Interview With Author Vanessa MacLellan

Vanessa is a fantasy author born and raised in the farmlands of eastern Washington. She works as an environmental engineer, and is an avid birder, naturalist and hiker living in Portland, Oregon. Her first novel, Three Great Lies, was an Egyptian fantasy published by Hadley Rille Books. She loves mythology and tries to slip it into every book she writes.

Her latest book Awaken is a Norse dark fantasy/horror, and it will be out on July 30th! You can pre-order your copy now on Amazon.

Balin stands between two great Powers. One will shatter his mind; the other will destroy his soul. Only one of them can save his people.

Fort Resonbirg, a Norse stronghold in the New World, is besieged by the evil sorcerer Ursulard the Dreamspinner. Though their fields are scorched and homes destroyed, the residents and refugees do not worry, because Fort Resonbirg is Awakened with the power to provide, protect, and grow. But not all is as it seems when a wall of impenetrable mist surrounds the fort, and within the mist hunts the dragon, Nidhogg. Nidhogg hungers for more than flesh and bone. It instills nightmares on its prey, feeding on fear and pain, inevitably taking lives.

Balin Tremore, a commoner bound for the militia but hoping to stay by his noble love's side, never expected to amount to grand things. When the great power of Cradleweaving is awakened within him, Balin unknowingly becomes the one person with the power to pierce the wall of mist and banish the deadly beast within before it destroys them all—if he can master the new power in time. But to master the power, he must sacrifice much. The question is, will it be his position, his Lady, or his very soul?

The Mist meets Nightmare on Elm Street in this classic tale of personal sacrifice.

Are you indie or traditionally published? What made you decide to take that route?

My first novel was published through a small press, which was the original Independent Publishing. My second I've decided to self-publish. So, I'm two different versions of indie. I chose self-publishing this route because querying and sending my manuscript to presses was taking so long. My book was with one press for two years and then got a rejection, and then with another press for two years, and then got a rejection. I was tired of the wait, so I got it edited, got a cover. I've chosen to speed things up a bit and self-publish.

Tell us a fun story about your publication journey!

I don't know if I have too many fun stories; I could share with you some groaners. So, when my first novel came out (Three Great Lies, an Egyptian portal story) I had a big in person book launch at Powell's Books in Portland. I loved it! I had a whole presentation on Egypt and the writing journey I had been on. I had a packed house and it was great to answer questions and bask in the glory of my launch. It just felt amazing that so many people were interested in me and my book. That makes me sound like a narcissist! But truly, I thrived in sharing my book with people who showed interest.

How about a horror story about your author life?

Oh yes! Here we go. The press that picked up Three Great Lies was Hadley Rille books, which is a great press. But the main editor had a stroke halfway through editing my book (no, it wasn't my books fault). It took over a year for another person to finish editing the book and then I had to format the book for myself and help with the publication. That's one reason I have a tiny bit of a clue on how to go the self-published road. But all things progressed, the book got published, and here I am.

What do you think is the best thing about being an author?

I love stories. The escapism of creating another world, a world that is perhaps better (though there is always something worse), and one in which you, as the author, know all the rules. To make up amazing people. To bring them to life. To write a scene that floors you and you read it again and again thinking "Did I write this? It's amazing! I'm so proud of myself." So, lots of things, but it's all about the story, the creation, the bringing to life something that is only thought.

Who do you think you inspire? If not, who and what do you want to inspire?

I was very much into inspiring people to think in a new way. That was ten years ago. Now, I think I want to entertain more than 'inspire' because to me, inspiring in a book almost sounds like I have an agenda to socially engineer people to think like I do. I'm tired of the social engineering. If I can inspire people to want to be writers, that's great! But I don't think I aim to really inspire within the books. I do that more in my every day life as a nature lover and environmental engineer.

What character archetype would you be if you were a character in a book, movie or TV series?

Well, I'm kinda the Hufflepuff. I'm the supportive beta... unless I have to step up to be the alpha leader, then I will. I don't want to fight for the power, but it the leader is making bad decisions, I'll often just leave rather than argue over it.

If you were cursed to only be able to sing ONE song in karaoke for the rest of your life, what would you like it to be and why?

I do love singing Bad Romance.

But All the Small Things is another good one I enjoy singing karaoke to.

What else do you enjoy doing other than reading and writing?

So many things. As an armature naturalist, I enjoy hiking, camping and backpacking. I am a big birder and am quite skilled in bird song identification. I know which plants are edible and if they have any medicinal properties. I can do a bit of animal tracking, but I'm a novice at that. I am a wild sprite when I can be. I also enjoy watercolor painting, which is my Covid hobby. My thoughts on that are most people either got a new pet or picked up a hobby during early quarantine.

What do you consider as your weakness as a writer, and what have you done to overcome it?

Lately, my weakness is coming up with unique endings to stories and that stalls me. I'm middle aged, so by now I've read a lot of stuff and it's easy for me to think, "Oh, that's been done, that's been done too," but then I read new books that are totally remakes of older books and I wonder why the author didn't think to do something new? Perhaps it's just my own hang up. To overcome this, I have friends I bounce ideas off with. We talk about the story and sometimes, through random Brownian motion, we discover a new twist that is a bit shiny and I go that direction.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Barbarian Kingsolver, Kate Atkinson, JK Rowling, Stephen King... I could go on. I do find it funny that I often like an authors older stuff and as he or she improves, I don't like it as much, so it's always a delight to find a new author that hits all my buttons.

Any book recommendations?

A Long Night in the Lonesome October by Zelazny is amazing. And so is Illusions by Bach. I highly recommend both to everyone. Two totally different books that I think are top tiers for me for completely different reasons.

Anything else you want to tell your fans, our readers, and the writing/reading/blogging community at large?

I've a new book coming out! Awaken is a Norse dark fantasy. It's borderline horror but sometimes that line is faint. It's all about being trapped (physically and mentally) and choices and the sacrifices true heroes make. I do feel bad for my main protagonist, and I think I write lighter stuff now, but this story reflects the horrors of standing between two great choices and neither is a win for the chooser.

Thanks for the interview! I really enjoyed chatting with you all!

You can find Vanessa at her website, or on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.