The Reading Palette

If you’ve spent any time on this blog, the name Trey Stone should ring a few dark, twisty bells. A Norwegian author with a serious flair for psychological thrillers and speculative fiction, Trey has four pulse-pounding novels and a bunch of short stories to his name—all written in English. But now he’s taking on a new challenge: writing in his native tongue! His upcoming young-adult adventure, Fjordbeist, is his first Norwegian novel, and we can’t wait to see what kind of beast he’s unleashing. Trey kicked off his writing career in 2015 with The Consequence of Loyalty, and hasn’t looked back since.

When he’s not plotting fictional chaos, he’s an archaeologist by day, a guitarist in two metal bands by night (yes, really), and somehow still finds time to read, game, and crush workouts. I’ve reviewed The Consequence of Loyalty and At the Gate, hosted his killer guest post (check it out here), and now, I’m beyond excited to bring you this interview. Let’s get into it!

Amisha: You are a prolific writer. In a few years, you have managed to write and publish 4 novels, 3 anthologies and 1 short story. Tell us about your writing process and how long does it take you to write one book?

Trey: I used to be a pantster by heart, which means I didn’t plan my writing in a lot of detail. I would have a general idea and I would sit down and just go for it. Just write whatever came to mind.
I’ve changed over the years and now I have a pretty detailed sheet that I use to fill in with key characters, major plot points, and beat scenes. I have specific scenes I know I want to write, and I tried to plan when in my books they’re going to happen. That doesn’t mean my writing always turns out the way I think, but there’s a plan, at least.
The one thing that hasn’t changed for me, is that I try to just sit down and write. I try not think, try not to let my thoughts get in the way. They tend to stop me in my tracks, you see, and I find it better to get the ideas down first and then fix whatever issues, errors and spelling mistakes that might pop up later. It feels much more efficient this way – I think I churn out about 2000 words an hour this way – and it’s much more fun. I have an upcoming sci-fi thriller being published with Inked In Gray next year that I wrote in about 12 days this way, and it’s a method that works well for me. So in short: sit down and let your fingers to the writing, and don’t let your thoughts get in the way of a first draft.

Amisha: You have a lot of readers. How do you deal with good or bad book reviews?

Trey: I used to worry a lot about what people thought about my books and my writing, and I used to track all new reviews from all sources rigorously. Nowadays, I try not to care, and that’s a change that has happened naturally as I’ve written more things. Some people are going to like the things you do, and some won’t – and everyone’s entitled their own opinion. That’s just the way it is, and now matter how much you care or don’t care, you can’t change that. I think it’s best not to focus on the bad, cherish the good, and no matter what, keep writing, keep changing, and keep being creative.
The only time I do care much about reviews, is when they’re shared with me personally – either in person, or if they’re written up in long form on a blog or website, like The Reading Palette’s review of At The Gate. That was lovely to see, and I appreciated that one immensely.

Amisha: Thank you for saying that. I enjoyed reading your book. You have mastered the art of thriller writing. All your works are worth the read. You are tremendous for publishing all those books, which brings me to my next question. For any author, the publishing process can be challenging and daunting. Would you like to share some advice for new and emerging authors on how to secure a publishing deal? Or should they go for self publishing?

 Trey: It’s difficult to recommend one or the other, because honestly, it depends a lot on how you prefer to work. I’ve done both, and there are things I appreciate with both self publishing and working with a publisher. The upside about self publishing is that you can conpletely control and schedule your own timeline. If you work fast, write a lot of things and want to get it out there for the world to see and enjoy as soon as possible, self publishing can be a lot more rewarding than waiting around for a publishing contract. Even if you find a publisher who wants to pick up your work, however long that might take you, you’ll likely find yourself waiting for quite a while for everything to fit with the publisher’s schedule. With self publishing, you don’t have to worry about a lot of that, and you can choose where and when your work will be available to your readers. You also have the ability to experiment with different formats for publishing, such as periodic blog or newsletter releases, or a print-on-demans solution. That being said, I want to stress the importance of working with a good editor and cover artist, even if you plan on self publishing.
However, working with a publisher will offer a lot of support, at least in my experiece. I work with two different indie publishers for my English writing at the moment, and my first Norwegian book is being released by a local, traditional publisher, and I must say that it’s awesome to feel like you have someone in your corner. Sure, you might be giving up on some royalties, but at the same time you usually get an editor, a cover designer, a marketer and a distributor. There are pros and cons with both. At the moment, I don’t see myself going back to self publishing anytime soon, unless it’s to release a collection of my many short stories that don’t get picked up by anyone.

