Fantasy Book Critic: Interview with Trudie Skies, the author of The Thirteenth Hour

AUTHOR INFO: Trudie Skies has been living inside fantasy worlds ever since she discovered that reality doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Through the magic of books, she wishes to share these worlds of hope and heroes with other weary souls. Living in North East England, Trudie spends most of her free time daydreaming about clouds, devouring whatever fantasy books or video games she can get her hands on, and chasing after her troublesome dogs, who would like to reassure you they are very good boys.

You can chat with Trudie on Twitter @TrudieSkies

Publication Date: October 13, 2021 Publisher: Trudie Skies Page Count: 535 Cover design:

Thank you for agreeing to this Q&A. Before we start, tell us a little about yourself?

Hello! I’m Trudie from North East England. I’ve previously published a YA Fantasy series through Uproar Books, a small press, and I’m now branching out into self-publishing adult fantasy. I’m a big fan of fantasy, especially indie fantasy, but also indie games as well. I have a degree in video game design and a lot of my story ideas and world-building are inspired by my favourite RPG’s.

Who are your favorite current writers and who are your greatest influencers?

I grew up on Tamora Pierce and Philip Pullman, and there’s definitely some His Dark Materials influence in The Thirteenth Hour. Though my favourite YA to adult author and biggest modern influence is Leigh Bardugo.

Most recently, I’ve been reading a lot of indie fantasy. My current favourite indie authors are Krystle Matar, Michael R. Fletcher, and Sarah Chorn!

How would you describe the plot of The Thirteenth Hour if you had to do so in just one or two sentences?

Cruel gods rule the steam-powered city of Chime and demand worship from their mortal subjects, but when soul-sucking creatures prey on Chime’s citizens, it’ll take godless heathens to save them—before the gods take matters into their own hands.

What subgenres does it fit?

The Thirteenth Hour is a gaslamp fantasy, but it also rubs shoulders with the steampunk genre and portal fantasy with some dark fantasy elements.

How did you come up with the title and how does it tie with the plot of the book?

The Thirteenth Hour is named for when the clock strikes thirteen! Of course, you’ll need to read the book to discover exactly what happens then.

The series title, The Cruel Gods, is because the world and story revolves around twelve all-powerful gods, and as you may expect, not all of them are nice.

What inspired you to write this story? Was there one “lightbulb moment” when the concept for this book popped into your head or did it develop over time?

During the pandemic, I played far too much Skyrim, and started to come up with a story inspired by my three favourite aspects of The Elder Scrolls lore: the Dunmer, the Dwemer and their steampunk cities and devices, and the Daedric Princes.

The Thirteenth Hour evolved from those influences by featuring a Dark Elf-like race, a steampunk city and mechanics, and twelve gods who rule over their own domains and the mortals they own like Daedric Princes. I wanted to explore what it meant to be a mortal bound to a god, and then I combined that with the hours on the clock to create twelve chaotic races and gods who somehow tolerate each other.

If you had to describe the story in 3 adjectives, which would you choose?

Atmospheric, British, Charming.

Would you say that The Thirteenth Hour follows tropes or kicks them?

I’d say it kicks them. Obviously books are made up of the building blocks of tropes, and you’ll find familiar tropes like found family etc, but The Thirteenth Hour is also an odd genre blend. It’s not a fantasy of manners – the characters swear and do dark things! The world building is also more like the Netflix show Arcane, with weird fantasy creatures in suits and a mix of magic and technology. Nor is it epic fantasy with swords, but there is magic and there are battles and twists and turns!

Who are the key players in this story? Could you introduce us to The Thirteenth Hour’s protagonists/antagonists?

The Thirteenth Hour is told from the perspective of two characters; Kayl and Quen.

Kayl is a member of the Godless, an organization who tries to help protect mortals against the whims of the gods. Quen is a Warden, a police force who act as the gods’ eyes and ears and arrest sinners like Kayl.

The two of them are complete opposites – Kayl is a playful sinner and a walking disaster with no sense of time, whereas Quen is a gentleman dork who can manipulate time. They’re thrown together and forced into an unlikely partnership to discover the source of mysterious soul-sucking creatures stalking their city…

There’s no single antagonist in this book as there are morally grey and selfish characters out for themselves, as well as the gods who rule over their mortals and punish those who sin. There are twelve gods in all, and we’ll meet them all throughout The Cruel Gods series.

Have you written The Thirteenth Hour with a particular audience in mind?

Honestly, no. I know that’s a bad thing when trying to market a book. I just set out to write something fun and crazy, and thankfully, people seem to like it!

Alright, we need the details on the cover. Who's the artist/designer, and can you give us a little insight into the process for coming up with it?

The book cover was designed by James T. Egan of Bookfly Design! I went to them with the idea of having the two main characters on the cover in front of a clock and they delivered.

Well, initially I said I wanted a blue-skinned elf girl, and they weren’t sure about that – they thought it might look a bit daft. So I was pleasantly surprised when they pulled it off!

What was your proofreading/editing process?

My usual process is to write a draft, let it sit for a few weeks, then do a reverse outline by analysing each chapter to ensure they’re pulling their own weight before polishing it up and sending it off to beta readers. The polishing stage involves a lot of coffee and crying, and an unusual enthusiasm for housework.

I was lucky to work with some fantastic beta readers and Nia Quinn as my editor, who did an amazing job making this book as great as it could be without removing my naughty jokes.

What are you most excited for readers to discover in this book?

I can’t wait for readers to enter the city of Chime and meet the races of the twelve domains! These domains are represented by an awesome clock-shaped map designed by cartographer Soraya Corcoran, which is in the book, but there’s also a full colour version on my website.

Can you, please, offer us a taste of your book, via one completely out-of-context sentence.

This may be cheating, but here’s two: