Thursday, June 20, 2013

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Author Emma Faragher


Emma Faragher, Author
THE HOUSE
The Trix SinClara Series

British author Emma Faragher created Trix SinClara, a spaceshifter who needs to protect those around her. THE HOUSE is the first book in this urban fantasy series, where, Growing magic and rogue vampires turn Trix's life upside down.”

Currently studying at Sheffield University, Faragher balances her writing with her studies and hobbies. She has been writing for pleasure for many years. THE HOUSE is her first published work.

Don’t miss the excerpt at the end of the interview.






Q: How would you describe THE HOUSE to your readers? Supernatural? Fantasy? Romance? Suspense? Why should they read it?

Emma Faragher: It’s an urban fantasy set in the future. It’s a new take on the supernatural community with characters I feel readers will really be able to relate to.

Q:  Tell us about Trix SinClara.  Who is she? Is she based on a real person?  How did you create her?

Emma Faragher: She’s not based on a real person. In real life a person is made from the genetics of two people and a whole lot of environmental influences. So I put her together as a basic person in my mind, allowing her to pretty much form herself. Then I added in her life story to the genetics. The death of her parents, a controlling grandfather, rebellious teen years, the teasing at school from the witches for not being enough like them etc. Other traits just sort of formed as I went along, like the great need she has to protect those around her. That’s actually one of her main driving forces throughout the series, a need to keep others safe. It felt more like I was getting to know her than making her up.

Q:  You tell your story from the first person perspective of your protagonist. What are the advantages of using the first person?

Emma Faragher: I feel that using the first person allows the reader to really get inside the head of the protagonist. They are intimately involved in the story as they follow Trix’s closest thoughts and secrets. They see the world through her eyes rather than as an outsider.

Q:  Do you write for entertainment and/or are you delivering a message?  Educating?

Emma Faragher: I write because I have to. I have a story inside my head and I need to get it out or it will drive me crazy. I don’t deliberately put a message into my books. It’s more that the issues just come up occasionally. Trix is different, the witches don’t like her because of her abilities and the humans don’t like her because she’s supernatural. She always has to hide parts of who and what she is to function in the world. I think that’s how a lot of 22-year-olds feel. It’s not a message but it’s something I know a lot of people will relate to. The out-of-control feeling you have as you’re just starting to find yourself as an adult and realizing that life isn’t quite as long as you thought.

Of course I think that if you look hard enough there is a message in almost all published works. I dissected enough of them at school in English not to want to do it as an adult. Reading is an escape for me and I want my readers to be absorbed into the world I have created rather than always dissecting the word choice to infer a message. Of course if anyone wants to do that for Trix’s story I wish them all the best. I’m sure they’ll find something.

Q:  In a world of shifters and vampires, how important is credibility? What do you do to help readers buy into your supernatural world?

Emma Faragher: Credibility is very important to me in a fantasy book. I have a background in science so I like to be able to explain as much as I can. The magic has to have rules and restrictions. As well as side effects. Trix is a telepath, she could do incredible or terrible things with that power, but it might just drive her insane along the way. But there has to be limits.

In the world I created, magic is more of a different type of energy, like heat or electricity. The witches have done plenty of scientific experiments over the years. The vampires for instance, aren’t dead and they aren’t immortal. They simply survive off of magical instead of chemical energy. When the magic runs out, they die. Then since the sun interacts with the magic the vampires have, they are more powerful at night. Because I had to keep some of the folklore intact.

Of course the rest of the world has to make sense too. Water and food has to come from somewhere. Government and leadership have to be established. A social order. The how and why of everyday events need to make sense or the rest will just flow into chaos.

Q:  Do villains and heroes play a part in your story?  What are characteristics of heroes and villains in the supernatural?

Emma Faragher: There aren’t so much villains and heroes in my books. I feel that a villain knows that what they are doing is bad. They do it to hurt people. The “bad guys” in my world are doing what they think is best for the people around them. There are a lot of long games played by some of the characters that will come out as the series progresses. And some politics that requires compromises Trix never thought she’d have to make. There are of course a few very selfish characters who are purely out for personal gain, so they might be counted as villains. Trix isn’t really a hero as she doesn’t see herself that way. She’s just someone who is trying to survive a changing world and to keep those around her safe. She’s not out to save the world, just keep her little corner of it from sinking.

Q: What inspired you to write about a supernatural world?

Emma Faragher: Mostly, it’s what I read. I get very absorbed into my reading and writing. I’ve read non-fantasy books and some of them didn’t affect me very well. I was angry for days after reading Martin Cole’s The Take, because the characters were angry and violent. That doesn’t happen so much with fantasy and supernatural books, as they are further removed from the real world. I’m not crazy though, I promise. So I read and write fantasy, I like the freedom of it too, the escapism of entering a completely different world and being able to make up the rules. A fascination with ancient mythology probably helped my along that path a little bit too.

Q: How do you help readers care about your characters?

