Ashlyn Shore: Aspiring Author of Today: Author Interview with Melissa McPhail!

Thank you everyone for waiting for this blog's very first author interview! I have interviewed the brilliantly talented author of the "A Pattern of Shadow and Light" series, Melissa McPhail and cannot wait for you to read it! Please comment and buy Melissa's book, Cephrael's Hand at http://www.amazon.com/Cephraels-Hand-Pattern-Shadow-ebook/dp/B0046A9VLO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331577020&sr=8-2

Enjoy!

Author: Melissa McPhail

1. What inspired you to become an author?

At my christening, the three good fairies banged me over the head with their wands, and the first said, "You will be unnaturally tall for your age and marry a prince three inches shorter than you," and the second fairy, who was a little scatterbrained, said, "you will lead a charmed life to the envy of your friends but you will never be able to leave the house on time and when you come to a staircase you will be required to trip while climbing it," and the third fairy said, "Never mind those old bats, I'm giving you the gift of storytelling. Writing will be your greatest joy to the exclusion of nearly everything else, especially people, and you will write epic tales."

So this accounts for all of my vices and disgraces and apparently my great lack of enthusiasm in attending social functions.

2. How many books have you written?

I've published two volumes of my five volume epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow and Light, and I'm currently writing the third. I think volume and epic are both appropriately descriptive for this work, because my books are longer than most indie works (maybe a little longer than average for the genre). I see some indie authors churning out works and building their backlist and sigh somewhat despondently, because I'd love to be able to do that. But this story cannot be told properly in one-hundred-thousand word episodes.

3. What are your favorite books to read and what genres do you prefer?

I am obsessed with Fantasy and Science Fiction, especially fantasy. I believe whole-heartedly that everyone should read speculative fiction, because it's good for the soul in ways that contemporary fiction can't hope to compare. That may sound like blasphemy to some and hubris to others (I've written several blog posts on the topic and will always have more to say about it), but look at it this way: we're surrounded by reality. Inundated by it. And now, in your precious spare time, you're going to go read about it some more? Really? It improves your general outlook on life to read about that poor woman whose husband left her and whose sister died on a humanitarian mission to Africa and now she's battling with cancer?

While I admire great writing in any genre, I look at some of those novels and wonder what the author and the reader could possibly gain from reading them? We feed our souls the same way we feed our bodies, and a bit of care ought to be taken in deciding what kind of sustenance we're consuming.

Why not feed your imagination instead? Explore new lands, new worlds, new universes! New ideas - be them shocking, heartbreaking, redemptive or edifying. Speculative fiction is the only genre where there are no rules, no boundaries, and the only limitation is the extent of your own imagination.

4. How are you different from other authors? What makes your books special?

I'm a visual writer, so you're going to be pulled into the world and see it spiraling around you in vivid color. I'm also a philosopher at heart with a great history of study into comparative religion and the age-old question of ethics versus morality. So the dominant themes in my book concern honor, trust, faith and truth, but they also encompass ideas such as self-determinism, free will, choice and causation - all within a grand landscape of kingdoms, epic sword fights, magic and intrigue.

Where I think I shine most, however, is in providing a mouthpiece for my characters. They are all individuals, with personal hopes and convictions, as well as with faults and fears. My series is their story, a vast pattern of interconnected threads, and the woven tapestry of its telling is my life's work.

5. A quote you'd like to share?

I'm a huge fan of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist movement that gained its voice at the turn of the 20th century. I think just about everything Emerson ever said or wrote fits well in quotes, but one that speaks to me especially at this time in my life is: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Or in the profound words of my character, Fynn, "Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches." That's Fynn's idea of being true to himself. Would that we might all live up to our own mottos so completely

Bio:

Author Bio: Melissa McPhail is the author of the award-winning epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow & Light. In addition to her writing, Melissa is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. A long-time student of philosophy, she is passionate about the Fantasy genre because of its inherent philosophical explorations. She seeks with her novels to explore good and evil, nobility, honor, free will, courage and self-sacrifice in all their many facets.

A Southern girl at heart, Melissa now lives in the Pacific-Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters, and two very large cats.