Interview with E.C. Greaves, Author of The Vyshivka Trilogy

KF: Mr Greaves, it's great to have you here. Your book Daughter of the Beast has done incredibly well in SPFBO and has numerous reviews here on SFF Insiders. We all love it, so I thought I'd take a slightly different approach here and start the interview with this question: what sort of madman writes three novels on a smartphone?

ECG: Haha thanks, the buddy read was super fun to drop into!

The phone thing actually started out of sheer boredom on the train to work, back in the day. But legit, I can only write on my phone now (with autocorrect turned off, though)!

I think it's that I can be in the middle of something and jot down ideas, combined with the fact that I sit at a desk all day, so trying to write at my pc at home feels too 'prescribed'.

Also, I like sitting outside at night, smoking tobacco and writing. I do a lot of my edits on PC though, just because the phone version of Google docs is frustrating to navigate.

Everyone should try it!

KF: You use a keyboard though, right? Ed, you used a keyboard, right?

ECG: Like the little thing that pops up at the bottom of the screen? I use that! Type with my thumbs!

KF: Madness. I do wonder though...One of the things I would say about Daughter of the Beast is that there isn't a lot of filler—no frivolous use of words. Do you think writing on your phone altered your prose? Made it more economical?

ECG: In all honesty, I couldn't say! I actually type faster on my phone than on my keyboard. I did cut quite a bit out of DotB too, which, in retrospect, I do kinda regret. Part of that was to remove bits that I felt just made the process of Zyn's "transformation" too on-the-nose (like bits where she self-reflected on what was going on), and part of it was to make the story flow a bit better.

The language and word use is probably cos I just stream-of-consciousness'd that shit straight onto the page, so to speak. Zyntael's a bit of a dunce, so I never wanted her to be too verbose!

The stuff I regret cutting, I did keep, so I plan on "re-stitching" them back in when I get my ass into gear, and do an omnibus!

The main bits are from when she's in training - some more conversations and some early antagonism between her and the other pups, and a few more raids she goes on when the warband is traveling around, which show how savage they can be, and how cool she is with it!

KF: An author's cut? I'd be curious to see how adding those things back might change the overall tone and mood to the book. On that, and on stream-of-consciousness, or flow-state writing: are you talking about your writing in totality or just the dialogue? One of the things I highlighted when I reviewed DotB is that it has a very encompassing mood. I can't quite put my finger on what makes it feel so unique in this sense, I might have to do another read-through to be able to properly articulate it, but I'm curious as to whether it's an intentional thing, or whether, as you say, you're just shitting words.

ECG: Haha it's actually kinda weird to think about it. My process was to try to get in the headspace of  Zyntael in the moment, but then to also try to capture how Zyntael the narrator would reflect on things. I've got a very vivid visual imagination, and it's really hard to explain, but if I imagine doing something, I sorta simultaneously see it in first person, but also in third, like I'm also a disembodied ghost watching on. So I tried to channel that! I've just started rewatching True Detective season one, and in the first episode, Rust says "I don't sleep, I dream." That really resonated with me cos I have extremely detailed dreams, and I usually remember them. So I'd often go to bed thinking scenes over, and dream as though I were Zyntael experiencing them, wake up and type them out, either as I got ready for work, or on the train!

I'd also listen to a lot of dark Slavic folk music, like DakhaBrakha's Na Dobranich, and Zywiolak's Ballada o Glupim Weislawie. Those are pretty much the most Vulkari songs there are. And so I'd have that sorta thing play in my head as I wrote!

Pure unbridled schizophrenia maybe?

KF: I find myself relating to a lot of what you're saying. I've always been a daydreamer, and when people ask me how I come up with such visual stuff I always want to say that I've been doing it my entire life; I just never wrote it down. I often wonder how much of the shows you're watching, or the music you're listening to---essentially what input your subconscious is processing---bleeds into the work. Once those two things become connected memories it's hard to separate the two, so it's difficult to get a satisfying answer to the question. In this case (with DotB,) I think, yes; it bled into the work. I'd be interested to see if you have anything outside of the Vyshivka Trilogy for comparison. I heard a rumor that you might have something cooking, is it true?

