Risingshadow has had an opportunity to interview N.L. McFarlane.
N. L. McFarlane is living with her children in Cornwall. Saving an Earth Angel is the author's first book and, with help from her own little angels' imagination, will continue to write an imaginative series on the comings and goings of several magical characters and their journeys.
by N. L. McFarlane
From a caveman with no language or knowledge of the wider world, to a man left with a duty to protect the light of the universe, follow one character's adventure through time, space and parallel worlds as he fulfils an infinite array of ancient tests that will span through the ages.
Meet new and intriguing characters as he travels with his dire wolf, learning hard lessons and dangerous truths... discovering along the way an unknowingly powerful baby who could be the tipping point in the war between light and dark.
AN INTERVIEW WITH N.L. MCFARLANE
Could you tell us something about yourself in your own words?
I live in Cornwall with my gorgeous little children who inspire me every day to create memories and moments which will last forever. As a parent, the magic of stories is absolutely everywhere and everything they do is inspiration or a potential character. I love reading and writing and especially how books can take you away and show you other peoples worlds and how their minds work, its fascinating. I can usually be found curled up with a book and a cup of tea if I’m not writing.
Have any novels or stories been an important source of inspiration for you?
I grew up reading a lot of Darren Shan’s books and things like the series of unfortunate events and the Eragon series… and of course, not forgetting J.K Rowling’s books. Lately I have discovered Sarah J Maas and Greig Beck. All of their stories have been so well written that it feels as though I am watching the stories play out in my head as oppose to just reading them. These authors make me want to create the same kind of experience for others, as its what made/keeps me falling in love with reading.
How did you become an author? Have you always been interested in writing stories?
I have always had a huge interest in writing and creating stories. As soon as I had learned to write, I was folding up A4 pieces of paper to create books that are now quite illegible and fantastically strange to look at, but the thought and the effort was there all those years ago. My favourite place was the library and I kept ahead with my reading, poured my energy and focus into English, I chose extra English at the top end of secondary school before I then went on to study English literature/language at college and loved every minute of it. I can remember dissecting Bram Stokers story of Dracula in college to see the bits that were portrayed between the lines and thinking how incredible it was to see books from this new, different way, from an emotional, technical point of view and how I would love to create a story with even just a fraction of the amount of power, emotion and hidden language that was present to give to others what I found was so amazing. This then made me want to go further and write books, if I could only make one person feel the love for books that I did/do then I’d be so humbled and grateful.
You’re the author of Saving an Earth Angel. What inspired you to write this novel?
I started getting a lot of ideas just popping into my head for a story out of thin air so I got myself a little notepad and began to fill it up with lots of little details which when put together created something more in my head. One Christmas, my parents brought me a computer so that I could write seriously and once I began to write, I couldn’t stop and my first book came from that point. I love the fantasy genre as its so magical and as a spiritual person, it was so much fun tapping into things that are out there and creating a whole book from a seed of imagination and motivation. With plenty of help from my Angels, inspiration from history and characters which I loved to create, the story was born and will grow over time to blossom into a series that I hope will keep on growing.
Is there anything that you could tell us about this novel and its story without spoilers?
This novel is all about the journey, not just the goal at the end. As the story grows, so do the characters (and myself). From the ice age, to the desert, to hell and back... everything is constantly changing, growing and evolving. My story follows a young man and his want to survive in a world becoming more desperate and harsher. Along the way with an unlikely friend, he finds someone who could change everything... if he could only keep her safe and hidden. Evil things want her so that she can’t change anything, unless they could twist her, manipulate her to benefit them. Darkness wants to claim the world by force and she is the one person with enough light to help them stand a chance in the war.
Could you tell us something about the characters in your novel?
The characters in my novel vary from human to fantasy to hideous. There are historical characters and completely made up ones. For instance; in the ice age we see a mixture of typical human characters like the main character (Valo) with our ancestors the Neanderthal but also we see an ice queen who is anything but human. From there, we see the Egyptian characters in the desert who are more feline than human which I incorporated as they used to worship cats. Sahirah, another main character at that point Is hiding a huge secret from Valo, but she is so beautifully human in her feline state, a delicate flower in a world of thorns and hate. There are also some Egyptian gods along the way with very interesting personalities. Each setting has its own set of characters to fit in with the time period and its individual beliefs, I had a lot of fun making them and they do in my own opinion get better from place to place.
Do you explore any themes in your novel?
The main theme in my novel is the war between light an dark, although there is a hidden theme within the book but I am not going to give that one away as I want the readers to each find it for themselves or the journey will be spoiled as its about the reader discovering about themselves as much as the characters. I would love for the reader to find it at their own time and place as oppose to be looking out for it. Everyone interprets things differently so I would love for everyone to find the theme at the right time for them in the book.
How would you advertise your novel to potential readers?
For potential readers. I would say that if you love fantasy; history, myths, legends, journeys, quests, unique characters and more then please try out my book. The second in the series is on the way soon and the journey continues to a new time and a newer, bigger set of gods and myths. I would say that if they wanted to discover a bit of light in a darkening world or a new side to themselves then to give my book a try, between the lines, a journey awaits.
Is there anything you would like to add?
I would love to add how extremely grateful I am to each and every reader and to anyone who has given their time to my book. I hope that everyone can feel the same love of reading that I do and I would love if someone found my book inspirational. Thank you all and enjoy the journey!