Two years after Lord of the Empty Isles listed in the Bath Novel Award 2022, Jules Arbeaux shares her highs and lows on the road to her debut book deal.
Congratulations again on the publication of Lord of the Empty Isles. That Tom Clohosy Cole cover is stunning; seeing it for the first time must have been a very special moment …
It absolutely was! Seeing the cover made it all feel so real. It was especially emotional, I think, because of the sheer size of the illustration! The cover is actually a full-jacket illustration that wraps around the front and back covers and both flaps. It took my breath away. I was impressed by the early sketches, but Tom absolutely blew it out of the water with those gorgeous colors!
Lord of the Empty Isles is a science-fantasy blend. How do you define science-fantasy and why do you love writing it?
To me, science-fantasy blends both the explainable and the mysterious/magical. For Lord of the Empty Isles specifically, it’s a mashup of a post-climate disaster world with man-made pseudo-moons and a system of invisible tethers that signify the relationships between people.
I’ve always liked writing in the spaces between genres and age categories, but I think my upbringing also has a lot to do with why I’m drawn to science-fantasy! This will sound far more dramatic than it was, but when I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, I didn’t have electricity or running water until I was in my teens for financial reasons, so I was living in a world with a vast array of resources, but those resources weren’t necessarily a part of my own experience. That sense of dissonance is one I carry to most of my stories, and mashing genres together is just one way to explore it.
It’s been two years since you sent us your manuscript and you’ve mentioned feeling discouraged about your writing at that point. Can you say a little about this discouragement, and how you view that experience now in the light of all you have achieved since?
Absolutely! Just before querying Lord of the Empty Isles, I had queried another genre-blendy book, but the timing wasn’t right and my querying journey for that book was … not great. When I wrote a similarly risky genre-blendy book to follow that one up, I wasn’t sure I even had the energy to query it! I’m very, very grateful for the wonderful people who provided invaluable feedback and encouraged me to take the leap.
2022-me wouldn’t have been able to imagine where I am now, and I wouldn’t be here at all if I hadn’t put myself out there and risked failure and rejection. So many places encourage writers to not self-reject, often enough that it starts to lose meaning, but it’s so important! I nearly didn’t query, and I nearly didn’t enter the BNA—I think I sent my entry in on the very last day it was open, mere hours from the entry deadline—but I’m so, so glad I did.
If you could time travel back to the discouraged you of May 2022 what one piece of advice would you give yourself?
I’m tempted to say, “Losses and failures are painful and can feel all-consuming, but there are beautiful things ahead, so hold on!” but even though that ended up being true, I’m not sure the me of 2022 would have believed it! Even though I was bad at putting them into practice, I think the thoughts I was trying to hold into in 2022 were probably the best for the me of that time. I tried very hard to tell myself that there were worthwhile things at every part of the process, and in a way, I knew it was true. I had a published friend who was struggling with extremely tight deadlines, and I decided that was one benefit of being where I was: my only deadlines were self-imposed, and I could explore whatever stories I wanted to write at my leisure.
I also had time to examine and understand my writing habits, which has helped me stay on an even keel now that deadlines are part of the process! It’s very, very hard to appreciate those things in the moment, but I also think it’s necessary. Otherwise, we’re constantly racing toward one goal or another, without a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come. I’m not very good at it, but I did try (and I still do try) to sit with the good things rather than racing toward the next goalpost.
“Losses and failures are painful and can feel all-consuming,
but there are beautiful things ahead, so hold on!”
Any words of advice for anyone reading this and feeling discouraged about their own writing?
Absolutely!
1. If you’re struggling because your brain is shouting rude things at you: Brains are nonsense and I despise them. If you find yourself riding the writing rollercoaster and feel like you spend most of the time in the low points and the peaks fly by way too fast, I’m with you! Recognizing that that’s what was happening changed everything for me. Before, I actually believed everything my brain slung at me in the darker moments, and that was difficult. I wouldn’t be able to write for months at a time.
But when I realized that the emotional lows were cyclical and (to a certain extent) predictable, I realized that those feelings would end and they weren’t always—or even often—true. I think it’s especially easy to fall prey to those low points as a writer, because writing can be such a solitary endeavor. Sometimes, your own voice is the only one you can hear. That’s why the other thing that helped was finding a community.
