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Six Elementals Author Interviews will introduce prospective readers to some of the best writers in their genre you may, or may not, have heard of, via a series of six questions. I encourage you to check out the work of these phenomenal creatives! Links to their websites and purchase links will always appear, accompanying the interview. Check them out!
Today I have the pleasure of speaking to a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) number 8 finalist author, and absolutely phenomenal writer, the wonderful Trudie Skies!
Trudie's currently published works include: the first two books in the "Cruel Gods" series, being "The Thirteenth Hour", and "The Children of Chaos"!
P.L.: Such a privilege to be able to interview you, Trudie! Welcome to Six Elementals Interviews! Can you please provide the readers of this interview with some background on you as an author? How did your writing journey begin? What inspired you to become a writer, and how did you get started?
TRUDIE: Hello P.L. and thank you for having me! I’m Trudie, a British author banished to the grim north where I write weird and wonderful gaslamp fantasy whenever my cat allows me. My writing career actually began with video games! I’ve always been a big fan of Role Playing Games, especially the world and stories, which is how I ended up studying game design and then getting a job as a game tester and designer. However, working on games made me realize that I cared more for creating stories than game mechanics, and that led to building fantasy worlds that would become published stories. A lot of my ideas are inspired by exploring video games.
My first published book was a YA fantasy through a small press that sadly closed during the pandemic. I’d always wanted to learn more about self-publishing, but was still new to publishing in general, which is why I chose a small press for my first in order to learn the ropes. Self-publishing is itself a journey. I’ve always admired the indie spirit of writing whatever you want, so when the pandemic hit, I decided that was the time to go wild and write the crazy book of my dreams, which became “The Thirteenth Hour”—a story inspired by some of my favourite video games including “Final Fantasy VII” and “The Elder Scrolls”.
I’ve been publishing books for over four years now and feel like I’m only just beginning my author journey!
P.L.: Fortunately for us, who have a lot of books to look forward to from you! I've read "The Thirteenth Hour", which went on to glory in SPFBO8, making it all the way to the finals! Congratulations, and very well deserved! Having read the book, I loved it, and can see why it was such a deserving finalist entry! How was your SPFBO experience, being a finalist? What have you learned, if anything, from all your success in this particular contest?
TRUDIE: I’m so glad that you enjoyed “The Thirteenth Hour”! As my first self-published book, I never honestly expected it to be so well received and to do so well in SPFBO. It is quite a chaotic mix of a book! As a fan of indie fantasy, I’d been following SPFBO for years and knew I absolutely wanted to take part. SPFBO can feel like a trial at times—the competition lasts a whole year, and I will admit that I struggled to write or be productive at all during that year! The anticipation is intense when it comes to cuts and announcements. Now that I’ve survived SPFBO and I’m watching other authors go through it, I feel like I’ve gained some wisdom.
The main thing I’ve learned from SPFBO is that it’s all about the journey and the friends we make along the way rather than the destination. It’s also not the be all or end all of your career as an author. There have been authors who were cut from the contest early on and went on to have great success with their books. And then there is me, a finalist, who has yet to become rich or famous haha. SPFBO however is a fantastic opportunity to meet other authors and get your name out there!
I’m a bit biased because I made it through SPFBO, but I do legitimately love the contest for what it does. It’s the biggest competition that focuses specifically on indie authors, and we indies need all the love and attention we can get. While I’m glad to see more indie awards doing well, such as BBNYA and the Indie Ink Awards, my heart will always hold a special place for SPFBO.
P.L.: I agree, we definitely need more Indie book awards! I know that I struggled mightily writing my second novel. Imposter syndrome loomed large! In speaking to a lot of my writing friends, they seemed to experience the same issue, specifically with their second book. Your second novel, "The Children of Chaos", seems to be widely heralded as being even better than your marvellous first novel. Did you feel any of that "second book" pressure when you were writing it, as I mentioned, worrying about making it even better than the first, or living up to the immense success of the first?
