ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachel Aaron lives in Colorado with her family. She has graduated from University of Georgia with a B.A. in English Literature. She has been an avid reader since her childhood and now has an ever-growing collection to show for it. She loves gaming, Manga comics & reality TV police shows. She also posts regularly on her blog about publishing, books and several other intriguing things.
Find Rachel online: website
Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we start, tell us a little about yourself.
Absolutely! I’m Rachel Aaron for most of my titles, but I also write Science Fiction under Rachel Bach. I got my start as a writer with my debut Fantasy novel, The Spirit Thief, published by Orbit Books in 2010. It’s a fun, fast paced romp about a wizard thief and it’s still one of my favorite stories I’ve ever written. After eight books with Orbit, I decided to try my hand at self publishing with my cyberpunk/Urban Fantasy mashup novel Nice Dragons Finish Last about dragons in a futuristic magical Detroit. It was an amazing experience and I’ve been self publishing ever since!
Do you have a day job? If so, what is it?
Nope, I’ve been writing full time since 2012. I keep waiting for the day I have to get a real job again, but so far so good!
Who are some of your favorite writers, and why is their work important to you?
If we’re talking about authors that heavily influenced me as a writer, it’s gotta be the books I stole from my mom’s bookshelf. We’re talking Peter S. Beagle, C.S. Lewis, Ursula LeGuin, Elizabeth Moon, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and of course Tolkien. (My mom is a giant LOTR fan). More recently, I’ve absolutely fallen in love with T. Kingfisher and Naomi Novik. Those ladies write some beautiful books!
What do you like most about the act of writing?
The pure joy of creation. I call myself a method actor writer because I get totally swept up in my stories. That feeling of being in a different world where I get to be god is the reason I do this. I’m one of those writers who can’t help but write. Even if no one wanted to read my stuff, I’d still have to write it because I can’t not write. At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be doing this until I die.
Can you lead us through your creative process? What works and doesn’t work for you? How long do you need to finish a book?
You’re not going to like this answer, but it really is different for every story. I’ve written first drafts in as little as 13 days and as long as 16 months. Every story is its own unique world of problems. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m doing and the whole thing comes out right on the first try. Other times I have to keep failing forward until I flop over the finish line by dint of sheer determination. I always make a plan, but no plan survives the first encounter with the enemy, so I just do my best and keep bashing my way forward until the book is good. (It HAS to be good. Rule #1 of publishing: books can be late for six months but they’re bad forever. NEVER put out something you’re not proud of to meet a deadline.)
What made you decide to self-publish By A Silver Thread as opposed to traditional publishing?
It’s kind of mercenary, but the money. I loved working with Orbit Books, but I’ve got a family to support and self publishing pays authors way better than publishing contracts do. I’m also a control freak who loves handling her own business and marketing decisions, so it was a natural fit for me. I also like that I can make my titles cheaper for readers while still earning a decent living. I know I hate paying $13.99 for an ebook, and making sure my books are never in that position is a big part of why I publish independently.
What’s your favorite and least favorite parts of self-publishing?
Favorite: having total control. Least favorite: having total control.
Every screw up is my fault and there’s no one else to do the work. There’s a lot of days when I hate having to wear every hat, but I also love it when I get to pick exactly the right cover I want for the title. It all balances out!
Why did you enter SPFBO?
Because Mihir at Fantasy Book Critic told me to! He’s been reviewing my books since the very beginning. He’s amazing and always knows what’s cool. I’ve never gone wrong taking his advice, and since I’m here in the finals, I’d say his streak has held true. Thank you, Mihir, for encouraging me to enter!!
How would you describe the plot of By A Silver Thread if you had to do so in just one or two sentences?
A fairy changeling must break free of her abusive father figure and use her shapeshifting magic and knowledge of the dangerous fairy courts to save her lost sister in a magical future version of Detroit.
What was your initial inspiration for By A Silver Thread? How long have you been working on it? Has it evolved from its original idea?
I actually came up with Lola’s story long before the DFZ was a thing. I actually wrote the first version of her book back when I was still working on my Orbit titles, but I could never get the story to work and eventually abandoned the project. Then, over a decade later, I was brainstorming up new ideas for the DFZ when I realized I hadn’t written a story about a blood mage yet. The idea was first mentioned by Marci in Nice Dragons Finish Last, but I’d never gotten a chance to do anything with it. Since I’d originally stolen the idea from Victor in that abandoned novel, though, this got me thinking about Lola again and the whole series just snapped together like it was meant to be!
