This month, we Quills conducted short interviews with authors of other fantasy works. Thus, I would like to introduce you to one of my new and dear Australian author friends, L. J. Clarkson. L.J. is the author of The Silver Strand (Mastermind Academy, #1) and Heaven and House – Rise of the Alpha. She writes for middle graders and trust me when I say that she has a unique ability to think and speak like one! She offers some interesting and off-beat characters, and providers readers with some good laughs!
Q: Thank you for joining me, L.J. To start out with, what age group do you write for and what attracts you to write for that group?
A: Having a wild imagination, and quirky sense of humour, it suits the middle grade fantasy genre that I write for. I think I’m a ten-year old trapped in an adult’s body.
Q: What is the most difficult thing you find about the writing process and how do you deal with that issue?
A: Doubt cripples my writing at times. I worry that my writing isn’t good enough, the situations aren’t funny enough. my characters are flat, and that no one wants to buy my books. Sometimes it’s enough to make me want to quit. I deal with it by reminding myself that ultimately, I write as a creative outlet, that I write for me, and that is all that maters. Having kids love my books is the icing on the cake!
Q: What is the favorite character you’ve created to date, and why?
A: Definitely Gaybreeeal from my new book Heaven and Hound. I’d never written from the perspective of an enemy before, so she was a ball to write. She’s flawed, mean and deliciously nasty. Through her, I got to do truly evil things—like feeding hellhounds poisoned chicken wings—that I would never do in real life.
Find out more about L.J. on her website at http://mastermindacademy.net, where you can also read the first two chapters of The Silver Strand. (For my review of The Silver Strand, see http://www.oathtaker.com/patricias-reviews-of-other-works/chaos-worry-and-fun.) Check out L.J.’s Goodreads author page on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212767.L_J_Clarkson. (Don’t forget to follow her there!)
Finding fun and interesting reads for middle graders can be difficult. My note to all the parents of middle-graders out there is: Look no further than L.J. Clarkson.
A: Having a wild imagination, and quirky sense of humour, it suits the middle grade fantasy genre that I write for. I think I’m a ten-year old trapped in an adult’s body.
Q: What is the most difficult thing you find about the writing process and how do you deal with that issue?
A: Doubt cripples my writing at times. I worry that my writing isn’t good enough, the situations aren’t funny enough. my characters are flat, and that no one wants to buy my books. Sometimes it’s enough to make me want to quit. I deal with it by reminding myself that ultimately, I write as a creative outlet, that I write for me, and that is all that maters. Having kids love my books is the icing on the cake!
Q: What is the favorite character you’ve created to date, and why?
A: Definitely Gaybreeeal from my new book Heaven and Hound. I’d never written from the perspective of an enemy before, so she was a ball to write. She’s flawed, mean and deliciously nasty. Through her, I got to do truly evil things—like feeding hellhounds poisoned chicken wings—that I would never do in real life.
Find out more about L.J. on her website at http://mastermindacademy.net, where you can also read the first two chapters of The Silver Strand. (For my review of The Silver Strand, see http://www.oathtaker.com/patricias-reviews-of-other-works/chaos-worry-and-fun.) Check out L.J.’s Goodreads author page on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212767.L_J_Clarkson. (Don’t forget to follow her there!)
Finding fun and interesting reads for middle graders can be difficult. My note to all the parents of middle-graders out there is: Look no further than L.J. Clarkson.
Next up, is Kristie Kiessling. Kristin is the author of Sanguis Dei.
I hear tell that sometime in the late 1980's, Deanna Smith, author of the children's book: The Dragon's Rocketship received an old Mac Plus computer from her step-Dad and Mom. Trees all over the world heaved a sigh of relief. Because Deanna writes. About everything. Anywhere. All the time.
Read more here.
I hear tell that sometime in the late 1980's, Deanna Smith, author of the children's book: The Dragon's Rocketship received an old Mac Plus computer from her step-Dad and Mom. Trees all over the world heaved a sigh of relief. Because Deanna writes. About everything. Anywhere. All the time.
Read more here.
Finally, "Quill" Robin Lythgoe, author of As the Crow Flies, offers the following:
A.E. Marling leaped into the indie writer scene about three years ago with his impressive debut, Brood of Bones. (Not that I’ve talked about that before, but who’s counting?) Behind the book’s gorgeous cover is a story about an enchantress with a sleeping problem and a city full of pregnant women. All of them, from virgin to grandmother. What’s a curious, respectable, responsible woman to do?
Read more here.
Thank you for joining us. Please do so again!
A.E. Marling leaped into the indie writer scene about three years ago with his impressive debut, Brood of Bones. (Not that I’ve talked about that before, but who’s counting?) Behind the book’s gorgeous cover is a story about an enchantress with a sleeping problem and a city full of pregnant women. All of them, from virgin to grandmother. What’s a curious, respectable, responsible woman to do?
Read more here.
Thank you for joining us. Please do so again!
