Author Interview With Cheryl Headford

So, what exactly do you write? 

Books. Sorry, facetiousness comes second only to sarcasm with me. Where do I start. First, apart from one specific project I don’t write erotica. Yes, my stories do often have sex in them. Sometimes there is a lot of sex but never where it isn’t absolutely necessary to the story. In many cases there is none at all. What I write primarily is relationships. I explore the nature and development of relationships as the characters go through their journey, usually being tortured in some way along the way.

I write about all kinds of things. I’ve tried out, adventure, fantasy, sci fi, romance, BDSM, coming of age, horror. The only thing I haven’t tried is comedy, although I think there is a lot of my own particular brand of humour in everything I write.

I’ve become quite passionate about the fact that young gay people have very little choice when it comes to finding books with gay characters that aren’t erotic per se. There are some wonderful ones out there and I’m finding more and more but they’re not aimed at young people. Young adults need to see books with characters just like them, going through their shit and finding happiness. Originally, it was my aim to bring those kinds of books to the stores, bringing more fairness maybe. Now… I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore. I’m just writing what I love and seeing what happens. I have a book coming out about a runaway model and another about a fallen angel. The one I’m working on is about the most beautifully sweet fairy I’ve ever met and lurking in the background is lovely boy called Glory who is part vampire, part werewolf, part human, part fey and all passion.

How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?

Nephylim was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Nephylim has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Nephylim became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Nephylim lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son and her two cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. The part of her that needs to earn money is a lawyer, but the deepest, and most important part of her is a storyteller and artist, and always will be.

What made you initially want to write? Has your motivation changed since then?

It was never a matter or wanting to write. I’ve always written. Even before I thought about what it meant to be a writer I wrote. I’ve also been a storyteller for most of my life in one way or another and it felt natural to write down my stories. Writing is not simply something I do. It comes as naturally to me and eating and sleeping. If I don’t have my laptop I write on a pad, or a scrap of paper, or anything I can find. I’ve been known to write key points on the back of my hand when I didn’t have anything else available. It’s the way it always was, is and always shall be… I hope.

What do you think is the most important part of writing?

Important? Is writing important? For me it’s part of my life, a part I want to share with others. Some writing is important, inspirational, informative, creative, all kinds of things but, at the end of the day it’s all completely subjective. I can read the same story as you and get a completely different ‘feel’ for it, a different meaning, a different message and I might love it while you think it’s a load of drivel. Look at Twilight. For me the most important part of writing is writing.

What is your favourite part of writing?

Writing. There is nothing like the rush I feel when I’m ‘into’ a story and it’s flowing from my fingers so fast I can’t keep up with the typing. For that time I’m not sitting in front of my screen I’m there, in the story, living the lives of my characters. Pure escapism I guess.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

What do you consider to be interesting? I used to belong to a re enactment group and spend the weekend re creating life in the Iron Age. My favourite part was fighting with real (but blunt) swords and spears. I married my husband at an Iron Age village. I made all the clothes for myself, my husband and my two bridesmaids. Photographs of the wedding are still part of the promotional literature of the Welsh Folk Museum where the village is situated. There were about 2000 people at the wedding.

Do you have a day-job, (other than writing)?

Yes, I’m a family lawyer. I work for a very small firm dealing with things like divorces, disputes over children, adoption etc

Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Why?

Physical books. Because of the smell. I am a secret book sniffer. Although, not so secret anymore.

Are you an indie author, or did you get your work published the ‘traditional’ way?

What’s the ‘traditional’ way? Two of my books are published by a friend who has his own Indie publishing company. Flying with Red Haircrow One of them is published through House of Erotica The rest are published by a new but growing publishing company Romance First Publishing  SO. I consider myself to be an indie author, part of a revolutionary movement to open up the vistas of publishing.

Tell us about your latest writing.

There is another volume of Bigger Briefs, published by House of Erotica coming out in the next month or so, with the theme of Reluctant Romance. I also have two books in the final editing stages which should be out by the end of the summer.

The Runaway, is one of my favourite books I’ve ever written. With cover art by my favourite artist it follows one of the most fun characters I have ever had the pleasure to write. Ciarrai is a personality. A cross dressing, fast talking superstar who can walk great in six inch heels but can’t skim stones for coffee.

Fallen Angel is about ‘real’ vampires, weres and otherkin. When Isobel meets Arran they know straight away they’re not your average boy and girl next door. Turns out Arran is a vampire and Isobel a were panther. When Isobel follows him to Scotland, after sharing visions of a previous life together, she finds herself in the middle of a hunt for the true origins vampires and a desperate race to get to the answer and find the fabled artefact before the demon shade catches them, with fatal consequences for one of the group.

