Author of Seregn
Today, I am excited to be chatting with debut fantasy author Brooke Martin to talk to us about her new book, Seregn. Congratulations, Brooke, on releasing your debut novel. Such a great achievement.
Helen: Welcome Brooke. I am so excited to talk to you about your debut book. Tell us all about it!
Brooke: Seregn is a portal fantasy novel for adults that takes readers on an exhilarating emotional journey, challenging the core of big concepts like love, loyalty, and sacrifice. My main character, Ada, is a young woman thrown into a strange world against her will. She is forced to embark on a perilous quest to save a cursed, dying king – by attempting to steal a fabled weapon from a cruel tyrant, and journeying deep into enemy territory to shoot a star from the sky. In so doing, Ada will not only confront a dangerous, cruel world around her, but also confront herself. She is joined on her quest by four of the king’s bodyguards – one of whom is terminally ill, and another is a traitor with purposes of their own. The consequences of their quest will shake their entire world – literally – and leave Ada questioning everything. I wrote Seregn with a goal to sound beautiful as it’s read, capture imaginations with lush worldbuilding, and encourage readers to ponder deep matters of character and identity. I wanted to write a story that considered what the cost of love is, whether it’s worth it, and what might ultimately break it. But also, I simply wanted to write a fantastic, engaging, adventurous story full of action and drama that leaves you feeling changed at the end of it. The book is intended for adults due to some mature content – moments of strong violence occur in the novel, and in one section in particular.
Helen: I love immersive fantasy books, where you can lose yourself in a new world. It sound like a wonderful premise. How did you translate your vision for the book into the cover?
Brooke: It was hard to imagine the cover for Seregn when I set out on this journey, because I really struggled to know what it ought to be. But I love what the cover designer came up with (with my feedback/input). To explain the cover, starry skies are a massive part of Seregn and one of the only things I was sure on – I knew stars needed to be incorporated, somehow. Beyond that, as I played with ideas, I thought stars over the sea would work nicely, as there are a few sailing journeys in the novel. Seregn is all about a quest to shoot down a star, and the dark starburst behind the title was an inspired idea by the designer– representing the stars, but also almost looking like a stylised gunshot shattering the sky (how’s that for a sneaky hint at what is to come?). The hardest part for me was actually choosing the font, I had a very specific idea in my mind, and we went through a fair few options before settling on the final choice.
Helen: I always find designing the covers the hardest part of the formatting. All my ideas for the Sentinal series wouldn’t work for an epic fantasy. Fortunately my designer had some great ideas, and I love the final result. What about the book title, Seregn. What is Seregn?
Brooke: The book is titled Seregn, and it wasn’t originally my first choice. In the story, Seregn is a fabled weapon, a powerful steampunk gun that can break the barrier between earth and sky. I made up the word by playing around with the words ‘star’ and ‘reign’, and was also influenced by the Welsh word for star – ‘seren’. Originally, I had other ideas for the title, but over time I realised that the whole story really revolves around this devastatingly powerful weapon – what it means to possess it, use it, and carry those repercussions with you. While I was a bit hesitant to go with a made-up word for the title, I decided it would at least stand out, and went with it!
Helen: Made up words work for me, I think we have to create new words in fantasy worlds, otherwise how do we differentiate from the normal world around us? What made you write this particular book?
Brooke: I have always wanted to write a fantasy book, and when I reached the point where I felt I could really try to accomplish it, I threw everything I had at it – all my favourite ideas, characters, themes – you name it. I suppose, then, that I wrote this particular book, because it had all the things I loved in it, all the parts of a story that I myself wanted to read. I wanted to write a story with heart and soul, a story about what it means to love, to sacrifice, to be a hero (for better and for worse), to experience the tension between conflicting loyalties, to be willingly vulnerable – and what can happen if/when you do. All these ideas were swirling in my mind as I came up with the story of Seregn, and adding to them my love for the night sky, for candles, for the seas and the mountains and adventure and romance… out came Seregn.
