The Lowdown with... Fran Terminiello

Fran Terminiello studied Journalism at degree level then rediscovered creative writing, a passion of her childhood, after the birth of her second child. Following a year of prolific output she turned her efforts towards becoming a professional writer and wrote the short story that later grew into Book One of Where Dead Gods Lie Buried – a series she is co-authoring with David Murray. Authors she admires are J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber,  Scott Lynch, Richard Morgan, Margaret Atwood and Joe Abercrombie. Fran lives in Surrey with her husband, daughter and son. She edits web content and fiction, and in her spare time enjoys fantasy role playing games. She also practices western martial arts (16th Century Bolognese swordplay and 17th Century rapier) and is fluent in Italian.

1. Tell us three things about yourself. 
Three things about myself? Okay: I am a sword fighting instructor, I run a small empire and I write stories sometimes.

2. What was the first thing you had published? 
First story I had published was in an anthology called Tales Of The Nun and Dragon from Fox Spirit, edited by Adele wearing. It's the story of sister amagda and her travels through the countryside. I tried to do in the style of a legend, the sort of story that is told rather than written down.

3. Which piece of writing are you proudest of? 
I think I'm most proud of my tale from Piracy, another anthology by Fox Spirit .Because it's the first story I received positive criticism for, both from readers and other authors.

4. …and which makes you cringe? 
What makes me cringe? I think overly choreographed and detailed fight scenes with lots of spinning, twirling, jumping and dialogue. Or historical inaccuracies. Or just inappropriate romance for the hell of it.

5. What’s a normal writing day like? 
I've never had an actual writing desk because I started writing when my children were very small and it would be whenever they fell asleep and had a nap. I would quickly whip out my pen and paper and start scribbling. Whether it was on the back of an envelope or an actual writing pad or into my phone I would just write wherever and whenever there is no right place or time. A lot of lay bys and car parks have been useful to me. I remember once actually being in tears because I had takes my daughter out for a walk and she'd fallen asleep, and then I found my pen didn't work.

6. Which piece of writing should someone who’s never read you before pick up first? 
My latest story in the Fight Like A Girl anthology by Kristell Ink, 'The Turn Of A Wheel' is set in the world of the novel I'm currently writing. So it best represents what Im mainly working on.

7. What are you working on now? 
It's been many years but I'm still working on a co written novel with David Murray. We keep picking it up and putting it down but I think this is the last run through, we've had good feedback from professional sources and we are determined to finish it.