Lucy A. McLaren

It’s time for my next author interview. This one is with Shane Lee, who I met through the brilliant Feed My Reads community.

Read on to learn more about Shane and his dark fantasy stories!

Hello! So, first of all – tell me a little bit about yourself!

I’m 30 years old, and my wife and I live in Buffalo, NY with our golden retriever Toby and our cat Mordecai, aka Momo. I love reading and writing, of course, and I also enjoy gaming and golf. Luckily most of that is homebody stuff, which suits me.

You note in your author bio that you love to combine the grim and fantastical in your stories, writing primarily dark fantasy. What draws you to these type of stories in particular?

Something in me just needs to be a little horrified to be completely enthralled in a story. I grew up reading Stephen King, so I always expected a monster of some variety around the next corner. If something has horror as part of its genre, I want to see what everyone is so scared of.

As someone who likes to put your characters through bad things, what has been the toughest scene you’ve written in any of your books? How do you think it helps your stories creating such challenges for your characters? 

There is a scene in Inhumans where the main character loses something very important to him. I found it devastating to write—when the idea popped into my head, I immediately grimaced—but the reader feedback was powerful and I knew that it hit them as powerfully as it hit me and the MC. I like making imperfect characters; ones you root for, but honestly have no idea if they’ll win any given battle they come across. I think it makes their journey more meaningful and relatable.

In real life, you’re an upbeat and positive guy—do you think any part of this comes through in your books? Is there a light on the darkness of your grim worlds? Do you see any part of yourself in your characters? 

My real personality is quite different from the grim realities in my books. I think the part of me that comes through, no matter if I intend it or not, is humor, even in dire, life-and-death situations. Jost, the MC of World of the Stone Maze, has a pretty dry sense of humor. I think he got it from me, lol. I try to avoid self-inserting as much as possible, but I do think the way I like to speak IRL comes through in some character’s dialogue. Grimness aside, I am not into sad endings where nobody is happy. It might not be clean, but I think most of my stories end in a satisfying way.

You’ve currently written two books in your Inhumans series; are you planning to write more? If so, how is that going? 

Yes! The World of the Stone Maze series was always intended to be a trilogy, and I’m well underway with book three, which is going very well and will be out in the first half of this year.

What is your writing process like? Do you have a rigid routine, or do you allow the story to flow naturally? 

I like to plan large story arcs while letting certain twists and turns surprise me as I write. To steal an analogy I heard, writing to me is like being an archaeologist unearthing a huge dinosaur skeleton piece by piece. The story is buried in me, and I’m finding the parts and putting them together, often with just as much surprise as the reader who sees the finished product. I’ll generally plot out a novel in 3-6 paragraphs, then break it down a bit further, like 2-3 paragraphs for each part of a 4-part book. From there, I try to write a chapter a day, rather than a word count goal, which I think keeps me from writing filler and keeps the story moving.

Why do you write in the dark fantasy genre? What’s your favourite thing about it? And what is the most difficult thing about it? 

So, I started wanting to write horror (like Mr. King). Then I realized I don’t always love writing contemporary stuff. My first novel was a horror novel with a medieval setting. I like writing medieval-style fantasy because I like making up the rules, but I’m a very logical person so I try to make things make sense as much as I can. I think my favorite part about making a dark fantasy world is the monsters. I like imagining grisly, terrifying things that make a reader grimace either through description or action. I’m the person who always reads through the bestiary in any video game strategy guide or DnD manual.

How long have you been writing for? What first inspired you to start?  

I started writing my own stories when I was around 8 or 9. I wrote an unbelievably bad YA superhero story that will never see the light of day, but I’ll always remember it. Then as a teenager, I wrote a long fantasy novel that was only slightly better, and in turn will stay buried. I’ve always been a huge reader, and it wasn’t long before I felt the desire to create my own stories. The things I read sparked something inside me to make worlds of my own. It all felt very natural.

What’s your go-to music for a writing session (if any)? 

There’s two songs/albums that are basically responsible for 90% of my writing production. Primarly, the song Stella by KASHIWA Daisuke. It’s 35 minutes long, so it’s perfect for a good writing session. The next would be the music from Echochrome II, a series of amazing classical pieces called prime #4507. I also like the chillhop music of in love with a ghost.

Where might we find you when you’re not writing? 

Probably yelling at myself for not writing. But I spend a lot of time with my dog, Toby, so either walking him or on my PC playing whatever game is striking my fancy at the time.

What tips would you give to someone who wants to write but is struggling to know where to start? 

If you want to write something, I’m guessing you were struck by an idea you love, but you don’t know how to put it on the paper. My best advice is to get a routine going—a daily one. Start incredibly small. 50, 100 words a day. But do it every day. Soon you’ll find yourself spilling over that goal and writing more than you thought possible. Every day, you’ll unearth a little more of the dinosaur until you start to see what the bones make.

Where can readers connect with you and learn more about your books? 

www.ShaneLeeBooks.com has all the good stuff, but definitely come say hi on Twitter and Facebook as well! (both are @ShaneLeeBooks).

Thank you Shane—and you can read my interview on Shane’s website here!