Emma Faragher: My characters all have back stories, like real people. They have heartbreak and great achievements. I try to really bring my characters to life so that readers feel that they could almost interact with them. Many of my characters would make really fantastic friends to have and I’ve tried to put that across. The loyalty and the fact that they keep trying is what many people are drawn to in a person and in a character. Not for everyone of course, but it’s impossible to do anything that pleases everyone.

Q:  What’s next?

Emma Faragher: I’m writing book 2 “The Solstice” and I’ve a few short stories up my sleeve. There’s an anthology of indie published authors I’m writing something for at the moment. Which will hopefully be out (for free) some time in August or September.

I’ve also started editing my first novel, the prologue is up on my blog if anyone is interested and I’m debating a way to get it up chapter by chapter. It’ll be published eventually but for now I’m focusing on Trix and her story, because there is still a lot more to say.

Q:  Tell us about Emma Faragher. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Emma Faragher: I like to do lots of things. I love my university course, so I actually enjoy studying. Especially since I live with such a great group of people, just being around the house is fantastic.

I’m a fair weather outdoors person, in other words, I love to go walking in the woods or on the beach in the sunshine. (Of course with the British weather I always take a coat anyway). I’ve always been one of those people with too much curiosity and not enough “stop that might be dangerous”. I’m fond of high places; trees, cliffs, climbing frames. Which I’ve recently learn scared my mother half to death when I was younger!

I also do some crafty things. A bit of sewing, since I prefer my clothes to fit properly, some scrapbooking and card making. I took up knitting last Christmas and made some great prezzies for my family. And I’m also fond of baking, funnily enough, my housemates are also fond of my baking. With all that it’s a miracle I even have time for writing! But I don’t do everything all at once.

About Emma Faragher

Born in the UK, Emma grew up with a love of books. She always looked forwards to her school's weekly trips to the library from the age of 5. Then progressed to exploring bookshops, before finding Amazon and getting a Kindle.

She started writing night time stories for family friends when they were on holiday together and never stopped, moving on to writing books aimed at adults as she became one herself. Her first full novel was started at age 16 and finished age 18. It has yet to see the light of day but ignited further a passion for writing that could not be denied.

Currently studying at Sheffield University she is the author of the "Trix SinClara" series. An urban fantasy set in the future and following a shapeshifter as she is thrust into responsibility she never imagined she'd have. The first book in the series, THE HOUSE is currently published and available, with others coming soon.

Emma balances writing with studying and her other hobbies. Always busy she sometimes finds time to sit and read a book as well. Escaping into other worlds.

About THE HOUSE


Shifters are going missing.

Growing magic and rogue vampire turn Trix's life up side down. Then shifters start to disappear without a trace. Leaving Trix in charge of the House, where wayward shifters go for comfort and control. But to help, Trix needs to get control of herself and her magic. Her shifting has always been natural to her. But her magic is growing and telepathy is not something easy to deal with. It might just drive her mad, and take everyone else with her.

The witches won't help and rules are changing. There is more at stake than any of them realize. The House may just become the centre of the biggest disaster the supernatural community has ever seen. Can Trix pull everyone together before it's too late?

Excerpt

Excerpt (Chapter 2)

“What do you want?” my voice didn’t crack and I managed to slow my heart down to an acceptable level, yet fear crawled through my insides making them feel like lead. I was fairly sure what they wanted, unfortunately for us we probably wouldn’t want to give it to them. Vampyre most often wanted two things, both of which they could and would take from us. Companionship, and when you’re over five hundred companionship means more than just a friendly chat, and blood. They craved blood, needed blood mostly, unless they were very closely tied to their “master”. They were going to struggle with the latter since I was fairly sure that shifter blood would do more damage than good, not that we’d be in much shape to appreciate it by that stage.
“You my sweet, I, we, want you.” The vampyre in front of me spoke, his voice was clear and menacing but I’d heard worse. I could probably do worse, just not right at that moment in time. I was having enough trouble keeping my voice even at all.
“Sorry but we’re not currently available, have to get home, meet our curfew.” I said absently, I sounded like I was discussing the weather, because that’s the only way I could not sound terrified. “So if you’ll kindly step out of the way we’ll be going now.” I finished and I felt Stripes’ hand in mine, hot and moist with her pulse strong and fast. It didn’t help me relax and I felt my own pulse speed in time with hers. It felt like my heart was trying to beat it’s way out of my chest.
“Oh but there’s nobody else here for you to go with. Two young women out alone at night, you should know better.” It seemed the one in front of me was the leader; he was the oldest and so far the only one to have spoken at all.
“We aren’t defenceless.” I said, much more confidently than I felt. It was true; we weren’t defenceless. It just happened our defences would likely do little to deter them unless we could shred them, or at least a few of them, into pieces. Which was highly unlikely considering that vampires are almost as fast as we are.
“I don’t see anyone here to protect you and there is nowhere in your very, charming, outfit for you to hide a weapon.” He sneered and I faltered. They had no idea what we were, which made no sense. I debated telling them, but then again that would take away our chance of surprising them. Yet, I might hold enough clout to get them to think twice, at least long enough to get away. I dithered to and fro for a matter of moments before choosing, I just had to pray it was the right choice.

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