TRUDIE: I can definitely relate, and I do think it’s one of those universal author pains that we all go through! I’m glad that most readers seem to have liked what I did with “The Children of Chaos”, though I constantly warn people it’s far ruder and cruder than the first! The second book came out on the same day “The Thirteenth Hour” was nominated as a semi-finalist in SPFBO, which was a massive surprise and a good reason to celebrate!
When writing the sequel to “The Thirteenth Hour”, the pressure was certainly there. The book had done well and gotten more attention than my previous YA books ever had, and I’ll admit it was overwhelming. Now I had readers who actually wanted to read my books, and that was nerve-wracking. Writing a sequel is a balance of delivering more of the same content that readers loved while also making it different and expanding on the first book. That part was easy in a way as I’d set up an entire universe of different worlds that I could—and did—explore. But there are expectations. Writing the first book was like flirting with fun. Writing the second book was like learning to dance with a professional dancer as my partner. I had to watch where I was putting my feet while learning how to flow. As a result, it took me way longer to finish writing the second book. I also pressured myself to get it written and done within the year, which made me rush through publishing it as quickly as I could. That was my biggest regret.
For future books, I have learned to step back and take my time and have a more ‘it’ll be done when it’s done’ approach! It’s important to remember that I’m writing for fun, and I won’t please everyone.
P.L.: Great advice! Who are some of your favourite authors? What are you currently reading? Any book recommendations?
TRUDIE: Some of my favourite trad authors are Leigh Bardugo, Melissa Caruso, R. F. Kuang, and Tamora Pierce, who was a big influence on me growing up! I read a lot more indie fantasy these days, and some of my favourite indie authors are Al Hess, A.K, Faulkner, Douglas Lumsden, Isa Medina, J. Rushing, Krystle Matar, L.L. MacRae and Sarah Chorn to name a few!
I recently ploughed through the back catalogue of A.K. Faulkner’s Urban Fantasy series, which I recommend if you’re looking for fast paced LGBT+ stories with plenty of angst and trauma and a touch of spice! I’ve taken some inspiration from A.K’s books for my own, so watch out haha.
Right now, I’m participating in the first Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship as a judge! That means my next few months will be full of indie novellas, and not just the ones in my group—there are some amazing entries across the board I can’t wait to try.
P.L.: Wow! Sounds like a fascinating contest! Best of luck! What do you believe is the most challenging part of being a self-published author?
TRUDIE: I imagine if you asked 100 authors this question, at least 90 will answer with marketing! You think writing a book is the hard part, but no, that was the easy part! Trying to market and sell your book is the real challenge. Especially when so many of us are introverts and would rather just not.
Though personally, I think the most challenging aspect of being self-published is balancing all the book ideas you have and deciding which ones to write next. If you have an agent, you can get advice on which books are likely to do well and sell and thus which ideas you can focus on. As a self-published author, you’ve only got yourself and your readers to answer to. And if, like me, you have hundreds of ideas all the time, you might struggle with that choice! You’ve only got so much time to do them all.
P.L.: Never enough time in the day, especially as an Indie author, I completely agree! Can you disclose any current projects you are working on?
TRUDIE: Speaking of never ending ideas! I’m currently working on “The End of Time”, the third and final book in my “Cruel Gods” series. While I’m dedicating my time to getting that done, I’ve got a bunch of ideas for a new series brewing in the background. I’m eager to write them all, but need to put them in some sort of order, so my next book will hopefully be a standalone fantasy novel as a cleanser before delving into a completely new series! Though I also have plans to return to the “Cruel Gods” world eventually.
P.L.: Trudie, it has been an honour to speak to you for Six Elementals Interviews! Thank you so much!
TRUDIE: Thank you for having me!
