An Interview With Becky James

1) Tell us about your book 

I write NA sword and sorcery mashed with contemporary fantasy and a dash of the multiverse. It all centres around a cocky swordsman and his exasperated friends. It has noblebright themes with worldbuilding threaded throughout the plot. I love it when a story comes full circle and closes off nicely, ready for the next.
My stories are heavily UK influenced, from the mythology and folklore to the settings (semi-rural British countryside and our canals feature a lot. Slightly obsessed with canals). I’ll feature the dreaming spires of Oxford next to steel-crash impacted Sheffield, and there needs to be more about the laylines influencing Milton Keynes and the real story behind the Magic Roundabout in Swindon.
 
2) How long have you been writing? 

I got into fantasy young, and I’m all for stories that use the settings / events to explore human nature and character-driven storylines. My first “grown up” fantasy writer was Eddings, and I love that balance of humour and heart. 
I’ve been writing stories since I learned to write, but only recently started sharing them with the world. Creative writing was my favourite subject in school, and my stories used to be read out in assemblies. I’m also a scientist, which is not incompatible. Scientists need a great deal of imagination to figure things out, and I tend to ground the magic systems into something close to reality while still letting it just be – it is magic, after all!
I write because these characters have been hanging around me since I was a teenager. Each new iteration brings me closer to the story that wants to be told. A new version of them stepped into my life about two years ago, and this version of Thorrn won’t take ‘later’ for an answer.
 
3) Tell us something unique about your main character
 
He struggles with his image and his shortcomings. As the self-proclaimed king’s best swordsman, he wants to project confidence and perfection and be the hero everyone can rely on, but he struggles with flare ups of all-consuming rage and is highly dyslexic. Truly, he needs to stop trying to be perfect and instead learn that everyone is imperfectly perfect the way they are.
 
4) Is your book part of a series?
 
It is! The Tenets in the Tattoos is book 1, and book 2 is The Bind of Blood and Bonds. There are currently eight books planned for the series!
 
5) What is your favorite thing about being an author?
 
My favourite thing is being able to share the characters. They have been with me for long enough – it’s time they went off to make new friends!
I also love the creative control of being the person to plot out the series, commission the covers, choose my editors, and I even love networking and marketing. It’s the full package for me!
 
6) What does the future hold for you?
 
I will be writing a more romantic fantasy as part of a collaboration. Early next year, The King’s Swordsman books 3 and 4 will be published, and I cannot wait to share where Thorrn’s adventures take him next.

Becky James is the author of The King's Swordsman series. Based in the UK, she has a deep love of the British countryside, canals, and all things fantasy; she devours anything that has magic, swords, good friends and good times.
 
She is often floating around the socials!
https://www.facebook.com/becky.james.7549185/