Interview with Novelist, Cas Peace

Up-and-coming novelist, Cas Peace, is the author of "King’s Envoy". When she's not busy writing, she spends her time as a qualified horse-riding instructor and advocate for disabled or post-operative pets.

In today's interview she shares openly about her road to publication, her new book, and her publisher. She even addresses a few taboo topics that I find quite refreshing. Enjoy!

What was your path towards publication like?
Once I realized that my fantasy books had potential, I bought a copy of the "Writers and Artists Yearbook" and began searching agents to submit to.

I didn’t know much about the process at first and probably made every mistake a newbie could make. I even got scammed into parting with £300 as a ‘reading fee’, only to have the ‘agent’ abscond with the money. My only consolation was that I wasn’t her only victim. After that incident, I trod more carefully.

I consider myself to be very fortunate in that most of the agents I contacted responded very favourably toward my writing. Although none offered to take me on, many of them sent me personalized letters or emails praising aspects of my work. They all encouraged me to continue, and some even suggested other agents who might be interested. This kept me going throughout years of unsuccessful submitting.

Over my desk I had pinned a motto which a writing guru sent round, it ends with the exhortation: NEVER GIVE UP.

I followed this advice until finally, in early 2010, I decided enough was enough. I knew that I could digitally self-publish my fantasy books with Can Write Will Write, and that’s what I resolved to do.

Then one day while I was updating my Facebook page, I noticed a reference to Rhemalda Publishing. This was a relatively new company in the US, and they were clearly accepting submissions from fantasy authors. I decided to give it one last try, and sent off an email. Rhemalda loved the story and offered me a contract! And now my debut novel, "King’s Envoy", will be published on 15th August 2011. It is currently available for pre-order from Rhemalda, Barnes and Noble, and other online retailers.


What is your biggest obstacle when it comes to pitching yourself as a writer and what steps have you taken to overcome that obstacle?
I suppose my biggest worry in the early days of submitting was not knowing how good (or otherwise!) my writing was. I knew my spelling and grammar skills were up to the job; I’d been fortunate at school not to have too much trouble in those areas, but I didn’t know whether my plot-line was tight enough, whether the dialogue was realistic, or whether the book was generally readable.

What I did to rectify this was to sign up for HarperCollins’ Authonomy website, a peer-critique site where writers comment on one another’s work. The top five most popular books each month are read by a HarperCollins editor with the hope (for the writer, anyway!) of finding the next bestseller.

I found the site to be most helpful and the comments and criticisms of other writers taught me much about my own book.

"King’s Envoy" did eventually make it to the Editor’s Desk and although HarperCollins didn’t offer me a contract, the editor gave the book a very favourable review. This gave me confidence when pitching my book to other publishers.


Aside from magazine articles and book contracts, how can someone earn money writing?
One of the best ways in which I think a writer can earn money is by helping others to learn or improve their craft. Being a writing coach is very fulfilling – it’s wonderful to share ideas with other writers and see their writing improve. I also do manuscript critiques, either full or partial, and can also advise on how to write synopses or query letters.


How do you balance your life as a writer with your duties as a parent or spouse?
My husband and I are both second marriers, so his children are all grown up. He is also self-employed and we both work from home. We structure our day so that we work whatever hours we need to, and then we forget work and do something together. We have similar tastes in our hobbies–he plays guitar and I sing, which we both love. We have two rescue dogs, and we love walking them in the countryside.

We try not to let work intrude into our weekends, but if it does, we support each other. As long as you ensure you make time for each other, and do things together you both enjoy doing, you will keep a good balance. It’s also important to respect each other’s chosen business, and to keep the other informed as to what’s happening within that business.


What is your best advice for getting past writer's block?
There’s only one way to get past writer’s block and that is to write. It doesn’t have to be the current project, it can be something completely unrelated. It’s best to clear the mind of whatever the problem is and go concentrate on writing something else.

I find that writing poetry can help me past a block–simply because it’s a different discipline. Also, the cadence of poetry can often unlock new ideas and scenarios. But it doesn’t have to be poetry. It can be a short story, or even something as simple as a letter or email to a friend.


What do you feel is the single most detrimental thing a writer could do to destroy his/her career as a writer?
Bad-mouthing other writers, or other industry professionals. Or anyone, really!

With social networking such a huge thing right now, it’s too easy to let everyone know what you’re thinking or saying. Writers often ask for reviews of their books, but what they’re really asking for are GOOD reviews. A writer who criticises another’s writing is not doing any favors.

If you can’t find anything good to say, don’t say anything!

And these days, agents and publishers can find out all sorts of things about writers before they even consider taking them on. I know for a fact that Rhemalda Publishing does a trawl of the Internet looking for information on any writer they’re interested in.

Some of this is to see whether that writer has a ‘platform’, an internet presence, to help them promote their book, but it can also show up what type of person that writer is. So every writer should consider their Inter-rep (Internet reputation) when leaving comments, or blogging, or writing reviews. You never know who might be reading what you write!


Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book?
"King’s Envoy" is the first novel in my Artesans of Albia series.

Taran Elijah, the opening main character, is struggling to learn the craft he was born to. The Artesan gift is dying in Albia, and the death of his father has robbed Taran of a mentor. He’s desperate to achieve his potential and so takes a huge risk by traveling alone to Andaryon, the fifth realm, where Artesans are prized. Instead of finding a mentor, however, Taran stumbles straight into a three-way power struggle for the Andaryan throne, and soon finds himself fighting for his life. In the wake of his actions, Albia suffers intense raiding, and Taran is forced to turn to the Albian military for help.

A dark and treacherous presence is moving through the realms and both Taran and Major Sullyan of the High King’s forces will feel its power. Their lives, their craft, even the existence of the realms – all are under threat unless they expose and oppose this evil.


If you could choose just one thing for your book to accomplish, what would it be?
My books were written to entertain, for people to enjoy reading. So I guess I would choose that King’s Envoy becomes popular, widely acknowledged as a great read. What I’d really love is for the book to draw in people who maybe don’t read as much as they used to. I simply adore reading and would hate to see print books disappear.


What’s ahead for your writing?
Rhemalda Publishing has said they will publish the entire first trilogy of my Artesans series, with books two and three coming out over the next two years, so I will be editing for some time to come.

I also have an idea for a prequel to the series, which was partially started a few years ago and put aside until I had time. At the moment I’m experiencing the joys of blogging, which I haven’t done much of before. I also have some more short stories which have yet to see the light of day.


What are Rhemalda Publishing like as a publishing company?
I would absolutely recommend them to other writers. They are a young company (formed in January 2010) and their mission statement is to provide high-quality books through careful treatment of manuscripts by working hand-in-hand with authors so as not to take away, but enhance, the original vision for the written word.

I can verify that this is exactly what they do. Rhett Hoffmeister, the president and publisher, and his wife Emmaline, work incessantly to produce books that are true to the author’s original vision, yet also highly marketable.

My experience with them has been phenomenal. They are approachable, knowledgeable and helpful, whether the question be about cover design, marketing, or distribution. I am in the UK and Rhemalda is based in Wenatchee, WA, yet they always make themselves available.

I feel privileged and extremely fortunate to be a Rhemalda author, and I know my fellow authors feel the same way. We refer to ourselves as a ‘family’ because that’s exactly how it feels.

Visit Cas Peace at http://www.caspeace.com/

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This post was sponsored by The Dabbling Mum.

For more articles geared towards authors and writers, check out DM's Writing Center.