Author Interview: C.H. Clepitt

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing C.H. Clepitt. She is fun (and funny!) and an exceptionally talented author. My introduction to her work was I Wore Heels to the Apocalypse, which you should immediately go read if you can handle laughing until it hurts and then realizing you actually read something pretty deep. I reviewed it here, so you can see exactly why I loved it.

Interview

Is there a character in your work you feel especially connected to? Why?

I would love to be able to say that I feel most connected to one of my kickass fantasy characters such as Jacques, the smart mouthed martial arts expert from The Book of Abisan, or Cross, the ex Marine space captain from my Crew Chronicles series, but the truth is, I connect more with the hapless MCs from my more comic novellas. Stephen from A Reason to Stay was very close to me at the time I was writing the book. Stuck working in retail after graduating university and feeling like a complete failure in every aspect of his life. And more recently, Kerry from I Wore Heels to the Apocalypse, having to pretend to know exactly how to be an adult and behave when the world is literally ending around you and you don’t have a clue what’s going on! One reviewer described her as having a “bull in a china shop approach to problem solving”, and I thought, “I don’t”, but actually, I probably do. Mostly though I’m like the badger.

Hey, badgers are cool too, and highly relatable. Tell us a little about any upcoming projects.

I’m actually super excited to be able to talk about this one, as it’s been a long time in the making.  The working title is The Smuggler’s Daughter, although this could change.  It is the next in The Book of Abisan series, which has been a long time coming.  It follows the same pattern as The Book of Abisan, in that it alternates between worlds in each chapter the same way the first book did, but it is introducing two completely different worlds and a new set of characters.  The first world is almost a Victorian England style world, although it has some modern touches (because it’s not Victorian England, it’s a world).  This is where the title character is from, and so far she has met a fascinating young woman that she is strangely drawn two, and the pair of them have accidentally stumbled into the deadly world of smuggling.  You can read the first chapter here.

The second world is a more futuristic world, not dystopian, but not Utopian either, it has some issues, as all worlds do. It follows two police officers as they investigate an odd series of murders with unidentifiable victims.  How these two world’s collide you’ll have to wait and see, but I am very much enjoying writing it, so hopefully you will enjoy reading it, too.

The Victorian-England-but-not reminds me a little bit of Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci books. Sounds like something I’d really enjoy. Where do you look for inspiration for new stories?

Inspiration comes from all over, but mostly where I see something that I think is wrong, and I want to address it through my writing.  For example, I read an article that talked about the amount of unreported violence against transgender people, so I wrote my Crew Chronicles series. The main character in that, Crew, has no gender, and has to deal with living in a universe where this is not normal or acceptable. He had to choose, so chose male, because he has a brother he looks up to, but he could pass for either gender, and this is something I hope to explore more later in the series. I also deal with issues of racism and slavery within this series, whilst I hope still being entertaining. The reviews so far have been positive, and one reviewer described it as “Firefly meets fairies”. Most of my books deal with social and or political issues in some way, I am not backwards in coming forwards with my opinions, so you should get it…

That’s awesome. I like my stories with a side of social commentary. Okay, time for some rapid-fire questions.

Do you enjoy watching or playing any sports?

I play netball and I quite enjoy watching it, too.

Morning person or night owl?

I’d be nocturnal if I had the choice.

What superpower do you wish you had?

I would like to be able to stop time. I’d get so much more done, and sleep so much more, too!

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to come back whenever you have a new release to share. I know lots of my regular blog readers will want to check it out.

About the Author/Social Media

Bio | Amazon | Website | Facebook | Twitter