Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview S.D. Huston, whose debut novel, Blood of the Lily, was our featured new release on November 1.
You say the basis of the book is the story of Snow White and Rose Red mashed up with Irish mythology. What gave you the idea and how does it work?
When I first decided to write as a career, I thought about the importance of writing to market. My girlfriend, Nissa Leder, had already been successfully publishing for a few years, and she told me stories about fae was popular. I love to write fantasy and thought I would enjoy writing about the fae. However, the majority of the published books mostly took place in contemporary settings and times, whereas I like older time periods and cultures. So, I looked up the origins of the fae, which comes from the Irish mythologies. Because these mythologies are not as well known, I wanted to include something familiar, so I used the fairy tale of Snow White and Rose Red. I also included some figures from Greek mythologies.
What is the importance to you of Irish myth and legend?
Honestly, I loved the idea of learning about a new mythology—something not taught in school or something many make movies or books about. After doing some research, I understood why these mythologies are not often used in storytelling. Many of the stories are convoluted while others will contradict each other on key points of information. I took this as a challenge to allow my creativity to work out what made sense for me.
Your main characters are 16-year-old sisters Lily and Rose, who set out to help a leprechaun and end up in trouble. What goes wrong?
Without giving too much away, other forces at work with a
mysterious goddess who would see the sisters separated or dead. She uses the
leprechaun for her own goals.
What happened to the third sister, and what was her name? Does her fate play a part in the story?
Their third sister, Marigold, dies before the story begins. Her death has an impact on Lily who is the main point of view in the first book. She also appears as a ghost to Lily, and she has a modest impact on the overall story line for the series.
Lily has to deal with darkness inside and outside her. What is
her inner darkness?
How does the interaction between our world and the Otherworld work?
The story takes place in 3rd century Ireland. How did you set about researching and creating that lost world?
Lost world for sure! The inhabitants of Ireland didn’t have a
true written language, so nothing was recorded until the Christians came and
wrote everything down around the 6th century AD. Historians are not even sure
on the structure of the civilizations—like they don’t believe they had towns or
cities. A few rare bog bodies have given clues to clothing and food, but
otherwise much is not known. I read a lot of older books, translations, and
historical theories to form my view and also relied on what we know about the
surrounding cultures (like the Greeks and Romans) during that time period.
This is your first published novel. Have you written before and what led you to write this?
I have been writing my whole life. I wrote, illustrated, and bound my first book when I was nine years old. However, my realistic mind and upbringing told me that writing fantasy stories could never be or most likely would never be a career. The internet didn’t exist when I grew up, and then in my 30s, self-publishing was just starting. So, I had a few other careers before that—I was a soldier in the U.S. Army, worked as a civilian for the Marine Corps, taught college English and Literature after getting my MFA in writing from Spalding University, and ran my own business as a Writing Coach, but I still just wrote for pleasure and passion. When my husband retired from the military a couple years, I decided to pursue writing as an actual career.
Your own life has been adventurous - as a child you survived Hurricane Andrew when it destroyed your home in Florida; you worked three jobs to travel to France after leaving high school; you joined the army, worked for the Marine Corps and fell down a mountain in Hawaii. How have your travels and adventures informed your writing?
All those experiences provided different views on life—how to approach adversity, how to work toward goals, how to integrate into different cultures, and so forth. Some people are born, grow up, and live their whole life in the same town, so books that provide windows into different viewpoints open the world to them. I feel that I can bring some of that into my work, because I had first-hand experiences of those different viewpoints.
You graduated with an MFA and taught College English and Literature, before running your own business as a Writing Coach. Has that helped you as a writer?
You have a family, a husband and two sons, one who is 20 and serving in the army, and one who is 8 and autistic. How do you combine family life with writing?
Honestly, combining them is very difficult in general, and then for me and my personality, it can be harder. I’m the type who likes to lose themselves in their current passion—whether that’s writing or my family. So, there are times when my youngest, who is autistic, is struggling with something, and I drop everything to focus on him. No writing happens. But then I get into writing, and nothing else exists, not even hunger. What helps is that I have a supportive and awesome spouse. When I get into my creative mode, he’ll take care of house and home, and he brings me a plate of food.
With your first book finished and ready for publication, are you planning another and will it be a sequel or a stand-alone novel?
This will be a series called Clash of Goddesses. The second
book is actually already done and with my copyeditor/proofreader at the time of
writing this. It will be released on 3 January 2022. I’m writing the third book
now, which will most likely be the last book. I have a tentative release date
of 7 March 2022.
How do you find the experience of being an indie author and setting out to self-publish a book?
I’ve learned so much this past year about be an indie author. When you self-publish, you’re not just a writer as many who’ve travelled this path have already said. I’ve have felt a bit of frustration because there is so much I need to know and not enough hours to learn it before publishing my debut novel. However, I know some learning will come by way of experience. With all that said, I wouldn’t trade it for being traditionally published. I like having control over my work and how and when it will be presented.
What do you enjoy reading and are there any writers who have influenced you?
I love to read! But that has been harder to integrate into my schedule this last year. The writers who influence me the most include Marion Zimmer Bradley, Brian O’Sullivan, Robert Jordan, and Terry Brooks. I’ve picked up a couple new authors this year who I admire including Bethany Atazadeh and M.K. Williams.
Amazon
About S.D Huston:
Told that she was a weird child because she spent summers in the backrooms of libraries reading and drawing everything she researched, S.D. Huston embraced her eccentric passions for writing. Even as she constantly traveled all her life with some years spent in the U.S. Army, then gaining an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University, she always immersed herself in reading and writing about magical lands and world mythologies. She particularly loves Irish mythology with its Celtic roots, which found its way center stage in her YA Fantasy novel, Blood of the Lily. She continues to embrace all the quirkiness in her life, especially her autistic son who sees life as one grand adventure filled with beasts and monsters that need to be conquered. Other love interests include her family, four cats, and one dog.