Amisha: Do you think marketing is just as crucial in the success of a book as everything else? Any tips on how to market a book if you are self-publishing?

Trey: Of course, marketing is crucial. It doesn’t matter how good your book is if you don’t get it in front of readers. How you go about doing that is the really hard part about being a writer. Honestly, I don’t think anything is as efficient as word of mouth. If you get people talking about your book, it sells itself. But with my self-published books I’ve had success with ads on Amazon, and review groups and book clubs. But in many of those cases you have to spend money to get people to see it, and it’s really a gamble.

Amisha: I agree. So the next question comes from a place of more awe rather than curiosity. You are an archaeologist, a guitarist, a husband and an author. How do you maintain a balance in everything and what is your approach to life?

Trey: My approach is in one sense very simple: writing, revision, editing and blogging before work -> day job -> working out, exercising and music after work -> free time and hanging out with my wife in the evenings. And then of course, things might change a bit depending on whether I have a particular deadline or a gig coming up, but that’s the gist of it. A few years ago I turned my whole life around and started getting up really early, hours before I have to get to work, and it’s amazing how many more hours I feel like I get out of the day. Doing all my writing stuff in the morning, before everything else happens is a really easy way to keep up a steady progression and makes me feel like I’m getting a little bit done every day.

Amisha: Waking up early is a smart solution but I have always found it to be a mountainous task. I will achieve it though, someday. Can you share a moment from your personal life that inspired a scene or character in your books?

Trey: A lot of what happens in At The Gate was inspired by an actual stay I had at a hotel in Trondheim, Norway. If you pick up the book, you’ll find an explanation at the back of the book, but without spoiling anything: the paperclips, the weird hallways, the blood smears on the mirror, the weird guy in the reception… it all happened to me, and I just knew right then that I could make a cool story out of it. So now that you know that, you really need to go get the book if you haven’t already, so you can read the crazy story that came out of that trip.
My next book with Inked In Gray Press, a speculative novella about death and the afterlife is even more biographical, it’s basically based on my whole childhood and early life. I’m really looking forward to seeing that one be released, and I hope readers will find it as fun to read as it was to write.

Amisha: When I read it was inspired by real events, it made me a little chilly but it’s so exciting to write something based on real events. What is your view on writer’s block?

 Trey: Honestly, because of the way I write, where I try to just churn out the words and think to much, I rarely suffer from writer’s block. I think the key is to just get the words down on paper, and then you can always fix it later with revision and editing, once you have the story on the pages in front of you. But if you struggle with not knowing where to take the story or what to do next, I suggest taking a step back, maybe work on some other piece of writing, or switch to a completely different creative outlet for a while. I tend to switch to my music, in those cases.

Amisha: After reading your works, I noticed that the genre of psychological thriller has a key place in your writing. Why do you think you are drawn towards this particular genre?

 Trey: I’m not sure, but I know I do much the same in my lyrics and musical compositions as well. I suppose it’s just an outlet for what I’m feeling, thinking, and experiencing, and I enjoy writing things that make other people think and feel a certain way too. It’s not necessarily something I do on purpose, it kind of just comes naturally to me. Sure, sometimes it’s fun to read a simple action scene or an epic space battle as well, but I write what I like to read, and I enjoy being lured into mysterious, to dive into the dark psyche of characters and to be weirded out my strange plot lines.

