Conversations with Writers

Medieval Life & the Supernatural By Alexander James Publishers, with their obsessive desire to pigeon-hole novels, see a clear distinction between historical fiction and fantasy … but author Hunter Taylor thinks they’re missing a vital point. In her book , ancient history is where fact and fancy meet on equal terms. Hunter’s firm belief is that the supernatural must be accepted as an integral part of early medieval life to accurately recreate the times of which she writes and the mindset of those who populated the forests, villages and towns of a bygone era. Before the line between reality and myth had been drawn, war raged between the new religion and the old -- and she calls on her own rich heritage as well as painstaking historical research to bring to life times of bloodstained reality and magical legend in her remarkable debut novel, Insatiate Archer . Hunter’s family heritage is rich in ages old Celtic and Native American tradition and a store of folklore and inti...

Rai Aren lives in Calgary, in the province of Alberta, Canada. She made her debut as an author with the publication of Secret Sands (RFS Publications, 2007), a novel she co-wrote with Tavius E. The novel has been described as "fast, furious and absolutely mindblowing." In this interview, Rai Aren talks about her concerns as a writer. When did you start writing? I have always loved writing; I started by writing my own Nancy Drew stories (early fan fiction) when I was 10. Throughout school, I always had a very easy time with essays, any kind of written question. Then, about seven years ago, my co-author and I started talking about how we wanted to do more with our lives than just earn a living, we wanted to create something larger than life, to follow in the footsteps of the epic stories that we love. From conversations we had over the course of a year, and a program I saw on the Discovery Channel came the inspiration for Secret of the Sands . How would you d...

Award-winning novelist Mary Katherine Arensberg grew up in rural Ohio in the United States. She attended Utica High and the Ohio State University. Her debut novel, Willa (Xlibris, 2007) received first prize in the novel category of the Arizona Press Women’s 2008 Communicator’s Competition. The novel also received second prize in the 2008 National Federation of Press Women’s competition. Willa was followed by Woman of the Wind (Xlibris, 2007); Naomi of the Arizona Territory (Xlibris, 2008) and Miracle from the Mountain which is due out late October 2008. In this email interview, Mary Arensberg talks about why she decided to self publish. When did you start writing? I started writing with the idea of publishing in 1993. I knew I wanted to become an author in high school and was encouraged by several of my teachers, but as often happens, life gets in the way. I married and had four children and I happily traded my goals for them. The youngest graduated in 1995 and I could devote my ...

Tristi Pinkston writes historical and contemporary fiction. So far she has published three novels: Nothing to Regret (Granite Publishing, 2002); Strength to Endure (Granite Publishing, 2004) and Season of Sacrifice (Golden Wings Enterprises, 2008). In this email interview, Tristi Pinkston talks about her writing. When did decide you wanted to be a published writer? I don't know if I decided it or if it decided me. I started writing when I was five years old. If you want to know when I started writing anything good, that would be much later than five. I was 23 when I wrote my first novel. I've always wanted to be a published writer -- I can't remember a time in my whole life when this was not my goal. I sent out a whole ton of magazine articles while writing my first novel, thinking that would help get my name out there, but none of them ever were published. My novel, actually, was the first thing to get published, and then came two more after that. It too...

Historical novelist Brian Wainwright is a full-time author. So far he has published two novels, The Adventures of Alianore Audley (Bewrite Books, 2005; Jacobyte Books of Australia, 2002) and Within the Fetterlock (Trivium Publishing, 2004). In this, the last of three interviews, Wainwright speaks about how his books evolved; how he got published and about his plans for the future. How did The Adventures of Alianore Audley come about? I wrote quite a lot of comedy when I was young. It got me into trouble at school where there was a lot to parody and ironise. It took me a long time before I realised there was no reason I couldn't put comedy and historical fiction together. Believe it or not, Alianore was originally going to be a serious novel about Richard III. I did some calculations to see whether Constance of York could have had a (fictional) granddaughter active at the time of the Wars of the Roses. (I didn't want to use a real person for this one.) I found that...

Novelist Brian Wainwright has a deep-seated interest in the middle ages, especially the 14th and 15th centuries; the House of York and the era of Richard II. He has published two novels, The Adventures of Alianore Audley (Bewrite Books, 2005; Jacobyte Books of Australia, 2002) and Within the Fetterlock (Trivium Publishing, 2004). Currently he is working on several other book-related projects. In this, the second of three interviews, Wainwright speaks about the factors that pushed him towards becoming a writer. When did you decide you wanted to write? Very early in life; even as a young child I enjoyed making up stories and writing them down. However, it took me a long time before I thought of writing as something that could be done for an audience, as opposed to just for me. It was even longer before I plucked up the courage to submit something for publication. For many years the idea of doing so scared me stiff. Who influenced you most? A wide array of writers; if I wr...

Novelist Brian Wainwright made his debut as an author with the publication of The Adventures of Alianore Audley (Jacobyte Books of Australia, 2002), a humorous story about an intelligence agent in Yorkist England. Alianore Audley was followed by Within the Fetterlock (Trivium Publishing, 2004), which tells the story of Constance of York, an English princess who lived in the reigns of her cousins, Richard II and Henry IV. In the first of three interviews, Wainwright speaks about his writing. How would you describe your work? Historical fiction. Within that there are two strands, the serious HF and the comedy projects. My two published novels demonstrate these two sides to my writing. My main focus so far has been England and Wales in the 14th and 15th centuries. I think this will always be my main area of interest, if only because I know the period so well and so don’t have to run around doing masses of new research every time I write a paragraph. However, one of my curr...