Author of The Family Care

Today, I am thrilled to be chatting to contemporary fiction author, A.M Vivian.

Helen: Welcome, and thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. Tell us a little about your book, The Family Care.

A.M Vivian: The Family Care is my homage to Virginia Andrews. As a teen, I loved the drama and darkness of her early books, particularly the Flowers in the Attic series and My Sweet Audrina. There was something dangerous and transgressive about them that was thrilling. I always wanted to write one, putting a modern spin on her themes of forbidden love and family trauma.

In my book, Milton discovers her biological mother abandoned her by overhearing her adopted siblings arguing about whether to reveal this secret. Cameron may have orchestrated this reveal. He’s her favourite brother. Her best friend. Her prince in every story they created as children. Does he not want to be related to her anymore? Why? When they accidentally kiss she’s not too sure if it is actually an accident. At a party, she discovers alcohol and retreats further into a fantasy world where she has no problems, where she’s wanted, and where people don’t lie to her. She’s terrified her family will get rid of her if she doesn’t behave, leading to her hiding her drinking. But of course, we know alcohol is never a solution and one lie leads to another. As the story progresses, we learn more about the family trauma and explore their struggle to maintain the façade of a perfect family. Add to this the changing nature of her relationship with Cameron and eventually things snap.

Helen: Sounds extrememly emotional, with lots of dark secrets to be revealed. What were your thoughts behind your cover?

A.M Vivian: I had great fun creating the concept for this. I wanted the cover to resemble an art house DVD cover because Milton is a film buff and particularly enamoured with French new wave cinema. The picture resembles a movie reel with the frames splitting up this picture of a happy couple to reflect the dislocation between them and to show that this isn’t a happy-ever-after love story. Blue is her favourite colour and the colour of Cameron’s eyes. It also suggests heartbreak, hinting that this is a tragic love story. The title falling off the cover makes me think of a film unspooling, mirroring Milton’s life becoming messy and uncontrollable.

Helen: What made you write such a dark and tragic romance novel?

A.M Vivian: The idea came to me when I was a teen and had run out of Virginia Andrew’s books to read. This was before they started releasing the new V.C  Andrew’s series with ghostwriters. I couldn’t find anything else like her, so I decided I’d write my own. I must have been about 14 or 15. I didn’t finish writing it but I had the main events, the end scene, and the title. 10 years later, I returned to the idea, writing sections as part of my degree course. Again, I didn’t get that far with it. Something was missing. I couldn’t quite capture Cameron. It was like a memory of something you tasted as a child that vanishes as soon as you try to focus on it and describe the flavour. I put aside the story and wrote The Waiting Usurper instead. Then, while travelling, the oddest thing happened. I met someone who was the perfect physical embodiment of Cameron. The way his hands moved. The way he held a group’s attention with his quiet confidence. His walk. It was so surreal. I’d been trying and trying to capture this character and there he was looking right at me, sitting beside me, talking to me. It was the strangest experience. How could I not fall ridiculously in love with him? We had a ‘situationship’, short-lived and a thing that ended messily for me, but for him, it’s probably an inconsequential footnote in his life. I thought writing this story would help get him out of my mind. A cleanse and clean if you will—better than burning old love letters. In retrospect, maybe I also wanted something good and productive to have come out of that whole painful experience.

Helen: That is such an amazing answer, that you actually met the embodiment of your character and then also had to suffer though a messy and painful ending. I’m glad you found writing him into your book, cathartic. Writing is such a good way to express yourself. When did you first realise you had a passion for writing?

A.M Vivian: I was very young, about 11 years old. At school our English teacher asked us to write a story. I don’t remember the prompt but I remember the feeling I had while writing it. It was that feeling of exhilaration you get when an aeroplane accelerates and then takes off. I remember everything else faded: the classroom, me, spelling, and grammar. I wrote reams and reams of this story, even during my lunch breaks. A whole epic series was planned out in my head, one that challenged Tolkien for word count. I was at that age where you weren’t supposed to be playing with Barbies anymore and I resented being made to grow up, wanted no part of it. Writing was a way to get around that schoolyard rule.  

