SPFBO 9 Author Interview - Shan Syed

What inspired you to write your SPFBO entry? Is there a particular story, personal experience, or idea that sparked this book?

Well, it’s a long story in the making. Technically, working on this book began when I was 14/15 years old, which was when I first came up with the idea of a fantasy world that I wanted to write in. That story which was one copy book long is something I still have and read over every now and again to see how much I’ve grown as a writer since then.

I wrote a couple of different versions of this book, and in 2014-2017 wrote the version that I considered to be the definitive final version. But after writing it all, and having a friend being al alpha reader, I just wasn’t happy with it at all. There was too much I wanted to change, and I was left mostly unhappy.

After that, I sort of forgot about writing until mid-2019. I was just out on a walk and had just returned home and decided that I wanted to write again. I didn’t care about what, but something. This led to me writing a prologue chapter, and well, then until about the start of 2022, I slowly but surely wrote the current story. I don’t think it was a singular inspiration to be honest, I just wanted to make my world from my years before real.

How would you describe your writing process? How did it evolve during the creation of this book?

I would call it chaotic when I think about how I started with this book. I would genuinely write a chapter and then disappear for a month. Maybe a couple. Then I’d write half a chapter and then disappear once again.

As I got closer and closer to what seemed to be a conclusion, I became much more frequent in my writing. It took me maybe two years to write the first 20 chapters, but the last few I got done in six weeks when I was writing at least once a week.

I guess the evolution would be that at the start I would write whenever the mood called for it, and by now it is generally a thing I like to do once a week, to maybe once a month.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?

I don’t really think I had any real challenges in either direction to be honest. When it came to writing the closest thing to a challenge was probably how long it took me to write things sometimes because I didn’t feel like it.

Honestly, the hardest part of the writing process was the name of the book. It’s something that I thought about for two years and still wasn’t sure of. It took a lot of theory crafting with my partner and some friends until finally after writing the 1st draft of the second book, that I finally had a name for the book that I was happy with.

In terms of the publishing process, I guess the longest process was waiting for my editors/artist to get back to me. It wasn’t so much a struggle as much as just a long wait. Funnily, during that time, I was actually able to complete all of the second book I wanted to publish as the process took close to 6-7 months and I had things I wanted to write during that time.

Who are your biggest literary influences and how have they impacted your writing style?

I don’t even know where I would begin to answer this question. I’ve read so many different fantasy novels and have played so many different video games during the course of my life so far.

I imagine all those bits and pieces have snuck through and made an impact in what I’ve written. I’m just going to name my top five favourite authors/video games and hope that’s enough for people. So, number five would be Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos/Frozen Throne, then Mass Effect Trilogy, next would be Brandon Sanderson, number two would be Dragon Age series. Number 1 I would say is the Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. Boy did I love that series and I imagine it’s had a big impact on my life.

How do you approach world-building in your fantasy novel? What elements do you think are essential for a compelling fantasy setting?

I prefer focusing on the characters more than the world building itself if I’m being honest. I think world building will always happen as you write, so its better to focus on making characters that are believable and have motivations that make sense.

Generally speaking, world building in this book happens through sentences here and there referring to other things that are happening. This all shows the world as a living space where events are occurring and have been occurring outside of the characters, as they reference these events. But I prefer to focus on what the characters are going through most of the time than anything else.

If you could give a piece of advice to the main character in your book at the start of their journey, what would it be?

Well, as per the way this book has been written, there’s actually five main characters. Three of them being more main than the others.

I don’t know if I can really give Belris any advice if I’m being honest. Maybe have better luck in life? I guess that’s not really advice, if I’m being honest.

For Jacna, I would say to focus on yourself rather than the events around you. You can’t really influence those events, but you can influence how to change your approach to those events.

For Delton, be nicer and think of others. That’s all, really.

For Helena, hmm, I don’t know what I could say to her that she wouldn’t already know.

For Felt, hmm, again, not sure what I would say to him. Maybe don’t be so treacherous. That could go badly in your future.

As a self-published author, how do you navigate marketing and promoting your work?

Something I really struggle with. I’ve never really had much of a social media presence, and I think that’s holding me back. Also, I think I’m going on too many trips with my partner. If I didn’t do that, I’d likely have more money to throw around for advertising. But seriously, promoting this all is so hard.

I really wish I knew how to do it, but I don’t get a lot of time for it during work and my hobbies.

What made you decide to participate in the SPFBO competition? How do you think this experience will benefit you as an author?

Well, I sort of saw it as a great way to promote my work. And that’s how I’ll be approaching it.

I will benefit as an author as now I have a bunch more books to read and to learn from. And I love reading so I think overall seeing all these other people and their books has me very excited.

If you were to win SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?

I think it would give me a lot of publicity and an award I could add to my work. Due to this, I would get much closer to my goal of transitioning away from being an engineer and being able to be a full-time writer. Which is what I hope to become at some point in the future.

What's next for you after SPFBO? Are there any upcoming projects you can share with us?

Well, as I mentioned before, I’ve written book 2 for the series by now. I’m working through the second draft, after which I’ll be getting opinions from a couple of readers about how it’s written. And then, if I’ve enough money saved up, I can start my work on publishing it, and if I don’t, I’ll get beyond the prologue chapter of book 3. Because yes, I’ve even managed to write that by now.

It all depends on how well this book sells, to be honest. If I can cover my expenses for what it cost for the advertising and making of this book, I should be able to get another one out by the end of the year. If not, then the next book may have to wait till next year.