Reaching out to Heaven
An interview with the enchanting Caitlin O'Connor, author of Finding the Phoenix.
Finding the Phoenix is the first book in The Celestial Talisman series.
Here's a little intro into the book:
Descended from humans and an extinct race of elemental beings, only the Awakened know the truth about our world. Only they can hold back the fanatic Handmaidens of the Skaath Diurga—shadow creatures born from an ancient betrayal.
However, the Circle of Awakened is incomplete without the Child of Heaven: a human destined to Wield the Spirit element. Before she can Awaken, she must die.
Heaven has no memory of dying, except the experience of death itself. It’s that memory, of a place called ‘The Between’, that convinces her the man claiming to be her Guardian might not be completely crazy. Besides, even crazy is better than the life she’s leaving behind to be the Circle’s Wielder of Spirit. All she has to worry about now is her training, and figuring out how to fit in with the Awakened.
Tragedy strikes when one of the Guardians is killed, and ulterior motives thrust Heaven into the middle of the Circle’s quest for justice. She’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for the people she’s come to care about.
Now on to the interview...
Can you tell us why you decided to become a writer?
I love reading, and books gave me a lot of comfort while I was growing up. I was extremely shy and anxious, but I also had a huge imagination. Stories and people came to life in my mind. As I grew older, I started reading more analytically.
I scoured through books for clues about what was going on in the plot that the author was trying to hide from me. I started getting my own ideas for books I wanted to read, so I decided to write them.
What do you love the most about writing?
I get to write the books I want to read, job satisfaction doesn’t get much better than this. I also love seeing where the story takes me, and figuring out how my characters will react to challenges.
Where do you get you inspiration from?
Humans fascinate me, and I love looking for beauty in the dark corners of the soul. The ideas that take root in my head usually revolve around psychological or social concepts I want to gain a deeper understanding of.
How would you describe Finding the Phoenix?
Finding the Phoenix is witty and insightful with a dash of adventure.
Why should people read Finding the Phoenix?
It’s a fun book with complex characters and a fairly unique concept.
Where did the idea for Finding the Phoenix come from?
I’d already written two rough but complete books in this series when a friend of mine suggested using Heaven waking up in the morgue in a blurb. The gears of my mind started turning, and I realized I needed to start the series earlier.
What do you expect to accomplish with Finding the Phoenix?
I don’t like expectations, but I can tell you that I hope people will enjoy my book. When I’m feeling really ambitious, I hope it will one day be special to somebody, in the way that certain books are special to me.
What can you tell us about Finding the Phoenix, without giving away any spoilers?
How about a few random facts?
South Africa is the only country in the world with a Police Service branch dedicated to occult crimes. While I’ve taken some artistic liberty with this in the story, the Occult Crimes division does exist.
I based my Wielder’s abilities on the Astrological understanding of the four elements and a combination of Eastern and Western concepts of Spirit. For example, Earth is associated with physicality and practicality so being able to use Telekinesis was a good match.
Gandhi did write a letter to Hitler, even though he didn’t think it would do much good.
Which were the easiest and the hardest parts for you to write?
Dialogue always comes fairly easily to me. The hardest parts were probably the fight sequences; it took a lot of re-writing before I was happy with them.
Do you have a favorite character, scene or situation in (book name), and can you tell us why he, she or it is your favorite?
I love all my characters, picking a favourite is too difficult! The funny scenes are some of the best for me, particularly the ones involving Alistair. He can be a lot of fun for someone so serious. I also ended up really enjoying the fight scenes.
What can we expect to see in the next books in The Celestial Talisman series, again without giving away any spoilers?
I include the Handmaidens a lot more in the other books so you can expect the story to take some interesting twists, and get a little darker.
Some stories are what some have taken to calling Message Fiction, due to the fact that there are (conscious or unconscious) messages to be found in those stories. Did you insert any conscious messages in your story, and if so, what do they try to convey?
All books have a message, but as I understand it, Message Fiction as a term refers to the overt idealization of a concept. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand comes to mind. I can’t say that I have any particular messages in Phoenix; I like the subtlety of themes.
If your story is mature in nature (containing graphic sexual scenes, violence, swearing, etc.), what led you to decide that this was the right way to go, despite the fact that it might limit your potential readership?
You can’t please everyone, all you can do is write a story the way it feels right to you. I wrote an adult book that delves into dark places sometimes. My characters have survived some terrible experiences but, while I haven’t sugarcoated any of these aspects, I have tried to handle them sensitively.
As for limiting my potential readers…everyone has their own taste. Some people won’t like my book and that’s okay.
And finally, is there anything else that you’d like to add?
Thank you so much for having me here, and asking such interesting questions.
Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview, Caitlin, and for giving such great answers!
Caitlin O’Connor searches for truth in fiction, and drags her characters through hell to find it.
A proud eccentric who aspires to be omniscient, she enjoys listening to music, trying to understand physics, and admiring unusual works of art.
Caitlin lives in South Africa with her son and a malevolent lovebird that requires daily libations of blood.
Click here to pre-order a copy of Caitlin O'Connor's Finding the Phoenix