Helen: I’m so glad you managed to encapsulate all that you love into your novel. Congratulations again on releasing your debut book. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?
Brooke: For as long as I can really remember I’ve loved books. I remember reading The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time in primary school, gobbling up The Ranger’s Apprentice, being handed The Hobbit at age 10, and The Lord of the Rings at age 11. That kicked off a love for Middle-earth that remains to this day. I wanted nothing more than to write my own great tome with such depth and richness as Tolkien’s works. That love for writing and for story was always with me, but it wasn’t until university though I managed to complete my first manuscript – Seregn!
Helen: Who is your protagonist and why did you write her/him?
Brooke: My protagonist is Ada Wrembeck, a historical consultant in her 20s with a bit of a tragic backstory (because she’s the lead in a fantasy novel of course). I wrote Ada for a couple of reasons. For my first novel, I thought it wise to create a protagonist who, while she was different to me, had enough elements of myself (or that I could easily relate to) to make her a compelling central character. As a new author I really wanted Ada to be believable, well rounded, and complex. The easiest way to do that was to take elements of myself (a real person!) and reimagine them into her, along with adding plenty of other traits of course! As an example, Ada has a couple of panic attacks in the book, which I describe from personal experience. Secondly, I wrote Ada the way I did as part of my overall plan for the theme of the story. Ada is emotionally closed off, and fairly selfish, but as the reader we know over time that she does actually care deep down (or would if she’d let herself). This provides so much opportunity for character development as Ada begins to open up in multiple ways. Even her job (historical consultant) I chose for a reason – she is always looking back.
Helen: Ada sounds like a really well thought out character. Let’s move to your writing process. Are you a Pantser or a plotter?
Brooke: I believe these things are very much on a spectrum, but I’m very far into the planner side. Whenever I had tried to write books in the past (when I was in school for instance) I never got farther than a few chapters, which I came to realise was because I hadn’t had the story planned out properly beforehand. It was only once I’d started following a writer’s blog and read a couple of craft books – all from the plotting side of the spectrum, that I was finally able to write Seregn. Just knowing what came next made all the difference for me! That said, I believe that there is the freeform expression of ‘pantsing’ and the planning of ‘plotting’ on both sides of the spectrum, they just occur at different times. For plotters, that freeform creativity is concentrated right at the start of the process, when the brainstorming and ideation occurs. For pantsers, the ‘planning’ aspect, to me at least, is in the editing after the fact. The framework I’ve used for Seregn (and will continue to use until it doesn’t work for me) is that outlined in C.S. Lakin’s ‘The Twelve Key Pillars of Novel Construction’ and ‘Layer Your Novel’ and (for the editing process) Charlotte Nash’s ‘How to edit at novel’. I’ve found these all incredibly useful in every aspect of novel writing. It also means that I haven’t had writers block while writing the story itself.
Helen: Which element of the writing process do you find most challenging and why?
Brooke: I would say probably the initial brainstorming. Because I am a ‘plotter’ the bulk of the creative work (in the sense of coming up with the story) happens at the outset. For me, I really just cannot start writing without knowing what comes next. I’ve found, now that Seregn is finished and I’m starting to think of other ideas, I put pressure on myself in the early brainstorming phase to come up with the next great idea, instead of letting the ideas come naturally as they did for Seregn. I suppose this could also be my equivalent of ‘writer’s block’ – but instead of occurring while I write the novel, it occurs while I plan it! Now that I’m a wife and mother (I was neither when I first wrote Seregn) it seems even more challenging to try to find not only the time, but the mental capacity to put towards cultivating creativity. But I won’t give up!
Helen: I’m glad to hear that you are now addicted to writing. I am too! I can’t stop. There is always something I need to be capturing. I usually ask which genre you write, but with one book released, tell us about what you did choose to write.
