Heart-to-Heart with Graeme Rodaughan - author of The Metaframe War Series

Posted on  23/02/2024 11:14:41

We are here with Graeme Rodaughan, author of the action-packed Metaframe War Series, who was kind enough to take some time from his busy schedule and grant us an interview!

Thank you Graeme! And Welcome to The Magic Book Corner! It's great to have you here!

1. To begin, could you please tell our readers here a little bit about yourself? 

I’m an ex-farm boy who was terrible at school. I taught myself mathematics in my early twenties and went to university to study science. I dropped science in second year, and swapped over to philosophy. After my first degree, I pursued computer science. Now I work as an internal engineering/IT consultant for a large international technology company. My great good fortune has been to find the love of my life, and for her to agree to marry me. My life is a testament to persistence in the face of bad starts and failure. 

2. I know you're hard at work on the next instalment of the Metaframe War Series. When is the expected publish date? 

I plan to have a mature draft ready for an ARC read on Goodreads by the 1st of November 2019. I believe the publish date will be the 22nd of December 2019. 

3. What readership in particular would your Metaframe War Series appeal to and why? 

I have a broad demographic of readers, but the key related genres are urban fantasy, science fiction, action, thrillers and horror. Readers who love those genres are likely to love my books. 

4. What should a reader expect when picking up one of your books? 

They should expect a character driven story with lots of intrigue and action set in a slightly sci-fi near future. They should also expect to find precisely zero paranormal romance. I don’t do paranormal romance and I never will. If the reader looks closely, they will find that elements of the story are metaphors of how I view the structure of human society and the operation of power. So, if a reader has an eye for those things they may discover some additional depth in the stories. If not, it doesn’t matter – the primary purpose of the stories is to immerse the reader’s imagination and transport them to another world. 

5. Why Vampires? 

Vampires are my personal ‘bad guys,’ when I have a genuine ‘wake in fright,’ nightmare – it’s always about vampires. Writing about vampires is a catharsis for me. 

6. Any future plans for other series after the Metaframe War? And if yes, would those also be about Vampires? 

I’m planning to drop vampires in the next series. I’m seriously considering an urban fantasy set in the near future with competing groups of magicians and other operatives. The protagonist will be a young woman who needs to come to terms with her father’s legacy. I feel it’s time to throw a few fireballs around instead of rockets… 

I’m planning on writing a book in The Metaframe War series titled ‘The Enforcer,’ which will explore some of the themes and techniques I’m looking to use in my next series. If it works well, then my ‘Magicians,’ series will become much more likely to be written. 

7. You have mentioned in several places some pretty cool and entertaining interactions with the Metaframe War Series characters: an interview with Anton Slayne, demands made by the characters for different kinds of "action", and even their opinion about your book. What's the inspiration behind these little snippets? 

When I fall out of bed in the morning I can write drama. Comedy, for me, is an inspiration only affair. I love to do parody and satire, but it makes up a small fraction of the material my muse sends me. 

She’s more of serious lady, then a funster. 

8. Your writing style is perhaps the most cinematic one I have ever encountered and your books practically read like an action movie. What motivated you to write this way? 

I started with attempting to write screenplays. My imagination is very visual and kinetic, and I believe my stories would work well in cinema or television formats. The problem with screenplays is that they are an all or nothing affair. You either get bought, or you languish in a slush pile with a thousand other authors. The beauty of shifting to novels and self-publishing is that I can tell the same stories, learn my craft, and find an audience that appreciates them. 

My story telling craft was heavily influenced by Robert McKee’s ‘Story, Substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting,’ which, of course, is slanted toward the screenplay format. That book had a pivotal impact on my writing, and why I’ll use terms like ‘inciting incident,’ ‘turning points,’ and ‘crisis,’ when discussing the technical aspects of my stories. 

9. What major obstacles or disappointments did you face in your writing career and how did you deal with them? 

I have no disappointments, I’m fortunate that I love telling a good story. Writing is a labour of love for me. 

My number one obstacle is marketing. Marketing a book (as an independent) is like going to the beach and throwing a shiny pebble onto the ground and hoping that people will find that specific pebble in amongst all the other pebbles on the beach. Marketing is a work in progress. 

My second major obstacle is grammar. I’m constantly relearning it. I’ve come to the opinion that English must be my second language… 

10. Is there any advice you would have for upcoming or aspiring writers? 

Yes.

[1] Never give up, 

[2] Work on your craft, i.e. how story actually hangs together, grammar, dialogue tags, etc. 

[3] Learn something about how to market books. 

[4] Be a reader first, writer second. 

[5] Write the stories you’d love to read. 

Graeme also wrote a couple of pretty cool Horror short stories that you can find on his GR profile: The Penanggalan, Re-imagining 'The Call of Cthulhu' and Ghosts of Boyfriends Past

Since I have recently read and absolutely loved The Metaframe War Series, I was curious to know a little bit more about Graeme's work behind the scenes. How did he come up with the idea for the series, how did he start writing and how did the ideas evolved? 

So I went ahead and asked him if he could talk to us a little bit about his writing process, the ups and downs that he had to face along his journey, as well as his expectations and future plans. And he was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to reply. And not just a simple little answer folks! A great in depth answer that I am posting over here as a Guest Post.

About the Author: Graeme Rodaughan