Oh myyyy, it´s been quite some time since my last blog entry!
I thought I had written another one since end of September ... seems I didn´t, lol ^__^''''
My dear friend Isis Sousa took the time to think of questions and make this interview with me. Thank you so much, dear! I really enjoyed answering your questions, even though it sometimes was quite difficult due to the interview being in English, but I think I managed okay ^__^
The original interview can be found on her blog, here´s the Link the the interview. There´s lots of interesting stuff on her blog and many other interviews, so have a look!
She is a writer herself and also a very talented artist! Isis made the covers for this trilogy. Visit her artist page www.isissousadesigner.com and enjoy her awesome works!
And now, enjoy reading this interview and feel free to leave a comment ^__^
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Interview with Stephanie Rose, author of 'Die Tränen Der Einhörner' (The Tears of the Unicorn)
Stephanie Rose is author of the German Fantasy series “Die Tränen Der Einhörner" - "The tears of the unicorn" in English. Not only she writes beautiful stories, but she is also a very enjoyable person to talk to!
1 – Stephanie, can you tell us a resume of the trilogy “The Tears of the Unicorns” – Die Tränen der Einhörner?
I can give you the translated blurbs – a resume would be too long, I think and would also contain lots of spoilers.
The resume I wrote for myself was about 10 pages long! And when I gave it to my father to read I had lots of explaining to do because the story is quite complex.
Part I – Temptation
The angel Caylen is entrusted with guiding Eliya back on the path of light, but when his assignment is terminated she takes her life in despair.
He can´t bear losing his charge and desperately searches for a way to bring her back to life. That´s when he stumbles upon the Holy Grail, which seems to show its amazing powers in combination with unicorn blood.
Miriel, the sister of Caylen, is sent, due to her gift of seeing the future, to bring back the Grail, which has been stolen by him.
Sirion, a magician, is helping her with her task.
An adventurous and dangerous journey begins, because there is much more at stake as first it seems …
Part II – Prophecy
After Miriel brings back the Grail to Elysion and the world seems to be saved, her brother Caylen looses himself in his wrath about the injustice of the world and starts to strive for the annihilation of all life. The Chaos, which is protected by the Teala of Darkness, is supposed to help him to fulfill his wish in creating a new and better world.
Now it is up to Miriel and Sirion to prevent him from implementing his plan and to save their world.
Part III – The circle of life
Many days after the death of the Teala of Darkness, Miriel and Sirion find out their world is still doomed.
They begin to search of the Lord of the Heavens, who holds the knowledge of the universe. Miriels visions reveal her that the Teala of Darkness has been reborn and is in need of their protection, because Lian, Caylens demonic friend, seeks its life.
Will they be able to prevent Lian from implementing his plan to kill the reborn Teala of Darkness and end the world? Will they finally bring peace to Aeriya?
2 – When did you first start writing the story? Did the whole trilogy plot come to your mind at the same time, or did you have only the ideas for the first book?
I began writing that story four years ago, I think.
It wasn´t planned like that at all, but when I think back I have to say I am much happier with that version now. It is much better and deeper than the original idea.
All started with that RPG I did with my best friend. It was a love story between the elements of fire and water. But soon after, we both lacked the time to go on, so I put the idea about the elements in my head and thought it over. The story now has nothing to do with the RPG, it only gave the impulse. That´s how it all started.
I am also pretty fond of myths and legends and magical beings, such as angels and unicorns, that also fired my imagination.
3 – Can you tell us about your writing/creative process?
I mostly let the story develop on its way, so it is more than possible the outcome will be totally different than originally planned, which is – for me – a good thing, because the story becomes better. Why? The characters grow as the story goes on. They change and I find out more about them and how they became the way they are now.
4 – Why did you want to write? When did it start?
I have always been into fantasy, but I never really thought about writing a book, even though my imagination is quite lively.
It all started when I had my final exams at school. There was this white haired girl wandering around inside my head. She somewhat showed me the world she lived in, introduced me to other characters and the story, that I was about to start. For weeks I didn´t write a single word. The story grew in my head, but I knew there was no time to be lost in my thoughts because of the exams. But the story didn´t let go of me. It developed even further without me feeding it ideas and it hindered me to think clearly about the upcoming exams, so I decided – as a last resort – to write the story down, which helped a lot. I haven´t had to think about it anymore and after the exams were done I devoted myself to it (I am not that kind of person to let something go I already started – I NEED to finish it and I really liked the story, but I still didn´t think about publishing it at that time).
