by Lesley Smith
Ellen Campbell, my brave editor who polished my prose whilst learning a new operating system.
Jason Gurley, for creating the most gorgeous cover I could ever want to have and who didn’t bat an eyelid when I had second thoughts.
Other Jason (Anderson) and Marina over at Polgarus Studio who formatted my manuscript and transformed it into a Real Book.
Ben Adams, for taking my ideas and turning them into something visual and beautiful that can better show other people the world in my head.
Rob Antonishen, who created three gorgeous maps of Reshka which became my go-to for names and places, the first of which was included in The Whispers in the Desert.
Michael Bunker, my mentor, for mentoring, discussing theology and walking me through the finer points of CreateSpace.
M.C., who betaed despite email issues, and Sarah, who tried.
Nick Cole deserves a thank you for reading my stuff and giving me the best pull quote a new indie could ask for.
Team Changing, of course, get their own page but I wanted to thank them. They put their faith in me and became, in their own way, a part of my indie toolbox. Without them I never would have had enough money to even try publishing a novel. The thing is, they didn’t just give me their financial support but also became a part of the process, sharing in my highs and lows, in the learning and the excitement.
On a personal level, I need to thank Sophie and Karen, Penny and the Menagerie, Adriano, Lorna, Paul and Gissy, Mhairi and Bram, Archery Andy, Andy G., Rob and Santos and the Lovely Baristas (they know who they are). I’ll never be able to put everyone on the list but the people who mattered, who were there with encouragement and kindness, they know they were there, for book and life stuff, for the good and the bad, and I’m glad to have all of them. Thank you, all of you, for helping me get this story into the world.
My eternal thanks to Team Changing, my Kickstarter backers:
Regina Buenaobra
Ortwin Regel
Shauna Roberts
Rhianna Pratchett
Kendra Groesbeck
Andrew Kenrick
Ernie Lindsey
Claire Wade
Anders Leander
Kari Kilgore
GriffinFire
Colette Reap
TheRootOfAllEvil
MerseyMal
Hanna Hollstrom
Julian Low
Scott Colvey
Jesse McClusky
Jarkeld
E-J Burr
Brandon Wolgast
Tea Patovaara
Diane Severson Mori
Cryolite
Liz
Michael Leach
Magnus Sand
Ralf Schuchardt
John Spence
John A
Gary Whitta
Angelia Trinidad
Jan O'Malley
Eamon Ambrose
Chris Mallard
Sam JOrdison
Michelle Reece
Mark Lewin
Lucy Child
Davyd Martyn Coe
Adam Nadeau
Rhea Cozens
Jemma Hill
Jess Rhodes
Michael Clarke
Lorna Smart
Ian
Shaun Lorrain
Sophie Speed
sarah gardiner
Georgie Noo Noo
karen cully
Kathleen Czarnecki
Corrienne Peasgood
Olivia Greenway
Melissa Brown
Fernando Bravo
Damon Lord
Shannon Fay
Cassie Newbery
Marie Larroque
Q & A
How did The Changing of the Sun come about?
Originally it was a novella I began writing at the end of Camp NaNoWriMo of 2013. I wanted to write something which wasn’t the project I’d spent the last month doing, but at the same time, there was still a connection. The Changing of the Sun was a story I wrote to help me get my head around a sequence of events which become important in a later novel, Blood and Starstone, in which we get to follow the adventures of a Kashinai priestess living in London. I originally intended it to be around 25k but suddenly it was forty and officially became a novel so I decided to carry on, to let Saiara and the others tell the story. The final version, the one you’ve just finished reading is just shy of one hundred and fifty thousand words and a good two years of my life.
Originally I’d envisioned five novellas, plotting the lives of important people through Kashinai history but I eventually settled on a trilogy. The next book, The Parting of the Waters, focuses on Contact with other species which leads of the formation of the Union, and The Shadow of the Stars which is set, from our perspective, in 2021 and the calling of a new Oracle.
Why write a character who is blind?
You know that saying “write what you know?” I’m visually impaired myself and I’ve always been much more conscious of things other people might take for granted. I have some vision, of course, most ‘blind’ people do. I have good hearing simply because my eyes don’t work so well and I loved the idea that, almost as compensation, blind Kashinai women might start to listen to their inner voice, their conscience, a lot more and transform her into a deity who gave up her corporeal form in order to bring life to the universe.
At the same time I wanted characters who were empowered by their disability, who didn’t let it stop them doing their thing and living lives. Eirian, in particular, is the epitome of this, unafraid of anything and as far from a stereotypical blind woman as you can get. She becomes Saiara’s mentor and without her, Saiara would never have have left the Oracles’ Tower, much less even tried to live up to her new responsibilities.
There are lots of points of view but whose story is this? Saiara’s or Jeiana’s?
