Welcome to TP Hogan's Author Interviews.
Today, I'm joined by New Zealand fantasy author, Darian Smith.
[Darian Smith reading Excerpt]
He moved back to the fallen sailors by the entrance. These men have been on guard, surely they, of all those
on the boat, would've been the most vigilant, most likely to see something was amiss and put up the fight.
There had to be a clue. The dead man on the left was blond and slumped against the wall like a broken doll.
He wore a sword on his hip but had made no attempt to draw it, before he was struck down. His eyes were open
and staring. Brannon leaned closer, lifting the corpse's hands and looking them over to see if he grabbed
anything from his attacker. The fingers were rough and calloused from working with rope and the elements, but
Brannon couldn't see anything that seemed out of place. He dropped the man's arm and the weight of it pulled the
body off balance, tilting it to one side. Tucked behind it was a small creature.
At first Brandon thought it was another dead rat, but it was a little smaller than that.
About the size of his palm and had eight long legs curled over its body. A large dead spider.
"Blood and tears," Brannon muttered. He drew his dagger, crouched down and poked at the
spider. There was no response.
"Taran, come and have a look at this, could you? Is this what I think it is?"
"Um, what do you think it is?" The young priest made his way over, and Draeson
followed, seemingly bored with the search. Brennan gestured to what he'd found, with his knife.
"Am I crazy, or is this one of those things you keep as pets in your lab?"
Taran's eyes widened. "A creagor spider? But they're from the desert.
It's not hot enough for them here."
"Unless it was planted," Brannon said. "They're poisonous, right? Those pin pricks could be bite marks.
Could that be what killed everyone?"
Terran shook his head. "A spider would only bite one person, two at the most.
They've been used for assassinations before but this doesn't fit their nature."
"What if there are more of them?" Brennan looked around uncomfortably.
Draeson snorted. "Enough to have one bite every member of the crew? Do you really think we wouldn't
have noticed that many hooded great spiders running about?"
Terran knelt down beside the spider. "They're territorial, anyway," he said. "They'd fight if put together."
"Okay, so it's yet another mystery," Brannon sighed. "I wonder what killed it."
He used the tip of the dagger to flip the spider over. The creature's back was torn apart, as if burst open from the
inside. The body was hollowed out. Blood and ichor had oozed over it's eight tiny eyes.
Brennan startled, almost losing his balance and stood up.
"Blood of the wolf." Taran's voice cracked.
"What is it?" Brennan glanced up at the priest, as he stumbled back.
"We have to get off the ship." Taran's eyes were wide, the white stark against his pupils. "Now."
Brannon exchanged a glance with Draeson. "Why?"
Before he got an answer, the corpse at his feet quivered. Brennan froze, his eyes fixed on the dead man's face.
Something moved under the skin. A lump, the size of a thumb, wriggled up the man's neck and across his
cheekbone. Then a second lump moved across his temple. The grey, dead flesh rippling like river water with
fish swimming just below the surface. "What the...?"
The dead man's eye ball burst like a squeezed grape, spurting out gobs that slid to the floor.
An insect crawled from the empty socket. It was shaped like a wasp, but had large forelegs like a praying mantis,
and a long double stinger like a pair of tines of a fork. Its wings were wet with dark blood and crumpled against
it's body. It paused, perched on the sailor's cheek and it's body pulsed like a heartbeat. Expanding with each pulse,
as if to fill the space of its newfound freedom. It's wings quivered and stretched.
Beneath the surface of the corpses gray skin, more bumps began to shift.
The flesh on his arm parted and another of the wasps broke free.
Taran shoved Brannon towards the exit. "Run," he screamed. "Run!"
TP: Our author interview today, is with Darian Smith. How are you, Darian?
DS: I'm good. Thank you for having me.
TP: That's awesome, no worries at all. How about you tell us a little bit about yourself.
