Book: Vanity
Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
Hi there! Well, my name’s Rhiannon Garrard, I’m a criminology and policing student at London Metropolitan University and I work as a special constable in my local community. When I’m not either at university or working, I’m indulging in horror and fantasy- books, movies, shows, anime- anything! Vanity therefore is pretty much a perfect combination of everything I love: a supernatural murder mystery with some nice horror elements!
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Vanity’?
When I started Vanity (As well as the sequels), I was a young teenager, so I would say that editing the mess it started as into something I’d be proud to have people to read was the hardest challenge, haha! Writer’s block is also a constant lurking devil- ready to halt me in my tracks at the most inconvenient times. There were definitely bits and pieces to research, but that wasn’t as much of a challenge as the others- I wrote Vanity about everything I love, after all, so I enjoyed the reading it made me do.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I was certainly reading a lot of Lovecraft’s various stories whilst writing Vanity. I was also re-reading some of my personal favourite murder mysteries as I wrote it, but the one I think I read the most was Los Angeles BB Serial Murder Cases by Nisio Isin. I know it might not be an obvious choice, but I adored how it was written. It might not have influenced Vanity the most, but I must have read that book cover to cover three times whilst editing my own work, so I think it’s worth mentioning.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
That’s a tough one…I won’t say a specific location for obvious reasons, but my great-grandfather had a wonderful forest just outside of his home in Cornwall- and to this day, that place is drenched in magic. A beautiful babbling brook, a rope swing at the top of a hill…It always felt like you could stumble into a dragon’s cave or find faeries dancing in the moonlight. To this day, I love walking through those woods…Good times.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?
For me? Not really. I’m not one to meticulously plan my novels- I know some people will spend ages planning out their books, but whilst I’ll have a bare bones structure in my mind before I start, I just generally jump right in and start scribbling. The first draft is never the final one, and I find it more exciting to write on the fly as it were. Once I have the bare bones down, then I’ll edit it, add scenes, take away things etc. But for getting started, all I need is an idea, a notebook and a pen.
Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Vanity’?
Oh, that’s too difficult to answer, I’m afraid! I have a particular habit of switching between different novels, all of different themes, tones and audiences, whenever Writer’s Block sets in on one. So in the past, I’ll get Writer’s Block on Vanity, so I’ll start writing about Vampires instead, as an example. But that means all I can say for sure is that I started Vanity when I was 16, but since I’ve not worked on it solidly, I can’t really even give you an estimate for that.
Let’s say…. A while. It took a while to write Vanity.
Q7. On what all platforms readers can find your books to buy?
Naturally, Vanity is available on Amazon- it’s also on Book Depository as well, and both of these have worldwide shipping. If you’re in the US and you’d like to shop a little more local than that, then it should be available at Murder By The Book, and Once Upon A Crime. If you’re in the UK, then you’ll be able to get a copy of Vanity from my website (rhiannongarrard.com) and those ones are signed!
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the cover and the title of your books?
I’ve never been good at titles for my books- so they have a tendency to be either incredibly floaty philosophical phrases or very weirdly literal. I suppose for sake of intrigue, I’ll leave it up to the people to decide whether Vanity: Murder in the Name of Sin is.
As for the cover, I’ve always liked book covers which have a symbol or symbolic item on the front rather than the main character just staring out at you- and considering the symbolism of the eye tattoo in Vanity, that made it an easy choice for the front cover. The cover itself was my own design; I produced a template which included all the main features you see on the book- the eye tattoo, the purple to black gradient, black text at top, white text at the bottom- and that template was presented to one of Atmosphere Press’s cover artists (Man’s name is Ronaldo Alves- credit where credit is due!) who did a hell of a job on it. Honestly, I am so pleased with how beautiful the cover turned out. Hopefully if I was to publish the sequels, they can look as gorgeous as Vanity does.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
The best thing I can do for myself and my readers I think is keep searching for inspiration- try to find different books, movies, shows- experience new things, meet new people and get new perspectives on the things I think I know. I do what I can to experience what I write- or the very least research what I can’t experience. Read far and wide, keep notes on interesting things and slip in little titbits here and there; those are the kinds of things I love in a good book, so I’m hoping it’s what readers would like about mine.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the books (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
Something which be interesting is that when some hear I’m taking a degree in criminology and policing, and I work as a special constable in the UK, they might automatically think that the policing in Vanity will be very British- when in fact I actually took great pains to blend the detective work in Vanity with US policing as well- so we’ll see some practices and legal terms from the UK and some from the US- they use the UK caution and work under an Inspector, yet use the terms “First/Second degree murder” and carry guns with them. I decided to write Exerdian policing this way for two main reasons:
1.) The setting of Vanity is an invented country called Exerdis (After the word exodus- it’s as much of an omen as it sounds) and Exerdis isn’t supposed to look or feel exactly like a country you’ve been to, but similar to places you may have been to. It’s not a place with a brand-new look and feel, like Middle Earth- but I wanted it distinct enough from reality where no one can point to the myriads of make-belief cities and say “That’s clearly New York” (As an example, I’ve never been to NY). I figured a blended policing style would add to the uncanny feeling.
2.) UK police don’t carry guns with them except for very specialised units- which means whilst I’m more familiar with the kinds of policing which doesn’t involve guns, I knew if guns weren’t involved in Vanity, a distinct portion of the audience would assume that guns would fix everything, so I figured the threat was more menacing if I nipped that assumption in the bud.
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Vanity
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