ECG: Haha you heard right! I'm working on two distinct books at present. There's a sidequel to the Vyshivka trilogy, set in the same world, but told in third person and setting up the events for the next "Zyntael" stories. And there's a Pi-rat book. Basically, if you took Redwall, Pirates of the Caribbean or Monkey Island, and then smashed those in a blender with the plot of the 1980s animated transformers movie!

I alternate which I work on each month, and am about halfway through each. They're vastly different in tone, so it's nice to switch headspace as I switch book.

The Vyshivka book, Loamcrawlers, is quite dark, and a lot more "adult" than the as-yet unnamed Pi-rat story, but it's still pretty funny, if I say so myself! I can't help but write wacky stuff, so I've decided my genre is Grindark. It started as a typo, but it really does fit!

And yeah, I think we absorb a lot of the media we 'consume' (man, I hate that term), so it'll always bleed through in some form or another! I just try not to be too overt with it, and I also try not to inject my own biases or political leanings into my writing. Like with the Vyshivka Trilogy, I sure don't actually believe in slavery or eating the weak!

KF: How long do you feel you can leave a book alone before you lose the will to write it? I mean, for me, working on two books at the same time has been a non-starter every time. I think I have a limit of how long something should take before my brain just thinks of it as a “never-never.” In order to finish a book I have to say "this is all I'm doing and it will take six to eight weeks." I think binge writing goes hand in hand with that, should I say, ADHD model, so I'm wondering if you're on a next stage where you have to be going full steam at two books because one massive dopamine hit just isn't enough? Is that where I'm headed next?

ECG: Haha damn, when you put it like that, it's rather a worry! But I actually think you're on the money, there. I have about 4 projects on the go at any point. Usually, only one will be writing, whilst I draw, code, or build some sort of vehicle on the side. But of late, I've not been working on my project car (or game), so the second book project filled the void!

I reckon the key to staying engaged with both books is the whole phone writing thing. Like, I can be struck by some inane piece of inspiration, or think of a neat line in one or either, whip my phone out and just write it there and then. Helps if you tell people that's what you're doing too. That way, they are intrigued, instead of offended that you might be texting someone during a date! (jk. as if I have time to date!)

I find that I'll write maybe 50k words before I wanna switch projects, but I actually force myself to switch prior to any word count goal, once the month ticks over. I do allow myself to jot notes in either project doc, but I actively try to avoid fleshing them out while I focus on the current manuscript. It's surprisingly frustrating at times, but kinda cool cos in a few weeks I'll have all these fragments that I have to make sense of, and it inspires new ideas that I'd probably not have considered. Also makes it easier to see the story as a whole, cos when I swap projects I reread the whole ass thing!

But long story short, yeah man! You might be screwed!

KF: Hahaha. Great! I'm up to three of those “ideas only” projects at the minute. I have this thing where I constantly feel behind even though I haven't actually committed to any of it. So it sounds like you're a planner then? You like to have the meat of the novel fleshed out before you start churning words?

ECG: Lol I know that feeling! I feel behind on a kickstarter for an omnibus and audiobook, even though I haven't even started the process! As soon as you have the idea, the GIANT clock in your head starts ticking down, right?

And oh man, I am absolutely not a planner! I mostly wing it, and go entirely on vibes. But I always have a "novel name - notes" document, where I chuck ideas for the actual plot as I come up with them. Then once I have a fair idea of the whole plot, I try to incorporate hints or threads from that document back into the main one during those rereads. It's a weird feedback loop, where the initial writing is just me running wild with some random scene or dialogue, then gradually making the shapes out through the fog!

