Interview with the author of "The Spirit of Imhotep" Maria Isabel Pita

Take a look at our interview with author Maria Isabel Pita, author of "The Spirit of Imhotep"

• What is your favourite genre to write? Why?
  • Romance. It's my favourite because it's about love, which covers everything, not just the relationship between a man and a woman. Our relationship with the gift of Creation is a romance between our soul and God, full of mystery and wonder, and a drawing ever nearer to the ultimate desire of being with Him forever. Creation itself is a Gift overflowing with little presents at every moment. Love is the only reality, and therefore the only thing worth writing about, in any form – the romance of being beloved and created souls.
• Do you model characters after real people?
  • Yes, and no. Some characters are inspired by my love for certain people, but as I write, they become uniquely themselves, developing a mysterious life of their own. And sometimes a main character is inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and these characters are, I feel, the most intriguing, and writing about them feels like having a real relationship with someone.
• What does your writing process look like? Did it take you a while to develop?
  • When I begin a novel, I begin writing before breakfast, and write all morning, and sometimes into the afternoon, depending on if I'm in the middle of a scene. But usually the afternoon is reserved for a quick first edit of what I wrote in the morning. And I keep this up until I'm finished with the book.
• What does your editing process look like? Do you allow others to read your writing?
  • After quick edits while writing the book, the real gruelling work of editing begins. I do the first two edits on my computer, then I transfer the file to my Kindle and read and edit it on there at least two times, usually three. Then I create the print book, and while reading that version, do the final edit. Editing for me is like removing all the dirt around the diamond and cutting and shaping it until it shines as brightly and beautifully as humanly possible.
• Do you take criticism hard or do you have a thick skin? Have you ever received criticisms that you felt were unjustified or too harsh? Are you your worst critic?
• When you're in love with someone, do you like it when people criticize them and point out all their flaws? I love my books because I wrote them in love and for Love. With that said, I know that no book is perfect, and then there is the matter of individual tastes. You cannot please everyone. I seek to please God first and foremost, and I know those with similar soul-tastes to mind will also enjoy the journey. Constructive criticism is welcome, for we all must continue to grow as people and therefore as writers. However, there is a form of criticism that is not positive which stems from an opinion about something that has nothing to do with the actual book. For example, criticizing my book simply because you don't believe God speaks to us through dreams anymore. And yes, I am definitely my worst critic. That's why I spend so much time polishing my work.    

To purchase your copy of "The Spirit of Imhotep" click here.

To learn more about the author, Maria Isabel Pita, click here.

Interview with the author of "Borkin the Archer" Frej Wasastjerna

Our exclusive interview with author Frej Wasastjerna, author of 'Borkin the Archer"

• When did you complete your first piece of writing? What was it? How was that process?
  It was sometime between 1956 and 1963. I was in my teens at that time. The story was written in Swedish and its title was En rutinartad spaningsflygning, which translates into English as A Routine Reconnaissance Flight. This title was ironic, since the pilot of the flight in question wound up dead.
  The story was set in what I call IU1, for Imaginary Universe #1. I had started developing this universe when I was 7, and eventually it became so cluttered with impossibilities and absurdities that I dropped it (not entirely, I still may think about design details in it, but I don't write about it.)
  IU1 was followed by IU2, which I started developing sometime around 1960. It's the setting of my Iagyh War stories, the first of which, Till Death Do Us Part, I wrote in the late 1970s. A much improved version of this story, along with several other stories, is available at https://kotisivukone.fi/app/www/frejwasastjerna.kotisivukone.com/7
  Soon IU3 came along, and that's where I've put all my novels. IU3 isn't really a single universe, it's several universes, each with it's own laws of nature, so magic can work or not as I please. There is a cosmology tying them together (based on an idea I had about 1965), but I haven't really described this.
  
• What is your favourite genre to write? Why?
  Fantasy.
  Actually my first love was science fiction. I encountered it at the age of 7. It's also an important part of my output (see for instance the Iagyh War series mentioned above). But there are two problems with science fiction:
  1) I know too much about science, so I want to explain everything.
  2) Fantasy generally ages better than science fiction. SF often tries to keep some connection with reality, and as our knowledge about reality improves, SF is susceptible to becoming outdated. Fantasy, with no pretensions to realism, is immune to that problem.
  So what I write is mostly either fantasy or SF, but sometimes it may be hard to classify. For instance my recent novel Borkin the Archer doesn't look much like SF, since there's no technology in it more advanced than fore-and-aft rigged sailing ships and primitive gunpowder weapons. On the other hand, there's no magic at all. So I call it SF on the strength of the IU3 cosmology in the background providing the reason why there are people on the planet in question.
  I also sometimes write other stuff. For instance, one story of which I recently wrote a first draft, is almost pure historical fiction.
  
• Do you model characters after real people?
  Most often not. I may use myself as a starting point, at least so that I have the characters acting in ways that make sense to me, but I make whatever changes the story requires. For instance, while the unnamed protagonist in my story Leonids is otherwise rather like me, he's much less acrophobic. I lack the courage of the eponymous protagonist in my novel Tochwyatis. And I'm not a man-eating female troll like in Lead Me On...
  Occasionally I do model characters after real people. The most extreme example occurs in one of my Iagyh War stories, where there is one character whom I modeled as closely as I could on a real person I know. But the motives I attributed to her are nonetheless speculation.
  
• What does your editing process look like? Do you allow others to read your writing?
  I do most of my editing myself. Sometimes I do allow others to read my writing, for instance at the critique group Critters. But I do that less often than I should. See the next question.
  
• Do you take criticism hard or do you have a thick skin?
  I really ought to have a thicker skin. But I do sometimes submit my stories to critiques, and I have found that useful though unpleasant.
  
• Have you ever received criticisms that you felt were unjustified or too harsh?
  Sometimes, not all that often.
  So far I've seen 4 public critiques of my work: 3 of Tochwyatis, 1 of Mixed Nuggets. All 3 critiques of Tochwyatis make sense, both the two favorable ones and the rather unfavorable one. But the critique of Mixed Nuggets does not make sense in my view.
  
• Are you your worst critic?
  Not where writing is concerned, though I do admit that there are flaws in at least some of the stuff I've written. I just couldn't avoid them.

If you want to buy 'Borkin the Archer' you can here. And to learn more about the author see their website here.