Author Spotlight: In Conversation with Seth Haddon (He/Him) Seth Haddon is an Australian writer whose books include Reforged, Volatile Memory, Full Tilt and The Teras Trials. Where did you find your inspiration for the Reforged series? This was my debut series, the backstory is I started writing a completely different novel that was a necromancer witchy book, that I wanted to be trad published, but it got denied by my now agent, who passed me on to a small press – who also denied it. But they said they saw potential and asked me to come up with a novella, and I wrote 6000 words in chapter one. I had been watching The Untamed and like with many of those ancient Chinese magic shows there was a lot of music as weapons. So I was like ‘yoink’ I want that. I was thinking of honour that was infused with some respect and it grew from there. In the Reforged series and in Volatile Memory etc you write from experiences that differ from your own, what sort of research did you undertake to get into the heads of these characters? Did you use sensitivity readers? I think a lot of authors in general will be writing from experiences that they have no personal relation to. In fantasy novels in particular we see authors who maybe can avoid the specifics of certain identities because of the genre itself. For example in Reborn, Radek to me is a south Asian man. But he could just be generically brown to a lot of people, and I think in that sense, there are others [writers] who will keep things very generic. I try to avoid that decision in my head, like Reforged in terms of geography is sort of based on the Korean peninsula. So in the sense of Radek, I knew he was a man who has been involved in war and is not white. I reached out to a South Asian sensitivity reader. Similarly, with Reclaimed and Volatile Memory, there are two trans characters, one a trans man, the other a trans woman. I have many trans friends, so I guess that was my research – ‘osmosis’. The same with disability, Luan Zek uses a mobility aid, so in that sense it really is just talking to people. But you are never going to be able to capture everyone’s experience because people are individuals and that is the same with sensitivity readers. You recently announced on socials that you also go by the pen name Lucian Burr, why did you originally separate your writer identities and why did you choose to reveal it? I started writing the Terras Trials before I had signed with my agent. So it was still during the world of Reforged, but I found I had more time and I wanted to write something without oversight. Being a traditionally published author, you’re going to have a team with input. I wanted to write whatever without fear or judgement. Terras Trials is a bit of a bloody novel and I was also studying Latin and I wanted to flex that muscle a bit. But there is also the Prince of Lust series which is just depraved demon priest porn. So having a separation from my Seth Haddon work was in a way necessary. Terras Trials had more explicit scenes than the world of Reforged and more depravity in general in terms of the violence and the hedonism. So that’s what I was doing with Lucian. It became difficult trying to separate two because I was publishing the works under Seth Haddon Books but only this one. Then there were the rumours that we were secretly lovers – it was just very funny Do you have a favourite character that you have written? Zavrius is still very dear to me, he was my first you know? He was the easiest character to write in Reforged. He is still on my mind clearly as I have a prequel coming out from his perspective. It’s hard to beat your debut character.
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 What have you found most challenging about writing and publishing? What is your writing process? The problem was initially that I was working full time – a 9-5 – and so there was difficulty finding the time to write and actually be consistent with it. In terms of publishing I guess there was a learning curve. I was lucky starting with the small press, I think because I was exposed to the inner workings of publishing in the industry. I was like I want to learn these tools, how to publish on Ingram Spark or learn how to reach out to people. Being in between indie and trad [publishing] but having a mentor to walk through all these relationships which I am grateful for. Difficulties initially were things like Reforged being stolen by someone in the manufacturing place, they made all of these copies early and were selling them on eBay three months in advance. In traditional publishing it’s very different: you have written a book, then there is a round of edits with your agent, then you go on submission, so just pitching it and waiting, and then someone might like it. Then you have to wait for them to pitch it to the [publishing] company and go through acquisitions. Then you are just waiting for months to hear back if they will take it. I think the traditional machine is a lot slower. So with Lucian [Burr] I can write and publish a lot quicker and get things out the door, whereas with Volatile Memory it was 2023 I did that deal and it came out in 2025. What new things can we expect from you next? For Lucian I just did First Tilt, and I am working on Second Pass which is the full length novel related to that. Its a gay jousting sports romance. And there is Hadal, which is a deep sea eldritch horror cannibals book. It’s set in a station in the Hale zone and one side is a research centre and the other is a labour prison. It’s about a scientist in one who has a relationship over the comms with a prisoner. Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
Always finish your book is the first thing, instead of just talking about it. Finish your manuscript even it is crap. Make sure you have a completed work so you can prove to yourself that you are capable of finishing a novel. Next is researching the industry in terms of do you want to be an independent author or do you want to be traditionally published. You have to be aware there is a lot of money involved in indie publishing [like hiring editors]. At the same time you are still going to be spending money on traditionally publishing because you are likely to be spending money on things like art and promotion. Social media is a necessary evil, it’s essential to have an online presence – and I would start right away even if you don’t have a finished novel. Even if you have to present a whole different persona. It will help build interest in your work and you will get used to sharing excerpts. You can follow Seth Haddon on Instagram – @sethhaddon @lucianburr Ezzy Limmack (She/) |