-What got you into
the world of pure imagination that is writing?
A childhood of avoidance.
Writing is an ultimate form of dodging things. Seriously, I was pretty
introverted as a child and grew up in a family where books and writing played a
big part. My dad taught me to love sci-fi and fantasy through the books he
bought and passed on to me to read. My mom would come into my elementary school
classrooms with stories she’d written for whatever recent holiday. The stories
would feature all the kids in the class. I loved it. These things probably
didn’t help my introverted tendencies much. Getting old and ornery did a much
better job of addressing those introverted tendencies.
-Tell us a bit about
Scath Oran.
This poetry collection takes
readers on a journey through the Otherworld. Some of the denizens there you may
recognize, such as the banshee and the fae themselves. There are others,
though, who are not quite as well known, such as cait sith and the merrow. Even
Death himself puts in an appearance before you find the doors back into our
world, safe on this side of the Veil. The question is, what will you find when
you take this journey?
-What inspired you to
write Scath Oran? One too many viewings of Labyrinth? Kidnapped by the Fae as a
child? Fae Curse?
No picking on Labyrinth! I
love that movie. I don’t think I was ever kidnapped by the fae as a child,
though if I grew up a Changling Child, would I know it? I do sometimes think
there are some fairies I pissed off somewhere that have cursed my life—you know
that whole “May you live in interesting times” thing. Wait, that’s a Chinese
curse. It still applies, though.
Shoot. I did it again,
didn’t I? Squirrel moment. Anyway, Scath Oran came about as a cross between
poetry lessons and a challenge I couldn’t back down from. An amazing classical
poet friend was giving lessons in things like meter and form—stuff I struggle
with since I am a thoroughbred pantser—in one of my writing groups. About the
same time someone else threw out a challenge of seeing through an entire
project. Throw in the love for all things Celtic I hold, and I ended up with
what would become Scath Oran. Which, at least from what I could find online, is
a cross of Irish and Scots Gaelic for shadow song.
-When you sit down to
write, what’s your process for getting yourself into the groove?
*Hangs head and cries while
muttering “why do I always get asked this???* Wait, you heard that? As you can
tell, my process is rather minimal as an organized process. Between running a
teenage co-occurring treatment program and a six-year-old at home, processes
tend to be impossible to keep for long in my life. I write in between meetings,
during swim lessons, while staying up way later than I should. You get the
picture. One trick I use, though, is music. I have a variety of playlists for
different stories and such I am working on. So, while I’m in the car to and
from the various places I need to be, I have that on. Let me tell you, it’s
pretty cute to hear my son singing most of the words to songs from the likes of
Shinedown, Linkin Park, and Breaking Benjamin. I also tend to compose quite a
bit in my head and pray to the writing powers I don’t forget what I’ve got
worked out.
-Do you know where
your towel is?
Always! As with all good
hitchhikers, I never leave home without it. Never know when it may come in
handy. Just ask Ford and Arthur.
-What is your
favorite Fae creature?
Oooo. Tough call. I love the
origin stories of the banshee, but cait sith and cu sith are cool. Though, the
selkies tend to draw me back. There is something about the way the
shapeshifting takes place with the selkies that fascinates me. I’m not sure
I’ve run across a shapeshifter who, as a natural part of the process, dons or
shed skin to transform. Plus, rather than being this terrible or cursed
existence, the selkies tend to be one of tragedy. However, there is one variation
I used in Scath Oran. This myth talks about the selkie wife who returns to the
sea when her husband’s ship is wrecked in a storm. She gives up her happy life
on land to save his life. I know this is still somewhat a tragedy, but there’s
a brighter ending in that the selkie saves her husband’s life. I think some of
the unusualness of the selkie myths—the tragedy rather than horror and
trickery, the gentleness rather than blood and war—are what hold the selkies
apart for me. Plus, they’re not a very common creature to read about in fantasy
right now.
-When the mischievous
Fae descend on you and steal your motivation, what do you do to get your mojo
back?
Go have some fun. Fairies
will sometimes steal things when you’re in a foul mood. When you let go of
that, they’ll give it back. See, they like having fun and music and such—at
least the nicer fairies. If it’s the darker fairies who stole my mojo, then it’s
a whole different story. They won’t give it back, so I have to conjure more
mojo to replace what they stole. Movies and music are good starters for me. I
have a whole board of prompts on Pinterest to play with in the hopes of
conjuring mojo. I’m also a fidgety person, so going for a walk, riding my bike,
cleaning, or most anything where I can move will help as well. Worst case
scenario when these things aren’t working? I take a break, conceding the Fae may
know more than me at that point.
-Describe your
perfect writer's hideout. Cabin in the forest made of enchanted books?
Candlelit room in a tall tower? Faery glade?
All of the above. But
they’ll be on the edge of an ocean in a place where the weather cooperates with
me most of the time. I don’t like the cold that much, but snow is a must in the
winter. It also has to have room for the family, but enough stuff to keep them
occupied so that when I’m writing they’re happy and leaving me alone. I’d need
a scribe, too, so I can hang with my family but still dictate stuff—ooo, better
yet, a mind reader who only can tell what my story is and can get it written
down for me.
-Which magical realm
would you pick to retire in?
Hmmm. Tough call. My first
thought is to pick Middle Earth because it’s Middle Earth. Nothing else needed
to say there. However, there are so many other cool realms to explore. Bishop’s
three realms from the Black Jewels series is amazing. Then there’s Narnia with
the animals and fairy creatures and all. But I also like some of the more
sci-fi worlds like L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Stargate-Atlantis, and Star
Wars. Can I just build a realm hopping machine so I can visit them all?
-Where can we find
you on the interwebs?
I can be found at: www.thisisnothitchhikersguide.com
On Facebook at: www.facebook.com/thisinothitchhikersguide
On Twitter at: www.twitter.com/dontpanic2011
On Google+ at: https://plus.google.com/+StacyOverby
On Instagram at: www.instagram.com/mamawisper78
and on Pinterest at: www.pinterest.com/dontpanic2011
-Lastly, what do you
think the question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything
is?
Everyone
knows the answer is 42, but it’s the question that’s so tricky, isn’t it? I
think the Ultimate Question is “How many stuffed animals will it take for my
son to settle down and go to sleep?”. Yes, he insists he must bury himself with
stuffed animals before going to sleep. Life, the Universe, and Everything
depends on that, trust me. (And yes, I know it is really “What is six by nine?”).Thanks, Stacy! Hope you all enjoyed this latest Blogside Chat! Now, off you go to preorder Stacy's book. And if you read it and you like it, one of the best things you can do is to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads and places like that. Really, we authors love that! Until next time, Carry on smartly, my friends.
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