The Sins of Steel and Shadow by Steve Pannett
What led you into writing?
It’s cliché but I’ve just always loved books. I was one of those kids who always had his head buried in a book, and so that naturally led me to want to try my hand at writing myself. There’s something innately magical about telling stories, and I think that any writer—whether they produce huge, epic tomes or a handful of short stories—will attest to that.
How does a typical day look?
It entirely depends on the day if I’m being honest! I have two children and a full-time career in the creative industries so time is always in short supply! That being said, I’ll always try to work some writing in if I can — usually first thing in the morning as I always feel a bit more fresh at that time.
However, if I ever have a full day “off” (from work/parenting) then writing gets my full and undivided attention. I’ll typically write across two sessions (4-5 hours each) with a bit of time in between to stew on what I’m doing. I love days like this, as you can more readily see the progress you’re making — particularly if you’re drafting which, for me, is all about getting words down on a page.
In what ways do your characters test your abilities?
To write a really good character you need to put yourself in their shoes, doubly-so if you’re writing from their POV (either in first-person or, like me, in third-person limited). This is fine if you’re writing a character who has had similar experiences to your own, but it becomes infinitely harder when you start writing outside of this zone (probably the most obvious example of this is men writing women or women writing men, which is not to say it’s not possible — but when it goes wrong you can usually spot it from a mile off).
For my next release, we follow two main viewpoints (with a few others thrown in here and there for good measure). Both characters are “Turned” — not considered fully vampyr but no longer human, either — and, as a result, they’re hated and reviled by both species. This means that they’re forced to exist in the fringes of both societies, with every day a struggle for survival. We all have our personal struggles in life, but I can tell you now that my own have never been as extreme as what these characters face.
Bail has been a Turned for half a century, and so I had to consider what fifty years of existing like that might do to a person. They would have to be hardened to a harsh life. They would be accustomed to violence. But how would they feel, too? Hopeless? Angry? Bitter? Afraid? I needed to write all of this into the character, but also still make them likeable to the extent that readers would want to spend plenty of time with him.
Vesca is another Turned, but her own backstory and motivations are even more complex than Bail’s are (no spoilers!) Again I wanted to write a nuanced character, full of flaws and intricacies, but I also didn’t want to info-dump all of her “life before the book” into the reader’s first meeting with her. It’s a challenge, but I absolutely love it!
What’s your setup?
I currently write in a spare bedroom, with a small window that faces out on a pretty typical suburban street in Yorkshire. I’ve got minimal distractions in here, which is great, but I—like most authors I know—long for a tailor-made writing space with big windows that open out onto a breathtakingly dramatic landscape. Scotland, I’m coming for you one day!
What lasting effects have your favourite authors had on your writing and style?
I’ve got two that have had a huge impact on how I craft my own work.
The first and most influential is David Gemmell. His books are widely described as “popcorn fantasy” (but not in a derogatory way) but I love everything he ever wrote. The more you read the more you realise that Gemmell had a real understanding of people — there are heroes and villains, but they’re all more three-dimensional than just those labels suggest. There is magic, but he never feels the need to explain it like a science. He also has some absolute masterpieces in his back catalogue (The Rigante series and pretty much any of the Drenai novels are among my favourites).
The second is Joe Abercrombie, because holy shit did I learn that fantasy does not have to take itself so seriously all the time! The dark humour, the incredible character work, the pacing of his writing — all of it really left a mark on me and I’m excited to see what comes next!
What do you do for inspiration?
I love to get outside. It never ceases to amaze me how useful a walk under big skies can be (and by that I mean, away from anything manmade). I walk, I hike or I go for a run — those thing make up my “thinking” time. I also read, or sketch, or design something or make some music — creating something usually inspires something else.
I read somewhere that everyone needs four hobbies, one from each of these categories (Create, Consume, Cavort, Commune) and I think I agree with this wholeheartedly:
Create: Bring something to life
Consume: Appreciate the art of another
Cavort: Move your body daily
Commune: Have a community to socialise with
What repeating themes do you find yourself pulling into your stories?
