Ged Maybury
and the Stonewind Sky
Today I'm talking to Ged Maybury about his Stonewind Sky series, published by Satalyte Publishing. The first book is Into the Storm's Domain.
and the Stonewind Sky
Today I'm talking to Ged Maybury about his Stonewind Sky series, published by Satalyte Publishing. The first book is Into the Storm's Domain.
1. Ged, please tell us how you came to hatch the idea of this series. Was
there a particular jump-off idea?
A. In 2008 I discovered the word "steampunk" in reference to a certain favourite Japanese anime movie. Curious, I dug deeper and soon discovered both its meaning and a small group of computer geeks in the USA trying to create a steampunk-themed video game. I joined their email group and we were soon doing all the world-building stuff. Then suddenly I started writing it up as a story (I was useless to them as a computer programmer!) Anyway, the ideas grew and grew and it eventually became Across the Stonewind Sky. (The first title I chose was 'The Howlingstone' but I soon discovered it was in use elsewhere - in THREE OTHER PLACES!) Oh, and their game never got finished. I credit them in Book I.
2. In regard to series like this one, what do you think is the best time gap between releases?
A. I have no idea. It's a marketing thing. But as a reader, I'd like to have them a week apart! Currently we're putting them out at about 8-month intervals.
3. Who is your favourite character in this book and why?
A. I'm becoming very fond of Friennie Vorkers - who is a frequently recurring secondary character. She's wild, saucy, stupid, impulsive, easily distracted by cake (and men), and entirely too prone to pull out her pistols and start shooting things, instead of thinking. As you can guess - she's in there for comic relief.
4. Thinking of the situations and characters in your book, whose shoes would you perform best in?
A. Well not as my hero, Rodney. He's too brave and physical and confident wielding guns (but asides from that he is the most like me.) Ditto his opposite: Romarny. Or any of the 'Action Types'. I think I'd be more like the 'workshop elves' - those who stay in one place repairing and inventing. Ignatius Gore comes to mind. (He doesn't show up until Book III, btw.)
5. Did you always plan this as a series, or did you originally envisage just one book?
A. It didn't take me long to realise that I was concocting a world and back-story so huge and so detailed that no single book was ever going to contain it! To be honest, at this stage I do not know how many books it *will* take! I'm on Book VI now, there are two in the future where they go to the 'moon' (a different moon to ours), and a number of extraordinary landscapes I want to explore, plus Romarny's back-story, and maybe I might write up the *deep history* (Sissifreya's Story), then run some side-stories using my secondary characters... There could easily be a dozen books before I'm done.
A. In 2008 I discovered the word "steampunk" in reference to a certain favourite Japanese anime movie. Curious, I dug deeper and soon discovered both its meaning and a small group of computer geeks in the USA trying to create a steampunk-themed video game. I joined their email group and we were soon doing all the world-building stuff. Then suddenly I started writing it up as a story (I was useless to them as a computer programmer!) Anyway, the ideas grew and grew and it eventually became Across the Stonewind Sky. (The first title I chose was 'The Howlingstone' but I soon discovered it was in use elsewhere - in THREE OTHER PLACES!) Oh, and their game never got finished. I credit them in Book I.
2. In regard to series like this one, what do you think is the best time gap between releases?
A. I have no idea. It's a marketing thing. But as a reader, I'd like to have them a week apart! Currently we're putting them out at about 8-month intervals.
3. Who is your favourite character in this book and why?
A. I'm becoming very fond of Friennie Vorkers - who is a frequently recurring secondary character. She's wild, saucy, stupid, impulsive, easily distracted by cake (and men), and entirely too prone to pull out her pistols and start shooting things, instead of thinking. As you can guess - she's in there for comic relief.
4. Thinking of the situations and characters in your book, whose shoes would you perform best in?
A. Well not as my hero, Rodney. He's too brave and physical and confident wielding guns (but asides from that he is the most like me.) Ditto his opposite: Romarny. Or any of the 'Action Types'. I think I'd be more like the 'workshop elves' - those who stay in one place repairing and inventing. Ignatius Gore comes to mind. (He doesn't show up until Book III, btw.)
5. Did you always plan this as a series, or did you originally envisage just one book?
A. It didn't take me long to realise that I was concocting a world and back-story so huge and so detailed that no single book was ever going to contain it! To be honest, at this stage I do not know how many books it *will* take! I'm on Book VI now, there are two in the future where they go to the 'moon' (a different moon to ours), and a number of extraordinary landscapes I want to explore, plus Romarny's back-story, and maybe I might write up the *deep history* (Sissifreya's Story), then run some side-stories using my secondary characters... There could easily be a dozen books before I'm done.
Thanks, Ged! I bought Book 1 recently from the publisher and look forward to plunging in when I find more than five minutes to appreciate it.
Check out Book 1 at this url.
