I was lucky to get an interview with CM Kerley, the author of The Hummingbird’s Tear, one of this year’s #SPFBO9 entries.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
Hi, I’m Caroline, I live in London and as I write this I am drawing a complete blank about myself. Something interesting, I do kickboxing, I’ve done multiple styles of karate and aikido, I am really drawn to martial arts and Japanese philosophy. I like to bake, I like to play video games (not too shabby at Fortnite for an ‘oldie’) and I LOVE my dalmatian, Peggy, walkies is the best time of the day.

Why should I buy your SPFBO9 entry?
So, my 60 second plug for The Hummingbird’s Tear goes like this. It’s the start of a epic high fantasy adventure in the tradition of Eddings and Feist. There’s world building, there’s unique mythology nothing is borrowed from something you’ve read before, and a magic system quite unlike anything elsewhere that changes and evolves through the series to become more than the reader can predict. The characters are going to live with you long after you finish the book, and I challenge anyone not to see something of themselves in the protagonists. Yes, it’s fantasy, but it feels real. And if that doesn’t draw you in, how about the fact it’s the first part of the completed series, so no waiting months of years for what happens next, you can binge the entire thing and then reread it too.

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
I think it’s something I’ve always had in me, I have a vivid memory of being very young and getting a small notebook as a gift and filling it with a story about a young witch who used her magic for cooking. I would write dozens of stories in my school jotter pads and they would get longer, and longer, until I was 13 and I sat down to write a short story, and it just carried on. Over 300 hand written pages which I still have, stored safely away as I wrote it in pencil which fades over time so I am very reluctant to take it out now. If it’s true we’re born as anything, I think I’m a born storyteller and I do so through writing.

Have you participated in the SPFBO before and where did you hear about the competition?
I’ve never taken part, long time lurker, first time participant, but twitter has a wonderful way or putting things in front of you so this year I thought, why not.

Why did you choose to write fantasy?
I suppose I write the stories I want to read. My dad is a sailor and as a child he would tell me the most fantastic tales of places he’d been, things he’d done, and perhaps more importantly as he was a bit of a historian and storyteller himself, he would tell me the tales of the place he visited. It's such a joyful experience to walk through a story told so richly with such passion and enthusiasm and he told such wonderful stories embellished with such skill that griffins and sea monsters and dragons sounded plausible. My family has always been avid readers of fantasy and science fiction and from a young age I was encourage away from children’s books and into accessible adult fiction (and non-fiction) at time, and so my early reading was a mix of Asimov, Tolkein, Lewis, Clarke and Doyle. And so now, I write the stories I want to read as an fan of fantasy. I’ve never been drawn to werewolves or vampires, that’s about the only genre that I swerve, but other than that anything is possible.

Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
Melanie Rawn wrote the Dragon Star series which I have read more times that I can remember. I found the mix of politics, war, adventure and tragedy immensely impactful and it elevated the realm of fantasy from ‘somewhere else’ to something that could feel very close and very real.
Raymond Feist, the length of his series and the depths of the story telling, indulging in the character development and taking time to build the worlds and perspectives and cultures taught me that it is okay to take your time and ask the reader to take their time to invest in the world you are giving them, if the story craft can deliver on such an epic scale.
And David Eddings, the Belgariad, a masterclass in character development, and the art of wrapping a whole adventure around people who are mostly just walking around.

If you were to win the SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?
I would like to think it would give me the self confidence that as an introvert I lack, confidence to offer to take part in podcasts, interviews, to try get more involved in the writing community instead of feeling like the proverbial imposter who shouldn’t bother because I probably don’t have anything of value to add.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?
Time, for me it’s time. I write in the winter months, I like it to be dark, I like to be cold so I can wrap up, and I like to get lost. I sit down with a clear idea of what I want to write and never once have I say and written what I intended to write. These stories tell themselves, I have no say in the matter. When I was writing the third in the series, I say down at 8pm, started writing, finished at just after 6 in the morning, showered and went to work, and when I came home after 5 that day I had no memory of what I had written but had finished writing the book.

Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
I really don’t. As in my answer above, it’s totally organic and beyond my control. I will not write for months and months and then suddenly sit down and start writing and it’s like a flood. I try plot, I try plan, I even make up story boards, but it is never what comes out on the page. There are other more disciplined more active and prolific writers who can give you better answers than I can I’m afraid.

And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
So the Hummingbird’s Tear is the first of the Barclan Series which I say is complete, because the whole story is told in the three books of the series. I am considering adding a new book to the series as there is a new story I want to tell in the world with the characters (and some new ones), but the core story that starts with the Hummingbird is done. I am also dabbling in an origins story for Cotta my favourite character, and have a book of short stories set in the world, in different towns with some of the main and minor characters to give richness to the kingdom and introduce some of the other kingdoms and characters that might end up in the fourth book. Everything is a vast web of interconnectedness and it’s a labyrinth I find I both love and at times simply have to endure as this fantasy world I created will hold me captive my whole life.

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 tried midjourney once and was underwhelmed. In all honesty I’ve never tried it again, I gave it three prompts, and it was just, meh. I was curious to see what it could do but I’m not interested in AI and what ‘it can do for me’ as it can’t do anything for me. As someone who loves creating but is not visual at all (I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler), I adore and admire and am in awe of artists and work with a talented graphic artist in the US who does my book covers for me. She isn’t worried, I’m not worried, but I understand the worry.

Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
I don’t know that I have ‘dream’ as such. I’m very driven, process and goal orientated in my professional life, I am driven by a desire to achieve be it a small or big achievement and many of the things I wanted to do I’ve done. I put the series up for free for 5 days on one of those KDP promotion deals and it got to #1 so that felt amazing. I’d love to be a huge writing success and ultra rich, but I don’t know if I’d handle fame very well, I value privacy over fame or wealth so probably that wouldn’t be good for me. I suppose one day I’d love to overhear two people talking about the characters or the books and being really excited and passionate about them, it’d be nice.

Anything else you would like to say before we close?
Just to anyone who wonders why the covers are so different. I had new covers done to coincide with the SPFBO and the promo, but Amazon is refusing to release the new covers for the second two books because of a 1mm print line on the text on the front page, even though the proofs are perfect and they look divine. And I am contesting it. So, yes, The Hummingbird’s Tear cover looks very different to book two and three, but that will be resolved in a week or so I hope.

Best of luck with that! I’ve waited since Christmas for Amazon to change the paperback cover of one of my books. Maybe on some special day, they’ll get around to it… :-)

I wish you the very best in the SPFBO. I hope a lot of readers discover your writing. Thanks for doing the interview.