I was lucky to get an interview with HJ Ramsay, the author of Ever Alice, and one of this year’s #SPFBO8 semifinalists.
Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
I live in Northern California with my husband and three awesome kids. We’re big into sports and most of my week is spent either driving my kids to practices and games or heading to tennis or the golf course. Playing is part of my self-care. There’s nothing more gratifying than hitting a tennis or golf ball as hard as possible. I try to play both a few times a week and have done leagues and tournaments. I have another writer friend who also likes to golf, and we’ll spend 18 holes talking about our writing and getting feedback on each other’s ideas. We’ve worked out entire novels on the golf course.
“It’s an Alice in Wonderland psychological smorgasbord. If that’s your thing, then it’s for you.”
What was the first thought that popped into your mind when you found out you had made it to the semifinals?
Yes!!!! <accompanied with a fist pump>
That was my exact reaction. It was great news to know that the Critiquing Chemists liked Ever Alice enough to move it to the semifinals. As an author, you never know just how your story will land. They might have really liked it or might have really hated it. It’s all so subjective and all you can do is hope that your work will be for that reader.
Why did you decide to take part in the SPFBO?
I learned about the contest a few years ago. I liked that the focus was just on fantasy with a team of bloggers who also loved fantasy. I tried to enter a few times but kept missing the deadline. It opens and closes so incredibly fast! This year I set reminders on my phone and kept checking the blog relentlessly as it was approaching.
Why should we buy your SPFBO8 book?
It’s an Alice in Wonderland psychological smorgasbord. If that’s your thing, then it’s for you.
What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
I’m really going to date myself, but it started over twenty years ago while I was finishing my undergrad. I’d dabbled in writing in high school and my younger years, but I was more of an avid reader than a writer. Once the bug really bit though, I was hooked. I studied craft, I wrote, I continued to study craft, I wrote even more, and that has been my life ever since. I had several different agents pick up my work over the years. Ever Alice was one of those. Ten years ago, I’d given it to my agent. He shopped it and it made it to an acquisition’s meeting at a publishing house, but it was eventually a pass. At the time, I’d just started my MFA program, so I shelved the book and switched gears from fantasy to psychological mystery. I stayed on that track for a while until, one night, I randomly opened my twisted little Alice in Wonderland retelling file and decided to self-publish it.
Why did you choose to write fantasy? And why pick this particular fantasy subgenre?
I’ve always been drawn to fantasy. As a kid, I’d stare out my window, wishing and wishing for a unicorn to appear. I think it’s weird when people don’t like fantasy. How can you not? Fantasy is awesome. My husband isn’t a fantasy fan and I feel like he’s missing out on life. Magic makes the world a better place.
Ever Alice is more of a reimagining. It’s my only retelling-type fantasy novel. I don’t have a particular subgenre. I’ve written a high fantasy, a mythic fantasy, and I’m currently at work on a new fantasy WIP that falls more in the romance subgenre. Ever Alice was just one of those lightbulb ideas that I started looking at through a psychological lens and, because of that, it kept getting more and more interesting to me. I enjoyed every moment of writing Ever Alice. I could be as weird as I wanted. As random as I wanted. As bizarre as I wanted, and I went for it.
Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
There’s so many authors that I admire. My reading tastes tend to go through stages. I’ve been heavy into horror, regency romance, historical fiction, fantasy, YA, literary, and on and on. Depending on whatever high I’m chasing, it’ll influence certain books. Aside from Lewis Carroll, obviously, Ever Alice was heavily influenced by Jean Plaidy and Philippa Gregory. I love all things Tudor, and these are my Wonderland-inspired Tudors.
What’s the best thing about being a writer?
For me, the best thing is being able to explore issues that are interesting to me in the narrative form. I’m drawn to the psychological, the inner world that we all keep hidden. We never show our true selves and I find that fascinating. I love the spark of a new idea and the excitement that comes with it. The planning, the development of characters, where the story could go and where it has gone. It’s addicting and I think that’s probably why we all keep doing it.
I also really love the writing community. I’ve always been a part of critique groups and writing groups. There’s nothing that makes you want to write more than being in a group of writers talking about writing. There’s just a buzz in the air.
What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Resiliency. If you follow any of the writing threads on Twitter, you’ll see that there’s a lot of rejection and feelings of “not being good enough” going on all over the place. Every writer has felt this, most feel it more than they’d like to admit. There’s been so many times over the years that I’ve said, “I’ll never write again.” My last bout happened after Ever Alice was published. I’d never experience that side of writing yet, the whole having a novel published thing, and, wow, it was eye opening and extremely heartbreaking at times. It took me into some emotionally dark places. But here I am, still at it. Some writers do eventually give up. I’ve had many friends that did. Having the resiliency to push through the doubt, to gather your self-confidence off the floor so that you can work on the next novel, is the hardest.
Do you have any tip or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
I’m a huge advocate for studying craft. In an industry that basically runs on the subjective, it’s the one thing you can control. There’s talent, yes, but that’s maybe 10%. Development of that talent is the other 90%. With so many resources available (books, conferences-both online and in person, writing groups, classes-even at your local college, I’ve taught those), every story can be an amazing story, every writer, a great writer. I’ve been the Editor-In-Chief of a literary journal for over 12 years, and I can’t tell you how many submissions I’ve received that weren’t developed or weren’t even proof-read before they were submitted. This leads me to my biggest piece of advice: volunteer to read for a literary journal. They’re always needing readers, especially the smaller ones. After you’ve read 100 stories, it’ll be the clearest thing you ever saw.
And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
I’m currently shopping to agents and small presses an adult fantasy about Atlantis that I finished before Ever Alice, so it’s, like, really old. It was the novel that got me my first agent. Like Ever Alice, it was shopped to publishers and went nowhere. These last few years, I’ve majorly rehauled it because I still loved the idea, but the execution was off. Revisions are finally done and it’s a completely new story. I’m not sure if I’m ready to self-publish again. I’ll never say never, but self-publishing was really hard for me. To do it right, it takes A TON of work—way more than self-published authors ever get credit for and, you know, you’re on your own in a profession that is already kind of lonely. You get a bad review and there’s no one to lift you up and say it’s okay other than your family and friends, which they pretty much have to do. It’s hard not to internalize it all, both the good and the bad. I’m better for having the experience, but it definitely felt like a trial by fire.
Anything else you would like to say before we close?
Thank you for including me in this interview and thank you to the SPFBO Community for being such a beautiful, shining light for indie fantasy authors.
I wish you the best of luck with getting your new/old book published. One way or the other I’m sure you’ll get it out there! Best of luck with Ever Alice and in the competition! And thank you for doing the interview, Heather.
