As we do on Fridays, when we schedule an interview, we take a break from the Regency Personality series. It shall of course return. As early as tomorrow.
Today we are fortunate to have with us A. F. Stewart who writes in the fantasy and horror genres. Today we also want to talk about her work in the Regency arena.
1)What moved you to become an author?
The voices in my head.
Seriously though, I’ve always been a storyteller, so it seemed logical to fling those stories out into the world for people to read. Of course, my logic has always been a bit flawed.
2) Tell us about your current novel.
My current novel is a departure from history, a mix of dark fairy tales and detective fiction, so I thought I’d talk instead about my Georgian era fantasy, Chronicles of the Undead. 
It’s an older work, and slightly different than the norm. The epistolary novella—set for the most part in London, England—spans the years from 1793 to 1826 and narrates the story of the Harrington family as their lives intersect with two vampires, Eleanor and Henri. The entire book consists of diary entries, told from three different points of view: Samuel Harrington, his son Edmund Harrington, and Edmund’s daughter, Charlotte. The book details each person’s experience with Eleanor and Henri, and how each Harrington deals with the knowledge that vampires exist. (DWW-Sounds very interesting, I have a good part of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Correspondence as letters to and from the Colonel as he fights the French on the Peninsula.)
3) How did the story begin to develop in your mind?
It all started with the notion of how someone would react if they found out a neighbor had a strange secret. From there came the idea of the secret: the neighbours being vampires. The idea of secrets led to the thought of diaries and the book was born. It seem more interesting to set the story within a historic era, and I chose the Georgian/Regency period.
4) What did you find most challenging about this book?
Writing the format was definitely challenging, keeping the dates, years, and different time periods straight could get confusing, especially since I tend to bounce around within a book when I write scenes. Also the middle section, where I write from Edmund Harrington’s point of view, gave me no end of trouble. He was one character that stubbornly refused to cooperate. I learned a good lesson from it though: never argue with your characters. (DWW-I find keeping track of dates, once they become integral to the story difficult as well. I have one work in progress, that the date sequence weighs heavy on my mind and it must be the first thing I look at when I start the 2nd draft, else the story will not work at all.)
5) How did you choose your publishing method?
I felt the unusual nature of the book, an epistolary novella written as a series of diary entries, did not lend itself well to the traditional publishers, so I went with self-publishing.
6) Tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a quiet type, who’d rather curl up with a good book than go out on the town. I’m a sci-fi and fantasy geek, and proud of it, with a small assortment of collectables to prove it. I love movies (especially action films), music, chocolate, have a thing for scarves, but not for shoes, I prefer to write death scenes than romance scenes, hate dusting, like cooking, and I love to write poetry.
7) What is your next work, and beyond that, what do you want to work on.
I’m working on a couple of Victorian era steampunk books at the moment, as well as two sequels to previous books, one of which, Killers and Demons II 
, will have a Regency Era story. I’d also like to get some time to continue my online sequel to Chronicles of the Undead, called
The Elite of the Blood 
; it’s a novel that alternates the point-of-view from modern day to Georgian England.
8) In the current work, is there an excerpt to share? Your favorite scene, a part of your life that you put into the work and think it came out exceptionally well that you would like to share.
Here’s a snippet from Chronicles of the Undead:
Samuel Harrington’s Diaries
1793-1795
London, England
December 12, 1793.
Eliza is in a better mood these days, with Edmund home for the Christmas season. She has even promised to have Eleanor and Henri over for Christmas dinner.
December 14, 1793.
What a shame. Henri informed me this morning they are leaving London for Christmas, to visit some friends in the country. I hope they have decent weather; trips this time of year can be unpleasant.
December 20, 1793.
The house is certainly festive, with the holly wreaths and the festooned greenery. Cook made a toothsome cake yesterday that was most palatable. No doubt she has more such delicacies to come.
It will be wonderful to spend a genial Christmas with family, to hear Edmund’s tales of Oxford and to hear Flora sing the carols.
However, I do miss Henri.
January 10, 1794.
The holidays are over, and Edmund shall be returning to Oxford soon. It was a pleasantly adequate Christmas.
The house is now far more tranquil than during the celebrations. I suppose we shall all have to return to our routines.
January 16, 1794.
Henri has returned at last. I shall again have some stimulating conversation and companionship. I am looking forward to our next outing.
9) Who do you think influenced your writing, this work, and who do you think you write like?
Ray Bradbury 
influenced my writing quite a bit, as have Neil Gaiman
and Canadian writer, Guy Gavriel Kay (DWW-read Kay once, and though I have friends who praise him as well, I could not get past some of the tropes in The Summer Tree 25+ years ago). I personally don’t like making comparisons to other writers, but a few people have said my style is reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe.
10) Who do you read? What are the things that a reader can identify with that you have grounded yourself in.
I read many, many authors and books, but some of my favourites are the aforementioned Ray Bradbury , Neil Gaiman (David W Wilkin-have to love the cover)and Guy Gavriel Kay, as well as Agatha Christie, Morgan Llywelyn, Jennifer Roberson, Edward Marston, and J. A. Clement.
I would hope readers can identify with my characters, I try to keep them realistic, even in the midst of fantastic situations. I like writing from an emotional and psychological base for characters, so readers can relate; everyone gets angry, sad, excited, etc. The fun part is then taking those emotions to extremes, like revenge, murder, jealousy, and playing with that to create motivation and plot.
11) When writing, what is your routine?
I’m not sure routine is a good name for it, since I’m terribly haphazard in my writing. I try to write something most days, not always successfully. On good days I manage a couple of paragraphs, or a page or two for a book, a flash fiction story, or a poem. But quite often an idea or a line will pop into my head out of the blue and I’m off scribbling. Sessions like that can last a few minutes, or hours. It’s messy, but it works for me.
12) Do you think of yourself as an artist, or as a craftsman, a blend of both?
I’d say a blend of both, since the artistry drives the story and the characters, and the craftsmanship polishes the prose to turn it into a finished book.
13) Where should we look for your work.
You can find my books listed at my Amazon Page
Or over at Smashwords (where you’ll find some freebies)
Or you can check out my website: http://afallon.bravesites.com/
You can also get some of my work with these links
Chronicles of the Undead.
Killers and Demons I
(Note AF and I both have stories in Mechanized Masterpieces a Steampunk Anthology 
)
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