There
are many things she could be without, but writing isn't one of them.
She carries a pen everywhere, in case an idea appears, and takes
pride in still seeing the world as brimming with magic. Besides
writing, she reads obsessively, her favourite genres being the
classics and all kinds of fantasy. She also enjoys Disney and horror
films, practising Shotokan karate, drawing, archery, and playing with
her very cheeky kitten.
Author Questions
1.
Blindsighted Wanderer is a wonderful story, where did you get the
inspiration for it?
Thank
you so much! I’m really happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Parts of
the story came from a lot of different places, but the one that sowed
the seed was when I was about eight years old. One day in class, we
were given a booklet about water beings, and it mentioned a story
that really caught my attention. It was a local folktale that wasn’t
very well-known, about a mysterious type of nymph accidentally caught
by an arrogant fisherman. A few years later I found that old booklet
again, and I decided to think about what the story would be like, if
the nymph could get her own back for being taken from the lake.
2.
Where did you come up with the name Asrae, and the names of the
towns?
Asræ
comes from the actual name of the nymphs in the original legend.
They’re called either Asrai or Asrey, so my version is a sort-of
combination of the two. Ullswick is another combination, of Ullswater
and Keswick: two places in the Lake District in northern England.
It’s a beautiful national park that was one of my main inspirations
for the look of the Elitland Valley. The other two villages just
popped into my head fully formed. The underwater city comes from
Latin: Evertodomus means “home of the demons”; and the Asræ’s
version, Lacudomus, more-or-less means “lake home”.
3.
Have you ever experienced writer's block and if so how do you deal
with it?
I
tend to get varying degrees of writer’s block with most things!
Most of the time, it’s in the early stages, when I’m trying to
plan everything and figure out what I need to research. I throw
questions at everything that could potentially end up in the story,
and when I can’t necessarily answer it yet, it really grinds me to
a halt. I find the best way to deal with it is to leave it alone;
usually if I try to force an answer to come, it won’t. So whenever
it suddenly does solve itself, I have a complete
lightbulb-above-the-head moment and scribble it down before I can
forget it!
4.
What or who started you on the road to writing?
I’ve
been making up stories since I was very young. I used to tell them to
the younger children at my school; every other week, I’d spend the
last fifteen minutes of Friday in the reception class. The children
and the teachers would give me feedback which I used to help me
expand the stories, making them more exciting or bringing the
characters back for another adventure. Their enthusiasm really
inspired me, so it wasn’t long before I started writing the stories
down in little ‘books’ with sewn-together spines. They gradually
got longer and longer until when I was about twelve, and I had a go
at writing my first novel. Looking back, it wasn’t very good, but I
loved how it meant I’d be living inside my imagination for so much
longer than with the short stories I’d always done. It feels like
quite a natural progression really; spurred on by those children, my
teachers, and my family.
5.
Who is your favorite author?
I
have an awful lot of favourite authors! I tend to have a handful of
favourites for fantasy; for classics; for horrors... I find it so
difficult to choose only one! But Charles Dickens, Michelle Paver,
and Charlotte Brontë are definitely in my all time favourites.
6.
If you had magical powers, what would you do with them besides
writing?
I’ll
always wish to be able to breathe underwater. But I think I’d love
to step inside my favourite books, and have a conversation with the
characters, or live a day of their lives. There are so many that I’d
love to visit. If I could have a hallway full of doors all leading to
different books; that would be incredible.
7.
Who has been the biggest influence on you as a writer?
A
lot of authors have really inspired me in different ways. I’ve
always loved both history and fantasy, but I learned mainly from
Marcus Sedgwick how the two could be seamlessly combined and yet not
lose the story. Neil Gaiman is another big influence, because of the
way he merges all sorts into a different book every single time. I’m
also really inspired by Philip Pullman and Christopher Paolini.
8.
When you write do you become a part of your book, do you see yourself
as a part of the story?
Definitely.
A lot of the characters are a part of me; most of what they go
through is, on a very basic level, inspired by my own experiences.
But when I write, it’s not like I’m creating a story; I’m just
telling it, and they’re real people who I can’t order around!
When I make my synopsis, to guide me through the actual book, I learn
what will happen and essentially lay down the bare bones of the tale.
Then when I begin properly, it’s almost as though the characters
have taken me by the hand and swept me into their world to experience
it for real. Even though I know what’s going to happen, every
single time, I get quite emotional; if there’s action then my heart
starts racing, and if a character dies, I usually get upset and then
feel very guilty for killing them off! And it’s always quite a
shock when I finish a chapter and look up and think, “I’m back”;
even tougher when I’ve written the end!
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