Interview with K A Servian
I love the ambiguousness of your pen name. It reminds me of Andre Norton.
Tell us about your latest novel or project:
The Moral Compass is historical fiction/romance set in New Zealand in the 1850s. It is the first in a series entitled Shaking the Tree.
Florence is a spoilt young woman shielded from the filth and poverty of Victorian London by her father's money and status. When he suffers a spectacular fall from grace, she must abandon everything, including the man she loves, and start again in the empire's furthest colony of New Zealand.
Compromise and suffering await Florence in her new home. Against the odds, she finds security and love. But her decision to risk everything to enjoy some of the trappings of her previous life costs her dearly. She must live with the heart-breaking consequences of the choice she has made.
As the first book in the Shaking the Tree series, The Moral Compass begins a journey that Florence will complete in the sequel, A Pivotal Right.
What got you started writing?
I’ve always been a creative person. I enjoyed writing when I was young, but put it aside for many years in favour of other creative pursuits. I studied fashion design and technology at Wellington Polytechnic in the 1990s and later, screen-printing at AUT and jewellery making at Hungry Creek in Puhoi.
My twenty-year-plus career as a designer included working as a pattern-maker and production manager for several well-known labels, designing for a large company doing off-shore production in China and running my own clothing label with a store and thriving made-to-measure client list. I also had a successful jewellery label where my silver and bronze creations were sold in over seventy stores nationwide thanks to the support of my creative friend Jill Main.
Then I took up teaching and tutored many students both as part of adult education night classes and at a tertiary level for a private training institution. I have taught a variety of applied arts subjects including Pattern-making, design, sewing, Art Clay Silver jewellery making and cake decorating.
I came back to writing about four years ago after I’d had an idea for one scene bashing around in my head for a few months. I just sat down one day and started writing and about three months later, I’d completed my first manuscript which became my novel, Peak Hill.
What challenges did you face when you first started writing?
My lack of technical knowledge. I considered myself to be fairly competent with spelling, punctuation and grammar, but soon came to realise that I had a lot to learn. I’m a strong believer that the creative arts are as much about the craft as the art. Possessing the technical skills to realise your creative ideas is essential, so I started taking courses. I completed both the beginner and advanced creative writing courses with The NZ Writers’ college. I then worked with a mentor, writer Michelle Elvy, for over a year to develop my first manuscript. I learnt a great deal from Michelle, but wanted to know more so I undertook an advanced diploma in applied writing (three years full-time, but I managed to complete it in two). I have just finished the final year of that qualification and now feel that I can legitimately call myself a writer. I’m not ruling out further study, a bachelors degree beckons, but I’d better pay off my student loan first.
Do you ever get the opportunity to travel for your writing? Either to market or to research.
Not yet, but never say never.
Who in your life is your greatest cheerleader or support in your writing?
I have many friends who are very supportive of my work, but my husband is my greatest cheerleader. He supports me always and allows me the time and the space to write.
What is it like writing in New Zealand that would be different if you lived anywhere else?
Difficult to answer, as I have not written anywhere other than New Zealand, but I’d like to think that we have a tight knit community of writers here who are, in the most part, very supportive of each other. Our ‘number eight wire’ mentality tends to make us resourceful and self-reliant.
Where do you get your ideas? Is there anything about New Zealand that has inspired you to write?
Ideas can come from anywhere at any time. The idea for my second book, Throwing Light came from watching a television programme about people searching for their long lost adoptive parents and/or children.
I’m fascinated by history, so my ideas often come from reading diaries, letters and accounts of the lives of those who have lived before us. Truth is always stranger than fiction. New Zealand has a fascinating recent history with many changes squeezed into only a couple of hundred years. There’s plenty of fodder for writers right here.
Why do you think readers are fascinated by books written about New Zealand?
Perhaps because we are an unknown entity down here on the bottom of the world.
Who is your favourite New Zealand author and why?
I can’t pick one. I really enjoyed Eleanor Catton’s books, particularly The Rehearsal for its dry, cynical wit. Maurice Gee is amazing. I remember being terrified by Under the Mountain as a child. I read In My Father’s Den recently and was mesmerised by it. I wish that Yvonne Kalman’s Greenstone Land Trilogy was back in print as I read and enjoyed it as a teenager and had to search Trade Me and second hand book sites to get my hands on the series again recently.
