Today I am hosting a Q&A with author V.V. James as part of the paperback blog tour for Sanctuary!
I am so happy to be taking part in this tour, especially given these uncertain times.
Sanctuary is very high on my to-be-read list and I can't wait to finally read it.
Did
you do any research for Sanctuary?
Yes!
Setting, and witchcraft, were the two key things to get to grips
with. For setting, I went on a writing retreat to an affluent and
historic seashore town in New England, and also visited Salem to
understand the roots of how witch persecution played out in the U.S.
A lot of the specific place details – houses, town geography,
coffee shops – were drawn from those trips.
For
witchcraft itself, I’ve been a regular for a couple of years now at
rituals and lectures held at the marvellous Treadwells Books,
probably London’s most active occult store. I’ve learned so much
there from witches of all ages. Check them out online – their
events have been suspended due to Covid-19, but they’re just
gearing up to get content online, including practical Witchcraft
101s! And because witchcraft is a belief system for many today, I had
to be careful ethically – I needed to create a fictional witchcraft
that was realistic and familiar, yet not appropriative or
misrepresentative of specific practices and traditions. Hearing from
people of so many different belief systems at Treadwells really
helped me navigate this.
Do
you have a favourite character in Sanctuary?
More
than one! I love Maggie, the kindhearted, principled, but realistic
cop. I also love her dynamic with her snarky boss, Remy, and her
enthusiastic assistant, Chester. And there’s something about Harper
Fenn that I adore…. Perhaps her defiance.
What are you most proud of about Sanctuary?
I
wanted it to get people thinking and making their own connections
about important issues – marginalisation, the structure of power,
believing victims – in a way that’s emotionally rewarding yet
also an exciting read. At the moment, people are telling me they see
echoes of the book’s events in panic around the Covid-19 outbreak,
so its obviously rewarding to know that readers are finding it
relevant and thought-provoking. But I’d also be thrilled to know
that its simply providing some much needed escapism right now!
Where is your favourite writing spot?
I
only have one writing spot – my desk! Which is also my dining
table. And my office. It’s a lovely oak table and I have some
beautiful woodblock prints hung above it. It’s the literal and
figurative heart of my tiny flat, and I find it peaceful and
inspiring. If I’m away for a long time, I can
work on my laptop if I have to. But I’ve learned about myself that
I’m hopeless at working in public, like coffee shops, and beyond
hopeless at ‘writing dates’ with other authors. When I’m with
people, I want to talk to them! I put in enough quiet solitary hours
at home!
Do you have any advice for new writers?
All
the best tips are those I’ve squirrelled away from wiser authors
over the years! Two that really resonated with me personally are John
Scalzi’s ‘bumglue’ – aka you’ve gotta just stay in the
chair and keep writing. There’s no shortcut. Do the work – yes,
it’s hard!
And
the one that got me writing my debut, GILDED CAGE, was Antonia
Honeywell’s advice ‘Give yourself permission to take your writing
seriously’. It was that ‘permission’ which really unlocked so
much for me. There’s this idea that writing is such a universal
aspiration its almost a cliché, and the odds of ever getting
published can seem so stacked against you that’s it’s somehow a
self-indulgent thing to do with your time. You could be working
harder, studying more, giving your time to others. But actually, if
your writing is core to who you are, then you need to acknowledge
that and give it sufficient priority, whether at the expense of other
activities, or even people. That can feel scary and selfish, but it
was what I needed to hear. I quit my job and went freelance to give
myself time to write – and GILDED CAGE was the result.
What's your favourite book/series?
I
have many favourite books – and favourite authors! Two favourite
‘classic’ writers are poet Emily Dickinson, whose writing is so
stripped back, yet so very, very deep, and Yukio Mishima, the master
of morally ambivalent characters. With contemporary fiction, I adore
dark and wild fantasy: I can’t wait for the sequel to Taz Muir’s
GIDEON THE NINTH, while I just binged the whole of Jay Kristoff’s
NEVERNIGHT trilogy – which I think might possibly be the best
fantasy series of the past 10 years. And I’m loving the current
surge in the feminist fantastical – Samantha Shannon’s PRIORY OF
THE ORANGE TREE, Mel Salisbury’s HOLD BACK THE TIDE, and keep an
eye out for the shattering SISTERSONG, coming next year from Lucy
Holland.
Thank you Vic for your wonderful answers!
The paperback is out now!
Sanctuary is also available in hardback, as an ebook and an audiobook.
