Author L.A. Wilson has self-published nine books so far in “The Silurian” series. The tenth and final book, “Last Man to Avalon”, is currently a work in progress. The series is hosted on Lulu.com, Smashwords.com, and XinXii.com. Wilson has also self-published previously published novels on Smashwords including a gothic vampire book in the tradition of Anne Rice called “In Blood Covenant” (the first book Wilson ever wrote), a speculative fantasy, “Son of the Sun”, and a science fantasy novella, “Jury’s Children”. All three titles are now published under the pen name, A.J. Niles. “Jury’s Children” won first place in an international genre fiction contest in Australia in 2003, though under a different title. I was fortunate enough to be able to chat a little with Wilson about the “Silurian”, self-publishing, and writing. Without further delay, this is what Wilson had to say;Sofia: Wilson, tell me a little about your “Silurian” books and their genre.Wilson: My “Silurian” series is based on the long history of Arthurian genre fiction, revolving around the myths and legends of King Arthur and his knights. It’s a well populated genre that’s rarely included in the options to categorize a writer’s novels on publishing sites and portals, so my books end up under ‘historical fiction’.
I’ve been insanely obsessed by Arthur and his warrior-world of Dark Age Britain for most of my adult life. My books are based in reality, not Arthurian fantasy, where you meet fire-breathing dragons, magic swords, magicians and sorceresses with lightning-wielding staffs. There’s no Sir Lancelot in The Silurian, which is closely based on the ancient Welsh traditions of Arthur and his closest companions. Bedwyr (who narratives my books) and Cai are set within the real world of 5th and 6th century Celtic Britain.Sofia: Your books certainly sound like stories I could happily loose myself in! Why did you decide to self-publish them?Wilson: The reasons I decided to self-publish “The Silurian” series are many-fold. Often, both traditional publishers and online publishers are reluctant to take on such a long series of books. I was told by one acquisitions editor, “The author rarely finishes the series!” Also, I’ve had bad experiences again and again with online publishers. While I’m not saying for other writers not to pursue online publishing, my own personal experiences have been bad. With self-publishing your work is fully your own – you can price your own books, and you keep most of the royalties, with the exception of the cut taken for hosting the books on sites like Smashwords and Lulu. I have full control of what I write, and how I publish. Another great thing about self-publishing is you can constantly, if needed, upload new editions of your books, which you cannot do with traditional publishing. Bottom line; I’ve made far more money going it alone than I did when my books were published with an online publisher. Sofia: I have to say I like the idea of having “full control” of my work. And speaking of work, do you arduously plot your stories or do you simply get a general idea and let it run its course? Wilson: All of my books are character driven, and it is the characters who call the shots. I rarely plot anything. In fact, I just make it up as it goes along, working to the internal logic of the story – a logical progression from what happened before. It’s cause and effect, if you like, but logical to the characters and the world they live in. So when I say I just make it up as I go along, that ‘making up’ is not just pulling events randomly out of a hat because I feel like it. The plot forms naturally to the characters own identities and the world they live in, which fits neatly with what went before, almost like a jig-saw pattern. I don’t try to force in a piece that just doesn’t fit with what went before it. Everything has to match up. I also use a lot of ‘what if’ experimental scenes in my work. I write out that ‘what if’ scene to see where the next logical story progression will take me. That being said, I mostly allow my characters to tell me what to do. Prince Bedwyr, the narrator of “The Silurian”, is utterly dominant to me, and what he says goes most of the time. I rarely edit him, and if I do, it’s because he’s being a dim-wit. Normally, he’s not a dim-wit at all.Sofia: That’s interesting. My characters in Change of Pace are all based on actual people (names changed to protect their identity, of course). So if they’re dim-witted in my book, it’s because they’re dim-witted in real life. But that’s enough about me and my book! Besides Prince Bewdyr, do you have a favorite fictitious character?Wilson: I like my reading to be a little on the gothic side and rich with wild passions, so I’m very fond of the dark villain, Heathcliff, from the brilliant 19th century novel, “Wuthering Heights”, by Emily Bronte. This book truly influenced me when I first read it because it is nothing like the movie versions of sugary romance. Heathcliff is a monster who roams the moors like a dark elemental force, mad with the obsession of Catherine. No, this story is not a sugary romance, but dark, and cruel, and brilliant.Sofia: Dark and cruel – I can’t disagree with you about that! Let’s talk about you again. What are you working on at the moment?Wilson: I’m writing the final book in my “Silurian” series. All of the “Silurian” books are over 100,000 words. My readers have asked me to go all the way with “Last Man to Avalon” and write the longest book of the series. As it’s the last book, and I’ve been writing the series since 2003, I hope I can take the story to grand and tragic endings, long in its scope and deep in vision. Sofia: Do you have to do much research? If so, do you enjoy it or is it a tedious task for you?Wilson: I do mounds of research! As my story is set in the real world of Dark Age Britain, I have to take care of the historically known truths of their times, while at the same time, blending Arthurian legend and myth into the real world. For instance, Arthur gains his powerful sword, Escalibor, not by it being given to him by the Lady of the Lake, but he wins it in battle against an invading Jutish warlord. Within the real-world research, “The Silurian” is loaded with allusions to the myths of Arthur.Sofia: What advice would you give aspiring writers?Wilson: Some say to read, read, read. But I say, write, write, write. Reading other people’s books only makes you write other people’s books. (Not saying don’t read at all, of course). But the only way to be an original writer in my experience is to do just that – write your own stories. Study your craft, and be willing to edit, edit, edit. You have to break through the ‘wow, I’m such a great writer’ thing and to be able to see how awful a lot of beginner writers are. I have to admit I was one of them! Once I accepted I needed to edit my work, my writing improved. In fact, I’d say learning to be a good editor helped me more than anything to be a good writer. Doing a few writing courses also improved my writing. I enrolled in a number of writing classes when I first started writing, and it really helped me on my way. Read the best books on the craft of writing and editing you can find. And then, just write and write and write. I re-wrote my first book seven times, and I don’t mean just adding a few scenes here, and deleting a few scenes there. I mean I totally and completely re-wrote the entire book seven times. (It did get published in the end).Sofia: So how did you deal with rejection from publishers and agents?Wilson: With disgust! Sofia: Oh, that sounds strangely familiar… If you could invite anyone from any era for a cup of coffee in your living room, who would you choose?Wilson: King Arthur of course!Sofia: Ha! I didn’t really need to ask you, did I? Okay, last question - what do you do when you’re not writing?Wilson: Go mad.Please visit L.A. Wilson's Website and don’t forget to check out “The Silurian” by L.A. Wilson at Smashwords and LuLu.
