About MT CERES:
MT Ceres is the pen name of Louise Ceres, the author and creator of the Gaiadon Universe.
MT Ceres has indie published The Gaiadon Lore series. An epic, high, but dark fantasy trilogy which includes Dagger Path, and Black Void, and a brand-new release in 2024.
Dagger Path is the entry point to the Gaiadon Universe body of works.
Shadow on The Other Shore is epic dystopian fantasy and is the first book in the Bloods Bane series. Shadow on The Other Shore is the sole traditionally published work in Ms Ceres’ Gaiadon Universe body of works. Book two of Bloods Bane is due for release in early 2024.
In the Hall of Records is a prelude to the Bloods Bane series and is a short novella.
Ms. Ceres is a full-time writer, with works of epic fantasy fiction published traditionally and independently, and her poetry published by Lothlorien Poetry Journal.
She calls the North Lake District, in the UK, her home where she shares her space with two cats and two kids.
What inspires you to write?
Writing is an outlet for me and I cannot imagine not writing, it's like a compulsion. I have an overwhelming desire to tell the story and find writing part of my healing process.
However, I believe writing is a way to explore current socio-political themes in another way, especially if the genre is SFF.
Themes in my work are inspired by, for example a fundamental loss of basic rights, not just human either. So, one of my main themes in the Gaiadon Universe is Self-sovereignty or loss of the right to be in charge of our own bodies and life.
I'm also inspired to write about colonisation and invasion and have based some of the demons in my writing on current political leaders.
I am inspired by the unseen world, metaphysics, alchemy, and there are themes in my work that reflect that too.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Robin Hobb, Ursula K Le Guinn, JV Jones, Robert Jordan, Fiest, Pratchett, Kristen Britain. I also enjoy poetry and classics too.
Tell us about your writing process.
I used to be a lot more pantsy than I am now, but the Gaiadon Universe is quite a mature entity compared to when I began writing it over a decade ago.
At first I wrote Shadow on The Other Shore (SOTOS), to process my father's illness (dementia), the work is epic, dark, dystopian SFF, in the Russian style and is traditionally published, it was back and forth to the publisher quite a lot.
In SOTOS I had briefly mentioned a bunch of Witch Queens and this smuggler/pirate, really no more than a bit of backdrop detail to life in the North of Gaiadon, but while I was going through the traditional publishing process these characters kept invading my reality and telling me their stories, until it came to the point that I had to sit down and put together an outline.
This later evolved into a story about the island homes, political conflicts, and different power and magic systems that belong to the seven Witch Queens, and life in the Southern Isles, mainly told through the experiences of the Witch Queen Mordeana Never Dead's apprentice, Isknot, the pirate Silas Al Seamist, and his friend a Moema warrior called Atarangi Hiriwa. The novels are epic fantasy in the Wyrd style (lives controlled by the hand of Fate) and are called Dagger Path, a tale of people who are compelled to walk their own destiny path to a mysterious place called Hiriwa Pourewa (Silver Tower) and Black Void a story about the crystalization of the shadow, sacrifice and loss, which is the second book in the Gaiadon Lore trilogy.
Once I had the foundation and an intial set of characters, I created a map so that I could move them around my world, Gaiadon, and more importantly know where they were!
I sketch my characters, create art, book trailers, and book covers for the Gaiadon Universe. I use a lot of different applications to create my art, photos, sketches, collages, MS Paint and Powerpoint, video editor. I know that sounds like I am some sort of superwoman but I've actually been doing this full-time for over a decade and what you see on my social media or web site is a reflection of that.
I found that when I am creating art it is usually the time when my writing has come to a natural pause while something in the story gestates.
I do have to ignore my characters and story at times as I know that something needs to grow, then emerge, from my sleeping mind.
My initial outline is always in a Peter Pauper notebook, I really like their designs, and have a lot of them, most notably by my bed as it is usually in the small hours when my sleeping mind wants to tell me something important which I scribble down. In the morning it is usually ineligible or resembles an alchemical spell or a hex.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Yes, I do talk to my characters, and often in public, like a muttering, mad woman.
However, this is a really important part of the process, especially if you want to get to know your character. So, based on their current situation, a situation that I, as the author, have inflicted on them, coupled with their past, gives me an insight into how they will react and what their behaviour is likely to be.
If the story is not resonating I will have a conversation with my character by asking questions using a very simple techinque. How, what, when, where, why questions and take it from there.
What advice would you give other writers?
It's okay to walk away and leave your baby (I'm talking about a proof here not an actual baby).
Yes it's good to plan but sometimes its good to let things grow, don't force it, then if your story has run wild and needs a good prune, get in there with a machete.
Keep focussed on YOUR author journey, your stories, and what you are passionate about, writing and story-telling are part of who we are.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I have published independently, and done everything myself including purchasing ISBN's and barcodes, editing services etc, and have also used a hybrid publishing model where I paid for production costs etc but was paid by the publisher for my art.
Some people call the hybrid model, vanity publishing, and while there may be unscrupulous organisations out there who do that, that wasn't my experience, and I would add that calling something vanity publishing can be a very outdated way to look at what could potentially be another way to enter the market place for some authors.
In terms of both experiences –
Indie author from concept to actual published work was a lot quicker and I can amend my books as and when I like for free if I use KDP. Costwise it was actually slightly more expensive than my hybrid contract and I have found myself going back and redoing work.
Traditional publishing took longer, but the novel was my first, and is over 250K words. I did not feel as isolated during the process as I was in touch with my publisher, the editing team, design and graphics team, and production team. It worked out less expensive, I have a place on my publishers website, was given a complimentary box of books and marketing material, my publisher sends out e-files to reviewers at no extra cost to myself.
It is very much an individual choice and only the writer can decide what route to market is best for them.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think AI generated works will be increasingly under scrutiny and quite rightly so, until they are legally identified as such and have their own niche, and policy requirements with them. However, the question remains is the owner of the AI author programme, the primary, or secondary author, and if so, who claims the royalities. It could be argued that the AI programme is the author.
The fact that anonymous or hidden AI authored work has the potential to accrue readership and subsequent royalties, that can never be spent by a machine, just devalues the craftsmanship that writers and authors work their entire lives to hone. I believe this is the case across the art world. I know AI is in its infancy now and some of the work is diabolical but more governance needs to be applied to the AI programmers as I assume they are the source or primary author. Even if it is code initially it is still written work and they, like all other authors should be accountable.
What genres do you write?: I write Speculative Fiction, Epic, Dark, SFF and poetry
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To MT CERES Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