Helen: After such a dark and emotional novel, what are you working on next?

A.M Vivian: Depending on when this interview is published, it might be available to buy and download because I’m at the checking the proof copy stage. It’s called At 4 AM, A Shop Window. It’s an eclectic collection of short stories and poems. Some are available on my blog (publishordietrying.wordpress.com) and have been published in various small presses over the years. I also wrote some new pieces especially for this book. The collection is full of outsiders wishing for more from their monotonous lives but unable to grab the opportunities that present themselves. Instead, they find temporary solutions in devilish temptations, illusions of control, and disappointing romantic connections. There are touches of dark humour in there too, such as Barry who’s pondering why he’s been reincarnated as a battery hen. This collection shows the breadth of my writing, both in style and topic. I think it encapsulates who I am as a writer. A friend recently called me a cynical romantic and I think this collection illustrates this.

Helen: How do you write your novels? Do you plan them in detail, or let your characters take charge?

A.M Vivian: I am a pantser. That’s part of the fun for me—figuring out what the book wants to be and what the characters want to say. I don’t really know what the story is until I spend time with the characters, writing and exploring. That’s when their voices appear and I find out what their hopes and fears are. I want to disappear into their world and a plan is too much of an anchor, keeping me tethered to reality. It does mean that I write a lot that never makes it into the book. This is quite freeing because I’m not focusing on the end product and I don’t have that pressure to get it right when writing my first draft. I get to experiment. The more I play and go on meandering trails, the more excited I get about a project which helps push me through those painful slogs of editing and rewriting.  However, being a pantser means that the editing and rewriting process takes longer. Much longer. I write a first draft pretty quickly but I need to let it marinate for at least 6 months so I can look at it with fresh eyes. After that, I’m doing extensive re-writes and edits. I wish I could publish my books quicker but I’m too scared my muse will desert me for someone more worthy if I force her to work in ways she doesn’t like.

Helen: We all spend a lot of time on our own, writing and editing. Do you listen to music while you write?

A.M Vivian: I love music. It’s one of my biggest weaknesses so I always listen to music when I write and edit. What I’m listening to depends on what I’m writing and what emotion or mood I’m trying to access. I try to listen to the same few albums and/or musicians when I’m working on a novel so that my brain associates these sounds with the story. This helps me get into that world quicker. It’s a shorthand way of telling my brain what we’re going to do. Sometimes, if I need a bit of an aural hug to boast my confidence and remind me why I write, then I’ll listen to Pearl Jam.

Music is such a big part of The Family Care. Cameron plays the guitar and is a music geek. It’s one of the loves they share. Within the story, I mention musicians they like and are listening to, such as Bowie, Crows, and Idles. The Maccabee’s Given To The Wild album cover makes an appearance, as does Milton’s impression of the singer’s voice. I had fun adding in these little details. It grounded the story in reality and I like to think the reader might seek out some of these songs.

Helen: Music can inspire all sorts of emotions, and it is weird how you end up listening to certain music when writing. Different albums end up on my playlist for different books. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve recieved?

A.M Vivian: A teacher relayed this piece of advice to me during the degree programme at Bath Spa University. I didn’t catch the name of the writer or the book my teacher was referencing, unfortunately. They recommended creating separate identities for writing and editing, wearing different clothes and sitting in different places for different tasks. The writer us might be in tracksuit bottoms on the couch, dirty hair, and a food-spotted t-shirt. The Editor us will be in chinos and a crisply ironed shirt, hair tied back and sitting on a hard-backed chair at a desk. Doing this makes it easier to access the different sides of the brain. I do kind of follow a version of this—not to such an extreme level. For one thing, I’m rubbish at ironing. I do write and edit in different spaces where possible. I’ve found my kitchen a great place for editing. I think it’s important to make a clear distinction between these two tasks. Otherwise, I’d never get beyond writing that first paragraph. I like how this advice encourages me to consider and change those things I do have control over because so much about writing is out of our control and mysterious. I mean, who knows why some writing sessions are like flying and others are like wading through shitty mud?