When I found a critique group and a handful of amazing friends and fellow writers with whom I could swap stories, I gained the opportunity to see my writing through another person’s eyes, and that changed everything. Pitch Wars and the Bath Novel Award did that, too! Even when reaching the next step on the publishing ladder felt impossible, getting those kind, thoughtful boosts from professionals made me feel like maybe I could get there if I kept going.
My best advice, then, comes from my own experience: ignore your brain whenever possible, and if you can, seek out a community of positive, like-minded writers in your genre whose voices can drown out the discouraging thoughts in your head and provide thoughtful constructive feedback to help you grow. Perseverance and openness to constructive feedback aren’t guaranteed to net anyone a book deal, given the subjectivity of the industry, but they will make you a better writer, and that’s one of the very few things writers can actually control.
2. If you’re struggling because you’re putting your work out there and not getting good results: I can’t promise that things will get better now, or soon. One of the most painful parts of publishing (and one of the most difficult to accept) is that rejections may have to do less with skill than with timing. Which is awful to hear, because if it’s our fault, then we can do something to fix it, or at least we feel like we can. But sometimes you have to shelve a book that has whole chunks of your heart in it because the timing isn’t quite right. (It’ll hurt. Ask me how I know. But sometimes, years later, that book will get a second chance. Don’t ask me how I know that. I’m not allowed to say, yet.) I’ve still got a long journey ahead of me! Lord of the Empty Isles sold UK and Commonwealth rights but hasn’t found a US home, so I’m still crossing my fingers—and continuing to write. If not this one, then maybe the next, or the next, or the next one after that.
I remember sending you an email quoting some of the excited comments from our team of readers and that in your reply you said you would be keeping them in a folder of beautiful things you like to keep and pull out when the writing road gets particularly rough. I wondered what the last thing was that you put in the folder and the last time you pulled something out?
Thank you again for that email! I can’t overstate how much it meant. I still have those comments in my folder, and I pull things out pretty often. Not because I’m not fortunate (I’m so incredibly lucky to be where I am) but because the lead-up to publication somehow amplifies every tiny anxiety into something monstrous! The problem about being a writer, I think, is that it’s our actual job to concoct elaborate catastrophes, and that skill isn’t nearly as fun when applied to real-life imaginings as it is when inflicted on fictional characters.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to add a lot of new things to my folder recently! Kind and thoughtful comments from readers, lovely words from booksellers—so many little joys. It’s easy to let small worries grow to massive proportions, but the things in that folder remind me of what (and who) I’m writing for and keep me firmly grounded. There’s no use in worrying about things I can’t control, and it’s lovely to have a record of the good things. (To any writers or aspiring creatives out there, I can recommend this without reservation: carve out a place to keep the good things! Brains are not nearly as good as they should be at holding on to beautiful things, so it’s good to have something concrete to look back on when the going gets rough.)
You found representation with Maddy Belton at MMLA. How did you know she was the agent for you?
Maddy had such a great vision for my book and read it so quickly. I think she was even on holiday (or returning from one) when she requested the book, and her passion, vision, and responsiveness gave me confidence that I’d found the perfect match!
You have said “I don’t think I’d be where I am without the BNA”. Are you able to say a little about how the experience helped you along the way?
Oh, absolutely! The BNA was my good luck charm, without a doubt. It helped in intangible ways, giving me a boost to keep moving forward when I felt ready to give up, but I also like to think it helped in more concrete ways! The Madeleine Milburn Agency encourages authors to update with any full requests, and when I was sending one such update, I cautiously mentioned that the book had longlisted for a novel award. (It was after sending that update that I heard from Maddy!)
How long did it take from first contact to agency contract?
Between sending my full and receiving an email asking for a call, it took only about a week! After long months of querying, things really can take a drastic turn for the better very quickly.
How would you describe the experience of being out on submission to publishers?
We went on submission not long before the winter holiday shutdown. I heard about the first glimmers of interest from Hodderscape before things went dark for the holidays, which was both incredibly exciting (someone loved the book and wanted to share it with their team!) and incredibly frightening (because it could have gone so many different ways). I swear, time passed at half-speed in the weeks that followed, but once everything started up again and everyone was back in the office (and I had begun to construct elaborate catastrophes in my head, as one does), I learned that two different publishers were taking the book to acquisitions, and things moved quickly from there on out. Offers, then nudges, then best-offer deadlines. Working with Hodderscape has been a dream. The team there is so wonderful!
This is your third manuscript. What did you learn from the two in your bottom drawer?
