Rob Donovan is the author of Ritual of the Stones. You can also follow his serialised story Pewtory the Lesser Bard here at SFFWorld.com.
Tell us a bit about Ritual of the Stones.
Ritual of the Stones is the first book in the Ballad of Frindoth trilogy. It is a story based around choices and vengeance. I was particularly interested on how far people would go to protect the ones they loved. This is the Blurb:
Over the kingdom of Frindoth hangs the shadow of the Gloom, a wraith-like creature that emerges every twelve years, demanding a sacrifice. Twelve individuals are selected by lottery for the Ritual of the Stones and one of them will give their life for their country to keep the people safe.
When Rhact, a candle-maker, learns his daughter has been selected to take part in the Ritual, he takes his family and flees. In doing everything he can to protect his family, Rhact has no idea of the repercussions of his actions.
In the capital city of Lilyon, King Jacquard moves to quell a rebellion. Certain warlords have broken away from his council and threaten his throne. Jacquard must deal with the uprising whilst presiding over the ritual. A ritual that also sees his son selected as a participant. Jacquard must keep his focus on ruling his kingdom even if it means losing his son.
The destiny of the Kingdom relies on the Order, a group of powerful warlocks and witches but even amongst their ranks, deception and betrayal emerges. For the witch Marybeth believes she has discovered a way to defeat the Gloom. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father’s death Marybeth sets out on her own path to free Frindoth from the Gloom – A journey members of the Order are eager to stop.
The choices of these three people will change the nation and begin a battle Frindoth may never recover from.
Can you give us an insight into your main characters?
I focus on three main characters (the ones highlighted in the blurb above). In stories, I always enjoy the characters that are flawed but not through any fault of their own. I tried to do that with my characters.
Rhact Oberon for instance is a man who, as a boy was not content with conforming to the life he was dealt with and yearned for adventure. He went out into the world and experienced just that. Now however, he has settled down, obtained the family he wanted and is more than content to live a humble life. Normally in stories, this would lead to an incident that will always drag the veteran warrior into battle one last time to relive past glories. With Rhact I did not want that. I quite liked the idea of an average father trying to protect his family and in trying to do his best, is so far out of his depth that he alienates himself from those around him.
Next is the witch, Marybeth who joined the Order (a group whose role is to preside over the Ritual and protect Frindoth.) under false pretences. She is driven by an incident in the past involving her father and is convinced there is knowledge the Order are withholding from the people of Frindoth. With Marybeth I wanted someone with a strong moral code and a lot of determination. On paper this seems like the ideal person, but Marybeth is sometimes too headstrong and fails to grasp the wider, long term view. She is also conflicted as the more she learns from the Order, the more she appreciates them.
Finally, there is King Jacquard. Jacquard is a fair and just ruler. He has worked hard to drive out the threats to his Kingdom and establish peace. Despite personal tragedy, he has always put the needs of Frindoth first and earned their respect. With Jacquard I really wanted a good King but one who has become complacent. He has carried out all of the hard work and has now taken his eye of the ball without realising it. When his warlords begin to question him, he feels cheated and resentful.
All three characters have sound reasoning for their actions but that does not make them necessarily right.
Where did the idea for the series come from?
I read “Wolves of Calla” by Stephen King and loved the idea that every so many years, these people would come and collect innocent children and take them away from the distraught villagers. I enjoyed the book, but at the time I really wished the story went in another direction. I also couldn’t get my head around why the villagers just accepted this was the norm and allowed their children to be stolen.
My first son had just been born and my wife was extremely ill, so I was doing most of the night feeds. It was whilst feeding my boy at 3am and thinking of “Wolves of Calla” that a scene popped into my head. On a whim I wrote it down. The next night I took it further and soon when my son woke up in the night, every time it was later than 4am, I did not bother going back to sleep but stayed up writing the book I wished had been written.
Tell us about the cover and how it came about.
