JM Landels

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE YOUR NOVEL, ALLAIGNA’S SONG CHORALE?

I wanted to write a fantasy about women, and specifically mothers and daughters, and the everyday heroism that goes into raising a hero. So much fantasy -- even works with so-called ‘strong female characters’ (and I won’t go into what’s wrong with that term) -- is framed within the heroic male tropes. Allaigna isn’t a hero because of her gender, nor in spite of it, and it’s not her abilities that make her heroic. She’s a hero because of the very real and human choices she, her mother, and her grandmother make in the course of the trilogy.

WILL THIS BE PART OF A SERIES?

Chorale is the third book of the Allaigna’s Song trilogy. The first two were Overture and Aria. However, even though the trilogy is over, there are still more stories I want to tell about the peripheral characters in this world. Two of them, Gwannyn’s Song and Zara’s Song, a pair of mirrored stories, appear in Pulp Literature Issues 35 & 37 and reveal some twists that the characters in Chorale are only partially aware of. (If you don›t like spoilers, read Chorale first). There are more stories waiting, like those of Allaigna’s twin sisters, Irdina and Branwen, her illegitimate half-brother, Lennis, and her oath sister Kîan. These and more might make it into a collection in the future -- you heard it here first!

Again, I am so sorry for the delay ��❤

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WRITING STYLE?

Well, I don’t tend to describe my own writing much at all. Some reviewers have called it poetic, though honestly I am not a poet in any real sense of the word. I think ‘spare’ is one word that fits -- I like to write short scenes t h a t convey important turning points, and trust the reader to imagine the ‘filler’ in between. So much so, that I sometimes have to go back and add material in the editing process (usually after an editor has pointed out that I really haven’t given the reader enough info). So in the sense that poetry packs a lot of meaning into a very few words, I guess my writing is poetic -- though I use a lot more words than a poet!

Q: WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE FOR YOU AS YOU WERE WRITING, EDITING, AND PUBLISHING YOUR WORKS?

Writing first draft is delightful, as I usually do that in the company of my writing

partners using The Hour Stories prompts by Dale Adams Segal. Subsequent drafts are more painful, especially when I’m trying to unite the three timelines of Allaigna, Lauresa, and Irdaign. I’m a pantser, not a plotter, so that means my first draft often takes me unexpected places. In the first book it worked like magic: I wrote the three storylines separately, and when I went to interweave them they fell into place beautifully. Aria was harder to wrangle into a logical timeline, and Chorale was the most difficult of all. Once the book goes to editors there’s more headscratching and rewriting as they point out inconsistencies alongside errors, but honestly I enjoy the collaborative aspect of the editing process. My amazing editors Genevieve Wynand and Amanda Bidnall have made this book SO much better than it was when I handed it in.

CAN YOU TELL US, READERS, WHAT YOUR MAIN CHARACTER IS LIKE?

Stubborn, prickly, a reluctant leader, and more generous and warm-hearted than she will admit. She is a jack-of-all-trades -- swordswoman, ranger, troubador -- but her most powerful talent is also the one she has to keep secret: the dangerous and illicit ability to sing music into magic. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING WRITERS IN YOUR GENRE? WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS AS A WRITER WHEN WORKING ON YOUR BOOK?

Throw out tropes. Lord of the Rings is a wonderful work that I thoroughly love, but it›s been done. We don›t need any more bearded wizards, gruff dwarves, cheerful halflings or beautiful elves. Likewise, we don't need another Game of Thrones, or Wheel of Time book. Victorian fantasy is getting a bit old too. Take whatever characters and situations you first come up with and turn them on their head: change the time period, world, race, gender, sexuality, or key characteristics. But more important than the trappings, the story has to be one that moves us. Reach deep and see if you can grab us by the heart and squeeze. Seeing it available for pre-order online at last!

WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU AND YOUR BOOKS?

The Allaigna’s Song series is available on all major platforms -- Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple etc -- as well as at pulpliterature.com. I can be found at jmlandels.stiffbunnies.com, am on most social media platforms as @jmlandels, and I would love it if readers would follow me on Bookbub!

ABOUT JM LANDELS

WOULD YOU EVER WRITE BOOKS IN ANY OTHER GENRE?

I’m currently working on The Shepherdess, a historical action novel about a shepherdess turned spy in 17th century France. You can catch excerpts of it in even-numbered issues of Pulp Literature. JM Landels, writer and illustrator of the Allaigna's Song trilogy and co-founder of Pulp Literature wears far too many hats. The strange mix of a degree in Mediaeval English Literature, a misspent youth fronting alternative punk bands Mad Seraphim and Stiff Bunnies, and a career as a childbirth educator and doula informs her work. These days, when she isn't writing, editing or drawing, she can be found heading up the Mounted Combat Program for Academie Duello in Vancouver BC where she swings swords and rides horses for fun and profit.