Christy Nicholas Interview
Welcome to Ink & Magick. I'm your friendly neighborhood witch. What kind of spell can I get for you (or your character) today?
I would love an eternal life spell. There is just so much to do, see, and experience in this magical world, I want to do it ALL!
Life can only be what it is if there is an end. We cannot understand joy without sadness or pain without pleasure. Even if I could give you eternal life, I would not curse you to live a life without meaning. Tell me about your book, Turlough's Tale.
After his wife dies in childbirth, Turlough decides his children will be better off with their aunt. He leaves in the middle of the night, with only his son, Ruari. Turlough and Ruari travel west to find music, the other true love in Turlough’s life. Unwittingly sleeping under an ancient Faerie stone, they wake up in Faerie. Amidst enchanting music, they almost lose their souls before they escape with their lives. When they return, Turlough finds two years have passed, though he’s only been gone two weeks. His mother is waiting for him with the gift of a magical brooch.
Excerpt:
Time. He needed more time. And that was the one thing he couldn’t control. Turlough held his wife’s hand. She was so incredibly thin. He didn’t want to squeeze for fear of breaking her bones. This would be their fifth child. He prayed that Maeve would live long enough to hold the child in her arms.
She moaned again, and he glanced at the midwife. The woman shook her head and closed her eyes. The tears pummeled at his eyes as he closed his own.
Maeve was the joy in his life. His whole reason for being. She’d never been strong, but this pregnancy had wasted her to a frail husk.
She strained against the pain and screamed. The tears in his eyes burst forth, and his throat closed. The coppery smell of hot blood infused the small, dark room.
A thin scream cut the air, and a small bundle squirmed in the midwife’s arms.
Maeve’s hand went limp in his own.
“No! No, Maeve, no! You can’t die on me now, my love, you can’t! Wake up, Maeve! Maeve, please, please, no please, no…”
His throat choked off any more words, and he cried. His beloved wife’s hand was flaccid in his own, but he refused to relinquish it. It was still warm. She must still be here. She mustn’t leave him.
The child’s wail turned to a whimper as the midwife bundled it in cloth and cooed over it. Turlough didn’t even want to know if it was a boy or a girl. He had no wish to see the child who killed his wife.
The midwife left, and he was alone with his wife’s body, but he couldn’t see her any more through the tears. His sobs wracked through him, and he fell over her. He lay there for hours, begging her to return.
I'm seriously tearing up from your excerpt. What inspired you to write this story?
This is based on a minor character from my book, Legacy of Luck, set 10 years after this story. I wanted to expand on the tragic incident that not only set Turlough on his path but changed him forever.
Your character names are unique. How do you come up with them?
It’s a mixture of research into historical names of that time period, ones that I don’t think will scare off modern American readers TOO much, and those that still sound quintessentially Irish. It’s a tough line to walk! Especially with traditional spellings. My current WIPs (works in progress) are delving into 12th century Ireland, and I wanted to stay away from the easier Anglicized spellings (as this was before the Anglo-Normans conquered Ireland). However, something like "Murtagh" is much easier for readers to deal with than, say, "Muircheartach." The pronunciation guides I always include in the back only go so far!
Gaelic pronunciation always throws me off. It's almost easier just to memorize how the names are supposed to be pronounced. The setting sounds like it could take place at any time. Does it take place at a specific time in history (or present day), or is it a completely made up world?
This story takes place around 1735, but the emotions and situations I wanted to portray are timeless.
Right on. If you could time-travel, would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go, and why would you choose that time period?
I’m actually torn. I love the past, but fully realize that I would miss many modern conveniences (especially eyeglasses, as I’m blind as a bat!). On the other hand, I am eager to see what the future holds.
I get that! What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?
Share word of the book, the series, whatever you like and most importantly, if you like a book, PLEASE review it. Reviews on Amazon are very important to all authors, as there are advertisers that require a minimum to accept a book.
Absolutely! What can we expect from you next?
This story is attached to the first trilogy in The Druid’s Brooch series. The first book of the second trilogy, Misfortune of Vision, is due out in January 2018. I’ve already written the first draft of the second book in that trilogy, Misfortune of Song. The third, Misfortune of Time, is gearing up next. I plan a third trilogy set in the 5th/6th centuries. They all tie in together.
It seems we can expect a lot from you in the future. Thanks for stopping by!
Christy Nicholas, also known as Green Dragon, is an author, artist, and accountant. After she failed to become an airline pilot, she quit her ceaseless pursuit of careers that begin with A, and decided to concentrate on her writing. Since she has Project Completion Disorder, she is one of the few authors she knows with NO unfinished novels.
Christy has her hands in many crafts, including digital art, beaded jewelry, writing, and photography. In real life, she’s a CPA, but having grown up with art all around her (her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother are/were all artists), it sort of infected her, as it were.
She wants to expose the incredible beauty in this world, hidden beneath the everyday grime of familiarity and habit, and share it with others. She uses characters out of time and places infused with magic and myth.
Combine this love of beauty with a bit of financial sense and you get an art business. She does local art and craft shows, as well as sending her art to various science fiction conventions throughout the country and abroad.
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