Meet E. Saxey

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

Your influences

Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into horror: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?

Probably the more frightening edges of child-friendly novels: The Dark is Rising books, Ursula LeGuin’s The Tombs of Atuan. They don’t have gore but there are desperate choices with permanent effects, and super-dark fates for minor characters. 

How does that early influence show up in your writing now?

I still like weighty decisions and shadowy forces. And people caught up in terrible conflicts which pre-date them.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?

Mostly by asking: “How could X make things worse?” Where X is my current enthusiasm: botany, libraries, spiritualism, telepathy, 3D printing.

You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.

My debut novel is a historical fantasy – it’s set in Victorian London, and someone (missing, presumed dead) has come back. Which is good news, isn’t it? It certainly won’t lead to a lonely search for the truth of his return. Or the heroine scrabbling around for rituals and spells from folklore to pry open his secrets. He’s certainly not bad news.

What are you working on right now?

A doppelganger story. People seem to have strong feelings about whether they’d get on with their uncanny double, or get off with them, or hit them with a shovel, so I’m hoping those strong feelings will work in my favour. 

Thinking about all of your stories, which one sticks out most in your mind? Why?

Fresh in my mind is a looong short story, just published: On the English Approach to the Study of History. I like the juxtaposition: on the top, petty academic squabbles and bad conference catering; underneath, ancient things, growing monstrous. 

What’s your writing soundtrack?

Got to be Four Hours of Edwardian Study, With Fireplace on YouTube. Sometimes I shake it up and have Victorian Study, With Rain.

The (horrorific) quickfire round

Strict lines or genre blend?

Genre blend. Does it matter if the anomalous thing is a fantastical object or a scientific invention, as long as it makes things worse?

Awards or bestseller?

For reading? Awards seem to offer a crunchier selection.

Fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction is habitual for me, but I’d like to lean more into the non.

Poetry or prose?

I consume much more prose but poetry stays with me. 

Plotter or pantser?

I usually write a third, see how it’s going, then plan the rest. Write another third, edit what I have thus far, plan up to the ending. It’s not a good system! Revision involves hitting it over and over until it breaks up enough to productively rearrange it. 

To go to the other extreme, I’ve just planned out my next project down to the 8000 word chunks–now I need to see if I can actually write that way.

Reading or listening?

Reading. But I do love audio drama – Julian Simpson’s Pleasant Green works are gobsmacking.

Notebook or computer?

Notebook for events, computer for writing. I think faster when I’m typing. 

Favourite horror book of all time?

Currently The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy, a morally twisty novella about creating an alternative community (with a murderous stag spirit).

Last horror book you read?

And Then We Woke Up, by Malcolm Devlin. Does something fiendishly clever with zombie narratives.

Any horror author on auto-buy?

It’s the unsettling writers that I snap up: Sarah Moss, Aliya Whiteley. Dave Hutchinson’s Sanctuary is out this Autumn, I’m hoping for a proper British muddy post-apocalypse. I’ve never had a clearer presentiment that things won’t end well.

Favourite podcast?

I loved, and miss, Sublime Horror! And I should find some more podcasts.

The home stretch

What scares you?

Death! (Mine.)

What’s the best thing about being a horror writer?

Probably that I didn’t know I was one until my publisher said “This novel will be great for our horror line.” I reeled back, daunted, picturing the horror writers I knew: cool weird folk in black jeans and silver jewellery. I thought: well, I’ve already got the jeans.

Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.