Today I am very happy to host an interview with Jennifer Ridyard – brilliant co-writer of the (really excellent) Chronicles of the Invaders – written with awesome author John Connolly.
* What would you say were the key influences behind this series?
John Connolly (my co-writer) and I were acutely aware of how “male” science fiction can be: women, typically, historically, get to scream and/or be sex objects. Of course, Ripley and Alien changed all that — a woman with a gun as the hero was revolutionary back in 1980, or whenever — and more recently her “grandchildren,” like Katniss Everdeen, have run rampant through book stores. And yet, still, sci-fi is largely deemed a masculine domain. Books like The Hunger Games and Divergent are never overtly declared to be the dystopian sci-fi, which they so patently are, presumably for fear of scaring off female readers who have no time for polyester body stockings, lasers and three-breasted aliens.
So yes, we wanted a strong female lead character, and an overt female presence in our alien society, the Illyri, in a series that was very definitely science fiction. We also wanted to create something that was not black-and-white, with clear-cut goodies and baddies, because ultimately nobody — alien, human, starchild or unicorn — wakes up in the morning going “yeah, I’m a baddie.”
And we wanted to have fun with it, and to take readers on a rip-roaring adventure.
* Where is your favourite place to write? Do you have a set routine, or a goal amount of words to write each day?
Oh, that I were that organised! My goal is simply to write each day, and I don’t even get that right all the time either. I’d like to do 1000 words, but some days I’m thrilled to squeeze out 200 in between everything else. Baby steps!
I typically write in my office, which is small and cosy with a slanted roof and a patchwork wall that I decorated with wallpaper samples one wet Friday afternoon. It smells like dog, no doubt because I’m often kept company by three post-walk dogs, who rather like to roll in fox poo and the like. It’s delightful though. Honest.
* How long did you spend writing DOMINION? Do you have any tips on how to deal with writers block?
Dominion took the best part of a year, as did each of the first two books in the series, Conquest and Dominion.
And there’s nothing like a deadline to beat writers block! Failing that, the best thing to do is to just start writing, putting the words in front of each other while remembering that none of them are set in stone, that immortal prose (hah!) takes time, that everything can be re-drafted and then drafted again. It really doesn’t come easy. John says sometimes every word is like a bullet of blood on the page, so the trick is to just keep going, I guess. Writer’s write, it’s that simple.
Also, very practically, I find stopping in the middle of a sequence rather helpful, if frustrating. That way you know where you’ll pick up the next day.
* Do you have a favourite character, or one that you are most attached to?
I’m very fond of Meia actually, the artificial life form. She’s a loner, but comfortable with that, and she’s steadfast, and an innovator, and relentless. I’d love to be like that. I think I’m more like Syl though.
* Who would you say is your favourite Sci Fi or YA author?
I don’t have a definite favourite. However, Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” fantasy trilogy is mind-bending, world-shaking, and yet so hope-filled and beautiful. I think I judge people on whether or not they liked the series. Everyone I love has loved it — or at least claims to love it. Hmmmm…
About the book:
They have cheated death.
Defied their people.
Changed beyond recognition.
Their love has survived the impossible.
But now they must learn to trust again:
the future of their worlds depends on it.
Read my review of Dominion HERE
Highly Recommended.
Find out more about the series HERE
Follow John on Twitter HERE
Follow Jennie on Twitter HERE
To purchase The Chronicles of the Invaders clickety click HERE
Also Available: Read First:
The Earth has been invaded by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilized, yet ruthless alien race. Humanity has been conquered, but still it fights the invaders. The Resistance grows stronger, for it is the young people of Earth who are best equipped to battle the Illyri.
Syl Hellais, conceived among the stars, is the oldest alien child on Earth, the first to reach sixteen years of age. Her father rules the planet. Her future is assured. And Syl has hidden gifts, powers that even she does yet fully understand.
But all is not as it seems. The Illyri are at war among themselves, and the sinister Nairene Sisterhood has arrived on Earth, hungry for new blood. When Syl helps a pair of young Resistance fighters to escape execution, she finds herself sentenced to death, pursued by her own kind, and risks breaking the greatest taboo of her race by falling in love with a human.
Now the hunter has become the hunted, the predator become prey.
My original review HERE
Syl Hellias: an Illyri, the first of her kind to be born on Earth. Paul Kerr: a human, dedicated to his people’s resistance of the alien invasion. Brought together by chance they formed the strongest of bonds. Now they are to be punished for that love.
Exiled to the outermost reaches of the universe, Syl and Paul must each make journeys that will lead them to the horrifying truths harbored at the heart of the Illyri Empire. And to a force with the power shake the the universe to its very core.
My original review HERE
Happy Reading!
