Featured Interview With Paddy
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Kent, the garden of England, and lived in an Oast House whose round rooms were once used for drying hops. That must be why I have enjoyed a drink ever since!
At university, I fell in love with medieval French writing, discovered The Gormenghast Trilogy, and became hooked on fantasy.
I have sailed down the Yangste, survived an earthquake in Cairo, and picnicked in the Serengeti. My travels for work and pleasure have inspired my fantasy world.
I now live in France with a naughty Australian Labradoodle, a jealous cat and a squash mad husband. Our two huskies, Ice and Sapphire, are sadly now gone but are transformed into wolves and immortalized in my book. Lumina is my debut novel and the first in a trilogy.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
From the moment I could read I wanted to devour every piece of writing that I saw. It didn’t matter the subject, which caused a panic at home when I got hold of a book my uncle had left lying around with some intriguing words that took me a few years to decipher! I began telling my sister stories of princes and princesses when she couldn’t sleep at night, and started writing some myself when I was about 10 years old.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love two different genres: fantasy which I write myself and crime/thrillers which I consume at a great rate. Mervyn Peake was my first fantasy author, although before then I had loved studying medieval French literature because of the originality of the images, the surreal fantasies, and thrilling adventures. So I guess fantasy was a predictable development My preference is epic fantasy, including all the classics like Tolkien, David Gemmell and Terry Brookes. Dune was also a great favorite. On a more modern note I also love the Throne of Glass series by Sarah Maas.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
It took me several years to write my first book. Partly it was a journey of discovery as I learnt how to write it better and partly it was a lack of confidence about publishing it to the world. The setting was influenced by my life deep in the marshlands of France, and the wolves were inspired by our two Siberian huskies, Velvet Ice and Valentine Sapphire. As a child of the sixties who went from being unable to get male jobs or male pay to making it to the top of my field, I wanted some feisty females in the story. One of these is Salazai, Abandoned as a baby in a dangerous stallion’s stall, she must keep secret her ability to communicate with animals. If she doesn’t the king will kill her. Meanwhile, Chrystala is a child designed by sorcery. As a pair, they will one day be invincible. The third protagonist is Davron, and he must join with them to unite against the forces of evil. Here is the summary:
A generation designed by sorcery to destroy your people. Two races mired in conflict with each other. Can a pair of outcasts unite them against an enemy who would enslave them all?
The birth of ‘bronzite’ babies in Lumina heralds the onset of war. The people take fright at the golden children and banish them from the land. A dangerous move. King Zheldar, commander of the black dragon, is attacking Luman borders. If he wins bronzite support for his army of monsters, Lumina is lost.
Davron Berates cannot share his people’s hatred of the children and, on discovering he has a bronzite brother, sets out to find him. At his side travels Chrystala. A bronzite, she has twice his strength and three times his determination.
When the black dragon kidnaps Chrystala, Davron is faced with a terrible choice: save his friend or save his nation.
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