Helen: I’ve not heard that advice before, thank you for sharing! How about writer’s block. Do you have any tricks for overcoming that obstacle?

A.M Vivian: I hate writer’s block. It’s like someone’s got hold of your arms when you’re trying to take off into a run. I need to trick my brain a little to get out of that slump. Distractions can help. (‘Look here’s an interesting documentary,’ and then bam! I’m scribbling pages in response to it.) Changing things up helps, too. For example, I sit on the floor in my front room to write because sitting at my desk feels too much like working on a report. I’m writing by hand because that feels more like playing and personal. It’s easier to switch off the critical brain away from the computer. Maybe because it’s less tempting to delete things and edit as you go along. I find the physical act of putting pen to paper quite meditative too, especially if I have a nice pen and the gods have blessed me with pretty looking writing that day. I can focus more on the act than whether what I’m writing is any good.

If I get really stuck with a novel I might decide to write something that I know won’t go into the book but is related to the story. For example, I might write about a character’s favourite toy. It’s just a way to take the pressure off, get the creative mind going, and break the curse of writer’s block. Anything is better than nothing and if I can remind myself how fun writing it is then that’s usually enough to defeat those horrible thoughts that lead to writer’s block.

Helen: Thank you so much for sharing all your great hints and tips. Hopefully they will help other writers to overcome these challenges. Just to finish, how do you address that little voice of self doubt that drags us all down?

A.M Vivian: I think the advice I mentioned before helps with this to a certain extent. When I feel this fear I go back to writing in bed where I can forget that the outside world exists. It’s just me, my pen, and my imagination, the same as it was when I first started writing. I have to switch off thinking about the market or readers, especially when writing a first draft. A lot of authors write to the market, working out what sells and hitting those tropes but I can’t because it feels too much like a bunch of people are looking over my shoulder. Annoyingly, the less I write the louder the fear becomes.

I’ve found meditation a useful way of dealing with counteracting this doubt and fear. There are some great ones on Youtube. I listen to one in the morning and then go straight into writing. Starting early in the day is another way I bypass the critic in my head, mainly because he takes longer to wake up so I can sneak in a few sentences before he’s up and pestering me. Sometimes though, I think we have to accept that we’re having a down day and give in to it. Forcing yourself to write can be counterproductive. There’s a quote from Nietzsche that I often return to when I’m in a bad mood. He wrote, ‘When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.’  Maybe I need to relax. Read a book. Watch a film. Maybe I need to eat something and get a decent sleep. Sometimes, it’s the lovely PMT saying I’m a useless piece of shit and no one will ever want to read anything I’ve written. There’s nothing wrong with taking a day off and indulging in misery. If you need permission, here it is. The danger is in letting it drag on beyond a day because then it can tip into writer’s block. If it lingers a nice bit of boxing helps—imagining I’m punching and drop-kicking my critical thoughts is a great way to release that negative energy and make me feel like a badass who can conquer anything.  

About the Author

A.M Vivian

A.M Vivian is a British writer. She holds a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature from Bath Spa University, a masters in the Therapeutic Uses of Creative Writing from Sussex University, and another masters in Creative Writing from Cardiff University. A member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, she is passionate about self-publishing. She splits her time between writing, running a successful beta reading business (Walter’s Writing Emporium), and working in a library. If she’s not lost in fiction, then she’s at a gig, sweating and singing away her worries. You can follow her on Instagram  @a_m_vivian & learn more about her books at http://www.amvivian.com

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Purchase The Family Care from Amazon

Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook | Paperback

Link to book on Amazon US: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather, or my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

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Author of Liberation

Today, I’m chatting with epic fantasy author, R.M Krogman, about her debut book Liberation which is currently on preorder and releases September 5th, 2023.

Helen: Welcome Rebecca, and thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. Congratulations on the release of your debut novel. Such an accomplishment! Tell us a little about your book.

