Interview With Author Sarah K. Balstrup
1. What inspired you to write this book?
After publishing my first (academic) book on
mystical experience and film I wanted to try my hand at fiction, incorporating
all the strange things I learnt during my Religious Studies degree.
2. What exactly is it about and who is
it written for?
The Way of Unity is an intimate yet epic fantasy about an oppressive religious society
controlled by psychic priests. Following her family’s murder, Sybilla Ladain
seeks to destroy the priesthood, but in doing so, she severs the psychic
connections that had bound her people as a spiritual community. A dark and
lyrical tale of grief and redemption, The Way of Unity will appeal to readers
craving something fresh and unusual in the fantasy genre.
3. What do you hope readers will get out of
reading your book?
The Way of Unity is a book best read slowly as its layered symbolism gives the reader a
lot to think about. I hope that readers enjoy inhabiting both sides of a
religious conflict and finding their own answer to the questions the novel
presents.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and
cover design?
I worked with illustrator Andy Paciorek to design
the cover. I always imagined my main character, Sybilla Ladain, to look like
Dreyer’s Joan of Arc and I love the way he captured her essence in the final
portrait.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for
fellow writers – other than run!?
Allow yourself to be adventurous and exploratory in
your writing. In the final stages you can think about marketing, but don’t
start the creative process with your tagline in mind. There has to be a secret
place of discovery where it is just you and the world you are creating. That is
where the magic happens.
6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and
where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
The publishing industry is still preoccupied with
politics and activism. Consumers identify themselves in political terms on
social media, marketing takes up this kind of language, and products are tagged
accordingly. Sometimes I see a book being marketed to appeal to activist
talking points, but when I read it, the book has no political focus whatsoever. I think authors and publishers need to be careful
that they are not becoming oversensitive to potential trigger points so that it
does not lead to self-censorship and the narrowing of creative expression.
There is still a great variety of stories being written, but the way they are
marketed can make them seem like more of the same. It’s the algorithms – they
need to latch onto recognizable data in order to keep the money flowing, and it
is difficult to see how politics can be uncoupled from publishing at this
stage.
7. Were there experiences in your
personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?
Several scenes are taken from a dream diary I kept
in my teens. The subconscious can be a wonderful storyteller.
8. How would you describe your writing style? Which
writers or books is your writing similar to?
Lyrical and layered, with an air of dark
romanticism. Similar to: Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle ,
Christopher Buehlman’s Between Two Fires and Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine
Thone .
9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing
of this book?
During lockdown I ‘attended’ two funerals sitting
alone in front of my computer, straining to see the people on the screen,
feeling completely disconnected and slightly numb. I thought of other funerals
I had been to where it seemed that all barriers were gone. Where the spirit of
the person was tangible in the room and people who had not spoken in years
embraced with tears in their eyes. Writing The Way of Unity , I explored
these extremes of intimacy and alienation, and it helped me to handle the
challenges of that difficult time.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or
month, why should it be yours?
The Way of Unity will immerse you in a unique fantasy world of vision and ritual, grief
and longing, where it is not the tragedy that is the focus but the rolling
tides of its aftermath. For the poetically inclined.
About The Author: Sarah K. Balstrup is an Australian author of dark
fantasy and former Religious Studies academic. For more info, please see: www.sarahkbalstrup.com
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