Ask the Author: Laura Engelhardt
Answered Questions (4)
Laura Engelhardt
Hi Mark, what a fun question! It all started with Mira and the ethics of lying. There are a few fantasy series where the main character gets whisked into another world, having to leave their families behind and start over. Yes, they get amazing magical powers in this new world, but they've had to leave their children behind. These characters have never felt real or true to me. As a reader, I've found the parts where they whine about their lost families a little boring or have felt they seemed to get over the trauma a bit too quickly. I wanted to see if I could draw up a more realistic character who wasn't annoying :)
Here, Mira is able to keep her family post-transformation but is forced to lie to them. I love that kind of tension. Can you have a real relationship when you are disguising so much of yourself? Is it ethical?
I actually wrote maybe 10,000 words about a family gathering to explore this theme. In an early edit round, I wound up cutting it because it didn't move the story forward. Still, Mira was my inspiration & while I don't think she's a favorite character for most of my readers, I have a soft spot for her!
Stay well,
Laura
Here, Mira is able to keep her family post-transformation but is forced to lie to them. I love that kind of tension. Can you have a real relationship when you are disguising so much of yourself? Is it ethical?
I actually wrote maybe 10,000 words about a family gathering to explore this theme. In an early edit round, I wound up cutting it because it didn't move the story forward. Still, Mira was my inspiration & while I don't think she's a favorite character for most of my readers, I have a soft spot for her!
Stay well,
Laura
Laura Engelhardt
This summer, I read some great books! Here were some of my new discoveries:
Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
The Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and
The Fae Chronicles by Amelia Hutchins
Some of my favorite authors published books I liked this summer too, including:
Lois McMaster Bujold's The Orphans of Raspay and
Charlaine Harris' An Easy Death
I finally went back to reread a few of the prior books to refresh my memory of Korval before tackling Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, which I liked almost as much as The Gathering Edge. I also picked back up Jeannine Frost's Night Prince series.
On the non-fiction side, I learned so much from The Corinthian Body by Dale Martin (highly recommend if First Century Christian theology is your thing ;) and am still working my way through First by Evan Thomas (Sandra Day O'Connor was my grade school inspiration).
Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
The Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and
The Fae Chronicles by Amelia Hutchins
Some of my favorite authors published books I liked this summer too, including:
Lois McMaster Bujold's The Orphans of Raspay and
Charlaine Harris' An Easy Death
I finally went back to reread a few of the prior books to refresh my memory of Korval before tackling Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, which I liked almost as much as The Gathering Edge. I also picked back up Jeannine Frost's Night Prince series.
On the non-fiction side, I learned so much from The Corinthian Body by Dale Martin (highly recommend if First Century Christian theology is your thing ;) and am still working my way through First by Evan Thomas (Sandra Day O'Connor was my grade school inspiration).
Laura Engelhardt
Right now, I'm finishing up a book celebrating the Songs of the Suffragists for my chapter of the League of Women Voters. 2020 marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
But now that it's almost done ... I did dust off my outline for Book Two of the Fifth Mage War & finished my first draft of Chapter One yesterday. Onto Chapter Two!
But now that it's almost done ... I did dust off my outline for Book Two of the Fifth Mage War & finished my first draft of Chapter One yesterday. Onto Chapter Two!
Laura Engelhardt
I was inspired by my love of the ocean and mythology (for example, Chia was a goddess in pre-Hispanic Colombian mythology, and Nga and Num are from Siberian legends. Of course, you're probably familiar with Titania from Shakespeare and Aphrodite from Greek mythology, but you may not have heard of Agnus mac Og or noiamoors before). I also wanted to have my characters visit every continent on Earth (except maybe Antarctica) and used lots of real places to set the story, like the Taiga, the Brazilian coast, the Yorkshire moors, the Congolese rainforests, and even 2Amys Pizzaria in Washington D.C.
I wrote this book because I couldn't find anything like it to read. I wanted to read an urban fantasy featuring political intrigue, but without graphic GOT violence. I wanted to read about characters at the mid-point in their careers as opposed to characters who were just starting out. Since I couldn't find anything like that, I wrote this story.
I wrote this book because I couldn't find anything like it to read. I wanted to read an urban fantasy featuring political intrigue, but without graphic GOT violence. I wanted to read about characters at the mid-point in their careers as opposed to characters who were just starting out. Since I couldn't find anything like that, I wrote this story.
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