Rebecca: LIBERATION is the first book of the epic fantasy trilogy “The Keepers of Midgate,” a story of friendship and love, the search for understanding and acceptance, and the heartbreak of loss, set in a world pulsing with magic, violence, and a spreading plague of madness. Dragons, once a common ally, have retreated to the dark recesses of the world, rejected by fickle humanity. As Midgate falls into chaos, only the Keepers and their companions have the power to set the world right.

LIBERATION is above all about freedom—freedom from the bonds of societal expectations, suffocating control, and physical binds. Konan, one of the main characters, is an inmate in the prison mines of the Tahayi Desert. He has little to live for until an innocent woman, Lyra, is tossed into his brutal home. With the help of another ruthless inmate, he tries to protect her and help her escape, but discovers she has far more strength than he could have imagined. Another main character is Prince Reylin, miraculous survivor of a tragic fire that destroyed the royal castle. Although no longer a boy, he chafes against the confines of his Regent Council of lords. As he battles border attacks and tensions with his own lords, a terrifying madness appears, driving people to violence without explanation or cure.

The world of Midgate in a vast and diverse world of powerful elemental magic, sentient dragons, fierce myrpeople and winged warriors, and conflicting cultures. If that sounds interesting to you, you should check out the first book LIBERATION.

Helen: That sounds amazing. I love epic adventures and your characters certainly have plenty to overcome. I’m loving the earthy tones of your cover. What was the idea behind the cover design?

Rebecca: The cover of LIBERATION is a scene from the book that highlights several main characters in the midst of a key moment. I chose it because it not only shows them, but also reveals some of the powerful magic in the world, as well as the presence of war action in the story. I think it’s an important scene in terms of making choices of violence and justice, making and accepting mistakes, enduring hardships, overcoming trauma from the past, and developing new relationships of trust.

Helen: I love asking that question because we always discover more detail in the cover than we did at first glance. What made you write this specifc book?

Rebecca: This epic has been in my head since I was 14, rolling around and making noise. I was slowly going mad and also depressed NOT writing it down. But if you want the long version, here’s the real story. This is actually the Foreword to LIBERATION:

This novel exists because my husband told me to give up.

It’s what I needed to hear.

I have talked about writing this book for over twenty years. The world of Midgate blossomed into existence in early high school, a vast world with its own history, cultures, and peoples. I sketched maps and animals and plants; I jotted notes on color symbolism and languages. I identified industries, located master training halls, and established an apprenticeship structure. I described religions and traditions and superstitions. I modeled wind and ocean currents, then determined climate patterns and resultant major biomes.

I did everything but write.

The story smoldered in my mind. At first, I thought it was about a man wrongfully kept from his crown, who overcame his circumstances and became the savior in a battle of good and evil. Then a girl appeared, and the story transformed. Then another man and woman appeared, shouting that they needed their fair share of attention, and my story exploded to an epic of people overcoming their past and freeing themselves from rigid destiny. Told through multiple points of view, this book is about freedom—freedom from the bonds of societal expectations, suffocating control, and physical binds. The next is about choice, allowing the pain and madness of the world to mold you and drive you, or not. The last is about love, about who we are when we choose others over ourselves or vice versa.

And after hearing about it day after day, year after year, for over a decade straight and still having no book in his hand, my dearly beloved said, “Either start writing, or admit that you’re not going to do it and give up.”

That had exactly the effect it was meant to, and I buckled down to put my thoughts into tangible form. I spent a month documenting the plot and establishing point-of-view characters, then about a year drafting this book and months upon months garnering feedback and revising.

So here we are.

I present to you “Liberation,” the first in series of an epic story about freedom, choice, and love, embedded in a magic-filled world of violence, madness, and loss. I hope you come to love the world of Midgate as much as I do, that your heart breaks and mends with the characters, and that you forget where you are for at least a little while.

Helen: Well done for capturing all those ideas and corralling them into a book. It truly is a major achievment. Congratulations! When did you first realise you had a passion for writing?

Rebecca: My mom had me keep a journal, one page for every year of my life starting in Pre-school. Along with my lists of favorites and horrifyingly embarrassing school pictures, this journal included what I wanted to be when I grew up. I started saying “Author” when I was 5.