DS: I'm a New Zealand based author. I write mostly fantasy. I have dabbled with some other things, but my
first love is the realm of magic and wonder, so I always go back to that. My series is kind of murder mysteries
in a fantasy world. Each book has a mystery to solve, and there's an overarching story. It's a little bit like CSI
with magic. Then I've also got 'Currents of Change', which is more of a paranormal romance / urban fantasy
kind of book, which is set in New Zealand.
TP: How much influence does living in New Zealand have on the settings and plots of your stories?
DS: It's kind of weird. I used to think 'not really anything'. I just thought I was standard white guy, I guess.
Unaffected by such things. But no, the reality is, of course it does. Particularly, 'Currents of Change'.
because it is set in New Zealand. It also has some elements of the colonial history of New Zealand and
some of the magic is based on a Maori tradition and that kind of thing. And some other myths woven in there as
well. So, obviously, that's got quite a strong New Zealand influence. The 'Agents of Kalanon', series, one of the
peoples in that, the 'Gin', is very borrowed from Pacifica, because they're an island nation. Also, just because
that's part of what I'm used to, as a New Zealander. So, it kind of made sense to include that.
Yeah, it's definitely there.
TP: Alright, just going back to your 'Currents of Change', you said that it was weaving Maori mysticism.
What's that like compared to different...other mysticism in the world?
DS: It's kind of interesting. There are certainly parallels. There's an idea of a certain kind of...almost like the fae.
The way people imagine faeries and elves and things, there's a Maori version of that. and there's also some
ideas around the sacred, the taboos. What's sacred and what's not, and the responsibilities that come with that.
That does feature in the novel, around something that is kind of a sacred duty. That is part of that particular
tribe's responsibilities. It is a fictional tribe, because I didn't want to step on anybody's toes. I borrowed a bit
from the cultures that I live amongst.
TP: Always good to draw on what you know.
DS: Yeah.
TP: What was the actual moment that you thought, 'you know what? I'd like to be a writer.
This is what I want to do'?
DS: I kind of always wanted that to be honest. I was one of those kids who, when the teacher gave out a creative
writing project, I would be like handing a twenty page story and all the other kids were struggling to get to one
or two. The writing bug bit me pretty early. I started my first novel at about age 16. It took me a couple of years
to write it, and I thought I was gonna be rich and famous when I got to the end of it...and it's utterly terrible.
Really, really terrible. No one will ever, ever see that. But I still loved doing it, and the stories they're coming to me,
so, I've been writing on and off ever since. Then in the last few years, decided, okay, I needed to get serious
with this. I've started getting more serious, and getting published. I've won some competitions and awards with
it, so was feeling pretty good. Here I am, loving it.
TP: What do you in your daily life? Because you said, you're just getting into the writing.
Obviously, not full-time yet?
DS: Not full-time yet, no. So, my background is Counseling and Family Therapy. And my current job is
with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I work with a lot of people, who are dealing with neuromuscular
diseases. So, disability sector.
TP: Ah, right.
DS: Which is quite interesting, as well.
TP: So, would you say, that background and that knowledge, would that have an influence on your
writing? And how?
DS: Yeah, I think, definitely. it has. And it's been really beneficial to my writing. Mainly because, I think the
character side of it, has benefited from that knowledge. I think, that it's fairly common for people to think
that it's the plot that is what makes it exciting, but the characters are what makes people care about the plot.
So, having that understanding, of kind of what makes people tick and how relationships work or don't work,
is often the case in a book to make it a bit more exciting. So, that's been really helpful, to try and make characters
as realistic as possible. Of course, it's fantasy, so realism is a little bit subjective. Having characters that
do have a psychology that made sense and emotions, and a history and that sort of thing, that make sense has
been been really helpful. So, I actually started talking about that to writing groups and people were asking me
about it, and I ended up writing a book. Particularly for writers, using that knowledge to help other people to use
that. So, yeah, that's been quite a fun experience, as well.
TP: So, other writers can still pick your brains without having to go through years of study for the...knowledge.