It’s both of them, really. Saiara is the focal point, the one who has to grow as a result of having impossible things demanded of her. If there was to be a main character, it would be Saiara and not Jeiana. However the fun part for me was introducing Jeiana—who has cameos in my other Ashterai books under another name. She’s the avatar of a being who is definitely not mortal and much of the early chapters focus on her simply adapting to being a child of Ishvei’s World which includes falling in love with Senara. The balance of her love life and her quest, her reason for incarnating, is very much at the core of the book but Jaisenthia, or Jeiana, is just passing through and this was never, really, her story.
So is Jeiana a deity?
No. She’s one of the Ashterai, a race of evolved beings who act as guardians of the universe and exist outside time, beyond corporeal existence. The word is a Kashinai one meaning ‘the eternal/undying ones’ and while they have cameos in all my series, Jeiana’s not named as one simply because the people of Coronis wouldn’t understand what they are, not at this point in their history or their evolution.
Because she existed outside of time prior to borrowing a mortal body, Jeiana has preternatural knowledge, a map in her head of the places she needs to be, but it’s almost as if it’s rained and she has to find the route to each place on her own. Then I started writing dream sequences where she is visited by her soulmate, who is keeping a watchful eye on her from afar, that are set in places she is yet to visit. As the book progresses and the group travel further from the capital, Jeiana finds herself losing her memories as they return to the place her journey began.
What would you say the overarching themes of this trilogy are?
This book was always about the journey, about faith over uncertainty. You always need to make the occasional leap. Saiara has to make the biggest but she grows as a person because of it.
What about the reincarnation side of things?
This is an important rule of my Ashteraiverse. People learn through living lots of lives and not all in chronological order. The reason Saiara and the Oracles can see things is not just because of a psychic sensitivity but because they had
past lives that were lived—from their current perspective, at least—in the future. Once your life ends, time no longer has any pull and concepts like ‘past’ and ‘future’ don’t exist. So Saiara is, was, and will be someone else, even if she doesn’t remember it consciously. The older a soul gets, the more they remember because the automatic reset/memory-wipe between incarnations isn’t working as well anymore. And once you get to a certain point and become Ashterai, well, all bets are off.
Euthanasia and sex are strong themes throughout the book. Why?
I am very much pro-choice when it comes to assisted dying. I watched the Terry Pratchett documentary in 2013 and the backlash made me realise how backward some views—mainly fuelled by religion—are about being pro-euthanasia.
A personal anecdote: A couple of years ago, I had to have my very ancient cat euthanized. I’d never had to make a decision (and pay for it) myself before and I watched the life go out of his eyes. I’ve never regretted it and will do it again, should the time come, for my current felines, without hesitation.
As a human being I think I did the right thing. I’ve never understood the double standard when it comes to it being fine to end your animal’s lives but not a human who is suffering and just wants to finish it. I’ve suffered from depression for many years and suicide has been something I’ve considered on the darkest days. As a result I’ve always believed that there should be a choice to end your life painlessly, without fear of legal reprisals, and I wanted Ishvei’s World to be a place where you could chose to die when you wanted to, without stigma or repercussions. Similarly, their society is changed so much by the Changing of the Sun, that by the time we revisit in The Parting of the Waters, sex becomes as natural as holding hands.
Who is your favourite character?
Oh, that’s a hard one. I love all of them and it was nice to have the chance to get into so many heads, especially Vashi’s; I enjoyed exploring her back-story the most.
You have created a world where there are several religious orders devoted to creativity, sex, healing and death. If you could choose, which deity would you serve?
I’ve always been one of these people who is convinced they should have lived life in some kind of religious enclave except I’m not a Buddhist or a Christian, so it’s not an option. At the same time, I live for creative pursuits, writing specifically, and am a willing slave to my Muse, so I would probably end up in the Ishveian order. That or possibly the Kodian order, because they had a lot more fun.
Do you have any writing habits or routines?
I write either at home on my iMac or in my local Starbucks (St. Stephen’s Street, Norwich,) on my Air. I am an unabashed Apple geek (purely because it’s more blind-friendly, or at least that’s the excuse I’m sticking to) and rely on Scrivener to write, Aeon Timeline for time-lining, Dropbox for syncing and Evernote for everything else. I tend to write listening to Spotify playlists (mainly Bear McCreary soundtracks and Tobuscus’ Literal Trailers but here’s my Changing playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/lesleysmith/playlist/6SVIlXw5DLrrNphgrl45wb). I also watch TV programmes—I’m a big fan of Da Vinci’s Demons, Sherlock, American Horror Story, Hannibal, Doctor Who and Game of Thrones)—and movies as background noise, which helps me get into the right frame of mind.
As far as actual writing goes, I will usually have some kind of outline lying around somewhere, usually in my head. I tend to write scenes on the fly and then put them in order later on. I also use Pinterest to create mood boards to help inspire me or just keep images in one place for practical purposes; The mood board for my Changing of the Sun trilogy can be found at http://www.pinterest.com/lesleysmithuk/the-changing-of-the-sun-moodboard and it’s quite an eclectic mix.
