G’day / Kia Ora.
Today I have the honour of hosting the third the author showcases focusing on the awesome talent originating from Australia and New Zealand.
The idea came to me whilst seeing so many of the book community gathering at recent conventions in the US and UK. And once my FOMO had subsided, I got to thinking about who might be gathered together if we had similar conventions closer to home. Pending the master planning required to arrange a massive convention, I thought the next best thing might be to run an Australian & New Zealand author showcase. So, I sent out the call, with the only prerequisite for participating being the author had to have been born in either country or currently live there.
I’m thrilled to say that a huge number of authors have reached out to me, and I will be posting their individual showcases at regular intervals over the coming weeks. So hopefully you will enjoy these interactions with some very talented people. Please be sure to check out their work, sign up to their newsletters and follow them on their social media of choice. I make no apologies for any damage inflicted to your TBR’s!
Today I’m pleased to be chatting to Kiwi author and SPFBO9 Finalist (Daughter of The Beast) , EC Greaves (Ed).
- Do you feel that being an Aussie / Kiwi (or residing there) influences your writing?
Living in NZ has influenced my actual writing only in a negative sense, sorry. It’s given me a burning desire NOT to be associated with the stereotypical idea of a “Kiwi author”. What I mean by that would be immediately apparent to anyone who lives here, but for my foreign friends, indulge me whilst I try to explain:
Here, there is a certain expectation (in any creative pursuit) that if you’re a Kiwi, you must celebrate NZ in anything you make. From our music and writing, to our movies and visual art, everything has this sort of small-town countryside vibe – flax bushes and pohutakawa trees, jandals (flip-flops) and Jelly-tip ice cream abound.
If you aren’t in some way conjuring images of the above, then you aren’t doing it right (and certainly won’t qualify for NZ awards or grants!)
I hate that stuff. It’s super insular, and absolutely fake. Sure, we have all those things, but imagine if EVERY book out of France was about Parisian cafes, or vineyards in Avignon!
This country is wonderful for so very many reasons, but I REALLY wish that other genres than “Kiwiana” were taken more seriously here.
Still, it’s a great place to come and explore – if you can afford a visit, that is!
- What are some of the challenges being located so far away from the rest of the world, do you have any tips for overcoming these?
The major challenge is the cost. Just the other day, I tried to send paperback copies of my three books to Spain (shoutout to my man, Jamedi!) and the courier fee was going to be $98 ($60usd). This is after I’d already paid about half that to ship the bloody things here in the first place!
It’s also a pain when it comes to staying connected to all my international friends. We’re around 12 hours ahead of the States, if I recall, so being able to catch live-streams, or organise them, is an exercise in perfect planning and logistics.
Finally, getting to conventions is a nightmare. I was looking into attending Dragoncon, and the flights alone would be around $3500 ($2100usd).
Sadly, my biggest tip would be to move somewhere else as soon as you can! Just jumping the ditch to Aussie would see my salary increased by a third, and my bills cut by a similar margin! Plus, economy of scale would make flights anywhere else quite a bit cheaper!
- How do you go about establishing connections in the book community? (any tips / suggestions)
I mostly use Twitter, and if I’m honest, I rarely post about my books. I prefer to just chat, post silly comments on stuff, and make friends. I believe in being genuine, non-judgemental, and kind in all things. You’ll barely catch me discussing political hot-topics (other than to lament the fact that it’s all just theatre to keep us at each other’s throats!) and I don’t like to weigh in on the many dramas that crop up.
The way I see it is that we’re all here to read, write, discuss, and enjoy books, but that those are really just the mcguffin that brings the crew together. The real magic of any story is in the characters, right? That’s how I see being part of the bookish community! My tips to any beginning authors? Make friends, talk to people, show an interest – don’t just pop up and blast people with your book. Nobody likes a cold-caller, or door-to-door salesman. Don’t be the internet equivalent!!
- Do you have a favourite character to write? And conversely are there any of your characters that are the more of a struggle?
I don’t want to sound like a pretentious dork, but I don’t really think much about the characters I write. I sort of put them on like a creepy skin-suit, then just be them. The writing itself just kinda happens, and I don’t really plan out anything they say or do, nor struggle to find a character’s voice. That was perhaps easier in the Vyshivka Trilogy, where I only had to wear the one creepy skin outfit, so only needed to see the story from one perspective.
Okay, that metaphor actually sounds REALLY bad when you consider that the protagonist was a little girl in the first book… I promise I don’t condone skinning kids to wear as outfits IRL.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the dynamic between Zyntael and her Vulkari sisters, but I’d say the most enjoyable character to discover was probably Karthak. She is incredibly villainous, being the primary antagonist to begin with. But over the course of the story, she becomes a mother to our (anti?) heroine. It was fun writing such an unapologetically nasty character in a way that you can actually kinda love by the end of the trilogy – even if she doesn’t actually change all that much, herself!
I don’t know if any characters were actually a struggle. But it was very hard to make sure that those who’d likely swear a lot didn’t!