Contact Trudie here:
Website: www.trudieskies.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/trudieskies.bsky.social
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19098964.Trudie_Skies
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/trudie-skies
Buy Trudie’s books here:
The Cruel Gods series on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HKYPPZ4
The Cruel Gods series on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/334434-the-cruel-gods
Today I have the pleasure of speaking to a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) number 8 finalist author, and absolutely phenomenal writer, the wonderful Trudie Skies!
Trudie's currently published works include: the first two books in the "Cruel Gods" series, being "The Thirteenth Hour", and "The Children of Chaos"!
P.L.: Such a privilege to be able to interview you, Trudie! Welcome to Six Elementals Interviews! Can you please provide the readers of this interview with some background on you as an author? How did your writing journey begin? What inspired you to become a writer, and how did you get started?
TRUDIE: Hello P.L. and thank you for having me! I’m Trudie, a British author banished to the grim north where I write weird and wonderful gaslamp fantasy whenever my cat allows me. My writing career actually began with video games! I’ve always been a big fan of Role Playing Games, especially the world and stories, which is how I ended up studying game design and then getting a job as a game tester and designer. However, working on games made me realize that I cared more for creating stories than game mechanics, and that led to building fantasy worlds that would become published stories. A lot of my ideas are inspired by exploring video games.
My first published book was a YA fantasy through a small press that sadly closed during the pandemic. I’d always wanted to learn more about self-publishing, but was still new to publishing in general, which is why I chose a small press for my first in order to learn the ropes. Self-publishing is itself a journey. I’ve always admired the indie spirit of writing whatever you want, so when the pandemic hit, I decided that was the time to go wild and write the crazy book of my dreams, which became “The Thirteenth Hour”—a story inspired by some of my favourite video games including “Final Fantasy VII” and “The Elder Scrolls”.
I’ve been publishing books for over four years now and feel like I’m only just beginning my author journey!
P.L.: Fortunately for us, who have a lot of books to look forward to from you! I've read "The Thirteenth Hour", which went on to glory in SPFBO8, making it all the way to the finals! Congratulations, and very well deserved! Having read the book, I loved it, and can see why it was such a deserving finalist entry! How was your SPFBO experience, being a finalist? What have you learned, if anything, from all your success in this particular contest?
TRUDIE: I’m so glad that you enjoyed “The Thirteenth Hour”! As my first self-published book, I never honestly expected it to be so well received and to do so well in SPFBO. It is quite a chaotic mix of a book! As a fan of indie fantasy, I’d been following SPFBO for years and knew I absolutely wanted to take part. SPFBO can feel like a trial at times—the competition lasts a whole year, and I will admit that I struggled to write or be productive at all during that year! The anticipation is intense when it comes to cuts and announcements. Now that I’ve survived SPFBO and I’m watching other authors go through it, I feel like I’ve gained some wisdom.
The main thing I’ve learned from SPFBO is that it’s all about the journey and the friends we make along the way rather than the destination. It’s also not the be all or end all of your career as an author. There have been authors who were cut from the contest early on and went on to have great success with their books. And then there is me, a finalist, who has yet to become rich or famous haha. SPFBO however is a fantastic opportunity to meet other authors and get your name out there!
I’m a bit biased because I made it through SPFBO, but I do legitimately love the contest for what it does. It’s the biggest competition that focuses specifically on indie authors, and we indies need all the love and attention we can get. While I’m glad to see more indie awards doing well, such as BBNYA and the Indie Ink Awards, my heart will always hold a special place for SPFBO.
P.L.: I agree, we definitely need more Indie book awards! I know that I struggled mightily writing my second novel. Imposter syndrome loomed large! In speaking to a lot of my writing friends, they seemed to experience the same issue, specifically with their second book. Your second novel, "The Children of Chaos", seems to be widely heralded as being even better than your marvellous first novel. Did you feel any of that "second book" pressure when you were writing it, as I mentioned, worrying about making it even better than the first, or living up to the immense success of the first?