And THAT story turned out quite different than originally planned (oh, it is not the “The Tears of the Unicorns”, I´ll write more about it later in this interview).
5 – Which other books you have published and what are they about?
The first book I published with a vanity publishing house, but that contract was terminated a year ago, because my new publisher (the one publishing “The tears of the Unicorns” – a “normal” publishing house, one that doesn´t charge the author for publishing a book) wanted that book as well.
So right now I am not really writing anything new. I am upgrading the old version, because I have learned so much about writing since then and I want it to become better. The only “new” part to that story is the sequel I am writing right now.
This story is a love story and more interesting to young females than men.
6 – Are you writing a new title or have plans for future titles?
Right now I am upgrading that old story and writing a sequel for it.
Do you want to know about the story line?
It is about a girl with pure white hair. She doesn´t remember who or what she is. Yvannie and Cal, two siblings, find her in the forest and have pity for her. They take her to their home and give her the name Elea.
Cal later thinks of a way to help her remember her past and takes her to the unicorns.
They do seem to know her, but won´t tell her who she is. But they do tell Cal he is the reincarnation of one of the seven Guardians who have lived three thousand years ago.
Three thousand years ago the Guardians protected a powerful being which was supposed to save the world from darkness. Giving its live, it banned the darkness, but now it is gaining power again. That´s why the guardians have been reborn, to save the world again.
The unicorns tell them they need to find the other Guardians, who seem to gain back their memory when seeing Elea. They are also being told that only together with the seven Guardians they´ll be able to reawaken the being who saved the world three thousand years ago, but they too need to find it first.
I do have multiple ideas for new stories after that, but if and when they will be brought to life I do not know yet.
7 – What are the challenges of a new author in the market? How has your experience been?
Oh, I think that is to get known. It is quite difficult to get acknowledged. There are so many books out there, so many authors in all kinds of genre.
These days quality isn´t the main reason for a publishing house to publish a book, they mostly look for authors and books that already have a name on the market and sell well. For a no-name like me and many others that really is a problem. Even if your book is promising, there´s only a tiny, tiny chance for you to get a publisher.
I think that´s why self-publishing is getting bigger and bigger. And since eBooks are becoming more popular everyday a self-published author doesn´t even have to pay for being published anymore. But that too makes it even more difficult to get known, because even more books are being published and the people don´t know where to start.
There are a lot of awesome books out there, even from self-published authors. Keep your eyes open!
8 – How are you connecting with your audience? How do they find your stories?
The target audience for this story are teenagers and adults of both genders.
The books can be found on Amazon and almost every book store can order it for you. For a no-name author such as myself it is quite difficult to make a book store buy your books ahead, which is pretty sad and makes it even harder to get known.
I uploaded excerpts to all three books on my website, but since the books are only available in German at the moment (I so would love to see them translated!) only a German version is online. Amazon holds some excerpts available too, but again only in German.
We also printed excerpts of the first book and distribute them in book stores, events and so on.
To advertise the books even better, my publisher bought a bus advertisement! I find that rather cool and I can´t wait to see the bus for myself!
9 – Tell us about Miriel, the main character in “The Tears of the Unicorns”. How did you build her personality?
As you already stated, Miriel is the main character of this story.
She is an angel and holds a rare talent: she can foresee the future. That is the main reason for her to be ordered to get the Holy Grail back.
Her main duty is the protection of her charge Sirion. As her brother, she too is a guardian angel and as such one of the lower ranking angels. She has never seen God or set foot to the Holy Temple, but she is a true believer.
Even though she seems pretty fragile, she is quite strong, both in mind and body. Since she found out about the atrocity of her brother, she has been devastated because she never would have thought he´ll be capable of something so evil. Even though she always kept her duty in mind and went on to fulfill her duty. As long as she has hope, she doesn´t give up and fights for peace.
When I thought about what she´s like, I had this pure, honest and caring being in mind. My image of an real angel. She is true, loyal and wouldn´t hesitate to give her life to save other beings.
That was the basic idea of her personality. Everything else developed with the story.
10 – What is the most difficult thing about writing fiction?
Difficult … I wouldn´t call it that, for me it would be much harder to write non-fiction. There´s so much to research and consider … But I think in writing fiction not making a character too powerful is kinda difficult, because there is no limit due to its genre. Everything can happen and everything is possible, but too much makes a story unbelievable and boring.
