The Monster Of Selkirk
The Duality of Nature
Book 1
C.E. Clayton
Genre: YA Fantasy
Print Length: 329 pages
Publisher: DevilDog Press
Publication Date: April 18, 2017
ASIN: B06XSXB14F
Book Description:
Monsters come in many forms, and not everyone knows a monster when they see one. After three hundred years of monstrous, feral elves plaguing the island nation of Selkirk, everyone believes they know what a monster is. Humans have learned to live with their savage neighbors, enacting a Clearing every four years to push the elves back from their borders. The system has worked for centuries, until after one such purge, a babe was found in the forest.
As Tallis grows, she discovers she isn't like everyone else. There is something a little different that makes people leery in her presence, and she only ever makes a handful of friends.
But when the elves gather their forces and emerge from the forests literally hissing Tallis's name like a battle mantra, making friends is the least of her troubles. Tallis and her companions find themselves on an unwilling journey to not only clear her name, but to stop the elves from ravaging her homeland.
About the Author:
C. E. Clayton was born and raised in Southern California where she worked in the advertising industry for several years on accounts that ranged from fast food, to cars, and video games (her personal favorite). This was before she packed up her life, husband, two displeased cats, and one very confused dog and moved to New Orleans. Now, she is a full time writer (mainly in the fantasy genre), her cats are no longer as displeased, and her dog no longer confused.
More about C.E. Clayton, including her blog, book reviews, and poetry, can be found on her website: http://www.ceclayton.com
Interview
1. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
Besides
the library? Not many. I’d love to travel to Scotland (where Selkirk is loosely
based), but that’s not easy to do right now. But I do try and travel as much as
I can, going to unique places to help feed my inspiration on everything from
geography to clothing and character development.
2. What is the first book that made you cry?
I’m
pretty sure that would be Harry Potter when Sirius died. I remember being so
upset by that, I literally threw my book across the room, then spent the next
three hours on the phone with my best friend trying to convince ourselves that
he wasn’t dead.
3. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
It
depends on the section I’m writing. If I know my characters are leading up to
something, but have to get there first so they are prepping or getting ready,
that exhausts me because it’s not the “fun” part. Then the sections I am
excited about because it’s when all the action happens, or the big reveal
happens, that energizes me and I can write for hours without knowing the time
is passing! But never fear, I make sure the parts that exhaust me don’t read
slowly as part of my editing and revising process.
4. What is your writing Kryptonite?
Social
media for sure. It’s so easy for me to jump on the internet and check my
Facebook or Goodreads accounts, and way too easy for me to snatch my phone and
check Instagram. Taking bookstagram pictures has become a huge time suck for
me!
5. Did you ever consider writing under a
pseudonym?
Occasionally
when I think about writing books that aren’t in the fantasy genre. But I
already use a pen name because my first name is hard/awkward to spell, so using
a pseudonym on top of that feels cumbersome, and like it would make my work
unnecessarily hard to find.
6. What other authors are you friends with, and
how do they help you become a better writer?
I
have a good handful of friends in the writing community, all of which are indie
authors who are marvelous at helping me keep my chin up and not feel so alone.
I generally don’t rely on them much for beta reading, as I want genuine readers
in my genre to share their opinions on my stories before publishing, but my
author friends help remind me why I dedicate my life to this, and help me
navigate how to find readers. They are vital in helping me become a well-rounded
writer.
7. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or
are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
While
I love when books in a series can stand on their own, I also love series where
you have to start at the beginning and read the novels sequentially in order to
get the whole experience by the time the series ends. That’s what “The Monster
of Selkirk” aims to be, as well. Some books are complete adventures on their
own, but if you don’t start at the beginning and read the books in order,
you’re going to miss so much that it’s just not going to be a fun experience.
But that’s also what’s going to make the final book in the series feel all the
more awesome, too!
8. What authors did you dislike at first but grew
into?
Neil
Gaiman, actually. I’m probably the only person in the world who didn’t love
“American Gods” but now, especially after reading “Good Omens” which he wrote
with terry Pratchett, I really enjoy his work.
9. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
“Diary”
by Chuck Palahniuk. I know he’s this world famous author, and all his books
have tens of thousands of ratings, but he’s most know for “Fight Club”, very
few people talk about “Diary”. But I found the mind games, the compulsion, and
the disturbing family secrets in that book to be superb, and way better than
“Fight Club”!
10. As a writer, what would you choose as your
mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A
great white shark, hands down! I find them to be these awesome creatures, big,
and beautiful, strong and terrifying, but also endangered, not well understood,
and in need of protection. I identify with those traits so much, that I
actually have a tattoo of a great white! Plus, I try to live every week like
it’s shark week, so there’s that.
11. How many unpublished and half-finished books
do you have?
Well,
if we include the rest of “The Monster of Selkirk” series that hasn’t come out
yet, I have four unpublished books, and one half-finished book that I am going
to finish this month (fingers crossed)!
12. What did you edit out of this book?
There
was a whole section where Tallis’s mother, Lana, shares a story with her about
Jon, her father, and how they married. Tallis and her father have a tumultuous
relationship at best, so Lana shares the story surrounding their marriage in
hopes of showing her daughter that Jon isn’t (or wasn’t always) a bad guy.
Ultimately, this whole section got cut because it was unnecessary, neither
Tallis nor Jon change. While the tale could be considered sweet, that level of
detail and background information became trivial to the story, and when I was
cutting all the non-vital words and elements, it was the first thing on the
chopping block.
13. If you didn’t write, what would you do for
work?
Probably
the same thing I was doing before I dedicated all my time to this profession. I
worked in the Advertising/Media industry and was an expert on gamers and
console usage for my clients, one of which was a AAA video game publisher and
development studio. It allowed me to turn my nerdom into a well-paying career.
It was trying, draining, and thankless a lot of the time, but I was really good
at it, and it always made for fun cocktail party discussions. Plus,
my coworkers there were all amazing, lovely people. I miss them most now that I
don’t work with them all the time anymore.
14. Do you hide any secrets in your books that
only a few people will find?
Oh
yes! I am a big nerd with a wide range of fandoms I subscribe to. So sometimes
names (characters names, country names, and city names) will harken to those
various fandoms. But unless you share the same love I do, you may never realize
or notice what I’ve done.
15. What is your favorite childhood book?
“Ella
Enchanted”, hands down. I love that book so much that, of all the books in my
collection that have come and gone, and all the other Cinderella retellings I
have read in the years since, that one is still my absolute favorite!
I really love pets. They're like children. They know if you really love them or not. You can't fool them. pet shop
ReplyDelete