Interviewing fantasy author Andrea Pearson

Today, I have the great pleasure of interviewing YA fantasy author Andrea Pearson. She gave some great answers! Enjoy!

What does the new world Jacob falls into look like?

Eklaron is a lot like Earth (one sun, similar calendar, one moon, four seasons), with the exception of the inhabitants and a few plants. None of the creatures on Eklaron are borrowed from other fantasy stories, so you won’t recognize them when you read the book. It was a lot of fun to make up my own monsters. :-) In future books, Jacob will travel to worlds farther away which will be very, very different from Earth.

Your blurb names two types of beings in the new world, the usual inhabitants and the Lorkon. What is different about these two groups? What do they look like? How do they interact?

The first group of people Jacob runs into are called Makalos. These people are humanoid, but are magical (though their magic is waning) and are around four feet tall. They’re not strong, physically, which is why they need Jacob’s help getting the Key back, though what’s left of their magic is still really useful. Jacob quickly becomes really close to a few of them.

There are other groups of creatures, along with humans, but the most powerful are the Lorkon. They’re disgusting—over nine feet tall and with skin that chaffs, peels, and is bloody. They inflict diseases on the people they touch. There are only four of them, but since they’re immortal, they control a large portion of the population. Don’t they sound fun? :-)

Is Jacob a captive in the new world or is he free to come and go between the two worlds?

This is almost a trick question! :-) At first he isn’t free to come and go—the Lorkon want him, and they’re willing to do anything to keep him from returning to Earth.

You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens. :-)

Who is your favorite character in The Key of Kilenya? What makes him/her your favorite?

Dang it – I knew you’d ask a really tough question. :-)

In The Key of Kilenya, my favorite characters are Gallus, Aloren, and the Fat Lady. Sorry—I couldn’t pick just one. :-) I like Gallus because he’s so genuine. He cares about the people around him, and he scares Akeno, which entertains me. :-) He’s this really big black man who runs a shop in Eklaron. Jacob doesn’t meet him until chapter ten. I like Aloren because she’s the type to take charge of her life, not feel bad for what has happened to her (she’s been through a lot), but still moves onward, trying to keep her life under control. Plus, Jacob thinks she’s cute. :-) The Fat Lady was my favorite character to create. Most of my readers are a little scared of her—she’s abrasive, demanding, loud, and opinionated. Which is why I’m delighted by her. :-) I modeled her after a character in the movie Matilda (see if you all can guess which character!) and each time I read the chapter she’s in, I smile at how Jacob, Aloren, and Akeno react to her. :-)

In The Ember Gods (book two in the Kilenya Series – comes out at the end of this month) my favorite characters are Matt and Butch. Matt is Jacob’s older brother. He cracks me up. He doesn’t think before speaking, so says some of the funniest things sometimes. He’s also really impulsive, and as one of my readers said, gets Jacob and himself into a lot of trouble. Butch is a Makalo who is very much like a teenager you’d come across on Earth. He has a high opinion of himself and is very forward with his thoughts. He and Matt both make me laugh a lot. :-) Oh, and “Butch” is what Jacob calls this Makalo until we find out what his real name is—which is just as odd as the name “Butch.” :-)

You’d asked me a while back how I came up with the idea for The Key of Kilenya. Here’s the short version of that story:

When I was young, my family moved into a really old house—the kind that has those crystal doorknobs and needs skeleton keys to lock things up. I found a skeleton key under a few inches of dirt outside and fell “in love” with it. It created many hours of entertainment for me—pretending it was magical.

A few years later, I came up with an idea about an orphaned boy named Tommy who had a lot of adventures. I wrote a few of his adventures down, but put them away to focus on a different story—the story of a prince and princess who get separated by evil, vile creatures called Lorkon.

Well, when I was about 23, I decided to put these three things together into one story. I changed Tommy’s name to Jacob, made him several years older, and incorporated his adventures in with the story of the prince and princess and the magical key.

A year or so later the story wouldn’t leave me alone, and it became a series, with the reader finding out how and why Jacob has magical abilities. (Yes, it will take nearly the whole series to understand it all. :-))

I’m really excited for my readers to discover things—I love hearing what people think, especially when they speculate on what’s going to happen. :-)

Blurb:

When two vicious wolves chase fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark down a path from our world into another, his life is forever changed. He has no idea they have been sent by the Lorkon—evil, immortal beings who are jealous of powers he doesn’t know he possesses—powers they desire to control.

The inhabitants of the new world desperately need Jacob's help in recovering a magical key that was stolen by the Lorkon and is somehow linked to him. If he helps them, his life will be at risk. But if he chooses not to help them, both our world and theirs will be in danger. The Lorkon will stop at nothing to unleash the power of the key—and Jacob's special abilities.

Links to Andrea and her book, The Key of Kilenya:

Author Blog: http://kilenyaseries.blogspot.com/

Author Website: http://andreapearsonbooks.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/andreapearson2

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorandrea

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Smashwords 

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. She is the author of the novel, TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE, the first in a trilogy. Part two, TORTUGA TREASURE is contracted for release in January, 2012. Look for her first of an epic fantasy romance series, SEEKING A SCRIBE: ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS ONE, to be available late autumn.