Brooke: I write fantasy. Having only written one book, I suppose I could say, specifically, portal fantasy. Which, to be honest, is almost a surprise to me, because I’m actually not that much of a portal fantasy fan. In general, I tend to prefer stories that are wholly set in a fantasy world – without being ‘tainted’ by association to ours. But, somehow, that’s not the story I wrote! I have ideas for short stories or novellas that are a mix of epic fantasy and portal fantasy as offshoots of Seregn, along with full novel ideas set completely in the world of Seregn. But definitely a fantasy writer – I’m also a fantasy reader, so it works!
Helen: When you are in the throes of writing, do you listen to music or do you prefer silence?
Brooke: I do listen to music when I write, but it’s only ever instrumental music – usually orchestral or movie scores and soundtracks. I find songs with lyrics really tend to crowd out my own words in my head, but instrumental music can help set the tone and get me into a groove when writing. I listened to all sorts of soundtracks while writing Seregn, from The Lord of the Rings to Stardust to Guardians of the Galaxy. At times there were very specific songs I’d play on repeat while writing certain scenes, because they fit the scene (and sometimes the action) exactly!
Helen: If you didn’t write fantasy, is there another genre you would be tempted to try?
Brooke: I would probably try history – when I’m not reading straight fantasy, I enjoy historical fantasy and even a time travel or two. I love a wide mix of history but particularly medieval and ancient, there’s so much that can be done in various historical timeframes, it’s similar to fantasy in that it transports you to another world – in a way.
Helen: Do you have any advice you would like to share with new writers?
Brooke: Don’t try to chase trends or fads or what you think the industry, the agents, or the publishers want. Write the story that YOU want to write, that YOU’RE passionate about. Writing a book is a massive task, so it’s important to do it for yourself. And if you’re passionate about your story, someone else will be too! As a new mum I also want to encourage others who juggle multiple responsibilities that you can work on your own timeline. Of course, sometimes you need to push to achieve a dream, but you’re not failing by doing what you can as you can!
Helen: Great advice. Thank you for sharing that with us. Thank you so much for joining me today. It has been a lot of fun learning about you and your book. Just to finish, could you share some of the books you’ve been reading recently?
Brooke: I really enjoyed A Crack in the Rock by Amber Gabriel – if you like Seregn there’s a good chance you’d like it too – even though they’re quite different in some ways. I found it to be so well written and I was so invested in the characters – the romance is compelling without too much ‘spice’, the dark moments perfectly depicted, the rising conflict and sense of doom at the right moments of the story were so well realised. Another would be Liberation by RM Krogman, this one is more brutal in some ways, but so well done. Liberation is the first of a trilogy – with multiple novellas – and it’s shaping up to be a brilliant one. Some other books I’ve read recently are Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead (a spin on King Arthur mashed up with Atlantis), Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (and instant classic), and Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (I’m so keen to read the next one).
About the Author
Brooke Martin
Brooke has always loved reading – from the days of sturdy baby books to the day she picked up The Lord of the Rings at age 11, she’s never looked back. Her desire to be an author is nearly as old, and in those early years she spent afternoons and weekends at her computer, tapping away on her novel ideas. Since then she’s grown up, studied, and worked in radio, print, and online journalism. These days, Brooke spends her days as a stay-at-home mum, and studying a professional development course to start working as a copy editor and proofreader. All the while, her stories have been bubbling away – tales of adventure, fantasy, romance, struggle, sacrifice, and emotion – all infused with her faith and homeland. As a Christian, Brooke aims to craft stories that are accessible to everyone, whilst imbuing the tales with courage, compassion, sacrifice, faith, perseverance, and personal growth. She’s utterly thrilled to bring her first novel, Seregn, to publication.
Follow Brooke:
Purchase Brooke’s book: Seregn via Amazon – also available on other platforms
Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook | Paperback
Link to book on Amazon US: eBook | Paperback
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If you enjoy epic fantasy then the award winning Sentinal series is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fiction? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.
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