No spoilers but…betrayal. I like writing characters that hide some part of them—major or minor—that then plays a crucial role later on in the story. That way, I can leave hints and clues to it that perhaps only seem obvious once the betrayal is revealed to the reader. I try not to make it too cartoonish or wildly improbable, but with high stakes or high pressure situations you can never really know how certain characters are going to react.
It also means that readers can never fully trust any of my characters — and why should they!? You might think you know them, but how much of that can you really trust?
How do you wind down?
The same way I look for inspiration. I create, consume, cavort and commune!
That being said, a nice cuppa tea and a Digestive biscuit goes a long way!
What sort of challenges do you regularly overcome while designing your world/setting?
Oh god, time and distances! I can create entire civilisations, histories and cultures for fun, but my biggest challenge is always figuring out relative distances and travel times for my characters! I know most readers don’t care about that kind of thing (myself included, weirdly enough) but it can be a nightmare trying to figure out how long it would take a lone horse rider to travel from A to B, versus a group of twenty walking on foot, versus an entire army. Then you have to factor in weather, terrain, the wellbeing/fitness of the travellers — bloody hell it sounds so droll when I type this out, but I promise it’s a headache!
I also have magic in my stories (or “magick” as I write it, because fantasy!) but I don’t like to get too deep on explaining it. I’ve started doing more of it in this series (Book 2 especially) but I don’t want my stories to ever feel encyclopaedic in how they reveal the places, people or mysteries involved. I’d rather my readers experience this, and maybe pick stuff up by osmosis, or even make their own assumptions to fill any gaps! I think it feels more authentic that way, rather than relying on too much exposition (even “show don’t tell” exposition).
What are you reading at the moment?
No Heart for a Thief by James Lloyd Dulin – it’s a cracking read!
What’s the most useful advice you could give to an aspiring author?
1. Write, and keep writing. The more you do it, the better you’ll get.
2. Finish your first draft. I must’ve abandoned somewhere between 20-30 manuscripts before actually completing a story from start to finish. My biggest mistake was editing/revisiting as I was writing the initial draft. This meant I got bogged down in specific sections or passages, when I should’ve been focusing on telling a complete story. Once you’ve got that, you can perform as much surgery (major or minor) as you like.
3. It’s not a race – you might write your first book and want to publish straight away, but I’d honestly advise against this. I wrote lots of manuscripts before I even drafted my debut novel (see advice above) — all of those manuscripts were terrible, and publishing them would likely have disheartened me as they would have been (rightly) panned. But they were not time wasted. They were practice. You need to be 100% honest with yourself that your work is the best it can be.
4. Get yourself a trusted “alpha” reader and make sure they don’t sugarcoat their feedback. As above, you need someone who will be brutally honest about where your writing is strong and—more importantly—where it sucks. Leave your ego at home and don’t ever jeopardise your relationship with this person for the sake of your craft.
5. There is no competition – Readers just love reading, so anyone writing in the same genre/space as you is not competition, they are a potential gateway to your own book! Celebrate their successes and don’t view other writers as competition.
6. Don’t be a dick – not really specific to aspiring authors, but yeah, don’t be a dick.
Tell us about the book you’re promoting.
THE SINS OF STEEL AND SHADOW is Book 1 of my new series (The Turned) and it’s set in a medieval-style fantasy world that’s inhabited by both humans and vampyrs. The two species co-exist in an uneasy peace after centuries of war, and there is a real sense that everything is balanced on a knife edge. The situation is a tinder box and could quickly descend into chaos and carnage at any moment. Living on the periphery of this global threat are the Turned, former humans who were “Turned” by vampyrs but aren’t considered pureborn. As a result, they’re rejected by both sides of the divide. For a Turned, just existing is a struggle.
Book 1 follows Bail Neren, a Turned smuggler who has managed to carve an existence out for himself against this grim backdrop. But his own problems are mounting and life is getting harder and harder by the day…but then he’s offered the chance to change everything.
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The book is a gritty fantasy novel—which is how I describe most of my work, as “grimdark” feels too hopeless and “epic fantasy” feels too hopeful—and it’s a character-driven story with plenty of action. It’s the start of a journey (I’m currently drafting Book 2) but I also worked really hard to make sure this isn’t just a “set-up novel” either — I hope it will be the spark that catches the interest of a whole group of readers, excited to come on this journey with me!
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