This is why you never throw away old novels. You never know when those words will come back to be useful!
What genre does it belong to?
Definitely Urban Fantasy, but the genre has been so invaded by Paranormal Romance that most people get confused when I tell them I don’t write about werewolves and vampires. It really is an Urban Fantasy, though, because there’s dragons and the city itself is a speaking character.
If you had to describe it in 3 adjectives, which would you choose?
Fast, dark, and fun. I typically write lighter stuff, but you can’t write about abusive blood mages without getting a little dark, so I went where the story took me. It still has a happy ending, though. Real life has too much suffering already to write tragedies.
Is it part of the series or a standalone? If series, how many books have you planned for it?
By a Silver Thread is the first in the DFZ Changeling trilogy, which is a (completed!) stand alone series set in the same city as my Heartstrikers and DFZ books. All the series share a setting and sometimes characters do cameos, but they’re all designed to be read independently in any order.
Who are the key players in this story? Could you introduce us to By A Silver Thread’s protagonists/antagonists?
The heart and soul of By a Silver Thread is Lola, our changeling main character, but the mover and the shaker is Victor, her blood mage master, primary antagonist, and all around nasty customer. Their battle is as much an emotional fight as a literal one, and I had a really fun time writing a downtrodden, underestimated girl finding her power and taking a swing at an arrogant, emotionally abusive asshole. The whole process was very cathartic and I really enjoyed it.
I also loved writing the Black Rider, Lola’s sometimes ally, sometimes enemy. He was a fun pile of problems to tackle.
Does your book feature a magic/magic system? If yes, can you describe it?
I can’t really describe it without spoilers or making this interview 100,000 words long, but I will say that I’m a writer who’s also a gamer. If you value consistent, carefully designed magical systems where even the heroes have to follow the rules and be clever rather than just power-batteling it out, I’m your author!
Have you written the book with a particular audience in mind?
I write every book for myself. I’m always my first customer because I’m the only reader I can totally understand. Fortunately for me, I’m a giant nerd who likes fast-paced, dramatic stories with charming characters, creative twists, and plenty of dragons, which is a great space to write books in!
What’s new or unique about your book that we don’t see much in speculative fiction these days?
Honestly, I’d say genre blending and being unpredictable. With so many books on the market, we’re seeing the rise of a lot of titles that are very firmly in the ruts of their genres. There’s nothing wrong with that--I also love a perfectly executed Epic Fantasy that hits all my favorite topes--but sometimes you find the best experiences off the beaten path.
If you’re looking for a new story with characters and plot twists you haven’t already read a hundred times, that’s where my books shine. Nothing I’ve ever written fits neatly on a shelf. They’re all these crazy genre-blending fusion stories, so if you’re the sort of reader who likes to try new things, I hope you’ll give my stories a go. If nothing else, I promise it’ll be a hell of a ride!
Cover art is always an important factor in book sales. Can you tell us about the idea behind the cover of By A Silver Thread and the artist?
Doing my own covers is one of the best parts of being an indie. I was actually a graphic designer before I became a writer and I’ve always loved art. I spend a lot more than other indies on my cover images precisely because I want them to be art. I want covers that are also paintings because I know I pick up books with amazing covers.
Basically, if my book is going to be judged by its cover, I want to make sure I’m always making the best impression possible, which is why I’ve been working with Luisa Preissler for years. She’s an amazing artist and a consummate professional who’s worked with big publishers for years. She’s also a genuinely lovely person who reads my books, listens to all my harebrained concepts, and turns them into amazing covers. It’s my honor to be part of her portfolio!
What are you currently working on that readers might be interested in learning more about, and when can we expect to see it released?
Right now I’m 3 books into a totally new Urban Fantasy series about demons teaming up with a witch to fight a guerilla war against a very unpleasant Heaven in modern-day Seattle. The first book is Hell for Hire and it’s got the best cover I think Luisa’s made for me yet! It’ll be five books in total with book 3 coming out in March. If you like Urban Fantasy action, sword fights, and wild, inventive magic, you should definitely give it a try!
Thank you for taking the time to answer all the questions. In closing, do you have any parting thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
Just thank you for reading/listening to my work. You’re all the reason I’ve gotten to work the best job in the world for the last fifteen years. It is my honor and pleasure to get to write for you, and I really hope you enjoy the stories!
3:00 AM | 
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