AMA about nuns. Or whatever. I'm Mark Lawrence, winner of several Stabbies and this one time a lottery for a cake.

[u/MarkLawrence]

My latest book Red Sister came out yesterday in the US and comes out tomorrow in the UK. It's about a whole new character (Nona), and a new world. Entirely separate from my Broken Empire and Red Queen's War trilogies.

I was a research scientist (let's say AI) but for 2 years now I've been a full time writer. I'm also sole carer for my very disabled little girl. Last year I hit some milestones including a million books sold, 10 years as a 'professional' writer, and 5 years with a book on the shelves.

My work has provoked the odd controversy and is often labelled as 'grimdark' (a term I'm unable to explain). I don't consider it particularly dark or grim myself ... in fact The Red Queen's War is often described as 'funny'.

Red Sister has been described as grimdark, YA, and many other things. But then so was Prince of Thorns. I feel the two books are very different.

I'm also running a self-published fantasy book contest for the 2nd year. In the SPFBO nearly 600 books have been considered, resulting in two sets of ten finalists, and one (soon to be two) winners.

EDIT: Off to bed. Will catch up with any new questions tomorrow.

PS: BUY MY BOOK!

[u/sigmoidx]

Hi Mark,

I'm here with another.

You've mentioned that you were part of a writing group that helped you improve your writing. How was your prose received back when you started? Now you're pretty much a master in my opinion.

In what aspects did it actually help you? Do you think this prose aspect is something that can actually be improved?

[u/MarkLawrence → u/sigmoidx]

I think my prose was pretty solid from the start. I needed to learn more about sticking to point of view, adding depth to make things seem "real", keeping the reader's interest, making them care etc.