The first time I have ever tried to plan is for the Pi-Rat book, and that was because I know the plot of Transformers: the Movie off by heart, so can easily adapt it into a pirate story! I've already wildly deviated, so I'm anxious to see how hard I've made it for next month's Ed!

KF: Yes, yes, and yes. The giant clock is telling me I'm already past due for book four, even though I'm only half-way to publishing book two.

We have a bit in common by the looks of things. I like to have a pot of scenes or bits of dialogue and then I start seeing where typing takes me. Feels a bit metaphysical sometimes. Then it's happy accident after happy accident until it's time to turn a draft into a novel...then it's mostly head scratching until the solutions seem obvious.

I've always been curious what it would be like to use another story as a framework though, there's something about working within limitations that seems to breed innovation. How are you finding that?

ECG: Man, it absolutely does feel metaphysical! Like you're just transcribing a story you've already told in the future. Time is a flat circle etc!  

I am apparently pretty useless at following an existing plot. I saw all these [insert fairy tale here] retellings, and I thought, yeah, but what if the thing you're retelling is your favorite childhood movie. How hard could it be, if you know the whole thing by heart?

And then I went and deviated after the first bloody scene!

So after that, I figured it'd be easier just to include certain general story beats, and the overarching thematic plot, then wing it.

I doubt I'd even be able to rewrite one of my own stories without changing it and going on wild tangents!

But I think the limitation of x y z needing to happen, combined with my predilection for making stuff up as I go along, means that I have to come up with some creative ways to rein myself back in! It's actually pretty fun!

Wait... Did you just reveal that there are gonna be four books? I thought there was a law where we all had to do trilogies! Dammit!

KF: I have the power of redaction, if you wish me to wield it!

Ed, this has been a really great chat. I wanted to ask you before we call it, how you feel about SPFBO after making it to the final; your experience with it, and whether or not you think other writers should take part.

ECG: Haha no worries!

Lol, imagine if I was like "My book was the best! Morgan clearly bribed the judges!!"  

But seriously, SPFBO has been such a fun ride, and I've been so honored to have my book make it as far as it did!  Plus, I got to hang out in a super secret discord with the other finalists, and they're all such lovely people. Like, utterly wonderful, supportive, and funny as hell!

It really has been a great time for me cos I don't really suffer from a lot of the stereotypical author anxieties, and I'm an extroverted person through and through, so I've mostly just been super stoked to be a part of it due to all the awesome friends I've made. It's also so bizarre to see so many people reading stuff that just sorta spewed out of my mind unbidden! That'll never feel normal!

I never really went into the competition with the expectation that my book would make it through the first round, cos I always see these things as being mostly about luck. I just so happened to be lucky to be reviewed by Dom of Dominish Books, and Bookborn, who both really liked it - but there are plenty of FAR better books that got cut because they wound up in front of a judge who wasn't their audience, right?

The next round (and you have to pronounce it as SPIFF-BOX) will have even more of a luck/chance component to it, given the sheer number of books vs the limited slots prompting a lottery system for entry, but even so, I would wholeheartedly recommend entering to anyone who wants to find a real sense of community amongst indie authors!

And I'd tell 'em, at the end of the day, the real prize is the friends you'll make along the way. And book sales. heaps of book sales!

It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you, Karl! Thank you so much for doing this!!

Everybody go out and buy his book, by the way!

(DON'T REDACT THAT BIT!!)

KF: It's been a pleasure chatting with you, mate. Thanks for doing this. Hope you'll come and chat to me again for your next release!

E C Greaves is the author of the Vyshivka Trilogy; the first volume, Daughter of the Beast, made it to the final round of SPFBO9. Born in Solihull, UK, he now resides in Christchurch, New Zealand. Besides pouring his imagination out into the pages of his books, he also spends his time developing indie horror games, composing music, building and modifying old vehicles, and drawing.

Follow Ed on Twitter Or visit his Website