DS: Exactly, exactly. Yeah, they don't have to do all the study and the experience and all that stuff, to get the knowledge they need.
TP: Well, talking about your characters, one of the the comments in your reviews, that come up over and over
again is that you have well-rounded and believable characters. So, using any particular character out of any
of your books, how do you develop a character?
DS: It is quite tricky, and I'm always really thrilled when I see that comment, because I'm like - oh, yay.
It takes a bit of effort and some of it is a little bit instinctive. But I do have character sheets that I draw up
for each character, so I have an idea of, not just what they look like, but also, you know, what their background
is, what their goals are, what their flaws and challenges and quirks are. I use some of that psychology
background to work out things like, what their drivers, and life scripts are. Which are transactional analysis
terms that refer to, what enable us to make the decisions...or what forces us, in many ways, to make the
decisions that we make in our lives. It helps me to know what those are, for those characters. It's a bit of a
building process. Some of that goes in the book right away, and some of it is revealed as it sort of progresses,
and some of it it's never in the book at all. Oh, well, for me, just so that I know what the character was thinking,
doing, is likely to do. I guess, for a particular example... Sarah, who's the lead character in 'Currents of Change',
Her backstory is, that she found herself in an abusive relationship and suffered of miscarriage, just before the
book starts, but begins with her basically making her bid for freedom away from that. So, I drew on some of my
experience working with clients who had been in that sort of situation. My wife and I have suffered
miscarriages ourselves, so we had that to draw on as well. I wanted her to be a real mix of strength and
vulnerability, because we all are, and particularly to have gone through that. So, there's a lot of stuff that, I sat
down with and drew up before I even started writing it at all. Some of that ties into the history of where she goes
and what she does, and family history becomes quite important, as the story progress. So, it was quite
important for me to understand where she comes from, and how that affects who she is today. Then, I also did a
bit of thinking about the other characters in the book, because I try and work that out for each of the main
characters. I also have a bit on the sheet for 'how do each of these characters relate to each other' and then
that effects how they develop as well. So, the neighbor who becomes the love interest, I guess, in 'Currents of
Change'... because Sarah was in such a state of flux, I wanted him to be more of a calming, stable influence,
but has his own trauma to deal with. Then the antagonist, I wanted her to have real reasons for
disliking the main character, and what have you there. So, yeah, there's a lot of stuff and what I try to remember,
particularly for the bad guys, the antagonists, is this. There's the real strong counseling concept, that people
have the positive intent. No matter how 'off' they seem and how badly they behave, they're usually coming from
a place of positive intent. So, having that understanding of what it is they're trying to achieve. I think that's really
helpful as well. So, it's quite a complex process, to work it all out. And it does take me a long time to figure it all
out, before I actually get started. So, it's nice, as you said, when people actually notice, and comment on it.
I'm very pleased, because I'd hate to think all that work went in for nothing.
TP: You're stories are more than just fantasy. You've kind of masterfully interwoven romance and murder mystery.
So, what prompted that aspect of your stories?
DS: Thank you. It's just the way the story is presented to me, really. I've always loved fantasy, it's my first love, it's
what I read the most. So, most of my stories have that element to them, in some way. But there's other things.
It doesn't all have to be 'Frodo takes the ring to Mount Doom', because although that's great, the world's more
diverse than that, and so the stories that can be part of the magical world can be much more diverse than that.
Now, why not have the romance in with the ghosts or like with 'Agents of Kalanon', it's kind of forensics team of
magical experts, solving those murders. It means that I can have a lot of fun with the different elements of those
styles. Combining it, which makes it interesting for me at least.
TP: Interesting as a reader as well.
DS: I hope so, I hope so.
TP: So, it sounds like you do a lot of planning. Is that the case? Do you actually plan all your books before you
write them, or do you just go with the flow and and fix them later?
