Writing

Fan Fiction

3 October 2019 by villia Leave a Comment

I once tried my hand at fan fiction. You can see some of the results on the front page as the old posts rotate beneath my books. It was going well, I saw the world in front of my eyes, I liked Luna, the main character and the story was based on an incompleted work, giving me the opportunity to fill in the blanks.

I never finished it. Why?

It wasn’t mine. It was based on the Diamond Dogs album by David Bowie. He had intended to create a musical, based on George Orwell’s 1984. He never got the rights, so it never happened.

Hunger City was about Halloween Jack and his rollerskating gang. Bowie created a storyboard but what I’ve seen doesn’t really make a story. When Bowie died in Janyary 2016, I was devastated and work on my then work in progress, Blood and Rain, halted. I saw no point in continuing. His death delayed that book a whole year. I still needed something to get my feelings out and I started writing Hunger City.

In this story, I went with a female protagonist. She lived in a post-apocalyptic world where the Diamond Dogs (a gang – not real dogs) go after the mutants living on Burgess Hill. She finds an old book with Bowie photos and is fascinated. His world is so different from hers.

This leads her to Hunger City, where she meets all sorts of characters, including Halloween Jack himself. The city is dark, the characters shady, an unfortunate soul hanging from a dead street light, the good time girls ready to please.

One day, I stopped working on it. Didn’t know how to end it and went back to work on Blood and Rain. Never returned to Hunger City. I could have easily come up with an ending, but I never did. Now, almost four years later, it feels the moment has passed.

Fan fiction feels different. Even if this story is all mine (I never used any action from Bowie’s story board drawings), except for a few character and place names, it doesn’t feel mine. It feels like I’d have to ask Bowie’s estate or fans for permission, like I would have to be careful not to offend anyone. I’d be writing for Bowie fans, not my readers.

It is quite possible that I’ll revisit the story sometime in the future, resurrect Luna, but she would be getting her own story in her own world.

I don’t think I’ll be doing fan fiction. Ever.

My First Translation

2 October 2019 by villia Leave a Comment

It’s hard to imagine the thrill of writing a full blown novel until you do it. When Under the Black Sand was completed, six years ago, I could hardly believe it. If I can do it once, I can do it again, I though. in 2017, Blood and Rain was published. It was written differently, deliberately simpler than the debut, much more linear.

That was two years ago. What has happened since?

I took a new job and that ate away most of my time. Still, I have managed to finish the first draft of Mont Noir, promised for 2019 but will be published next year. Then there are the Portuguese and Spanish translations of Blood and Rain, both coming soon.

That’s not all. I revisited the Black Sand and translated it into Icelandic, my native tongue. I always felt it should exist in Icelandic. It is an Icelandic story, the mythology, the saga that spans a thousand years, the modern reality of the boom-bust economy and privatisation, the disconnect from what really matters as we lose ourselves in the race for material comfort. They all play a role in the story and so it should be accessible to my fellow countryfolk.

Funny thing about going through it again and seeing it in its native language, I felt I needed to expand on a few things because the Icelanders would “get it”, while I deleted other things as it didn’t need to be explained to them. The Icelandic version has turned into its own thing. It is the same story, but it feels different.

I may want to revisit the English text now, but maybe I should focus on future projects instead. Time will tell.

Undir Svörtum Sandi will be published on 17 October 2019.

Free Books! Happy New Year!

5 January 2019 by villia Leave a Comment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To celebrate the arrival of 2019 and the fact that I’m obsessively working on my third novel, and planning to publish it in 2019, I have created coupons that allow anyone to buy my novels for nothing.

The two first novels, Under the Black Sand and Blood and Rain are absolutely free at Smashwords for a short period of time.

If you don’t have them yet, jump over there and get them. Time is short.

And see you later in the year when Mont Noir becomes a thing.

The free novels can be found here.

Back Home?

7 November 2018 by villia Leave a Comment

Yesterday was a big day. After living in a kind of limbo for years, Under the Black Sand is finally home. Sort of. It has finally been translated into Icelandic.

As some may know, it takes place in Iceland. It follows Iceland’s history from settlement to modern times, yet it was never available in the language spoken in the country.

While I self-published the novel at the time, I think I may want to try to find a publisher for the Icelandic version. Watch this space. I’ll keep you posted.

Mi libra es espanol?

30 September 2018 by villia Leave a Comment

I haven’t written in a while. Been busy working, playing guitar badly and I did start work on translating Under the Black Sand into my native Icelandic language.

A couple of days ago, a (presumably lovely) lady from Argentina offered to translate the Sand into Spanish. I read the contract (a major undertaking) and decided to go for it.

And here is a promise. I shall keep this site updated in the future. I shall let you know how the translation goes and what it’s like to have someone you’ve never met translate a novel through Babelcube.

Oh, and maybe I’ll finish the Icelandic translation myself. And finish Mont Noir, the sequel to Blood and Rain. And see if I want to finish Hunger City, a Bowie fan fiction. And maybe I want to write the two sequels I had planned for Under the Black Sand.

Whatever happens next, I’ll keep you posted.

Reviews and indy authors

28 February 2017 by villia Leave a Comment

As mentioned in a previous post, my novels are self-published. This means I have no means of displaying posters in city centres or underground stations, they won’t be lying face up in bookstores and there won’t be any morning television appearances where I explain where the spark came from and what I’m trying to tell the world.

I can say anything I want here, I can share my Smashwords interview with you, I can bombard my Facebook page and let the gems rain down on you on Twitter, but you won’t see me or my novels standing proud next to you on a poster at the bus stop. My reach is limited. But all is not lost.

Reviews are the most effective way to advertise my work. I know quita few people have read my debut novel, Under the Black Sand. I know at least some liked it, as the reviews were good and I was told so by quite a few readers I’ve met in person. An advance reader told me Blood and Rain was even better than Under the Black Sand. She’s read them both. I can see where she’s coming from, as Blood and Rain was designed to be a much easier read.

So I’m asking you to post a review if you’ve read my novels and you like them. Anything will do, from “I liked it” to a huge dissection of the characters and what the story did for you.

Whatever you do, please post a review. Doesn’t matter where. We all have our favourite online outlets, whether it be Amazon, Kobo or whatever. Just post that review. It is the only effective way I have to have my work seen by a larger audience.

Thank you.

Here are a couple of reviews for Under the Black Sand. They range from a single sentence to a few paragraphs:

This crime novel swings from standard mystery to very different mythology. Very pleasing story that is tied up well. Most of the characters are very real but not sympathetic. No sweethearts traipsing through this tundra. Great melding of ancient and co temporary conflict.

—

An interesting tale.

—

I bought this book as I like stories based in Iceland. It sat in my ‘wish list’ for ages as I was unsure whether or not to buy. There were no reviews to guide me. However I am so happy that I did in the end purchase it.

This fast moving story is about a forceful businessman, set in todays post 2008 bank collapse Iceland, trying to get a large project passed a political and environmental restistance to his plan. As the story develops you get flashbacks to the past, his past, which eventually consumes his time. It is a story of love over the centuries, of struggle against hard times and also of murder. I cannot give to much away as this will ruin your enjoyment. If you like a slightly supernatural story this is for you. Very good.