Ask the Author: Katrina Archer
Answered Questions (3)
Katrina Archer
I can't point to a single favourite book. Before my teens, Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time, I remember well. I loved animal stories like Albert Payson Terhune's Lad, A Dog series, The Black Stallion books, and James Herriot's vet stories. I ate through all of the Anne of Green Gables books.
I read voraciously and when the Scholastic book orders would arrive at the school, sometimes there would be a box just for me :-)
As a teen, I read through almost all of Anne McCaffrey's stories (starting with Dragonsong and working towards the more adult books), as well as Roger Zelazny's (especially the Chronicles of Amber). Mary Stewart's Merlin saga (Crystal Cave, etc.) was big for me too. Dune blew me away when I first read it. The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay taught me that fantasy characters can be Canadian.
All these books have influenced my writing in some way, but I wouldn't be able to say exactly how.
I read voraciously and when the Scholastic book orders would arrive at the school, sometimes there would be a box just for me :-)
As a teen, I read through almost all of Anne McCaffrey's stories (starting with Dragonsong and working towards the more adult books), as well as Roger Zelazny's (especially the Chronicles of Amber). Mary Stewart's Merlin saga (Crystal Cave, etc.) was big for me too. Dune blew me away when I first read it. The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay taught me that fantasy characters can be Canadian.
All these books have influenced my writing in some way, but I wouldn't be able to say exactly how.
Katrina Archer
The idea for the plot came about from a career suggestion my boss at the time made to me, which was that I should consider specializing more in my technical field. I'm a bit of a dabbler myself, and instinctively rebelled at this idea. If I had to stick to one topic, I'd likely wither.
Then I wondered: what would happen if you took the idea of specialization within a society to the extreme, where dabblers were looked down upon and devalued, and what would life be like for someone without a specialty?
I named the specialties in Veyle "Talents", and from there, the title "Untalented" became a natural fit.
I'll admit that some people told me I'd be unwise to associate my name with a book of that title. ;-)
Then I wondered: what would happen if you took the idea of specialization within a society to the extreme, where dabblers were looked down upon and devalued, and what would life be like for someone without a specialty?
I named the specialties in Veyle "Talents", and from there, the title "Untalented" became a natural fit.
I'll admit that some people told me I'd be unwise to associate my name with a book of that title. ;-)
Katrina Archer
Hi Angel,
Great! I will private message you later this evening to get your details, if that's OK...
Great! I will private message you later this evening to get your details, if that's OK...
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