"Fingal glanced frantically at the land that stretched away behind him, at the beautiful green rolling hills of his beloved country, Scotland."
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[Italics are me (the interviewer), and bold is CelticWarriorQueen17 (the interviewee)]
I N T E R V I E W T O O K P L A C E : A P R I L 2 0 1 8
Before I start, how are you today? How was your vacation? xx
Thank you! I'm doing well; vacation was great. 😄
That's great! Now, this interview will consist of ten questions, five of those being unique to this interview. What inspired you to write your story? xx
I was inspired partly by Rosemary Sutcliff's books, (which for those that don't know, she was a British novelist who wrote books set in Britain from the Roman occupation to late Medieval ages) and also Douglas Bond's "Crown and Covenant" series, which is about the Scottish Covenanters.
So you would say that you aspire to these authors? xx
Oh yes, most definitely!
Haha, so what are you up to at the moment? What do we have to look forward to from you? xx
Currently, I'm working on going through the third edit of my novel, "Dilseach - A Forgotten Crown", and then updating various LOTR fanfictions. Since I'm doing Camp NaNo this month (April/May), I hope to release an Adventure story titled, "The Mark of the Sea Lord", by May. (But) I'm mainly focusing on editing Dilseach.
Can you tell us a bit about "The Mark of the Sea Lord"? xx
It's actually based entirely on a dream I had once, but then the details elaborated to make an interesting story. Its starts out (not including the prologue lol) as this girl travelling to another country as part of a marriage arrangement. When she arrives, she finds everything is not as it seems. There's this sea lord, Lugh, who brands young children between the ages of thirteen and eighteen with this mark, especially children born with certain powers. These children have a certain period of time to learn the "aerth nalion", which is three words or the "true name" of themselves, Lugh, and the one they love most in life, and they must say those words before their time runs out or else they will forever be cursed to become a sea-ghost and slave to Lugh. The story is about the main character, Gwendolyn, who escaped, as it were, from Lugh and who must help another do so.
That sounds really intriguing; I'll have to keep an eye out for it when it's released xx
Where were you and what were you doing when you realised you won your category? xx
Let me think; I was busy in the middle of English homework when I checked my email and discovered I had won.
Haha, what does winning this award mean to you? xx
A lot. It's really really difficult to get noticed on Wattpad, especially in the area of Historical Fiction because most youth these days seem to prefer reading Fantasy and Sci-Fi. So winning a contest, especially a big one like TPPA is a rare thing. 😄
It's also encouraging to know that my book is actually worth something and that other people enjoy it as well.
Awww, well I'm hoping through these award books that yours will get noticed too xx ❤️
What would you like readers to get out of your book? xx
Good question. I believe that no matter what book it is, readers should be able to take something away from reading it, learn something, or just have something that unites them with something in the story. I can't say exactly that it will be the same for everybody, but I would like them to be able to connect with one or more of my characters and be able to experience the journey of the story with them. In the first book of the trilogy, I suppose the main theme is, "things don't always work out as you think/hope they will, but never give up hoping."
So true! That's a really important message to remember xx
What do you think helped you gain your accomplishment of becoming first in your category and reaching #216 in Historical Fiction? xx
Hmmm, I can only suppose that as far as winning goes, I owe my writing skills first to my Saviour who gave them to me and both my mom and English teacher, Mrs Feia, who helped hone those skills and also to all those authors I read that influenced my writing style. As for reaching #216 in Historical Fiction, that's only because of my few but amazing readers who've been really supportive and encouraging throughout all the writing and editing.
Did you want to give a special shoutout to anyone? xx
Yes, I would like to give shoutouts for at least four people who have been very encouraging and/or inspiring in helping me write and edit my story: JenniferMcKeithen, autumn_sunfire, italy_chick, and rebekaharpist.
Awww, I'm sure they will be very grateful for the shoutouts xx
How long have you been writing this story? xx
I've been writing and editing it for almost two years now.
Wow, that's quite some time! xx
You have quite a lot of published work on Wattpad - which one would you recommend reading first? xx
Personally, I would say "Dilseachd - A Forgotten Crown" because I'm working on getting my best quality on it, but it's really up to the preference of the reader.
Very true xx
In your own opinion, what makes Historical Fiction so interesting to write/read? xx
Hmm, good question. I know that most kids these days want to read Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and there's nothing wrong with that because there are a lot of good books in those genres. But I feel that they miss out on a lot. I love Historical Fiction because first, I have always enjoyed history. Secondly, I love to read books about the past that make history interesting and not just boring and dry dates and facts. Thirdly, I love to see characters in the past have the same struggles and feelings that I do. I feel I can identify with characters in the past more than fantastical characters because historical characters are actually real people. Fourthly, I believe it is important to look to the past, learn from mistakes, and look forward to the future.
That's so true! I think people can underestimate how good Historical Fiction can be xx
Do you think you'll enter TPPA again? xx
Mostly likely. It was a good competition and those are hard to find on Wattpad.
Sweet! Thanks so much for the interview! xx
Absolutely, no problem! 😄
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INTERVIEW WAS PUBLISHED: JUNE 2018
- review yet to be released -