TRUDIE: I can definitely relate, and I do think it’s one of those universal author pains that we all go through! I’m glad that most readers seem to have liked what I did with “The Children of Chaos”, though I constantly warn people it’s far ruder and cruder than the first! The second book came out on the same day “The Thirteenth Hour” was nominated as a semi-finalist in SPFBO, which was a massive surprise and a good reason to celebrate!
When writing the sequel to “The Thirteenth Hour”, the pressure was certainly there. The book had done well and gotten more attention than my previous YA books ever had, and I’ll admit it was overwhelming. Now I had readers who actually wanted to read my books, and that was nerve-wracking. Writing a sequel is a balance of delivering more of the same content that readers loved while also making it different and expanding on the first book. That part was easy in a way as I’d set up an entire universe of different worlds that I could—and did—explore. But there are expectations. Writing the first book was like flirting with fun. Writing the second book was like learning to dance with a professional dancer as my partner. I had to watch where I was putting my feet while learning how to flow. As a result, it took me way longer to finish writing the second book. I also pressured myself to get it written and done within the year, which made me rush through publishing it as quickly as I could. That was my biggest regret.
For future books, I have learned to step back and take my time and have a more ‘it’ll be done when it’s done’ approach! It’s important to remember that I’m writing for fun, and I won’t please everyone.
P.L.: Great advice! Who are some of your favourite authors? What are you currently reading? Any book recommendations?
TRUDIE: Some of my favourite trad authors are Leigh Bardugo, Melissa Caruso, R. F. Kuang, and Tamora Pierce, who was a big influence on me growing up! I read a lot more indie fantasy these days, and some of my favourite indie authors are Al Hess, A.K, Faulkner, Douglas Lumsden, Isa Medina, J. Rushing, Krystle Matar, L.L. MacRae and Sarah Chorn to name a few!
I recently ploughed through the back catalogue of A.K. Faulkner’s Urban Fantasy series, which I recommend if you’re looking for fast paced LGBT+ stories with plenty of angst and trauma and a touch of spice! I’ve taken some inspiration from A.K’s books for my own, so watch out haha.
Right now, I’m participating in the first Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship as a judge! That means my next few months will be full of indie novellas, and not just the ones in my group—there are some amazing entries across the board I can’t wait to try.
P.L.: Wow! Sounds like a fascinating contest! Best of luck! What do you believe is the most challenging part of being a self-published author?
TRUDIE: I imagine if you asked 100 authors this question, at least 90 will answer with marketing! You think writing a book is the hard part, but no, that was the easy part! Trying to market and sell your book is the real challenge. Especially when so many of us are introverts and would rather just not.
Though personally, I think the most challenging aspect of being self-published is balancing all the book ideas you have and deciding which ones to write next. If you have an agent, you can get advice on which books are likely to do well and sell and thus which ideas you can focus on. As a self-published author, you’ve only got yourself and your readers to answer to. And if, like me, you have hundreds of ideas all the time, you might struggle with that choice! You’ve only got so much time to do them all.
P.L.: Never enough time in the day, especially as an Indie author, I completely agree! Can you disclose any current projects you are working on?
TRUDIE: Speaking of never ending ideas! I’m currently working on “The End of Time”, the third and final book in my “Cruel Gods” series. While I’m dedicating my time to getting that done, I’ve got a bunch of ideas for a new series brewing in the background. I’m eager to write them all, but need to put them in some sort of order, so my next book will hopefully be a standalone fantasy novel as a cleanser before delving into a completely new series! Though I also have plans to return to the “Cruel Gods” world eventually.
P.L.: Trudie, it has been an honour to speak to you for Six Elementals Interviews! Thank you so much!
TRUDIE: Thank you for having me!
Contact Trudie here:
Website: www.trudieskies.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/trudieskies.bsky.social
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19098964.Trudie_Skies
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/trudie-skies
Buy Trudie’s books here:
The Cruel Gods series on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HKYPPZ4
The Cruel Gods series on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/334434-the-cruel-gods
