Who wants to win some awesome prizes? Oh, you do? Great! Step this way…
Between 5 and 7 August, I’ll be celebrating my 33rd birthday with a fun Facebook hop with some of my fellow fantasy authors, and there’ll be prizes for not one but TWO winners.
One UK winner will get a signed hardback of The Fair Queen, and a paperback of Enchanted Waters, signed by both myself and Alice Ivinya!
PLUS one international winner will get a big bundle of ebooks and Amazon gift cards, including all of these…
Want to get involved and discover a load of amazing fantasy authors and new books to add to your TBR? Click here to join Lyndsey Hall’s Fair Folk on FB and keep your eyes peeled on 5 Aug for the hop!
Another month is almost over and we’re now much closer to next Christmas than last. That’s right I used the C word in July! Speaking of which, have you seen any of the “Christmas in July” bookish events going on around the internet? @SheShedStudios on Twitter is hosting a feature with some fab free books (she included The Fair Queen when it was free a couple of weeks ago), and Jennifer Kropf, author of the Winter Souls series, is throwing a huge book tour across the internet for her festive, family-friendly fantasy series in celebration of book two being out this November and available to preorder now!
OK, that’s enough talk of Christmas, back to the height of summer. Next week is my birthday! I’m hosting a Facebook Hop between 5 and 7 Aug to celebrate, with prizes for both UK and international winners. One UK winner will get a signed hardcover of The Fair Queen and a signed (by both me and my fellow author Alice Ivinya) paperback of Enchanted Waters, and one US/international winner will get a whole bundle of fantasy ebooks and a $10 Amazon giftcard! So head over to the FB group and join to take part next week.
On to the interview! I was so excited to chat to Elena Carter this week and find out all about her debut novel, Follow the Hummingbird, which comes out 30 July and is the first book in a new series, The Dream Tamer Chronicles. Read on to find out what we talked about…
Thanks so much for chatting with me, Elena! Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Elena. I am originally from Almaty, Kazakhstan, but in 2013 I moved to Varna, Bulgaria to live by the sea. Growing up in a city surrounded by mountains, I have always been dreaming of big water (which is ironic because I am not much of a swimmer, yet I can’t live without water.)
For the last decade or so I’ve been making gemstone jewelry — after exploring all kinds of career paths, including administering a high school exchange program, working in an embassy as a political and human rights assistant, working as an assistant to an attorney, and many other totally unrelated things too. All while secretly dreaming of being a writer.
I have a husband and two sons, a teenager and a toddler. We also have a cavalier king charles spaniel and possibly the naughtiest cat in the world.
Wow, what a fascinating and varied life you’ve led so far! I bet you’re not short of inspiration when it comes to writing stories, you’ve got so many experiences to draw from. When did you start writing and what inspired you/who encouraged you?
I have always wanted to be a writer, but I guess I never had enough courage and self-belief. Until 2020, when my husband (a professional writer and screenwriter himself) finally convinced me to give it a try, after countless nudges that I used to skillfully dodge. And I’m so grateful for his persistence.
I used to say “If I ever do try, certainly it won’t be in English, because it’s my second language, and I’ll never be good enough.”
But here I am, releasing my debut novel in English, and I am so happy I found the courage to go ahead and do it.
I was 41 when I wrote my first book. It’s never too late to start.
That’s incredible that you’re writing your debut in a language other than you’re native one, I studied Spanish at University but I can’t imagine writing an entire novel in Spanish. You’re so inspiring! Do you have a favourite book or genre?
I have always loved reading. I started reading early, about 4 years old, and when I was 10 or 12, I started consuming everything I could find in our (very extensive) home library. I have always been fascinated by our bookshelves covering the entire walls, from floor to ceiling.
I read pretty much everything, I don’t like to limit myself to a certain genre. But fantasy has always been my favorite. I discovered Tolkien in my early university years I think, and it totally blew my mind.
There are also some Russian fantasy authors that I have always enjoyed reading.
Basically, I like to believe that magic exists, and the world around is not at all what we believe it is.
Excuse me, you had me at “floor to ceiling bookshelves”. I’m so jealous, it sounds like a book lovers’ dream. Tell us about your upcoming debut novel.
My debut novel, Follow the Hummingbird, is coming out on July 30, 2021. It’s about a young woman discovering the world of her dreams after she’s been trying to find ways to cope with grief having lost her husband in a car accident. She learns about the existence of multiple different worlds that are ready to open their doors to her, and, most importantly, give her hope and strength to go on.
That’s a really beautiful message, it sounds wonderful. Where did you find the inspiration for your story?
Dreams have always been a very important part of my life. They’ve always been vivid and fascinating, leaving me with a feeling that they are much more than what we think they are.
A lot of the dream sequences in my book have been inspired by the dreams I’ve had, including some I had many years ago. It’s strange, I can easily forget what I’ve been doing last week or month (let alone the names of my former colleagues or high school teachers), but the memories of some of my childhood dreams are bright and clear in my mind.
That’s so cool, I love when story ideas come in dreams! Would you say you’re a plotter, pantser or plantser?
