Rachel Starr Thomson!
Welcome Rachel! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Thanks, Sarah! Where to start? I'm a homeschool graduate in my late 20s who lives in Canada, writes and edits for a living, indie publishes, and travels around with a Christian performing arts group I co-direct, called Soli Deo Gloria Ballet. It's an out-of-the-box life, and I love it!
What is the best part about being homeschooled?
Two things: time and the ability to invest time and effort in things that interested me. So many people are forced to waste incredible amounts of their time doing and learning things that truly are not relevant to their lives. On the nonacademic side, the time and ability to invest in relationships with family and with God's people were invaluable and still benefit me today!
What inspired your first book?
My very first book (well, the first one I ever finished)--which is actually available as an e-book through Little Dozen Press--is called Theodore Pharris Saves the Universe, and I honestly could not tell you what inspired it. I just sat down and started writing, with a humourous voice that isn't typical for me, and it was so much fun I finished it.
What made you keep writing?
Well, either it was dreams of grandeur or it was just all the stories that were always kicking around in my head. I started writing seriously in my midteens (the era of Theodore and another book I'll soon be releasing as an e-book, a much more serious fantasy novel called Reap the Whirlwind), but then I actually put it down for several years. I picked it back up in my early twenties, at which point I knew I loved to write and that I had gifts I needed to do something with in faithfulness to my Creator.
Tell us what The Seventh World Trilogy is about?
My most ambitious writing project to date has been The Seventh World Trilogy, which I started in 2001 and finished in 2011. It's a fantasy set in a world that's medieval/Victorian in its feel, and it tells the story of a group of supernaturally Gifted young people who start poking around in history and find out that everything they know in their world is a lie--and that some pretty powerful forces are out to reinforce it. At the same time, the truth is also alive, and it's going to reveal itself. The cast ends up caught in a war between Light and Darkness and playing a role they never expected.
Where can people buy The Seventh World Trilogy?
The trilogy is made up of Worlds Unseen, Burning Light, and Coming Day, and all three books can be bought in paperback from any online retailer or in e-book from Kindle. They'll be available from most other e-book retailers as of March.
Do you have any advice for beginner writers?
Learn the rules and learn your craft, but don't forget to trust your own voice, experiment, and enjoy what you're doing. Read a lot. Learn what works not because you read it in a rule book, but because you've seen it working in stories that deeply moved you.
Wow, your books look interesting. It sounds like you have a pretty exciting life too. :)
ReplyDeleteThose books sound great! I love the covers. :-)
ReplyDeleteAlso, the titles are good too! How do you do it? ;-) (I have trouble with titles.)