Having joined me previously for an interview, I'm thrilled to welcome back author Alethea Lyons about her upcoming collection "Reawakening" and how it fits into her 'The Seer of York' universe.
Me: Hello, and thank you for returning to this! Since then, you’ve released your latest collection “Reawakening.” How did this come about?
Alethea Lyons: Thanks for having me back! I was really lucky with Reawakening. It’s unusual to pitch a bunch of short stories, but fortunately, my publisher really liked the idea. About a year ago, we were having one of our prep calls about The Hiding coming out, and I pitched book 1.5 and book 2. I was so relieved when they snapped it up that I literally sat and cried after the call.
Me: As this is set in the world of ‘The Seer of York’ series, was that a conscious decision to write more stories in this universe?
AL: Absolutely. Actually, several of the short stories were written before any of the novel stuff. I did them as a writing exercise to get used to the characters and setting when I started writing the Seer of York books.
Me: How much prep-work went into preparing any of the stories so that they fit into the lore of the series?
AL: I wrote some before the novels and some afterward, with a lot of editing going into the ones I wrote earliest. Overall, it was easy to fit most of them in. They’re based on specific bits of folklore or family in-jokes. There are some which bridge the gap between The Hiding and The Somnia where it was important for them to fit in specific bits of the plot. Readers don’t have to read Reawakening to understand The Somnia, but it will add richness and background to some things that happen. It helped that I’d drafted The Somnia, so I knew exactly what was coming up.
Me: Writing for a short collection instead of a feature-length novel, did that alter your writing style or preparation compared to other writing? Was it always intended to be a short story collection from the start?
AL: It was always intended as a short story collection. There are no major happenings between books 1 and 2, but there is a gap of a few months where I felt a lot would be going on, but in a more ‘monster of the week’ way that suits short storytelling better. I’ve done short-form previously for standalone stories in a few anthologies, and it is a different discipline. Introducing a world and characters, plus giving the story a definitive beginning, middle, and end, in under five thousand words is a challenge. I’d say Reawakening fits somewhere between the two writing styles. It’s building on existing characters and worlds, but most of the stories in it are self-contained.
Me: How did you work in returning characters from the previous series into these new adventures while staying true to their previous adventures?
AL: The short stories were always intended to develop the character’s voices. Most of them are from Harper’s point of view, the main character from The Hiding. It was actually more tricky working out the ones that are from Zero’s point of view since that was new. I did some character development work with friends where our characters interviewed each other. It was fun and it really helped me get into his voice. It’s something I still do via my newsletter.
Me: What were some of your favorite tales that emerged while writing them? What specifically made them stand out in the collection?
AL: Ooh, tough one. For sheer creepy factor, I like Whispers in the Dark. I originally wrote it on paper and it’s quite a visual story with the layout of the words echoing the way the whispering voices from the book surround and hound Harper. Zero, who’s a cat by the way, is my favourite character (don’t tell the others). I love writing non-human viewpoints. My favourite of his stories is Soul-Crushing Black and Bubblegummiest Blue. It’s about his job as a dreamwalker and shows both sides of that coin. It’s inspired by two friends’ characters. The Puca in the Priory is another favourite because it has a touch of history, a slight twist at the end, and is based on our family’s favourite film, Harvey. There are a lot of little in-jokes like that in the collection.
Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process for having it published?
AL: Since I’d pitched it to my existing publisher, it was basically the same as the novels. The editing process was a bit faster, because it’s shorter, but other than that, not much difference. If it weren’t part of a series, it would’ve been difficult to find a home for it. I’d probably have ended up self-publishing it.
Me: What are your future plans for the series after the stories presented here?
AL: Book 2, The Somnia, is coming out in March 2025. That book delves more into Harper’s past and where she comes from. I’ve just about finished edits on that, so people should start seeing more about it soon, including the cover reveal and ARCs (advanced review copies) being available. My aim is to draft book 3, The Dreamwalker, by the end of the year and get that out to some beta readers. I’d like to do another set of short stories as a 2.5 as well, so fingers crossed.
Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!
AL: As well as Seer of York books, I’m currently querying a science-fantasy novel, so hopefully I’ll have news on that in the not too distant future. Once I’ve finished The Dreamwalker, I’ll either be working on a science-fantasy series or a dark academia romantasy. Because the Seer of York books are intended to showcase familial and platonic relationships, there’s no romance until late in The Dreamwalker, so I’m looking forward to getting to write some of that again.
Thanks for having me!
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