I learned so many things as a writer. With my first manuscript, which I wrote straight out of college while living and teaching abroad, I learned, by trial and error, how to write a novel. I still love that deeply strange little book! With my second, which I finished in 2020 (a wild time to be writing and querying!) I learned how to refine a novel. That book was fortunate enough to be selected by a mentor in the Pitch Wars mentorship program (shoutout to the talented and endlessly knowledgeable and patient Sunya Mara!) who offered hugely insightful advice that helped me polish that book and equipped me with tools that I carried to fast-drafting Lord of the Empty Isles. Perhaps one of the most exciting things I learned was that even for books I’ve tucked into drawers, it might not be over forever!
How would you sum up Lord of the Empty Isles?
On a story level, Lord of the Empty Isles is about an angry young man who has to work together with his older brother’s killer when his death-curse backfires and endangers thousands of innocent lives, but it’s also about grief and healing and found family.
Readers were hooked from your first line: “Remy Canta hurries down narrow back streets toward home, bloody knife cupped between his hands like a prayer. ” What do you want from an opening line?
Some of my favorite opening lines take on new meaning once you’ve finished reading a book! I love a pithy or compelling opening line, too—one that makes me ask questions.
What have been the biggest structural / developmental editorial changes between the published book and the draft we saw?
The heart of the story hasn’t changed much at all from my earliest draft, but I’ve shaken up and polished quite a few things! One of the major changes was that I got to add epigraphs to each chapter. Some of them are traditional epigraphs—snippets from an in-world reference book—but the rest are fragments from in-world poems, lullabies, nursery rhymes, and other miscellaneous sources, and I hope they help to set the book’s tone and illuminate the world. It was fun writing them and figuring out which one to attach to each chapter. I also had the chance to dig deeper into the characters and world, which was exciting!
Your original title was Lullaby for the Left Behind – how and why did that change come about?
I loved the book’s previous title and thought it captured the book’s emotional heart, but while we were having conversations about the book, we talked about how “Lullaby for the Left Behind” didn’t signal the genre like we wanted it to, so we brainstormed a list of alternative titles, and Lord of the Empty Isles was an easy winner! I managed to keep a nod to the original title, though—it’s now related to an important lullaby in one of the epigraphs, one that means a lot to the main character.
As well as being action-packed, Lord of the Empty Isles has tons of heart and is deeply thoughtful on grief and love in its many forms. Do you have any tips or insights on your writing process in terms of showing / layering in compelling emotional layers for the reader?
Thank you! I know that, realistically, it’s much more complicated than this, but one rule I lived by while I was writing the more emotional scenes was that if it didn’t affect me while I was writing it, I couldn’t expect it to affect readers. I actually stopped drafting at around the 75% mark, at first!
I wrote up a bullet-pointed list of what I expected to happen in the ending, and then I went back and revised the existing 75%. By the time I got to where I’d left off and had let everything simmer for a while, I was finally ready to write the rest. I wrote probably close to 20,000 words in a couple days in the lead-up to the new year! I’m not sure if there’s worthwhile advice to be gleaned from that, though. Maybe that important things take time, and it’s okay to break some of the supposedly inviolable writing rules (like, “don’t stop to revise until you’ve finished the draft; keep moving forward!”) if that’s what you need to do.
Who would you cast as Idrian and Remy in the movie of Lord of the Empty Isles?
I don’t have an exciting answer for this one, since I’ve never dared to imagine Lord of the Empty Isles on screens small or large and I’m embarrassingly out of touch with pop culture, but I think it would be incredibly cool to see how a more visual medium would handle the concept of tethers!
If there’s one thing you hope readers take from Lord of the Empty Isles what would that be?
It’s a bit hard to settle on one thing, because I think every reader brings their own unique experiences to each book and will take away something different, but I’ll be very pleased if the book is as healing for people to read as it was for me to write!
How can readers get in touch with you?
I’m on the website formerly known as Twitter @JulesArbeaux, but I always welcome messages through my website’s contact form, as well!
Interview: Caroline Ambrose May 2024
ONE CURSE. TWO SWORN ENEMIES. THOUSANDS OF LIVES IN THE BALANCE.
When his own death curse backfires onto him, a grieving young man must work together with the interstellar outlaw who killed his brother to save his own life—and thousands more he inadvertently doomed with his curse.
Buy Lord of the Empty Isles at: Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org and Blackwell’s