R.B. Devaux, a writer in Uzès

FR - Meet the novelist from Uzès who has been drawing us into her unique world of literature since 2019.

 

R.B. Devaux is passionate about literature, which is to be expected from someone with a degree in Modern Literature, but she likes to share her vision of another universe through her books. Immediately immersed in this other reality, the reader discovers adventures full of twists and turns.

 

PORTRAIT


Hello and welcome to the pages of UzEssentiel,

First of all, what do your initials R.B. stand for?

Hello. The initials refer to my paternal grandmother's surname and my mother's middle name.
 

Your novels were published in 2019. Had you written books before that that remained at the manuscript stage?

No, volume 1 of Guardians of Apophis was my first novel. I'd never written before, even though I had a lot of stories in my head!

You're known for your Fantasy, or even Urban Fantasy inspired literature, where magic and sorcery are never far away. Why did you choose this theme?

I'm a huge fan of fantasy and SF. I'm a film buff and I think my inspiration has always been linked to the strange and the supernatural. To escape into dreamlike worlds allowed me to deal with many subjects with a great deal of freedom.

 

Rb devaux les gardiens d apophis

 

How are you inspired? Your first novel, published on Wattpad, volume 1 of your highly successful 4-volume saga LES GARDIENS D'APOPHIS, took readers on adventures full of twists and turns...

I think imagination & inspiration is a mixture of everything we've ever seen, heard or read. I very often find inspiration from a visual or a scene that I've seen and that my mind has stretched, reshaped and imagined differently. Inspiration is a form of reinvention of something that has touched or offended us and made us think.

 

The elephant game r b devauxFollowing several awards and the release of Audible versions of some of your novels, you've moved on from the world of fantasy and tried your hand at what are now known as Feel-Good novels, such as EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL (OR NEARLY, Tous est sous contrôle ou presque), and in romance with your latest opuses, THE ELEPHANT GAME and THE FROG GAME... Why this drastic turn away from your Fantasy style? What do you want to convey and share?

My move into Feel-Good was not at all premeditated. I didn't think I was capable of writing about lighter, more humorous subjects. Over time, I realised that my favourite themes were the notion of humanity, resilience and choice in my Urban Fantasy stories.

However, I've managed to deal with more serious subjects in a lighter way with Tout est sous contrôle, which deals with burn-out and bullying in the workplace, the very reasons that drove me to write in the first place.

Telling lighter stories allowed me to take a breather between two fantastic stories. It's a way of finding a less cerebral style of writing and sharing that time with another author - like Théo Lemattre for the ‘Games’ series. It's taken the pressure off my writing and the release of my novels.

 

Rb devaux tout est sous controle

 

Tell us more about drafting and writing a novel?

I'm what you'd call a gardener... I don't work on index cards or notebooks. Everything is in my head, even the construction of my multi-volume sagas. I'm incapable of drawing up a plan. I often have the very beginning, the end and a few stages. In the middle, I follow the inspiration. I let the ideas mature and then I go for it!

When it comes to finalising a novel, it depends on the genre. For Feel-Good, I write in one to three months. For Urban novel, it's between eight and twelve months, because I do a lot of research and the stories are complex.

What's more, the covers of your books are very elaborate and telling, adding to the desire to start reading, not to mention the trailers you produce on your website. How do you go about creating them?

For the covers, I work with professional graphic designers and illustrators. I often have a precise idea of what I want and I discuss it with them to make sure I get the details right.

As for the Booktrailers, I work with my husband and we design them together. I come up with the visuals and the music and he does the editing.

Between writing and book-signing sessions, do you have time to share your experience as a novelist in lectures, conferences or other events?

It's rare, but I do it when I'm asked, of course. I often give advice to authors in private messages too, which is a way to share both my experience in litterature and writing.

 

Many thanks to R.B. Devaux for his collaboration on this article.

You can find R.B. Devaux on his website as well as on Instagram and Facebook. See the booktrailer presentations of each book on the author's website.

 

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