When I was 14 I wrote a short novel called, the “Scarecrow,” it was inspired by the “Point Horror” books I was devouring at the time. My aim was to set up a rival company called “Sheer Terror.” My Grandparents lived next door to a graphic designer who indulged my vision and produced the cover for the book. I loved what he did and so 20 years on, I looked him up and asked if he would be interested in producing a cover again.
Luckily for me he was, so I sent him a load of scenes that I thought would make a nice cover. I know the traditional cover that sells shows the hooded figure but I have always liked the sprawling landscapes in covers. Covers that you can stare at and lose yourself for a few minutes.
A few days later, I got a call asking me to come round and see what he had come up with. I was shown an early cover of a mangled, evil looking hand reaching for the stones. It was not what I was expecting but I loved it. It was so different from anything out there.
Of course, that was just the start: Many revisions and feedback groups followed but that is how the cover came about. If I am honest, since I have published the cover seems to be a bit divisive, some love it, whilst others aren’t so keen. I guess you can’t please everyone.
How do you market your book?
With difficulty is the short answer. I’ve read so many books and articles on the subject that offer ideas and advice on the best way to market a novel and the biggest thing I’ve learnt is that there is no “one” way that always works.
When I knew I was going to finish Ritual of the Stones, I began a blog. I thought this would be a good way to raise awareness and my profile. I have also always visited forums and other blogs and use the usual channels like Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
I am not the most comfortable promoting myself though. Ask me to stand up at a wedding and deliver a speech or do a presentation and I am fine, but talking about myself and how wonderful I am makes me cringe which is not best situation to be in.
Personally, I would never buy a book by an author telling me to buy their book. I go by reviews, interviews and word of mouth.
How do you organise your writing?
Your supposed to be organised? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I use Y-writer. I find it is a great way to organise your book and has a really simple layout. It has several useful features such as adding characters to scenes, keeping track of timelines and allowing you to input notes to remind you of key plot points. I work on a small notebook with no internet access, that way I am not tempted by distractions.
I tend to write Pewtory the Lesser Bard on a Monday and then concentrate on book 2 for the rest of the week.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
Without a doubt it is the frustration of not having the time to write. I have a busy full-time job and a very young family – boys of 4 and 2. The two year old is not the best sleeper, so my wife and I are constantly shattered. Trying to find time to write is a problem. I’ve tried everything from getting up at 4 instead of 5 in the morning (just left me more knackered), writing at lunch time (don’t always get a lunch) and writing late of a night (sometimes just too shattered.
I tend to write when I can these days, which is far from ideal. Often I am in the mood to write but I am prevented from doing so. The key is not to beat myself up about it and accept the situation. I’ve chosen the worst time of life to write, so I might as well embrace it and enjoy the kids whilst they are not at school and know that it will get easier.
For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?
It depends on the situation. On holiday or in the garden, you can’t beat reading a paperback. I am one of those people that like to sniff the pages of the book every now and then. What? You mean that is not normal? Well edit that part out then!
However, I think that since I read about 90% of my books on the Kindle these days, I would have to say I prefer e-books. They are just so convenient for commuting etc. I also love being able to quickly look up a character I may have forgotten about in a matter of seconds to refresh my memory. With paper books you have to flick through the pages and try to remember who the character is.
What kind of books do you read, any favourite authors?
I try to read a large variety but my “go to” genres are: Fantasy, Crime and Historical Fiction. As for favourite authors, I have several authors I always read as soon as they have a new book out but my favourites are:
- Robert McCammon (in the UK at least, the most criminally under read author there is).
- Stephen King – No one else has the same effortless “voice” when telling a story.
- George R R Martin – The characters and his world building are just perfect
What’s next?
Self-publishing has been extremely stressful. The editing, the formatting and then the endless self-promoting have all been a tremendous drain on time and resources. I now intend to step back from that a little and concentrate on what made me do all this in the first place i.e. love of writing. I am just over 80,000 words into the sequel to Ritual of the Stones and really want to focus on just that. I have a deadline in mind and I really want to hit it.
