Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Want to be featured? Email us: online@britishfantasysociety.org
Name:
Beverley Lee (she/her)
Which region are you based in?
Near the dreaming spires of Oxford, UK
If you write, which genre:
Fantasy and horror
If you don’t write, what do you do?
I’m retired now but have worked in education, banking and local authority (all pretty soul destroying!)
Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres?
Quiet horror is my Thing. I love building atmosphere and character-driven fiction owns my heart.
Your influences
Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into SFFH: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?
I still vividly remember reading The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle around the age of eleven. The impact of that story and its themes of the Gothic, the supernatural and superstition, left its mark on a young girl who lived for words. I read my first Stephen King (Cujo) around fourteen.
Film-wise I’ll say it was Interview with the Vampire. I saw the film before reading the books but afterwards I hoovered up anything Anne Rice had written. The way she portrayed the vampire, with very human traits, absolutely paved the way for my own revenant creations.
How does that early influence show up for you (in life/writing/agenting/publishing/editing/reading) now?
As I said above, my vampires all carry their human traits, amplified by death. And the Gothic, the supernatural and superstition all show in whatever story I’m writing.
My love for vampires exploded when a few years ago I collaborated with Nicole Eigener in a novelette, Crimson is the Night, where our vampires from our individual universes met, and this spawned a whole trilogy, A Conclave of Crimson, which was written in real time on Google docs. We penned over 300k in exactly three months, written at weekends and any other time we could snatch a few minutes.
(Pictured: Nicole Eigener and Beverley at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, tres gothique!)
Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
I’d say life, which means it could be a line from a song or a certain scene in a film, or a snatched snippet of overheard conversation. I adore history and most weeks you can find me at a National Trust property or in an old church. The feel of those places is difficult to put into words but they somehow feed my imagination. Maybe it’s the sense of age, of walking in the footsteps of those long gone, but whatever it is I am here for all of it.
Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?
Anne Rice was definitely my genre hero. Without her it’s possible that I wouldn’t have picked up a pen at all. As with all heroes, they make you want to emulate them. With her own unique brand of character-driven fiction, her vampires came alive on the page. They weren’t simply killing machines (although of course this was part of their make up), they had feelings and reasons for why they acted like they did. As a writer it’s fascinating to unpeel all the complexities, mental, emotional and psychological, of a vampire’s existence. Lestat remains the ultimate anti-hero in my book.
Your Work
You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.
I actually met Anne when she lived in First St, New Orleans, and I found it difficult to form a coherent sentence! But here goes…
“Always character driven, as they know best, with an emphasis on atmosphere and the build-up of dread. It’s horror with heart, and I’ll make no apologies for digging your heart out with a spoon.”
What are you working on right now?
My coming-of-age folk horror,The Haunting of Wounded Birds, came out on Tuesday, which was Martinmas, Old Halloween, so my past year has been devoted entirely to this—editing, proofreading, more editing, and the dreaded thing called marketing. Now this has flown the nest, I have a couple of story ideas nibbling away but I’ll wait until one shouts the loudest.
Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?
Definitely writing the vampire horror romance trilogy A Conclave of Crimson, with Nicole Eigener. We actually broke Google docs because we exceeded their character limit, akin to finding the door at the end of the universe! This was absolutely the poster child for if a story wants to be told it doesn’t care about our human needs—we both lost a lot of sleep in those three months.
Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?
I much prefer to write in isolation so no coffee shops for me. I don’t have a time of day where I’m most creative although I do try and get at least 1k words down a day if I’m actively writing. But we all know ideas arrive whenever they want to so my phone is filled with voice notes from when I can’t get to a keyboard.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
Don’t try and make the first draft perfect, just get it done. You can’t edit a blank page.
What’s your writing soundtrack?
Absolute silence. The voices in my head are loud enough!
Pictured: Beverley, in isolation, at her laptop, at home
The Quick-Fire Round
Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
Horror and fantasy. These two are too intertwined to separate, especially with vampires who are shelved under both. I really don’t like putting stories into pigeon holes. They can have elements of so many sub-genres.
Quiet or loud?
Quiet.
Dark or light?
Dark.
Strict lines or genre blend?
Always, always genre-blend.
Awards or bestseller?
I’d much rather have a reader message me saying that they found themselves in my story. Awards and bestseller status are too fickle and fleeting; a story can stay with a reader forever.
Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction.
Poetry or prose?
Prose but I have dabbled in poetry.
Plotter or pantser?
Pantser, although I prefer the term discovery writer.
Reading or listening?
Reading. Listening doesn’t really work for me because my brain is always trying to convince me that I have other things to do.
Notebook or computer?
Computer mainly, but I have multiple notebooks filled with scrawl—especially from the start of a project.
Favourite SFFH book of all time?
Eek, tough, tough question! I don’t think I can narrow it down to one so I’ll say the Beguiled by Night series from Nicole Eigener, A Lesser Dead from Christopher Buehlman and The Song of Achilles from Madeline Miller.
Last book you read?
Scuttler’s Cove from David Barnett.
Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
Victoria Schwab.
Favourite podcast?
I don’t really listen to podcasts for the reasons stated above, although I am trying to get better!
The Home Stretch
What’s the best thing about being part of the SFFH community?
Community. Other authors know exactly the many trials and tribulations involved in crafting a book and getting it out there. I’ve never felt wholly comfortable labelled as purely a horror writer, possibly because my work contains other elements, so I’m hoping the BFS will unearth other wandering souls that feel the same!
Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.
The Haunting of Wounded Birds came out on Tuesday 11 November. It’s a coming-of-age folk horror filled with dark forests, old rituals, haunted boys, and black birds.
My other work can be found on my website—beverleylee.com—and I’m on socials on Instagram and BlueSky mainly.
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