1. Let's begin with your book, tell me a few things about Dragon's Teeth.
Dragon's Teeth evolved from a short story idea and became a novel during NaNoWriMo. The book is perhaps best described as dystopian noir. The story follows two protagonists in two very different times and cities, one a Detective battling against corporate empires bent on controlling procreation through eugenics programmes and the other a genetically engineered soldier who is forced to confront the ugly truths of his existence. It's a gritty tale, like a black and white film with the occasional splash of colour.
Dragon's Teeth evolved from a short story idea and became a novel during NaNoWriMo. The book is perhaps best described as dystopian noir. The story follows two protagonists in two very different times and cities, one a Detective battling against corporate empires bent on controlling procreation through eugenics programmes and the other a genetically engineered soldier who is forced to confront the ugly truths of his existence. It's a gritty tale, like a black and white film with the occasional splash of colour.
2. What triggered the idea of it, where did it all begin?
Always a huge fan of dystopian stories particularly dystopian film, it was re-watching the series Dark Angel that made me want to write about soldiers and watching the film Equilibrium that made me want to set my story in a dystopia. That's where it began really. I started writing about genetically engineered soldiers, then random inspiration struck. Having read a James M Cain novel, I wanted to write about a detective in a hardboiled style. Dragon's Teeth is the result of these very different ideas all coming together to tell one complex story.
Always a huge fan of dystopian stories particularly dystopian film, it was re-watching the series Dark Angel that made me want to write about soldiers and watching the film Equilibrium that made me want to set my story in a dystopia. That's where it began really. I started writing about genetically engineered soldiers, then random inspiration struck. Having read a James M Cain novel, I wanted to write about a detective in a hardboiled style. Dragon's Teeth is the result of these very different ideas all coming together to tell one complex story.
3. How do you create your stoyline? Do you know how everything is going to turn up or do you go with the flow?
I'm a total pantser, which is great when the story is flowing and not so great when I get stuck say 30k words in. I start with characters and give them a goal, and then I usually start writing, figuring out the rest as I go along. Dragon's Teeth wasn't even written linearly. I wrote the scenes in the order I wanted to and then fitted them together afterwards a bit like a puzzle. It's really two novellas with intertwining stories. Maybe not the best way to write and not an approach I'll take again, but I think it worked out well in the end.
I'm a total pantser, which is great when the story is flowing and not so great when I get stuck say 30k words in. I start with characters and give them a goal, and then I usually start writing, figuring out the rest as I go along. Dragon's Teeth wasn't even written linearly. I wrote the scenes in the order I wanted to and then fitted them together afterwards a bit like a puzzle. It's really two novellas with intertwining stories. Maybe not the best way to write and not an approach I'll take again, but I think it worked out well in the end.
4. How did you start writing?
I've always written, even as a kid. I'd make up stories and my mom would write them down for me. My mom writes children's stories so writing was just always something we did. I wrote my first 'novel' at 11. After that I turned to angsty teenage poetry before returning to short stories during university years. It was only in 2010 that I actually managed to work my way through an entire novel.
I've always written, even as a kid. I'd make up stories and my mom would write them down for me. My mom writes children's stories so writing was just always something we did. I wrote my first 'novel' at 11. After that I turned to angsty teenage poetry before returning to short stories during university years. It was only in 2010 that I actually managed to work my way through an entire novel.
5. Any tips or suggestions for new authors?
Keep writing. Learn as much as you can about the craft, learn all the rules, listen to critique - and then go with your gut. Believe in your characters and your story, and don't let rejection get you down.
Keep writing. Learn as much as you can about the craft, learn all the rules, listen to critique - and then go with your gut. Believe in your characters and your story, and don't let rejection get you down.
6. What should we expect from you in the future?
I'm currently shopping a YA mythpunk novel and writing a contemporary YA novel with science fiction elements, so hopefully both of these works will be published in the near future. After that I think I might return to writing adult fiction for a while. I also have a couple of short stories coming out soon, one in the Summer from Earthbound Fiction in their Dark Stars anthology and a horror piece in Static Movement's A-Z Cities of Death anthology.
I'm currently shopping a YA mythpunk novel and writing a contemporary YA novel with science fiction elements, so hopefully both of these works will be published in the near future. After that I think I might return to writing adult fiction for a while. I also have a couple of short stories coming out soon, one in the Summer from Earthbound Fiction in their Dark Stars anthology and a horror piece in Static Movement's A-Z Cities of Death anthology.
Links:
- Website: http://suzannevanrooyen.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Suzanne_Writer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-van-Rooyen/304965232847874
- Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5306442.Suzanne_van_Rooyen
- Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Teeth-Suzanne-van-Rooyen/dp/0984293043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333461819&sr=8-1
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Giveaway
Dragon's Teeth
You can never outrun your past...
After years of war ravage the globe and decimate humanity, civilization is revitalized in the city of New Arcadia, a cybernetic playground where longevity treatments promise near immortality.Detective Cyrus, fond of fedoras and narcotics, is hired by Benji MacDowell, heir-apparent to an eugenics empire, to find MacDowell's long-lost biological father.
Employing his network of shady contacts within the underbelly of the city, Cyrus uncovers a murderous web of corporate corruption and political conspiracy with ties to the old Order, a tyrannical organization whose sole intent was perfecting the next generation of genetically engineered soldiers.
Now Cyrus knows too much and finds himself caught in the cross-hairs of super-soldier assassins while the dark secrets of his past snap at his heels, forcing him to confront the truth he's been running from... and discover his own terrifying purpose.
One of you will get an e-book copy of Dragon's Teeth.
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Thanks for sharing your interview and review.
ReplyDeleteIf I were rating a review I would give it a
five :0)
Oh, thank you! :)
DeleteI enjoy when I read this interview,great job Veronica!
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