Hello my Book Friends, it’s Friday you’re nearly at the weekend. I have a treat for you, it’s been a while since I did an interview with an author, so on the blog with me today is Natalie C. Parker author of UK’s debut novel Seafire, publishing with Usborne. I was sent a copy a couple of weeks ago and I can’t wait to read it. It’s been tagged as Wonder Woman meets Mad Max: Fury Road. I love a good all female crew too. So it’s going to be kickass I think. Before the interview, here is a little more about Seafire…
Seafire (Seafire, #1) by Natalie C. Parker
Published by Usborne Publishing Ltd on August 8, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
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Goodreads
High seas, high stakes… and high time for revenge
Caledonia Styx let down her guard once - and her family were murdered by ruthless warlord Aric Athair and his blood-thirsty Bullets. Now captain of a crew of girls who have lost everything to the Bullets, she has sworn never to show mercy again.
But when a rogue Bullet saves the life of Caledonia's best friend, she faces an impossible choice. If she lets the boy live, could he help them bring down Athair - or will he destroy them all?
Interview with Natalie
Hi Natalie, Welcome to my blog.
Hi Emma, thank you for having me!
First of all, tell us a little bit about Seafire?
Seafire is a fast-paced adventure featuring a group of girls who decide to fight back against the tyrant who enslaves children and turns them into vicious soldiers called Bullets.
Where did your inspiration come from for Seafire?
I think one of the best things about inspiration is that it’s everywhere. I find inspiration in the world, but I also find it in my own curiosity, my desire, my anger, my fear. The seedling that eventually turned into Seafire came from all of those things, but primarily it came from my determination to center girls in their own adventures.
As a young reader, I adored epic adventure novels, but the stories I grew up with all shared a common bias: they all viewed adventures as gendered space, as space for boys. And I wanted to be a part of the authors who are changing that for young readers today.
What was your writing process like, was it any different that your previous duology?
In some ways, the processes were incredibly similar. Like Seafire, both Beware the Wild and Behold the Bones feature groups of girls at their core who drive the stories. But with Seafire I had to create a map of the action and make sure every time there was an action sequence on the page, it was doing something new for the reader on an emotional level. In a lot of ways, the action is the atmosphere of the Seafire world, and I wanted that to sweep the reader up without them even noticing.
I’m intrigued does Caledonia’s spirit and kick-ass persona come from real life?
I am both a Sagittarius and a Gryfindor and I feel like that’s the answer.
Where do your best ideas come from for your books?
Curiosity! Anger! Desire! Fear! I think that one of the best things about storytellers is that we reflect and reimagine the world around us. My story ideas usually start with something I find intriguing or unsettling or troubling or astonishingly beautiful and they grow from there.
This is your first book published in the UK, what has been your best moment of this journey?
This book is dedicated to my little sister. She lives in England now and the best thing about being published in the UK is that she can walk into a bookstore and find Seafire on the shelf. Dedication and all.
What were your favourite books growing up?
It’s always hard to pick, but my first true loves were The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper, The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, and every single R.L. Stein or Christopher Pike book I could get my hands on.
Top 3 tips for budding writers of fantasy (like me).
- Read widely! Read books inside your genre and out, read books with unusual narrative styles, books with ambitious story structure, books by authors with backgrounds different from your own. Reading is one of the best ways to learn and one of the best ways to find inspiration.
- Define your target! Fantasy is huge. One of the great things about it is that there are so many ways to write fantasy, but that can also be a pitfall. As you get going, think about where you would want your book to fit on the shelf and then aim for it on purpose.
- Have fun! By which I mean, don’t get too bogged down in all the “rules” of writing. Part of becoming an author is figuring who you are and it’s hard to do that if you have the voice of the internet in your head telling you not to use adverbs or something incredibly silly like that.
This or That
Bookmark or Dog-eared: BOOKMARK
Book or e-Reader: Book
Handwritten or Computer: Computer
Marvel or DC: I cannot quick fire this! How dare! (I love them both for different reasons!)
Angel or Spike (if you love BTVS): “I’m a bad, rude man.”
About Natalie
Natalie C. Parker is the author of the Beware the Wild duology, the Seafire trilogy, and the editor of Three Sides of a Heart. She earned her BA in English literature from the University of Southern Mississippi and her MA in gender studies from the University of Cincinnati. She grew up in a Navy family finding home in coastal cities from Virginia to Japan. Now, she lives surprisingly far from any ocean on the Kansas prairie where she runs Madcap Retreats with her wife.
Great interview! It’s really got me intrigued for her book.
I have it to read and I can’t wait!
Yayayayay! Seafire looks so good and I love a good author interview!