Interview With Rae Gee

I would like to thank Rae Gee author of Mars on the Rise for this wonderful interview and giveaway. Following the interview enter for your chance to win one of two copies being given away of her wonderful book. I recently read Mars on the Rise and loved it. My interview can be found here

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi! My name's Rae. I currently live in a small town in the heart of England. When I'm not writing, I enjoy photography, film-making and teasing the cat.

How long have you been writing? Have you always written this genre?

I've been writing since I was young and wrote right through to my late teens. I gave up (unintentionally) due to a dark period in my life. Back in 2007 I was tempted back into writing and it went from there! Mars on the Rise is the first full length novel I've written in this genre and I love it! It's such a beautiful world to visit and I'm so glad I found it.

What authors have influenced you?

So, so many! My favourite book is “War of the Worlds” by H.G.Wells and some inspiration for the book came from there. Other authors include Sarah Waters, Jules Verne, Stephen King, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker.

Is there a certain place you enjoy writing? Do you listen to music when you write?

In bed! Or where I am now; sitting at the dining room table. The lower floor of our house is open plan and, from here, I can see everyone coming and going. Most importantly I can hear if someone's making a cup of tea! Music I find really inspirational although I rarely listen to it when writing. On more than one occasion I've found myself accidentally typing out the lyrics! When I'm writing I tend to listen to tracks of the rain or thunderstorms. Then, when I'm editing, I turn on the music. Bands which have had a huge influence on the books include Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Deadmau5 and F5. You can find a full playlist on my website.

Mars On the Rise is certainly an unusual story. Where did the idea for it come from?

The idea came while I was sitting at Crewe train station. It's a huge Victorian building with a lot of bricked up arches. I got thinking what went on behind these arches. What happened that we didn't know about? What did the government keep secret? What's been written out of the history books? The prologue was written while I was on the train and was originally just a short piece for a friend to illustrate. The rest, they say, is history!

How long did it take you to write it?

Mars on the Rise took about 18 months to write, and its follow up, Selling Mars, took about a year.

Was there a lot of research involved?

Yes, but I enjoy it! It involved a lot of reading and a lot of walking around places like Brighton and London. I spent a couple of days at the Imperial War Museum in London and a day at the National Portrait Gallery. There was a lot of taking photos and, through them, I've created “style books”, notebooks filled with photos, notes and sketches.

How many books are planned for this series?

At the moment, five, possible six. But the ideas keep on coming so it could stretch further! I do want to write other books so I'm keeping notes until this series needs a breather for a while.

The names of the main characters, Cedo and Erus, are certainly unusual. Where did you find them? Are there meanings behind them?

Cedo and Erus were originally intended as place holder names until I thought up something different. In the end, they stuck! Both are Latin and Cedo means “slave” while Erus means “master”. I'm very blessed to have a Latin lecturer among my friends so she comes up with some of the more interesting words and phrases.

Misty the cat was a nice addition to this story. She compliments Cedo's character well. Is she based on your own cat? Do you have other pets?

We like to think we have a cat but, in actuality, we don't. The one who Misty is based on is the neighbours cat. Obviously the grass (and food) is greener on the other side of the fence as he spends an awful lot of time at our house! But the neighbours are very gracious and don't mind that he part owns us as well. At the moment, we don't have any other pets. For a while (well, three years) we had a Chilean Rose tarantula. She was a rescue and stayed with us until a better home was found for her (she now lives at an exotic animal park).

I love the cover art. Did you design it or someone else?

I was blessed to get a great cover artist via Torquere Press. Hopefully they'll be doing the covers for the rest of the books. But I do get free reign with the promotional material. The postcards for Mars on the Rise featured art work a friend created. The images can be found on the Veetu Industries Facebook page. For Selling Mars I've used a few of my own photos. I want to keep them a secret so they're not online yet!

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Thank you for speaking to me! I really appreciate it. If you're so inclined, you can find me online. I'm also on Good Reads (always love meeting new people over there!). Come over and say hi!

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