You have a gorgeous map at the front of The Changing of the Sun. Can you tell us more about it?
This was actually a very practical consideration. I can’t draw to save my life. Like all all. However I’m a visual person (yes, I know, it’s ironic) and needed to know where everything was in relation to each other. From the off, I knew Saiara and company would be going on a journey so I commissioned the talented fantasy cartographer Rob Antonishen to create Reshka for me. He really was incredibly patient with me and very knowledgable about realistic geography. He also did me two more maps, continuations on the theme to show how Coronis changed after the first book. The in-book idea is that when each Oracle takes the title, she is given a census and a current map to signify the land and people she will oversee during her tenure. The map for the first one was designed for Jashri’s ascension, the one for The Water Children during the time of the Oracle Jannah the Pious, and the final book for Dene, the Mother of Visions.
Why did you get illustrations done and who is the talented artist?
Ah yes, that’s Ben J. Adams. I first came across his artwork after reading Hugh Howey’s Sand. I picked up the omnibus on Kindle because it had a gorgeous cover (by Jason Gurley, of course) and if he’s done a cover I usually read the books. Inside were a series of illustrations by this guy I’d never heard of and I loved the artwork, so much so I bought a signed print. Then, when my mentor Michael got Ben to do some illustrations for the omnibus of his Amish sci fi serial, Pennsylvania, I realised I wanted to go that extra mile.
Around that point my editor, Ellen, asked me if I had a mental picture of what a Kashinai looks like. I knew they had sex organs down their backs, tails and were graceful creatures with hollow bones and sharp senses but I didn’t have an image. Now, thanks to Ben, I do.
Ben’s a lovely chap and incredibly accommodating, in fact I’ve already asked him to come back and do illustrations for Parting. He took my request for art to illustrate the act pages which broke up the book and came out with five amazing images which work beautifully on their own but are even more stunning together.
As a writer, who do you read?
I tend to listen to audiobooks but I do enjoy reading. I have a small core of books that I will read incessantly over and over again. I never get tired of them and, in fact, it’s quite reassuring to know exactly what happens: Wild Swans by Jung Chang, The Jack West Jr. books by Matthew Reilly, Mira Grant’s NewsFlesh series, anything by Hugh Howey and Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye books. Oh, and World War Z, we mustn’t forget that one; I adore the recent audiobook re-release, it’s terrifying.
A special mention needs to go to the Numinous World and Order of the Air series by Jo Graham because it’s her books which really taught me you can write a book filled with spiritual stuff that doesn’t need to be confined by a particular religious belief or doctrine; Jo herself has been incredibly encouraging and kind, I’m really very lucky and if I hadn’t read Hand of Isis, I’d have never gone back to writing creatively.
Why did you decide to Kickstart The Changing of the Sun?
I’ll be honest. I’m semi-retired due to my disabilities. I live on a fixed income and it was a matter of gauging interest and raising funds at the same time. Kickstarter was the natural choice for this as it allowed me to get money to do cool things, like the Jason Gurley covers but I also got a team as well, and it’s that community which was the most important. There’s something really rather cool about seeing the ‘funded by Kickstarter’ badge on the covers, too.
Michael has instilled in me, through his enthusiasm and sheer-bloodymindedness, the importance of doing everything well and making the physical product just as important as anything found in Waterstones or Barnes and Noble. His print edition for Pennsylvania, for example, remains one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and the same goes for Jason Gurley’s Eleanor. Michael has a library that would make anyone jealous and he collects books as art, similarly anything he publishes is done to the same standard, and I knew I had to emulate this.
As with any Kickstarter, I learned so many things I didn’t realise I had to know. I also made a massive loss and paid for stuff like the illustrations and print layout out of my own pocket. But it was okay because it meant that the book you’re reading now (perhaps e
ven holding in your hands) would be the best I could make it. I did it, as the creatives say, because I wanted to be as beautiful as I could make it, for the art.
Oh and I plan to do it again soon for The Parting of the Waters.
What’s next?
The Parting of the Waters is the next book in the series. This one follows a Seaborn diver named An’she and her sister, Sarai, who is terrified of the sea. They’re on an archeological dig excavating the remains of Danshu and the sunken city of Aiaea.
After getting lost in an underwater cave system, An’she comes across an enclave of men who were trapped under the earth during the Changing of the Sun and saved by a race of plant-based creatures called the Seranoa. These Water Children also happen to be natural wanderers in the ocean of space who periodically launch themselves into orbit, an event which comes to be known as a Rising. When a Rising is interrupted by an alien space craft, the people of Coronis begin to realise the universe is bigger than they ever anticipated and it’s time for them to step up and embrace their destiny.