DS: Yeah, I definitely do plan them. I'm a huge planner. My first book, that I mentioned earlier, when I was a
teenager, I didn't plan and I credit some of its awfulness for that reason . But, yeah, particularly for the mystery
element. Most of my books have that mystery element to them, so, I really do need to plan that ahead of time
because I need to know that it's gonna be a fast paced. I like to know where everything's gonna happen, and I have
to know where I can hide the clues and what the red herrings are, and make sure that the characters are in
the right place at the right time and all that sort of stuff. It's something that's really important to me and although
I don't particularly like the process of planning, I love writing with a plan. That makes it so much easier and it
frees up my brain. I feel, to actually put more interesting things into the scene that I'm working on, because I'm
not having to think about what that scene is going to be, because I know what it's going to be.
TP: Okay.
DS: It makes a massive difference.
TP: That sounds like you've got it all down pat.
DS: It sounds like it doesn't it? It's not nearly as easy in the process and the plan is obviously very flexible.
There are times when you get partway through and, yeah, okay, no, this needs to change. But it's actually,
really helpful. And when I'm in that planning stage, I'll often take up the entire lounge room of our house with
pieces of paper. Each piece of paper is a different scene. And I'll just lay up a whole book across the floor. I'd be
able to look at it and go... Okay, this section looks boring, I need to change things around, or add something. So,
yeah, it helps with that.
TP: So, what are the experience that you went through when researching your series and the books and things like that?
DS: The good thing about a fantasy world, is that most of it is made up. it's not so much research that I need to
worry about but then I also need to make sure this that the things that I am adding are realistic. So, most my
research, to be honest, is internet. I don't know how people survive before they could just google something
and carry on. But my search history does get odd. It does get very odd. Brannon is a physician and so I've
had to google some very odd medical facts. And he's also a war hero, so there's some rather unpleasant
wounds and things that I've had to google. The tattooing that the 'Gin' people do, is based on traditional
Polynesian techniques. That was really interesting to look up, and I spent a lot of time that day, trying to figure
out what ingredients to put in my tattoo ink. It's a real mix of stuff. Yeah, it's quite interesting to learn all that
stuff.
TP: So, what was the most interesting thing, you think, that you found, and went 'oh my gosh I didn't know that
existed or that was something that happened?
DS: With the ink, I think it was kind of interesting to learn what goes into it. You can grind up Cuttlefish and use
that for ink, things like that, which is quite peculiar to me. There's so much strange stuff in the world, and you can
easily go down a real rabbit hole when you start researching things on the internet. You can end up in
some strange places.
TP: Going back to your books. Obviously, I'm sure, like like many other authors, you do get some feedback from
readers, about your books and your series and your characters and things. So, what has been some of the
readers questions or queries about your book that has surprised you?
DS: Probably, about the book, from people who have already read it, not too much has surprise me. Although,
it surprises me, I guess, how much people notice. Often a reader will have remembered something more than I've
remembered it. The excerpt that I read for you earlier, the wasp creatures are actually a result of a reader asking
me about the spiders that appeared in the first book. There was a throwaway comment from one of the
characters, about 'oh, if only you knew what eats the spiders', and the reader was like 'oh my God, what does
eat the spiders?' For them to actually pick that up, and I went... 'yeah, you know, I haven't thought about it but I'm
gonna run with that now'. Also, the other question that's been asked of me, from somebody who hadn't yet read
the books, was whether I write as a man or what my writing style is like gender-wise. Which I thought was
kind of odd. I think some people have that idea that male writers can be quite plot driven but quite dry with
unengaging characters, and that female writers tend to be all emotion and romance and not much actually
happens. I think that's a very unfair generalisation on both sides. I think the best writers blend both of those
things. Stuff happens, and you care about the people it's happening to. So, that's what I try to do.
TP: Very good. Well done. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your stories. Where can readers find you
and your books?
DS: My books are, of course, on Amazon, as pretty much all books in the world are. So, you can find them there.
You can go to my website, which is darian-smith.com
Or your local library or bookshop should be able to get them in, if they don't already have them.
I'd love to hear from people, and hear what they think. It's always really nice to get that feedback or see reviews.
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