 

So, how long does it take you, on average, to complete a first draft?

Gods. How long is a piece of string. I do my Wednesday Flashes (1000 words) in about half an hour. A short story for an anthology (4 – 5000) a couple of days. My NaNo I usually do in about 3 weeks. If the story is really flowing I do about 3 -6000 words a day. Once the story has its talons in me it won’t let go and I have to run with it until it’s done.

Which projects are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on my anthology story for Vol 3 of the Bigger Brief to be submitted the end of July. I’m also deep into writing a new novel about a fairy called Draven, who’s been sent to be a ‘slave’ to human ‘Keiron’ as punishment for allowing himself to be seen. Draven is a terrible slave and gets into an awful mess, especially with jam, although he gets to grips with the spell books he finds in the kitchen drawer… the ones with pictures of food. The way Keiron manages to make it rain in the bathroom is fascinating and he’s wildly excited to be able to play with ‘flying people’ in the skate park. It’s not all roses though. When Keiron’s ex boyfriend chains Draven to the bed with iron handcuffs, the ancient nemesis of the fae folk burns and poisons him so his only chance of survival lies back in the world that’s been closed off to him for the next three months.

How do you come up with the titles for your books? And do you have the final title before completing your book, or after?

Weirdly, I usually start with the name and then write the story. I very very very rarely change a story’s name because it’s an integral part of the story from the start

How has writing changed your life?

I can’t say that writing has changed my life because it has always been such a big part of it. Being published has opened horizons to me and forced me kicking and screaming into the world of technology. I’m blogging, tweeting and doing all kinds of things I would never have imagined and which scared the pants off me when I was starting to dabble. That definitely made my life more exciting… and stressful.

Where do you get inspiration for writing from? Do you listen to music whilst writing or have a ‘writing cave’?

I have no idea. I don’t listen to music very much at all. I have a ridiculously wide and eclectic taste in music and I love listening to it, although I don’t think to do it unless someone prompts me.

Is there a particular form, style or genre that you’d like to have a go at writing? Why?

Horror. A lot of my stories contain an element of it. The Unfairness of Life, I think is fairly horrific in parts. However, I don’t think I’ve ever written a ‘horror story’ per se. It’s something I think I could do, unlike a light hearted comedy, no way could I write that.

Favourite book and/or author(s)?
I have lots of favourite authors but two stand out

Storm Constantine My favourite books would be all of them but, I guess I’d have to say The Grigori Trilogy because it’s about fallen angels and the closest to the truth I’ve yet found in fiction.

Terry Pratchett I truly adore all his Discworld books, especially the witches. I love the humour because it’s not obvious humour and it’s quite dark. Some of it I don’t even see until the second or third read.

Do you think it’s necessary to have a degree (of any sort) in order to be a successful author?

Absolutely not. You need to have a good level of literacy to be able to get your story into a form that’s smooth and that people want to read but a good imagination counts for more than education.

What would you say to those who want to become a writer? Any advice?

Listen to people. For me bad dialogue is a deal breaker. If the dialogue is bad I can’t read the book. The way I try to make my dialogue better is to listen to people everywhere I can, see the kind of things they say, how they say them what they’re doing while they’re saying them. Also get under the skin of your characters, work with them. When you’re washing dishes, do it as your character and have conversations with other characters. When you’re walking down the street think about what your character would be doing… how would they walk, talk, what music would they be listening to on their ipod, who are they looking at and why.

Don’t give up. Don’t care who tells you your writing is not good enough, don’t lose faith. Take all feedback, good and bad, and work with it. Criticism hurts but is much more helpful than sycophancy.

Do it yourself. Unless you’re very lucky you won’t get a break with the big boys but the future is in indie so look around. Twitter is a good place to start. Find an indie publisher who publishes works like the ones you write, check out their submission requirements and submit. The better ones can be difficult to crack and won’t accept submissions from new writers, so look out for open calls.

Take responsibility for publicising yourself and your work. Set up a blog. Make it as good as you possibly can and fill it with interesting things. Not just your work but things that will interest lots of people. Make sure you update it often. People won’t come back more than once if the content is the same.

Thank you very much for your time.

Visit my blogspot at http://nephylim-author.blogspot.co.uk/ to find out just how strange and unusual I am

Enigma I – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/110641?ref=redhaircrow
Enigma II – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159126?ref=redhaircrow
The Unfairness of Life – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120555
Hump in the Night –  Five stories of the paranormal  http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-humpinthenight-786310-144.html
Wicked Watchers – Looking at the Lads – A collaberation of m/m writers. Seven stories by seven fabulous writers.
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-wickedwatcherslookingatthelads-762380-144.html