- So aliens finally reveal themselves to us and your work is presented to them as an example of what humanity has to offer. What do you hope they will take away from this intergalactic exchange?
My god. I’d be mortified if they thought my writing was the pinnacle of human culture, or in any way representative of the human experience. I mean, sure, most of us REALLY like dogs, so there’s that, but I mostly write to have fun, not to capture the nuances of our existence. But I suppose I’d hope they at least begin to understand that many of our species struggle with our sense of identity. Finding yourself and your place is probably the real theme of my series. And uhh, hopefully they also appreciate the jokes and banter along the way!
What a brilliant question! 😂
- Tell us something about yourself that not many people know?
I’m quite an open book, so there’s not a lot I won’t happily share about myself. But perhaps few people know that, whilst I’m likely one of the most perpetually (frustratingly?) upbeat and well-adjusted people you might meet in the writing space, I am absolutely obsessed with edgy gothic vampire stuff. I love it.
I was always too “normal” and far too “happy” to be fully immersed in the goth or emo movements myself, but throughout highschool and beyond, you can bet I was friends with each and every one of those kids. And whilst I pretend not to, I know all of the words to all of the songs they’d listen to! I was also the drummer in a post-hardcore band.
And I’m also a lot older than people think. Wait.. am I actually a vampire?
- What would you say is the best thing about being an author and the worst?
The single best thing is the fact that I can connect with people from all over the globe, via stuff that fell out of my brain. I LOVE the process of writing. To me, it’s a lot like playing dress-up (Skinsuits, and all that) and so I get to be all these different people, who have views and values I don’t hold myself.
I think, stemming from that, is the knowledge that something I wrote might help someone see things in a different way, or just make them feel a little better at some point. I love that it’s a way to bring people joy – psychically projected happiness, but with some steps in between!
The worst is definitely the marketing side of things. I’d love it if everyone, everywhere, read my books. But I’d have to find a way to get them in front of everyone, everywhere, first!
I don’t much care about money, but it’s painfully necessary if you want to get your stuff out there for all to read!
- Any other Aussie / Kiwi creatives you’d like to give a shout out for? (let’s spread the love)
There are quite a few, but I’m garbage at remembering who is from where!
Delilah Waan is in Aussie somewhere, as are Luke Schulz and Jessica A. McMinn – all lovely people!
As for Kiwis, I have to give a huge shoutout to my man Nick Horvath. He’s the author of Sledge vs. the Labyrinth (and more to come in the series, I’m sure) and, for a while, I was wondering why I knew his name. NZ is a small place, but I was sure I’d remember if I’d actually met him or something. After reading Sledge and chatting with Nick quite a bit online in a state of worry that I was being rude, it wasn’t until I got up to a bit where basketball is mentioned that I realised what it was! He’s world famous in NZ as a basketballer! If only I wasn’t such a nerd, and actually followed sport, I’d have put two and two together sooner!
Anyway, Nick is a super rad dude. And his writing is top-notch too!
- What’s your favourite quote or passage from one of your books?
“Slaves are we all, Kimora. You, first to your bonds, and now to your duties. Me to my blood. There is no escaping it, so we must bravely face it with our best.” (from Daughter of the Beast)
- What can you say about your current project or what you are planning next?
My current project is a follow-up to the Vyshivka trilogy. It follows a beleaguered Sacharri official who is tasked with overseeing the “peaceful” occupation of a strange, gender-segregated, theocratic region – at the behest of an emperor back home. He, like all those in his unit, doesn’t much want to be there, but they’re all dragged into a mystery and a conflict as a result of a shockingly grisly murder in one of the temples.
So it’s part murder-mystery, part exploration of how “colonisers” are still people too – many of whom just wanting to get by, despite being tasked with something they mightn’t morally agree with, and part excuse for more mushroom-magic related shenanigans by the Vulkari and co. Of course, it wouldn’t be a book by me if I didn’t somehow make “problematic” characters relatable at least, and hopefully, likeable too!
Bonus Question: Lastly Vegemite* yes or no?
I know this could spark revolution, but Vegemite, Marmite, Bovril – It’s all the same to me! I like them all equally, and couldn’t tell them apart if I was paid to.
* An iconic dark salty spread that (most) Australians slap on toast for breakfast (NB explanation for the rest of the world)
Author Bio:
Ed Greaves was born in the UK, but now resides in NZ (and, given his horrible accent, has done so for perhaps far too long…)
He writes what has been described as “Grindark” fantasy, set in a gritty Eastern-European folklore inspired world, but featuring a lot of humour and heart. His debut novel, Daughter of the Beast, is a finalist in Mark Lawrence’s SPFBO competition, and is the first in a trilogy that is complete and available now.
When he isn’t writing books (or boring medical stuff for his day job), he’s often found drawing, growing tobacco, modifying and repairing old vehicles, and befriending local animals like some weird hybrid of Mad Max and Mowgli.
You can find Ed’s books at:
Please follow/ reach out to Ed via:
Leave a Reply