Greg Hamerton | fantasy author

On shadows, dens of iniquity, magic, and the influence of South Africa

Nerine Dorman is a South African author, sub-editor and fiction editor. She débuted with the dark horror series of Khepera Rising and Khepera Redeemed, but has many strings to her bow – travel writing, young adult fantasy and erotic fiction. How she keeps this caleidoscope of creativity going while working a full-time job with a national South African newspaper is beyond me. I got to know her during one of her projects last year: giving an editorial polish to my fantasy novel Second Sight.

1. Can you give us a glimpse of what writing projects you have bubbling in your pot?

Right now, writing as Therése von Willegen, I’m completing another work of contemporary erotic fiction involving a young lass’s entanglement with a bad-boy celebrity. I am, however, very excited about the next dark fantasy I’ll be releasing under my real name after I’ve completed the revisions. The story follows a botanist turned reluctant vampire who has an unfortunate habit of being shipwrecked. After that I’ll be rebooting a YA urban fantasy for the adult market. Not to give too much away, the story features a carnival-style travelling circus, which I’m really looking forward to as I’ll be consulting with a friend of mine who is a performance artist. In the meanwhile I’ve been researching the old freak shows that were so popular years ago. Yes, there’s a vampire, but another favourite character of mine is a 1948 Hudson Commodore called Rose, who may be a little more sentient than people expect.

2. You deal with some disturbing occult powers in Khepera Rising. Did any magic leak out into your life?

It depends on what you consider to be magic. If one considers magic as the science and art of creating change in accordance to your will, then my entire life is very magical, even more so since I’ve made my first sales. From time to time I do encounter what I call “astral garbage”, random odd occurrences that are difficult to explain in rational terms, but they have no bearing on my life other than adding a bit of interest and colour, and providing bites for future stories. I’m not afraid of shadows.

My writing is a manifestation of my magic. Every story is a journey that holds up a mirror of sorts, which changes me when I examine the contents. One of my teachers is fond of saying, “The first thing a magician changes is him/herself”, which is so very, very true for me. If I look at who I was when I started this journey, when my life coach had sat me down and asked me, “Nerine, what do you really want?” and where I am now, I’m definitely not the same person who started the journey. Each story I write reflects some sort of path I’ve explored and, in a sense, all my writing has to do with travel in one form or another. It’s not so much the destination, but how one adapts to deal with the changing landscape that’s important. And once you’ve changed something within yourself, you are better equipped to change things in the world around you to be more congruent with your vision.

3. What do you explore in Khepera Redeemed and how is it different to Khepera Rising?

As always, subjectivity plays a big role in the Khepera series. Jamie is an unreliable narrator and, love him or hate him, perceives the world from his skewed perspective. In Khepera Rising he has to overcome his own dark self and learn to take responsibility for his actions. In Khepera Redeemed he has found his feet but has to deal with external influences in his unique way. He pretty much has to come to terms with the fact that others will always hold a particular opinion of him. Although he’s still a narcissist, he’s matured a lot more in how he deals with his problems. Obviously an occult crime theme is central to both plots but reconciliation is also important, having characters with opposing points of view working together toward a common goal despite their opposing cosmologies.

Khepera Redeemed continues with the concept of a shared subconscious dream reality, hinting at the existence of other worlds existing parallel to ours that we can visit once we get past our inner critic, and that these can reflect our own inner landscape. It is about power and the implications of reaching beyond your natural scope, as well as the consequences of these actions.

4. You began with dark fantasy but you have a parallel brand in erotic romance? How does your approach to writing change when you move from horror to the harem?

The decision to write erotic fiction was purely a financial one, since I would like to be in a position to edit and write full-time. It’s a bonus, however, that I do find myself enjoying erotic fiction immensely, although my stories tend toward being darker and grittier than the standard “sweet” romances on the market. The style is a lot less textured, with more focus on dialogue and emotional states, as well as sensual elements. If it was good enough for the likes of Balzac, Burroughs, Miller and Nin, why shouldn’t I roll up my sleeves? I use these shorter works as a “holiday” from my “serious” writing and, by the time I’m ready for the next big project, I’m fresh and I can flex my literary muscles again. Another benefit is that I don’t feel obliged to include romantic elements in my dark fantasy. Granted, I’d love to pull off something matching the scope of Jacqueline Carey, who is an amazing story teller with hardcore erotic elements, but right now I go where the story dictates, and I’m looking at misadventure-filled romps in settings where things go bump in the night, often with disastrous consequences.

5. Do you draw on South Africa culture for your inspiration?

Very much so. The Khepera series is heavily influenced by my wilder days when I frequented dens of iniquity, as my dear mother always calls “those places”. South Africa has such a rich history I find stories lurking around every corner. Even The Black Goat, the steampunk novel I’ll be polishing soon, offers a conscious nod toward our colonial past. The basis of the story bit me when I was reading The Wind Makes Dust by Ben Maclennan, which covers four centuries of travel in and around southern Africa. I also write travel stories for a number of South African newspapers, so I’m regularly visiting unusual destinations, which gets the story bug nibbling. “What if…” is often running through my mind. The next thing I know, I’ll be furiously scribbling down an outline for another novel. I have a horror novella releasing through Lyrical Press, Inc. in April 2011 entitled The Namaqualand Book of the Dead. The title pretty much says it all.

6. You did a great job of editing Second Sight. Can you enjoy a story while you’re editing it?

I must admit I’m addicted to editing, so it would be a bit horrid if I didn’t enjoy a story. My problem now is reading books that are already printed because while I’m appreciating the story on one level, on another my inner editor will be reaching for her red pen. Having had the privilege to edit a novel before it is published makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I’m obsessed with language and how words fit together, figuring out how to improve a sentence or craft a better story. I’m currently under contract as a content editor for one of my publishers, which can be a bit of a thankless task when dealing with difficult authors. But, by equal measure, I have authors who shine, whose novels I end up reading four or five times before the galley stage, and each time I go through a manuscript I am elated to see an author improve, or notice little details I’d missed the first time.

Second Sight kept me turning the pages purely because I wasn’t quite sure what surprises would be lurking around the corner. Some characters, like Bevn, I wanted to beat senseless with a very big stick, and I watched his story arc unfold with a mingled sense of horror and nasty giggles of apprehension. What I enjoyed as well was the “great big road trip” theme prevalent in Second Sight. My inner travel writer loved the change in landscapes and the journey was very visceral. I could “see” everything while I was working, totally blown away by the depth of the author’s imagination. My only regret is that there aren’t more authors who possess this kind of X-factor.

Nerine’s books are available from Lyrical Press.