ENNARA AND THE FALLEN DRUID by Angela Myron
A middle grade fantasy
AN INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA
First of all, thank you for hosting me today, Mary. I love your blog and am honored to be here. You have great ideas and views about writing!
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Thank you muchly, Angela! I’m glad to have you here.
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-What book and/or experience made you want to be a writer?
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It was almost twenty years ago that my good friend Cat introduced me to the Artist’s Way. Doing my daily morning pages put me in touch with a deeper, wiser self. And there it was, I was addicted to writing! I’ve been doing it ever since.
-What genre(s) do you write?
I write children’s fantasy under the name Angela Myron and science fiction and paranormal mysteries under the pseudonym Chase Theroux.
-ENNARA AND THE FALLEN DRUID:
Eleven year-old Ennara Gaern has a serious grudge against the dragon on her right hand.
Born with a caul—a mask that foretold magical powers—she was immediately inked with the fiendish, fire-breathing tattoo that forces her to study boring texts, cover her hand continuously, and worst of all, keeps her from visiting the beautiful capital city, Dordonne. But her quiet life changes when one night she is attacked by a shadowy demon.
Tork, an old friend and wizard, is enlisted to help. But when he arrives, he informs Ennara’s parents that she is her world’s only hope of finding the legendary Sword of Gisilfrid, which is needed to destroy the curse that is creating the demons. Ennara doesn’t want to leave on the dangerous quest, but when she learns the curse threatens her world, she reluctantly agrees.
Ennara and the wizard begin a perilous journey to the Sunken City, pitting them against dangerous oceans and pirates intent on claiming Ennara’s magic as their own. With only her friends at her side, including the intelligent, aquatic cat Smoos, Ennara must defeat monsters guarding the sword and servants of the Fallen Druid. When her world is covered in darkness, will she know how to dispel the curse?
-Spoilers?
No spoilers! (A Doctor reference for my fellow Whovians out there ;) ) Here’s a glimpse:
“Is it true she is….” Gevin blushed. “I mean, you are… magic?”
Ennara fumbled the wand as she turned it in her fingers. She scooped it off the floor. Her stomach knotted and her cheeks burned. “Oh, um, I guess.”
She nervously twirled the wand again, this time accidentally tapping the case of trinkets. A lavender light shimmered across the panes, and behind them the objects began to twitch.
“Eeep!” Ennara jumped as the severed hand crawled toward her and tapped on the glass. A long finger uncurled and poked the case open. The appendage leapt from the shelf to the chest, then the floor, and scurried to the door.
Smoos crouched on the lower bunk, wiggled her haunches, and pounced on the hand. She shook it back and forth in the air. It grabbed the cat’s snout and flicked her hard on the nose. She dropped the hand and snorted, rubbing her muzzle with her paw. The hand scampered away and hid behind the girl’s legs.
“You seem to have a penchant for necromancy, young lady.” Tork flicked his curvy black wand at the case. “Merta perape.”
The hand and other charms returned to their lifeless state.
-For aspiring writers, any tips?
1. Write. Every day, thirty minutes. Make that your minimum. Do you need to write more than that to get a book out? Probably, but anything less than that will get you out of practice quick. Just like triathletes and concert pianists, writers must practice what they do every day. It’s like jogging to keep in shape, but with a keyboard.
2. Always follow your heart. Write for your happiness, not for the market.
3. Buy a writing exercise book and write outside of your comfort zone. Stretch yourself to your limits. You’ll find gold.
4. Find a critique group with experienced writers that don’t hold their punches. Learn to take criticism gratefully first, and learn how to discern which critiques to apply to your manuscript second.
-What’s your favorite book/genre to read?
Fantasy and science fiction. I also have a secret love for paranormal romance ;)
-What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever written?
That’s not an easy question to answer! I love so many different things I’ve written for different reasons. Some inspire me, some make me giggle and snort, others excite me. But, the most fun I’ve had writing a scene recently was the market scene with Ennara, Kithe and the zombie chickens in Ennara and the Fallen Druid.
ABOUT ANGELA
Angela Myron is the author of the middle grade fantasy series Ennara and a stack of technical manuals on everything from nonlinear editing to data encryption. She lives in Whittier, California, with her husband and their twins.
Like many writers, I have a full life in which I juggle many duties and joys. I love to cook, garden, and play with my twins. As a mother to toddlers, I write whenever I am not helping them navigate their day--which typically means in the early mornings and early afternoons when they sleep, and sometimes when Grandma comes to visit.
I was twenty-two when writing became a passion of mine. I've been doing it in one form or another ever since. But it took me a very long time to follow my heart's desire to tell stories.
For years, I simply journaled. I delved into writing articles for newsletters and grant proposals. I settled into technical writing, often finding myself a one-person writing, editing, design, app development, and publication team. I learned the basics of journalism, and finally, when on maternity leave with my twins, I turned to writing fiction.
I am grateful for every reader I have. Writing can be a solitary pursuit, but it can also be a dialog, a meeting of the minds. I invite you to connect with me:
-Website
-Goodreads
-Facebook
-Twitter
Join my street team! Email me at myronangela@gmail.com to subscribe to my newsletters.
Buy ENNARA AND THE FALLEN DRUID
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Hey readers,
Please join me in thanking Angela for an awesome interview!
Like what you see above? Follow the rest of the tour here.
And enter the Rafflecopter giveaways for chances at some amazing prizes.
Angela will be awarding to a randomly drawn commenter during each week on the tour, a wall calendar print from http://www.cafepress.com/ennaraswag (Items can be exchanged for other equal or lesser value items from Ennara Swag on Cafepress.), and will award a t-shirt from http://www.cafepress.com/ennaraswag to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY).
Love the sound of this! I read everything from middle grade to erotic romance, to mainstream fiction and mystery. Nothing is off limits :-)
ReplyDeletemnark111 AT gmail DOT com
Thanks for stopping by, M Nark. It sounds like we have similar tastes in books! Do you have any favorites?
DeleteCheck out my giveaway contest at Goodreads to win a copy of Ennara and the Fallen Druid! http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/58765-ennara-and-the-fallen-druid
I AM a Whovian!
ReplyDeleteYou write under the names Angela and Chase. Are your technical writings under another name? Do your writing identities start to bleed into each other at any point? I think that would be tough.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Hi Catherine!
DeleteTech writing: all of those documents, because they are written under contract with corporations, are not published as authored by me. It's much the same as any other technical career--the engineers creating the software cannot claim ownership either. We sign that ownership over when hired.
Do my writing identities bleed into each other? Probably. They are only separate in terms of their audience. (Shrug) The only intended benefit for the different pseudonyms is to allow someone to pick up *any* books by Angela Myron and know that they are going to be fantasies for middle-grade/young adult readers. Same sort of thing with Chase.
Always lovely to meet a fellow Dr Who fan. Are you excited about the next doctor? I am!
Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks for the great questions!
Angela
Thanks for hosting Ennara and the Fallen Druid today, Mary!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Angela! :)
Delete