Living With the Writer - Michaela Deas

Alright, so I've been sitting on this feature for a while and very excited about it I am as well! It has now gone live over at www.fantasyliterature.com so I feel entitled to now spill about it here.

I got to wondering about the people who Live With the Writers - those long-suffering spouses and partners that (mostly) dwell in the shadows of those who produce the art we love. How do they cope with the relative fame of their partners? How does the work impact on their lives? With that in mind, I contacted an extremely bemused Michaela Deas to see if she would be kind enough to provide me with a few answers. She wasn't sure that anyone would be interested, but her answers are illuminating and I invite you to give the whole interview a read.

Amanda: Hi Michaela, welcome to FanLit! To start, how about introducing yourself and giving us an insight into your situation while ‘Living With the Writer’? I can quite believe that looking after an author becomes a full-time occupation, but I’m guessing that this is not all you do!

Michaela: Hmm… Glamorous wife of a successful writer who is planning world domination?! No… wait… damn, now I’ve given our plans away! How about: German wife, part-time muse and PA of a fantasy author, domestic slave to our two small boys and can opener for three mad cats? Trust me, being married to a writer who indulges in a day job on the side is not as exciting as it sounds!

Amanda: To be honest, it sounds frenetic! Tell me a little about being a part-time muse to a writer – what are the perks and what are the lowlights?

Michaela: It is seriously cool getting to meet loads of authors. And let’s not forget all the lovely folks at Gollancz! They have been so very welcoming and nothing short of awesome since Day 1 and they really didn’t have to: after all, I am not one of their writers, Steve is. They have very generously included me in everything and have happily put up with me being part of “Team Deas” from the start. Also, there is the ever-increasing stream of ARCs that I get to enjoy thanks to Steve being published by them. It means that, although one day we might have to move to a substantially larger house in order not to be swamped by books, I get to enjoy some novels way before release (I mean, how great are Horns and Wolfsangel?!) Obvious lowlights? None detected so far!

Amanda: You seem to have a great relationship with the people working to get Stephen published. Would you say that extends to other authors as well? Do you regularly meet up with them?

Michaela: Not regularly, no, but there are an increasing number of book launches and pub get-togethers that we get invited to. These are usually great fun and a very welcome way of meeting new authors, making new friends and catching up with some old ones. It doesn’t feel as though we’ve become “real” friends with other authors yet, but we haven’t been on the circuit for long enough for something like that to truly establish itself. We have met some wonderful people along the way so far! I mean, I had dinner with Pat Rothfuss, an evening out with Robert V.S. Redick (who is probably one of the nicest people one could hope to meet), shared takeaways with Richard Morgan and Joe Abercrombie. C’mon, what’s not to like? By the way, Steve reckons I’ll get more attention at Eastercon for all the name-dropping on here than he will from writing books!

Read the rest of the review by clicking your mouse HERE

With great thanks to Michaela for agreeing to take part!