enjoy creating, shaping a project from its first idea through stages of revision to publication, marketing and success. And I like being in control of everything. Well, as much in control as my characters allow -- sometimes they take the story in directions I hadn't intended.

JF: How old were you when you started writing?

RH: When I was about six. I had learnt to read and write when I was four, so the stories in the school book post no challenge. I read them all in one day, and was bored when we had to read them in class and as homework.

I told the teacher that the stories in the school book were stupid and I could write better ones. She challenged me to write a story, and gave me the topic: a letter's adventures from writing to delivery. When I handed it in, she was startled that a six-year-old could write so well. Of course, she didn't know I'd had the help of my older sister.

From then on, when she told the rest of the class to read one of the school book stories as homework, she often assigned me to write stories. Soon I learnt to do it without my sister's help, and enjoyed it very much.

JF: When did you know writing would be your profession?

RH: As a teenager, I allowed adults to guide me away from my 'unrealistic' dream towards more sensible career options. But the trainee position I got after college happened to be trainee publishing manager for a magazine. In the accounts department, I proved a lousy bookkeeper, while I excelled at all editorial jobs, and I got to do quite a bit of writing, too. That was the start of a lifelong career in publishing and editing, and it was also when I realised that writing would always be at least part of my profession.

JF: What was behind the impetus to do the Writer’s Craft series?

RH: I wanted to give writers the kind of tools I would have needed years ago. When I was an intermediate-level writer, I was keen to develop my skills further, but few books were available beyond the basics. Once a writer has progressed beyond a certain level, she or he needs advanced and specialist skills, and good guidance for these is rare. I decided to fill that gap. Writing Fight Scenes was the first title in 2011, and it was a bestseller, so I followed it with Writing Scary Scenes. The series has now sixteen titles, with more coming this year.

JF: You write in a range of genres. I’m most aware of you as a fantasy and a steampunk author. So, if you had to be born in some other time or world, what sort would you choose?

RH: I set out to be a historical fiction author, but success eluded. On the other hand, my fantasy and horror fiction took off, so I wrote more and more of that. Frankly, I enjoy writing the dark stuff, disturbing readers and creeping them out.

I still indulge in my love for historical fiction. Many of my short stories and novels belong to the fantasy and horror stories but are set in historical periods, from Ancient Greece to Edwardian England. Steampunk is a great genre for me because it allows me to mix fantasy, horror and historical.

JF: What authors have influenced you the most, and how?

RH: I was about fifteen when I discovered a book with stories of Edgar Allan Poe. They were so exciting! At once, I started writing horror stories. They didn't have much plot and blatantly copied Poe's style, but at the time I thought they were really good. Poe has remained an influence on my short fiction, especially my psychological horror stories.

Later, I was influenced by the gothic stories by the Victorian writer Amelia Edwards. Although her stories ooze suspense from the start, the horror builds slowly. One of Edwards' suspense techniques is to place the protagonists into an unfamiliar environment and isolate them from their companions. For example, he narrator of The Phantom Coach has gone grouse hunting, alone, in a bleak wide moor in the North of England, got caught in a snowstorm, and must seek shelter where he can. Above all, I love Edwards' vivid descriptions of location, climate and weather (in this story, the approaching storm and the moor landscape covered in deep snow). Her skillful use of descriptions (e.g. the coach with its mould-crusted leather fittings) to drive the plot and create a spooky atmosphere is the work of a horror genre master. Surprisingly, Edwards’ stories don’t feel dated to the modern reader, the way many other Victorian stories do. When I read Amelia Edward’s stories, I immediately recognised a kindred spirit. This was how I wanted to write, and here was a master I could learn from, someone I could strive to emulate.

JF: Do you read more fiction or non-fiction?

RH: As a voracious reader, I devour a lot of both - around five hundred books a year. Among fiction, I've read every genre, and particularly enjoy epic fantasy, quiet horror, steampunk and thrillers. For non-fiction, I often choose personal development, gardening, and historical subjects.

JF: I recently reviewed your book Twitter for Writers, which I found extremely helpful. The advice has already helped me to grow my Twitter following. Could you let my readers know why you prefer Twitter to other social media platforms?

RH: Twitter gives me the best results for the time I invest. Writing tweets takes only seconds, so I can interact with a lot of people. I've tried man other social networks, and I find Twitter suits me the best by far. On Twitter, I'm in control of what happens, and unlike other social media, there aren't constant distractions like invitations to play Candy Crush. I enjoy interacting with my fans and followers on Twitter, and I find beta-readers for my manuscripts and reviewers for my published books.

JF: I just finished reading your short story, Fresh Whelks and Winkles, in the Cogwheels, Ten Tales of Steampunk anthology you edited. The story really pulled me in with its vivid description and character driven narrative. How long would you say it took you to master your craft?

RH: Oh, about forty-six years since that first story about the travelling letter. And I'm still learning.

JF: Your Writer’s Craft series is primarily for advanced writers, which is one reason I’m so excited to start reading them. At your level of writing mastery, when are you satisfied with a book?

RH: Each piece of writing goes through several layers of revision. I seek a lot of peer critiques from other authors of my genre, and I apply their advice and suggestions when it feels right. Feedback from honest critiquers is a good gauge to tell me when a story is ready for publication.

JF: I’ve gotten to a place in my writing where writer’s block is rarely a problem. How do you overcome writer’s block?

RH: The best way to overcome writer's block is to plant your butt on the seat and start writing. After a few minutes of just writing whatever comes to mind, the creative juice starts to flow. Another method is to go for a walk, and this works especially well if the brain feels drained. Walking clears away creative blockages. I find that after around twenty minutes of walking in the fresh air, ideas start to flow, and after an hour my head it so full of inspiration that I can't wait to sit down and write it all up.

Occasionally I get blocked with a specific project, especially if I've been working on it for a long time. Then I'll set it aside and work on something else for a while. After a week (or a month, or a year) I return to it with a fresh mind and can see immediately what the problem was and fix it.

JF: You just released two more books in the Writer’s Craft series, each of which I’ve already bought and am excited to read. What other books, in that series or otherwise, do you have in the works?

RH: I have twenty-nine further titles planned for the Writer's Craft series, and have already started writing some of them. The next books in the series will probably be Novel Revision Prompts and Writing Vivid Characters.

At the moment, I'm writing a series of self-help/personal development books for a publisher who's hired me for this job.

Fiction-wise, I always have several projects going on simultaneously. I've started another dark epic fantasy novel. I'm also working on several horror stories, and I'm revising half a dozen new steampunk stories to publish as a collection.

Rayne Hall's Bio

Rayne Hall has published more than fifty books in several languages under several pen names with several publishers in several genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Writer's Craft series (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing About Villains, Writing About Magic and more) and editor of the Ten Tales short story anthologies.

She is a trained publishing manager, holds a masters degree in Creative Writing, and has worked in the publishing industry for over thirty years.

Having lived in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has now settled in a small dilapidated town of former Victorian grandeur on the south coast of England where she enjoys reading, gardening and long walks along the seashore. She shares her home with a black cat, adopted from the cat shelter. Sulu likes to lie on the desk and snuggle into Rayne's arms when she's writing.

You can follow here on Twitter where she posts advice for writers, funny cartoons and cute pictures of her cat.

To see her books on Amazon, go to viewAuthor.at/RayneHall .

Rayne's website is here: http://raynehallauthor.wix.com/rayne-hall

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