Fantasy Book Critic: Sins Of The Mother Release Interview with Rob J. Hayes (interviewed by Mihir Wanchoo)

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Q] Hi Rob, welcome back to Fantasy Book Critic. Always a lovely pleasure to have you back. How have you been?

RJH: Thanks for having me back. I’ve had some ups and downs to be honest. I was working a little too hard during the past two years (I blame the pandemic) and suffered from a pretty bad case of burnout towards the end of last year. I’m pretty sure I’m mostly over it now though… mostly.

Q] This is the first of a three possible 2022 releases for you since the rapid release in 2020. How are you feeling?

RJH: Like I should stop writing and releasing so many books a year. Honestly, I’m feeling the need to slow down a bit. Roll it back to 1-2 releases a year instead of the 2-3. I’m finding trying to sort a manageable level of manic writing to be the major challenge.

Q] Even though Sins Of The Mother is book IV of The War Eternal series. It almost feels like a start of a new story. Was this a coincidental move or just how this story was supposed to be written?

RJH: It was intentional. I originally had in mind to write the series as a trilogy and a duology. Book 4 rather marks a new chapter in Eska’s life, and a shift in the conflict, especially as there is a time skip of 20 years between books 3 and 4. But I don’t really think book 4 can be started without having read books 1-3 so in the end I decided to do the whole thing as a five book series.

Q] Let’s talk about Sins Of The Mother. This book for me was the best one of the series. As an author, it must be hard for you to be a bit objective about which title is the best. What would you say about this though?

RJH: From a personal standpoint, I really have no favourites. Each book in this series is wildly different from the others. They were intentionally written that way to chronicle Eska’s life.

In Along the Razor’s Edge, Eska is very much a teenager. She’s wild and brash and arrogant, impetuous. She very much embodies the rebellious teen.

In The Lessons Never Learned, Eska is much more like she is in her twenties. She leaves some of the wildness of her teenage years behind, but is searching for how she fits into the world.

In From Cold Ashes Risen, Eska is kinda like she’s in her thirties. She’s more secure about who she is, what she wants, and where she fits in. And she has the drive to achieve those things.

In Sins Of The Mother there’s a big skip and Eska is her dotage. She’s an old lady, looking back at the her life with experience and wisdom, and feeling far too old to give a crap anymore.

And I’ll keep book 5 a secret for now.

Because of the way they’re written, I find it completely impossible to pick a favourite. They all mean very different things to me. But as a whole, I’m incredibly proud of this series.

Q] You have previously mentioned how during the writing of this book, you had to cut over 30K words. This is not the first time something like this has happened while writing about Eska. Definitely not a funny coincidence but you know what they say about coincidences.

RJH: Yeah. In total I think I’ve cut about 140-150,000 words from this series so far. That’s easily enough to fill another book. There have been times when I’ve gone wrong with the direction I’m taking the story in and Eska lets me know when I do by becoming increasingly intractable to the point where I struggle to get any words down. She just stops flowing from my mind until I rewind and go back to the point where I went wrong. I had to rewrite pretty much the entirety of The Lessons Never Learned because of this, and I had some issues with act II of Sins Of The Mother until I stopped trying to force things and let Eska take the lead. She goes where she will and I have no choice but to write it.

Q] Sins Of The Mother is a fantastic title and has many things happening within it. The themes, the characters, the plot events, etc. everything. How did you land on this title choice?

RJH: That title was there long before I ever started working on the book. I knew from the end of From Cold Ashes Risen that book 4 would have Sirileth (Eska’s 2^nd daughter) as the major focus. Sirileth, as Eska points out during books 1-3, is a bit of a terror. Sins Of The Mother just made sense for the title from the get go. And the story really grew into it as I wrote it.

Q] This book was an incredibly feministic story explored through four female characters who are incredible in their own ways. Did you intentionally set out to write it this way?

RJH: I can’t say I specifically set out to write a feminist story. There was always going to be heavy maternal themes and I was looking forward to exploring more of Eska and Imiko’s relationship. But with Eska as a main character, the women were always going to take the lead.

Q] Death’s Beating Heart is the fifth and final volume that hopefully will be out by the year-end. How goes your progress on it?

RJH: Progress is proceeding. I hit 60,000 words on it just earlier today. You might think that would put me at the half way mark… But it’s entirely possible Death’s Beating Heart will be the longest of the series. It turns out I have a lot of threads I still need to wrap up.

Q] Recently you have been giving your writing updates on Patreon. Besides Death’s Beating Heart what are the other two titles that you are currently working on?

RJH: Death’s Beating Heart is my main focus, but I’m also working on Seven Swords (Mortal Techniques #4) and a cozy novella about a witch’s cat called The Curious Adventures of Ms Mittens the Third. I also have about a dozen other books clamoring for my attention that I’m desperately trying to ignore.

Q] I loved the new look that you went with the Hardcover editions for the first three volumes. What are your plans for books IV & V to complete the set?

RJH: There are plans for hardcovers for books 4 and 5. At the moment that’s all they are… plans. They will be happening, I am just not sure when at the moment.

Q] Any updates for your loyal fans about what potential book(s) you might/will be releasing in 2023?

RJH: Currently I’m hoping to get Seven Swords written and released in 2023, and I’m also continuing work on HERALD (Book 1 of Age of the Godeater) with the aim of a 2023 release.

Q] Thank you as always for your time Rob. I really appreciate your answers. Here’s looking forward to Death’s Beating Heart and Eska finally getting a befitting end. Any parting thoughts for our readers?

RJH: Parting thoughts? Read books 😀