Evelinn2

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I’d like to introduce you to the twenty-seventh interviewee in my ‘Meet the Author’ series. She is Evelinn Enoksen, from Norway.

QUESTION: Hi, Evelinn! Welcome to Susan Finlay Writes blog site. Can you tell us a bit about your background as a writer?

ANSWER: Hello and thanks for having me. I started writing when I was around fourteen, but I had little confidence in myself at the time, so I never showed anyone what I’d written. It took years before I said anything. My father wrote a book when I was little (a YA fantasy/mystery) sadly he never published it though, but I aim to help him with that in the future. He also wrote books for children, and I’m going to illustrate them. I write both in Norwegian and English, it can get a little confusing at times since the grammar is very different, but the first story I wrote was in English because I feel like I can transfer my thoughts onto the paper easier in a language with more words to choose from. In the fifteen years since I decided to be a writer I have written my current story five times; once in Norwegian and the rest in English. Guardians of Evion simply wouldn’t leave me alone; it is a story that decided it was going to be written by me, not the other way around.

QUESTION: Your fantasy novel, “Guardians of Evion Destiny”, was published on the 20th of April, 2013, by Kristell Ink Publishing, an imprint of Holland House Books. What inspired you to write it?

ANSWER: My inspiration for “Guardians of Evion” came from the books I started reading in my early teens; fantasy and science fiction books written by Asimov, Tolkien, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey and Katharine Kerr. I became entranced in the worlds they created and was quickly inspired.

QUESTION: I love your publisher’s description of your book: ‘Poetic and thought-provoking, it’s a fantastic read made even more special with subtle layering, evocative descriptions, and great characterisations.’ But if you had to sum up the plot of “Guardians of Evion Destiny”, what would you say?

ANSWER: Before I found the wonderful Kristell Ink Publishing, I struggled with writing query letters, especially a synopsis of my story, because it had become so intricate and large. But after much brain twisting I managed to distill it down to a few sentences:

“A civilization far into the future awakes something ancient when they settle on a world full of resources. Their invasion shifts the balance of power between good and evil and then they soon find themselves in the middle of a war.” But this is just one way of describing the plot.

QUESTION: Your website says that the book is the first in a trilogy, although you didn’t start out with that in mind. Can you tell us how your plan grew and evolved?

ANSWER: “Guardians of Evion” was supposed to be a single book, but when the word count stretched to 200,000 (with lots to follow) I saw I had to split it up. I am still working on book three, but nr two is written and ready for editing. The book had a simple plot in the beginning, but my characters developed minds of their own and decided to do things that deviated from my original plan.

QUESTION: Along with being a wife and mom, you are a writer, an artist, a tattoo artist—and you have a night job. How do you find time for everything?

ANSWER: Time is what you make of it, and I make all my time matter. I seldom sit and do nothing, and I can’t remember what being bored felt like, but I don’t push myself, and I make sure I have the opportunity to rest. I write a lot when I’m at work, because it’s quiet, lord knows quiet becomes a useless word when you have kids.

QUESTION: Who designed your book cover? Since you are an artist, did you create it yourself?

ANSWER: I created my own book cover, but it was very difficult because I had so many ideas. (You should have seen the first attempts, you would have laughed.) Eventually I settled on the version I have now and am totally happy. I must credit Ken Dawson for making the great fonts for my book cover. I’ve also made covers for Kristell Ink authors Joanne Hall and Gillian Fleming.

QUESTION: Your author bio says that you come from a long line of writers and artists. What does your family think of your book?

ANSWER: I’ve had much support from my family. My grandmother is an artist as well as my mum and my uncle. My father writes and there are several others on his side of the family who were authors, we even descend from a very famous author from Bergen named Petter Dass.

QUESTION: Are you a character/story builder or an outliner or do you use some other method?

ANSWER: As I said earlier, my characters drive the story for me, and all I have to do is give them a world to live in and perhaps a challenge or two.

QUESTION: What is your favorite or least favorite part of writing?

ANSWER: My favorite part of writing is when I know exactly what to write and there are no distractions. I can remember sitting in front of my pc and only be slightly aware of the sun going up and down. As for my least favorite part it has to be when I have to write something difficult; as in technical or political.

QUESTION: Please list any websites or social media links for yourself or your book. Thanks!

http://www.enoksen-art.com/
http://evelinnenoksen.wordpress.com/author/eenoksen/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Guardians-of-Evion-ebook/dp/B00CF3SEAS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367839110&sr=8-2&keywords=evelinn+enoksen