Dragon Soul Press had the opportunity to interview Gemma D. Buell, an author featured in Dragon Legends.

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1) Introduce yourself.

I’m Gemma D. Buell; I have many hobbies, but along with writing, acting and music are
at the top of the list. I’ve been lucky enough to combine those three passions a few
times, but I would really love to do it on a bigger scale someday. The easiest way to
describe me is a geek. Books, film, tv series, radio, TTRG, music… you name it! I write
all kinds of genres, pretty much whatever strikes my fancy; I’ve written Sci-Fi, Fantasy,
Historical Fiction, and Mythology, and most of those I’ve infused with aspects of the
Mystery genre, as that is my personal favorite– I’m still working on my ability to write
something that’s a mystery on it’s own legs. I’ve dabbled in Horror too, but it’s more
gothic than fright and gore.

2) What prompted you to begin writing?

I wrote fanfiction from a pretty young age. I’m not sure where I got the idea from, really,
as I was chronically offline and sheltered, and had no notion of places to share
fanfiction– in fact, I’m not sure those places even existed back then. I always had ideas
for sequels to my favorite films, but I think I first put pen to paper when I was twelve– so
just over a decade ago now! My big thing was always crossovers, I was very interested
in what would happen when two particular characters were in a room together, and that
persists for me. I don’t write dialogue, I put my characters together, and they start
talking. Sometimes it really feels like I have nothing to do with it!

3) Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?

I love all of my children equally! Perhaps I’m slightly prouder of my short stories than my
flash fiction and poems, but that really comes down to the fact that length means I have
room for relationships and dialogue. I love all of my stories equally in the sense that I
was trying to capture a specific emotion or vibe with each of them. I think my favorites as
far as capturing a vibe are “The Epoch of Enoch”, “Love and the Low Roads”, and
“Falling is the Same as Flying”. My biggest motifs for these stories are War World Two,
Mystery, and Greek and Scottish Mythology. The first is about two soldiers on a ship
home from the war, the second is about a young, modern day devotee of Hecate on a
quest in the Underworld, and the third is about Icarus if he was a detective in the 1940s.
Those haven’t been published yet, but I had a publisher request the last one be turned
into a novel, or preferably three, and come back then if I like. Have I managed that? Not
yet…. My favorite character dynamics are probably in “Sir Alan and the Dragons”, which
has been published by our very own interviewer, Dragon Soul Press, in “Dragon
Legends”! That one is about a curmudgeonly old minstrel who gets blackmailed into
seeking adventure…

4) How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.

Gosh! Well, I’ve got at least four. I’d like three of those to be novels, but that might be
wishful thinking, and they’ll end up as short stories. I’ve got Time Travel, Romance, and
maybe some more Fantasy. My absolute biggest project is a script for a
gender–swapped Sherlock Holmes series. This has been done before, of course, but
I’ve got some ideas and twists that remain undone so far. It’s a lot of work though, as I’m
trying to re-consume over a decade of material I’ve watched, read, and listened to in
order to have the absolute best version of Holmes and company in mind and heart that I
can. As my favorite fictional characters, I feel the need to do them justice if I’m going to
use them in my own work.

5) What is your writing process like?

Chaotic. It typically consists of me getting a really vague idea (so much less romantic
than the proverbial lightening strike of inspiration), which I then end up brain-storming
about pretty much anywhere I can get away with: the car, the shower, while folding
laundry– so long as there’s music! Although sometimes I end up brainstorming instead
of sleeping, and I always have to hope it’s worth it. When the lightning DOES strike, it’s
never at a reasonable hour, so usually I’m up anywhere from 1am to 4am scrawling the
scenes down before they have the chance to get away from me.

6) Where do you draw inspiration from?

Emotion, experiences, and taste, I suppose. The art I’ve consumed has taught me what
flavors of storytelling I like, what my favorite motifs are, what subjects really mean
something to me. Then typically I’ll have an emotion and/or experience where I can’t
really express it in a binary sense– saying, “I feel” doesn’t seem to capture it. So, the
only way to express it is through storytelling. I fall back on the motifs and styles that
mean something to me; they’re like the boat, and the emotions and ideas I’m trying to
express are the cargo. Without each other, they don’t work. I owe the artists who came
before me for teaching me how to build a boat, and having a melancholy mind for the
ideas I want to express. If I was a cheerfully minded person, I wouldn’t have nearly as
many stories to tell.

7) Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?

Gosh, there’s so many. As a kid, my favorite books were The Chronicles of Narnia,
Nancy Drew, and A Picture of Dorian Gray— I’m pretty sure someone read me some
Arthurian stories as well, which I loved. From my teens onward, it was Sherlock Holmes,
Father Brown, Inspector Morse, and Good Omens, to name a few. All of my favorite
authors have passed away now, but if I had to pick just one, it’s definitely Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.

8) What is one goal you have for your writing future?

I’d like to expand to bigger works and a bigger audience. I think the largest piece I ever
wrote of any kind was 30,000 words, which would still barely scrape by as a novel. I
think reading older short stories, like Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton, respectively, taught my young mind a story length
that’s not really accepted as much anymore. I’d like to learn how to expand my thoughts
even more, to get more out of them. Short and sweet is great, but I’d love to write a
series.

9) What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?

I hope they can find something they relate to, whether that’s an emotion, a vibe, a
character, or even a single character trait. I’d like my stories to feel like coming home to
my readers, as that’s how my favorite art feels to me: like home, more than this world
could ever be. I’m not sure I’ve put out anything of that quality yet, but that is my goal,
what I hope I can learn to do.

10) Where can readers learn more about you?

I don’t have a page solely for my books yet (soon!), but I’ve got an Amazon Author Page.
I also have a personal Facebook Page. Most of it is private, but I make public posts
there sometimes about my writing, theater, and other pursuits, so when I have a
professional page up and running, I’ll be sharing the link there!