I'm a fan of ABE books to find out of print books.
What advice would you give for other writers in New Zealand?
Take every opportunity available to you to learn your craft. You cannot realise your full potential as an artist if you don’t have the necessary technical skills to bring your ideas to fruition.
Do you get to network or meet up with other New Zealand authors?
I’m part of the Romance Writers Of NZ who are a wonderfully supportive organisation.
What was the first thing you did after your first book was published?
Sat back and took a deep breath. That first editing/formatting and publishing experience was a real marathon and a huge learning curve.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you handle the good and the bad ones?
Yes. It is important to know what readers are saying about your books. I try to see it as a learning experience. Good ones obviously make me feel that all the hard work has been worthwhile. I haven’t had any really terrible ones yet, but I’m hoping that all those years of putting my creative work out in world to be accepted or rejected by others will prepare me. I did have one American reader criticize one of my books for its numerous ‘spelling errors’ which turned out to be because I had used British spelling rather than American. That stung a little, because she was wrong and there was nothing I could do about it. I was once advised to change over to the American spelling to avoid this issue, but I never will.
How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have any secrets to productivity?
It generally takes three to four months to complete an initial draft of around 90,000 - 120,000 words. But that is when the hard work starts. The reviewing and editing process usually takes around five to six months. There are no secrets, just self-discipline.
Where did you get the idea for your first or latest book?
The Moral Compass started as a time-slip novel set in two time periods, but the historical story soon took over and it became a fully historical novel. The seed came into my mind after the Kaikoura earthquake. I initially planned to link the two time periods with the characters all living through major earthquakes with comparisons of their differing experiences (The largest earthquake in NZ’s recent history shook the centre of the country in January 1855). Ironically, the final book had no earthquakes directly affecting the characters, which just goes to show that where you start is rarely where you finish. I may tuck that idea away for a future project, though.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Nope, just sit down and write - no excuses.
What is your best experience meeting a fan?
When someone has read one of my books and tells me what they think the underlying messages and themes are - that’s very cool because it means that all that work I put into making my writing multi-layered actually paid-off.
If any of your books was to be made into a film, which one would you pick and who would you have play the main characters?
I’d love for all of them to be made into films, but I don’t imagine that will ever happen.
How important do you think marketing is for authors today?
Essential. I spend a lot of time looking for promotional opportunities. It’s very time consuming, but a necessary evil.
Do you have any book you have written that won’t ever see the light of day and why?
Yup.
Many authors have a word or a phrase they automatically use too often. Do you have one?
I have several. My editor usually finds them and tells me off. I won’t tell you what they are because then you’ll be looking out for them when you read my books.
What quirk or trope of your genre do you like or dislike?
Romance is a much-maligned genre, which I believe is because a lot of what is produced is predictable and two-dimensional. I’d like to think that a romantic relationship can be included in a story without falling into this trap. The love story element should only one small part of the larger messages around the personal growth of the main characters, commentary on relevant social issues and explorations of the vagaries of human nature. If the whole thrust of the plot is just that two people got together I always feel let down at the end. I like to see deeper messages and themes. In addition, I hate predictability - if I can work out what is going to happen within the first few chapters I lose interest.
Often writers get to approach some serious subjects. Which serious subject are you most proud to have written about or was the hardest to write about?
I touched on social anxiety in Peak Hill and sexual harassment in my second book, Throwing Light. It is important not to gloss over or minimise the effect of any challenges your characters face. Their reactions need to be believable so that readers can relate.
In my latest books, The Moral Compass (published couple of months ago) and A Pivotal Right (the sequel due out later this year), I tackle misogyny and women’s equality. While I’m exploring these subjects in a historical context, many of the attitudes that held back and controlled women in the nineteenth century still exist today so I believe that the themes are still relevant.
Another point of interest
Never one to do things by half, I create my own covers for my novels using stock images and Photoshop. For my latest book, The Moral Compass I went a step further. I made the 1850s costume and did the photoshoot for the cover image on a local beach. I have since made two more costumes for the upcoming sequels. Photography is also a hobby of mine. You can check out my work on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kathygiannoulis/
My author website is: https://kaservian.com/
Thank you so much for sharing some of your story and I wish you the best of luck with your next project. I think it is awesome that you do your own photos. They look stunning.