Amisha: What is the most useful tip you received as a writer?

Trey: Keep writing. Whatever you do, just keep at it. Keep producing, keep being creative and keep trying. Then, no one can stop you. A success is just someone who dared to fail one more time.

Amisha: I think I’m gonna make that my motto. Being consistent is no walk in the park. You go through a lot of self-doubt and frustration. But the right thing to do is keep moving.

Nowadays, the trend of AI writing stories and novels is increasing. Do you think AI tools like Chatgpt are a real threat for authors and artists? What is your view on people claiming that AI can actually replace artists and writers?

Trey: AI can never replace a well-thought out story, because it can’t create, only replicate, so I’m not worried at all. It might have it’s use for brainstorming and coming up with cool ideas, but it can never do what the human mind can do when it puts together a heart-felt, intelligent story. But it’s an interesting technology and the development is going very fast in that field at the moment, so I think it’s good that we pay attention to what it can do and keep up with it.

Amisha: Yes, I believe instead of fearing or being dismissive about it, we should experiment with ways to incorporate it into our work. While I don’t think it can ever compete with artists, I think it’s here to stay, so we might as well be comfortable with it.

You are releasing your novel ‘Fjordbeist‘ soon this year. It is your first novel that is in your native Norwegian language. What can you tell us about your decision to make this shift and tell us about your upcoming book.

 Trey: Fjordbeist (literally: Fjord beast) is my upcoming young adult adventure novel and my first book in Norwegian. It’s about twelve year old Marius, who comes across and befriends a beast in the Lysefjorden fjord in southwestern Norway, and the adventures that follow. It’s a really fun, charming and exciting book, and I just can’t wait for it to finally be released at the end of May this year. The idea to finally write something in Norwegian really came about a few years ago (I think I drafted the book back in 2022) when a lot of my Norwegian friends and family kept asking why I never wrote anything in my native language. I’ve always gravitated towards English, because I find that it lends itself better to story telling and because so much of the popular media I consumed when I was young was in English (books, movies, TV, cartoon and video games). But I finally took the plunge and it’s been great – I really can’t wait to hear what people think of it, and I’m really hyped about the release.

Amisha: What are you future plans? Are there more works in progress? What is the goal you think you are yet to achieve as a writer?

Trey: Currently, I have three upcoming books with Inked In Gray Press, the publisher who published At The Gate. The first is the speculative novella I mentioned, a bangsian, biographical story about death and the after life, the second is a thriller set in the same universe as At The Gate, and the third is an  epic sci-fi thriller set on a distant planet. I’m so excited for all of these to finally be out there for people to read. On top of that I’m in talks with Fedowar Press to release a horror novella about a family who inherits a strange house by the beach, I’m curating a thriller/horror anthology for Something Or Other Publishing and I keep submitting short stories to websites and magazines. I actually sold a story to a podcast a few years ago, and I think the first season of that show is just entering the post-production stage now, so hopefully that will be available for people to enjoy soon.
But of course the biggest thing these days is Fjordbeist, and my major thing that I’m drafting these days is the sequel to that. I’m just about 50% done at the moment, and I’m hoping to be able to send them the first draft before the end of the year. I’ve pitched the series as a 4-book series, and at the moment, I’m positive about the publisher wanting to pick up the rest of the books.
So, in short: there’s quite a lot happening! But I love being busy, and every project just motivates me to keep it up, so I’m very happy it’s like that at the moment.

Amisha: That is great. You have been doing amazing work and there is a lot more to follow. Congratulations on being such a terrific writer and I wish you all the best for your future endeavours. Will look forward to reading more of your work.

If you haven’t checked out Stone’s books yet, what are you doing? Go do it now.

You can find the author on their own website . Trey Stone is also available on Facebook  , Instagram  and Twitter.

If you have any questions to ask of the author, you can drop them in the comment section below.