I have always loved reading and writing, and I wrote a number of shorter stories and McCaffrey fan fiction when I was younger. I paused during college because LIFE, but realized when I entered the workforce that something essential was missing: a creative outlet through which I could express myself. I started writing again, and it brought me such joy that I know I’ll never stop again.

Helen: Your mum must have known! She started you early capturing your ideas. What made you write high fantasy?

Rebecca: I write high fantasy because I enjoy immersing myself in a different world, one in which magic is tangible and real. I love imagining how different the world could be in terms of technology, foods, peoples, and ecology, but also applying certain laws of nature to make it believable. In addition to the fact that I just want dragons to be real, I think fantasy gives us a way to explore difficult topics without the raw, depressing awfulness of the real world, perhaps topics that we otherwise would have a hard time thinking about. It can also give us hope, showing us what humanity could be, during times when we might otherwise feel hopeless.

Helen: You and me both! I love writing immersive worlds for a reader to escape into. With Liberation about to release, what are you working on next?

Rebecca: My current WIP is SUNDERING, the second book in the epic fantasy trilogy. Whereas LIBERATION is about freedom, SUNDERING is about choice, about allowing the pain and madness of the world to mold you and drive you, or not. SUNDERING continues the saga of “The Keepers of Midgate” as characters join and divide. The madness grows, but it is not the only terror in the world, for the commonplace brutality and senseless hurt inflicted by others continues as it always has. SUNDERING is fully drafted already and now in the midst of a developmental edit. I’ll be looking for ARC readers late this fall, probably around September or October. It will likely be released in early 2024.

At the same time, I am plotting the last book in the trilogy, SCHISM, to ensure that I do wrap everything up with a pretty bow. SCHISM is about love, who we are when we choose others over ourselves or vice versa. The final installment of “The Keepers of Midgate,” SCHISM shows a world divided by the madness and all it wrought: religious extremism, blind hatred and racism, and the pursuit of power at any cost. SCHISM will be drafted next year.

Helen: Plenty to keep you busy then! I always have multiple ideas bubbling, it’s having time to capture them all. When you write, do you listen to music, or do you prefer silence as you work?

Rebecca: I do listen to music because it helps to immerse me not only in the fantasy environment, but in a particular character’s head. I have separate playlists for each POV character, each with a different mood. They are all instrumental, featuring artists like Two Steps from Hell, Trevor Morris, Epic North, Audiomachine, Erik Ekholm, Jeremy Soule, Ramin Djawadi, and Michael Salvatori.

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today, and congratulations once again on your forthcoming release. Final question. As a newly published author what advice would you give other aspiring writers?

Rebecca: Give yourself grace and patience. Writing is a skill that develops with time, practice, and intentional study. Even if you are naturally a strong writer, you will still have areas that could improve. Give yourself the time to garner feedback, the humility to accept criticism, the grace to forgive yourself for not being perfect, and the patience to soldier onward. I’ve heard the first million words written are considered a writer’s apprenticeship, and I can certainly agree that it takes at least a few hundred thousand to find your own voice and settle into a style. All the while, you should study the craft of storytelling and strive to develop good habits that keep you on track and productive.

About the Author

Rebecca M. Krogman is an epic and dark adult fantasy author from the central U.S.

Her debut novel LIBERATION is the first volume of a larger story set in Midgate, a medieval-inspired world of magic, mermaids, and wyverns. She has been developing the Keepers of Midgate epic since she was in high school. The main story line has changed little since then, only gaining more clarity and detail as the characters take on a life of their own. The world has grown in its depth of history, culture, and geography, spawning numerous side stories and prequels.

She loves nature, art, and food, which all funnel into her world-building. Her story’s settings span two continents and the sea between, encompassing a diversity of peoples, cultures, and creatures. She is working on a collection of recipes from Midgate, and she loves drawing scenes and characters from the books (although those sketches may never see the light of day).

When she’s not writing about Midgate, she’s penning fairy tale retellings.

Follow Rebecca:

Amazon Author page

Website

Quick links

Purchase Liberation via Amazon

Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook

Link to book on Amazon US: eBook

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather, or my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.