Author Interview - Jane Dougherty
- Submissions Northodox Press
- Sep 28
- 5 min read
1) A lot of worldbuilding has gone into The Darkest Tide, and the Ys trilogy as a whole. What was the inspiration for this?
I wasn’t really aware of building a world. It’s more an attempt to recreate a 10th century British Isles, with most of it submerged, and only the most important bits (parts of Ireland and Yorkshire) still above water. I probably ought to explain before we go any further, that I am a product of Irish emigration to Yorkshire. I was brought up in the West Riding, but hold an Irish passport. My family lived between Dublin and Batley, between Irish myths and the Brontës. And we read a lot.
I loved the Irish myth cycles, and have always been fascinated by the way historical reality and artistic licence are blurred. The Book of Invasions, for example, relates the (totally imaginary) history of the (totally imaginary) invasions of Ireland, by a whole host of very strange (and totally imaginary) people. One of them was the Fomhóire, who struggled to take the island from another supernatural race, the Tuatha Dé Danann. Sometimes it’s the smallest detail, just a few words, that opens a path in the imagination. For the Ys story, it was realising that one of the possible meanings of the name Fomhóire is 'Giants from the sea.'
That image set me off on an epic Hiberno-Norse saga. On the way, I discovered similarities between the Norse and Irish myths, with their races of giants and gods, and the stories of Atlantis, the destruction of the world, and Avalon, that you find across western mythologies. For the Ys trilogy, I used elements of these myths and added a sub-text that is totally made up.
2) What drew you to fantasy as a genre?
Like most writers, I began with semi-autobiographical stories. They were just trial runs though. I first began writing seriously for my children who read a lot of fantasy. In our local library, fantasy was dumped in the kids’ section. All of it, including orc-porn and other horrors. They read it all and got sick of the same dopey tropes. So I decided to write them a story with my own dopey tropes. The story turned into a series that was later published by a now (thankfully) extinct publisher. Since then, I have just written, not with any genre in mind, but I find it difficult to keep a speculative element out of my writing, even when I try to be ‘realistic’ and ‘literary’. What I have always liked about fantasy is that it imitates dreams. You can alter the laws of physics, possibilities and probabilities, and as long as you’re consistent, you can just make things happen.
3) What was the process for your writing?
My stories always begin with a moving image. Moving as in movie. I write the opening paragraph and wait for the next image to push the film along. The original image that set off the Ys series was of the giants emerging from the sea, but I’ve since moved it to its logical place, further into the story of The Darkest Tide. I only knew that there would be two separate places and cultures in this story once I had the second image, of a one-eyed girl from a Norse fishing village, watching the sea and seeing things that nobody else saw. I only ever have a hazy idea of plot when I start out, especially when the plot is as convoluted as the Ys story. It’s more a question of getting vivid images set down on paper, then finding the story that links them all. As for the end, I didn’t have that clear in my head until two pages before it happened.
4) Are there any titles that you could compare The Darkest Tide to?
Comparisons with other books always sounds pretentious, especially when you can’t think of anything contemporary. Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess is the first that comes to mind for its violence and its direct reference to the Völsunga Saga. The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson is another. It’s an oddity, heavy going and in places a bit silly, but the atmosphere of an Earth after the sun has died, the darkness and silence, the ‘things’ that we can’t see, I think have an echo in The Darkest Tide. And although it’s way out of my league, The Once and Future King, for the setting, a Medieval time that could have been, the themes of use and abuse of power, right against might, a
nd how to rebuild a world that has lost its moral compass.
5) What are your preferred genres to read?
I’ve lived in France for almost 40 years now, and my reading has been influenced by what’s been available in the library, so there’s a whole contemporary segment of writers whose names I’ve seen mentioned but whose books have never turned up on the shelves. I’ll give anything a try, but Italy is my hobby, the place and the language. My favourite literature of all is Italian 1940s to 80s. When we were students and plotting a life together, it was a toss up between France and Rome. Since my partner was embarking on a PhD in French history and couldn’t speak a word of Italian, we ended up here. I still half-wish we’d taken the offer and gone to Rome instead.
6) Do you have any further novels planned?
I am working on one, a convoluted time-slip story that I don’t really have the concentration for at the moment, and I already have too many completed stories already looking to be adopted. There’s a couple of mythological mash-ups, a triple time line story, some historical fiction with a fantastical element and a spec fic series. For the last twelve years I’ve been writing. Usually, once I finish a book I look for an agent, give up when none of them reply, and write another story instead. Sometimes I haven’t even bothered submitting at all. Rejection is always painful, even after the hundredth time. I recently had an offer for one of my unclassifiables, and I’m still reeling from the shock. Maybe there’s hope for the others after all!
7) What advice would you give an author wishing to write a fantasy series?
I think first I’d suggest they ask themselves, are they setting out to write a fantasy series, or have they thought of a story that could be categorised as fantasy? Starting out with the category seems to me to be putting the cart before the horse. Write the story, then worry about pigeon holes when you’ve finished. If it’s going to be set in a recognisable place/time but with an alternate/fantasy element, don’t play fast and loose with anachronisms. Do your research and get the period details right. If you’re writing a different world, write one that makes sense. Just because it’s your world, doesn’t mean it doesn’t need rules. You can make them up, but you’re duty bound to stick to them. One last thing, pay attention to your language. If a story is set in a vaguely Medieval period, don’t make your characters sound as though they’ve jumped ship from The Last of Us. That’s it really. Lay the ground rules, then write. And keep on writing until it’s finished!
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