Building Wings of Wax: Hannah Kaner's Thoughts on Writing
A short interview with bestselling author of Godkiller, Hannah Kaner!
Hello everyone! This week I’m delighted to share with you a short interview with the amazing and wonderful Hannah Kaner, author of the bestselling fantasy novel ‘Godkiller’.
Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.
After reading this book and falling in love with it, I was so excited to ask Hannah some questions about her thoughts on writing, and so thankful that she spared me the time! 💝
Let’s dive into the thoughts™!
Can you talk a little bit about how you go from ideas and concepts to words on the page?
It took three years of the Godkiller stamping about my head to put pen to paper (or hand to the keyboard). I try to let ideas settle for a while and mature, turn them over and observe them from different angles. I think that's where you can find the richness and colour in a story.
Also, if an idea won't leave me alone at least I know it's compelling enough to take it out of my head and look at it on the page. The first draft I write is for me. I'm telling myself the story, challenging it, exploring the world and pulling interesting threads. It's sparse and messy, but I get the overall shape of it.
Next, I rewrite. Sometimes from scratch, sometimes considering the zero draft. Here I'm adding detail, cutting out parts that do nothing, weaving in elements that enrich the tapestry. I find this the most enjoyable part of the process; having something to work with.
So it's a process in stages. Thinking, writing, then writing again.
When creating characters for GODKILLER, did you take a certain approach, or did they come to you quite clearly?
Kissen, the godkiller, had an unassailable personality from the start. But I did need to focus on and bring out her flaws. Originally, I planned to write it all from her point of view, but it was too narrow for the complexity of the world. So I wanted to challenge her, and who she thinks she is, the lies she tells herself.
A young girl who is in danger brings out her softer side, a god who needs help starts to crumble her moral unassailability. And the knight, too, is her foil. He works for others rather than himself, he thinks people should be free to pursue their faith where she does not.
Because the narrative is a simple quest, it needed the different perspectives to change how we see it and enrich it.
We often see people refer to querying as “entering the query trenches”. Was it like this for you, and do you have any advice for those who are diving into the world of submissions?
Hah - I can understand why people call it the trenches. It feels like a messy and confusing race against time. You're dodging the fear, the self-doubt and it feels like throwing yourself at the mercy of fate.
A few tips:
Have someone else read your manuscript, most writers can't afford a professional editor, so at least a friend. We call this a beta read and it can challenge and clean up your writing in a really useful way. I had 3 people beta read Godkiller before I submitted it to my agent.
Research the agent or editor you're submitting to, and make sure you align with their likes and what they want. Make your query letter personal to them. If you write "dear sir/madam" or worse "dear sirs", your MS won't be read.
Your cover letter is most useful when it helps the person you're writing to position the book on a shelf, so they can see how to sell it. Most of my MS rejections were because it wasn't clear where it belonged which is hard when you're starting out. That's not to say "write to the market" (the market will change before your work comes out) but comparison titles are helpful.
None of these tips are mandatory. Sometimes your beautiful, weird, mad book will sell! There are no set rules, so what's most important is that you're proud of your work and you can learn and grow from feedback.
With that in mind: centre yourself outside of the submission process. You've done the brilliant and courageous thing of putting your mind on paper and putting it out into the world. Celebrate each rejection and each minor success, and learn from everything. Even feedback that stings.
What has your journey been like getting to be a published author?
Godkiller is my seventh book, but my first to see print. I gained an agent on my fourth manuscript after a good few years of querying (I was quite daft and young though), and to be honest I thought that was me made! It would sell and I'd be a writer as I always dreamed. But my fourth manuscript didn't sell. Nor my fifth. Nor my sixth. It's not unusual, but it felt like failure. Eight years of nothing. My agent stuck with me, and just said "write another one".
I built a life outside writing, and focused on my career in a different industry, my health, and learning I still wrote though, and told myself that it didn't matter if I succeeded. It didn't matter if I never made money. I would keep writing because writing still feels after all these years like breathing out.
So when I handed Godkiller to my agent my hopes weren't high. My guard was so far up around my heart that when I heard it had an offer it took me a few weeks to really feel hopeful. It still doesn't feel real.
There's a lot of pain in passion. A lot of building wings of wax, reaching high and falling over and over. I think what makes a writer isn't a stroke of genius, or a good education, it's building those wings over and over and taking off again towards the sun.
If you could say something to inspire aspiring writers, what would it be?
Persevere.
That’s all Folks! Find Hannah on Twitter, Instagram, and on her website. GODKILLER can be purchased from major retailers, including Booktopia, Barnes and Noble, and others.
Have you read GODKILLER, or do you have thoughts™ on Hannah’s thoughts? I’d love to hear from you!