Plantser. When I started working on Follow the Hummingbird, I had a rough outline of the idea that I quickly put down in the notes on my phone. For the rest, the story itself was leading me, new characters were appearing and asking me to write about them, fascinating worlds were revealing themselves to me, and it was a beautiful and exciting journey.
I’m the same, I need a map to follow to where the story is headed, but I like to leave a little room to take the scenic route. So, what are you working on right now?
In the beginning of the year, while still working on edits for my novel, I started writing a collection of short stories. They’re all separate stories and totally unrelated, except the one thing they have in common – they’re all happening in the same town. A very ordinary little town, at first glance. But when you look and listen closer, you might learn that it’s not that ordinary after all. There’s all kinds of wonderful and amazing and magical things happening to its inhabitants and guests.
I am also starting to work on the next book in The Dream Tamer Chronicles, telling a story of one of the characters in Follow the Hummingbird.
I love short story collections! I’m writing one myself at the moment, set in the same world as my main series, The Fair Chronicles. What one piece of advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don’t fear. Don’t doubt yourself. And never — NEVER — give up. There’ll be good days and bad days, there’ll be ups and downs, it’s all a crazy roller coaster sometimes (okay, let’s be honest, most of the time), but just stay consistent and stay on track no matter what.
Also, you have to believe in your writing in the first place. If you don’t, no one else will.
That is such great advice, it’s so important to believe in yourself first, and be your own biggest cheerleader. Thank you so much for chatting with me today, it’s been lovely! Before you go, how can we find out more about you and your books?
I hope all of you fellow writers listen to Elena’s advice – believe in yourself and never give up! And if you like the sound of Follow the Hummingbird, it comes out on 30 July so there’s not long to wait now.
Hi friends! How are we already half way through July? This year has absolutely flown, especially after last year seemed to drag so much.
I’ve been a busy bee this month, making my new story A Fair Deception available on Amazon (if you’ve read it I’d absolutely love it if you left a review on Amazon, Goodreads and/or Bookbub!), drafting my new 2k word flash fiction story for an anthology coming out next year with a group of 20 fellow authors, and ramping up the marketing for my new release, Enchanted Waters, which comes out tomorrow!
In between all of that though, I made time to chat with the lovely Kala Merseal, author of The Guardians of Altana series. Come along and see what we talked about…
Hi, it’s so lovely to be speaking to you! Why don’t you start by telling us a little about yourself?
Hi, I’m Kala! I’m an indie fantasy author that lives in southeast Missouri. I’m married, with three furbabies. I love books, comics, anime, and Asian live-action dramas, as well as playing The Sims, Skyrim, and Summoners’ War!
Aw, I have two furbabies and now I want another one! I used to play a lot of Assassin’s Creed and I actually miss it, I’ll have to start playing again when my son is asleep. So, what are your favourite genres to read and write?
My favorite genre hands-down is fantasy. Epic/high fantasy, dark fantasy, urban. I’ll take any of it. As for tropes,I do love the “enemies to lovers”, the “bad guys are actually good guys”, the “bad guy becomes redeemed”, and finally the “good guy spirals into corruption” tropes. The Guardians of Altana has redemption for the antagonist in the end but doesn’t follow any of my other absolute favorite tropes. I would say GOA’s main theme is redemption though.
I do love a redemption arc, but “good guy spirals into corruption” sounds really interesting, you’ll have to give me some recs! Tell us about your first published book, was that a fantasy novel?
My first published book was actually back in 2016 and it was called Purge, a vampire horror novel. I have since unpublished and buried it deep in the backyard.
In 2020, I published my first epic fantasy novel, The Shadow Curse, embarking on a new journey as an indie author. At the end of this month, exactly a year since I published the first of my series, I’ll be publishing the conclusion, The Dark Realm!
That’s so exciting! Congratulations on having a complete series, that is the absolute dream for any author I think. Where do you find inspiration for your characters or settings?
My latest series (my first officially published and finished series) is from a dream I had a few years ago.
I’d love it if story ideas came to me in dreams, mine always seem to be from podcasts! Random, I know. And I’m always driving or doing dishes so I can’t write them down.Do you consider yourself a plotter, pantser or plantser?
I am a plotter all the way. I can’t keep my head straight if I don’t have a voluminous amount of notes for my stories and their worlds.
Same! Although I’m more of a plantser, I love a big story bible with character profiles, magic rules, geography and flora and fauna, and a chapter by chapter list of what needs to happen, but I do leave some room for discovery writing. What are you working on right now?
That’s so exciting, I hope your release went well! That’s amazing that you already have another series to get stuck into, I need to think about what I’m going to do after The Fair Chronicles is complete. But that’s a problem for 2023 Lyndsey!
Thank you so much for chatting with me today, Kala, it’s been lovely! Before you go, what one piece of advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don’t give up. I think that’s the best thing that needs to be constantly drilled into writers and creatives in general. It’s so easy to stop doing what you love just because life gets in the way.
Absolutely, it’s not the easy choice, especially if you’re an indie, but it’s so worthwhile and there’s room for all of us on the bookshelf! How can we find out more about you and your books?
If you’re anything like me, you feel absolutely spoiled with incredible new fantasy books to add to your TBR now! It’s going to be a long, hot summer of reading friends.
Lyndsey Hall | Author 