I was lucky to get an interview with Catherine M. Walker, the author of Unwanted, one of this year’s #SPFBO9 entries.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m an epic fantasy writer and I live in Perth, Australia, with Kira, my little cavoodle puppy. She’s still in training as my writing assistant but has managed to enter a few lines of random text in the middle of my manuscript when I wasn’t paying attention. Unfortunately, I had to delete said random text, but it was a wonderful effort for such a young girl. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m all that interesting. After all, I am a writer, so I spend a lot of my time sitting around at home in various locations doing that writing thing. Besides writing, I love travel and photography. I’ve explored different places all over the world, ancient cities and temples, walked mountain trails, climbed volcanoes and sailed on slow boats along the amazon river from Iquitos, Peru, to Belem, Brazil. I’ve done many different types of jobs over the years but finally decided to leave the day job and write full-time. I’m a writer. It’s a new enough circumstance it still sounds strange to say.

Why should I buy your SPFBO9 entry?
Because you’re a really, really nice person and like to show support for indie authors?

Seriously though Unwanted is a world where three civilisations collide in an era where clan leaders, a warlord and a king all scramble for the survival of their own.

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
I’ve always loved writing, seeing a world and characters I’ve created unfold. I think, like many people, that ‘life’ thing happened. The practicalities of living, paying the bills, friendships, parties, and travelling to various places around the world interfered, but I always wrote. Then I found myself in a place with unreliable internet. I finished reading the only book I had with me. It rained constantly and because the TV was via satellite, even that didn’t work that well in bad weather. I started to write a story. Sometime after I got home, I opened the file and started to read it and thought, that’s not bad. I did some research, then dove back into rewriting, determined that this time I would finish the novel and the series and self-publish. I haven’t stopped since then.

Have you participated in the SPFBO before and where did you hear about the competition?
This is the first time I’ve participated in the SPFBO, although I’ve known about it for years. I lurk in a number of indie writing groups and online forums and the SPFBO usually gets mentioned. I’m proud of my very first series, but it is a first book and decided not to put it forward for the competition. When I published Unwanted, the first book in my new series, I realised the SPFBO would be coming up in a few months and decided to enter. I even left a reminder in my calendar so I wouldn’t forget about it until it was too late.

Why did you choose to write fantasy?
I loved science fiction and fantasy from the moment I discovered it was an actual thing back in high school. Back then, I had no idea that interesting books actually existed since schools insisted on us reading classics. Which I dutifully read but found boring. Of all the books that fit into the SFF genre, it’s epic fantasy that draws me in. Writing-wise, I also have a bit of an issue with short. I start what is meant to be a short story, and for some reason, I’m still motoring along some 100k+ words later. I love seeing the world take shape, characters come to life and magic permeating through it all. I don’t think I chose epic fantasy. I think it chose me.

Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
Oh that’s mean. There are so many great authors and series. I guess if I have to pick one, it’s Anne McCaffrey. I so wanted my own dragon after reading about the dragon riders of Pern. There was something about those books, and her other worlds, that fired up my imagination and allowed it to fly. That is a gift I can never repay.

If you were to win the SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?
Win the SPFBO? It would be life-changing. It would put Unwanted in front of more fantasy fans than I could ever manage by myself. For a relatively new, mostly unheard-of writer to have their work reviewed by multiple fantasy blogs is next to impossible. Let alone to have those blogs shout out to their followers that they liked the book and is worth checking out. The SPFBO helps lift up indie books and tells the world, hey, these books are fabulous, and you should give them a read.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?
So many things went wrong while writing not only Unwanted, but rough drafting this whole series that I nearly didn’t publish it at all. Life doesn’t stop because you’re writing a novel. Things always happen and that is a part of being an indie. There isn’t anyone else to solve your problems for you, so you need to work through it yourself. I’d poured too much into not only Unwanted but the series to just push it aside and start on something else. After all, if I kept doing that, series after series, I’d never publish anything. One of the wonderful things about being an indie is that there is a whole community of writers out there, and there are bound to be some who’ve had similar issues. You just have to learn to connect to like-minded groups and ask.

Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
Scrivener is a lifesaver. Prior to using the program, it was a nightmare. There is a learning curve but hands down, it is the best program for writing I’ve used, particularly for epic fantasy. Scrivener makes it so easy to not only draft but reorganise everything. Without Scrivener's functionality, I don’t think I’d ever be able to complete a book, from rough draft to final draft, let alone a whole series. As much as I hate the program Microsoft Word is a necessity, editors use it, and I admit that while I don’t like drafting in Word, the whole track changes and commenting function is a necessity for editing, and the program does a good job with it. The third application I use is Vellum to format the document and spit out the appropriate file formats with store links for the various platforms.

And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
So busy right now, in a good way. Sacrifice, Emergence book 2 is due at the proofreader next week (end of May). I’m working on moving Defiance, Emergence book 3 from rough draft to a standard to send to my editor for a copy/line edit. However, if you mean after the Emergence series is done? While I do have two more series planned for my current world, next up, I’ll be exploring something new.

I’m looking forward to writing in a whole new world with a different magic system, people and creatures. The idea has been kicking around in my head for years, although I didn’t write any notes until last year when inexplicably, it pressed forward from mulling around in the back of my brain to the front and wouldn’t be ignored. It’s been so hard to stay focused when what I want to do is run off and write the shiny new project. It has dragons, mostly in self-defence of all the blank and confused looks when I explain to people that while I write epic fantasy, there aren’t any dragons in my world. Besides, I like dragons. They are my favourite fantasy creatures. Can’t say much more since I haven’t written it yet and I’m a pantser. Just because I have an idea of what it will be, it doesn’t mean that is what will end up on the page. I should finally get to start writing it in earnest towards the last quarter of this year.

Apps that are based on artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGTP and Midjourney, along with apps aimed specifically at authors, have caused quite a stir. Do you expect these new technologies will make your life as a self-published author easier or harder, and do you expect that they’ll mean you’ll earn more or less?
I expect it will make things much harder. There are many issues surrounding the ethics and legalities of the output such technologies churn out. Particularly due to the (underhanded) methods the tech gurus engaged in to train them in the first place. Still, I suspect the whole mess will play out in the courts in various jurisdictions worldwide.

For myself, I’d rather just keep writing and creating my worlds because I love doing it. I’ll utilise real artists for my covers, it’s amazing to see a cover artist help to bring my book to life and I fully acknowledge I might be able to write the book, but it doesn’t mean I can make the cover.  While narrators might be cost-prohibitive if I decide to get another series turned into an audiobook, I’d rather use a real narrator. They bring the characters and world to life through the inflection and skill they use.

Of course, I’ll keep an eye on the whole AI drama, I don’t think any indie can afford not to. Eventually, the dust will settle, and we’ll see what world we’re all in.

Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
You mean besides the impractical things that really aren’t going to happen? Seriously, blowing up the Death Star was a goal… but never going to happen. Then I decided I wanted the next best thing, being an astronaut, but I realised not only am I Australian and we don’t have a space program, I’m female… back then, astronauts were male. Sigh.

Right now? I’d like to create stories that transport readers away. Make them smile, laugh, cry and rage at the issues in my world and my character's face. To forget their own troubles, even if it's only for a space of time. I’d like to create the kind of books that allow a reader's imagination to fly.

Anything else you would like to say before we close?
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the SPFBO 9 interviews on your site. This is a rare opportunity for indie authors. Discoverability, having readers know we exist, is one of the biggest battles an indie faces.

That was some interesting answers. I wish you the very best in the SPFBO. I hope a lot of readers discover your writing. Thanks for doing the interview!