Today we are going to be joined at A Trail of Books by the fabulous Carol Oates, author of Shades of Atlantis and the newly released Ember. She is an absolute sweetheart and I'm so glad to be hosting her here on the tour.
So without further adieu, let's get started!
So,
you've said before that you love Irish folklore and that's part of what
inspired your first novel. Is there a particular lore or legend that's your
favorite? One that's always stayed with you.
My favorite tends to change depending on my mood. There are a few tales
that I always seem to go back to. I find the strong woman in Celtic history
particularly inspiring. At a time when woman were treated no better than
property elsewhere, Celtic women were queens and warriors. My favorite lady
right now is Queen Medb (Maeve).
She was a great warrior with many lovers and eventually married a much
younger man, her bodyguard, after he defeated her previous husband in combat.
They argued over who had more wealth. It turned out they were pretty even
except for one bull Madb couldn’t match, The White Bull. This didn’t suit her
at all and she set her sights on the Brown Bull of Ulster, first she requested
it. When she was turned down, she invaded Ulster and this led to a battle with
the great Cúchulainn. His men were overtaken by a spell but he
fought Madb’s army one at a time. None could defeat him, but he was distracted
long enough for her to
steal The Brown Bull. On
returning to Connaght, the bulls fought, The Brown Bull killed The White Bull
so Madh made her point that no man would best her.
The bull returned to Ulster madden over the loss of the White Bull and
died.
Cúchulainn was a man of seventeen at the time. He was previously known
as Setanta. Setanta is another of my favorites in lore.
The main thing to remember about Irish lore is these stories were told
around fires and passed down from generation to generation, so there are often
variations depending on who tells them. Images of The Brown Bull can be seen
all over Ireland, especially Northern Ireland, and Madb was immortalized on the
old £1Punt.
Do you
spend a lot of time planning your characters out with character profiles and
such, or do you just start writing and see what comes?
I usually start out with a flaw or some behavioural quirk, something
unique and individual to that character but also something that will
immediately make them less than perfect. For instance, Draven hates wearing
shoes. I think perfection doesn’t exist in real life so how can it in
books? Generally the character I begin
with in my head is nothing at all like they end up in the finished book. They
take on a life of their own during the story and evolve just as a real person
would when faced with challenges and choices.
I know
this isn't an easy for me, but what is your favorite book? (either right now or
of all time)
I do have a favorite, The Princess Bride. I know people are probably
sick of hearing me talk about this book but I just love it so much. I read it
over and over. Most people know the book or the movie but not the back-story.
The book was published William Goldman as an abridged account of story by S.
Morgenstern and Goldman comments throughout. S. Morgenstern doesn’t really
exist, yet is presented as a real person. For years, legal difficultly with
Morgenstern’s ‘estate’ prevented the sequel, Buttercup’s Baby being published
by Goldman. For me it is the ultimate dream within a dream and that’s what we
writers are all about.
The mini website, where you can request a
scene deleted because of legal issues with Morgenstern. I won’t ruin the
surprise by saying what it is.
When you’re
writing and get stuck on a scene, what do you use for inspiration?
The inspiration always comes from the characters. It’s a little like
sitting in a room with friends and watching how they interact. I am aware of
how crazy that sounds. lol. But, these guys and girls do become like real
people to me. I have been known to talk about them to other people as if they
are. I’ve been known to talk to them
and even more worryingly, for them to talk back. Sometimes I will listen to
music to keep my motivation going and keep things flowing. I enjoy
instrumentals from the likes of Two Steps from Hell and ES Posthumus.
With
Ember, did any of the characters really stick out for you? What was one of
your favorite scenes to work on?
Now we are getting to the hard stuff. Without giving anything away, Ivy
will stay with me for a long time. I can honestly put my hand on my heart and
say Ivy was the most unplanned character I have ever written. I had no idea
things would turn out as they did for her and it influenced everything
afterward. I mean right up to writing the scenes, I had no idea. I think I was
probably as shocked as Candra, but it just came out that way. Sadly, there was
no hot angel there for me when it did. As a result one of my favorite and
hardest scenes was between Sebastian and Candra in the bedroom. He has no frame
of reference to help her and her desperation weighed on me for days after, but
I love how it turned out. I loved the growth for Sebastian. He stuck it out
even though it was difficult for him. I think the fun scenes to write are
probably the fight scenes. Draven and Sebastian are fun to write together.
Have you
ever read a book and wished that you could actually be a part of the story, as
one of the characters?
Back to The Princess Bride, learning to sword fight from Inigo Montoya.
How cool would that be?
Okay,
thank you so much for doing this. I have one more question for you. Is
there anything you can tell us about what you’re working on now? Any little
tidbits to tide us over?
I’m currently working on finishing two projects, the Shades of Atlantis
sequel and the Ember sequel. This week I’m in revisions on the Ember sequel
before it goes out for critique. In the past I’ve put out a couple of teasers
as I write, with the warning they are un-edited and may end up cut or
dramatically different. With that in mind, here is an exclusive from the Ember
sequel when Sebastian has a clandestine meeting with Ananchel in a dark Alley.
“Why not ask Lofial or
Gabriel?”
“You know why,” he
retorted sharply.
Ananchel hummed
thoughtfully, keeping her back to Sebastian. After a moment, her long legs
crossed at the ankle and she spun lightly as a ballerina toward him. Her hair
lifted and captured the few stray beams of silver moonlight, becoming like
flames caught in a draught.
“Silly, silly Sebastian.
You really are clueless and you honestly have no idea what’s going on here, do
you?”
Sebastian tilted his
head attempting to measure Ananchel’s body language. His fingers became rigid,
his joints cracking in the process.
“About?”
he asked uneasily.
Ananchel smirked. “You
better hold on to your petticoat, sweetheart. You are about to go down the
mother of all rabbit holes.”
Twitter: @caroloates
Thank you for joining us today, Carol!
Here's the tour schedule to check out the other participating blogs in this tour and for the prizes:
GIVEAWAYS:
Six
random blogs on the tour will be giving away an ebook copy of EMBER.
Make sure you comment with your email to be entered into the giveaway. RUNNER UP PRIZE: An EMBER canvas tote and print copy of EMBER. GRAND PRIZE: A
silver butterfly necklace, an EMBER canvas tote, and an ebook of EMBER.
To enter into the GRAND PRIZE and RUNNER UP PRIZE giveaways, you must
comment on ALL blog posts with your email during the tour.
