Guest Interview with Fantasy Writer Jaq D. Hawkins

Today I have a guest interview.   I met Jaq on Goodreads and I am so impressed with her writing style that I asked her to tell me why she started writing Fantasy.    I think you will love her interview.

Anita

Why I Write Fantasy

by Jaq D Hawkins

Writing has always been a part of my life since I first learned to read as a child. Although I read in many different genres, when it came to deciding that I wanted to be a professional writer at the age of fourteen, I was immediately drawn to writing Fantasy.

I grew up with a brother with whom I shared a love of explorations of imagination and although he is more of a movie buff than a reader, we particularly enjoyed instituting elements of science fiction and fantasy into our childhood games. A stick became a ray gun, then later a light sabre; a princess needed rescuing, or a citadel brought under siege.

I actually started my writing career in realms of non-fiction, but the flights of fancy that I so enjoyed as a reader continually called to me to invent an imaginary world of my own, as Marion Zimmer Bradley had the world of Darkover and Roger Zelazny developed the parallel universes of Amber. These pretend worlds captivated my own world of make believe in the way that a childhood ‘clubhouse’ made from an old shed encompassed the imagination of a child. Perhaps writing Fantasy stories is my own way of returning to the innocence of childhood and at least in my own mind, creating my own world of make believe.

I was drawn into the world I created for my Goblin Series a little at a time as the first story, Dance of the Goblins, was being written. My writing confidant at the time asked me questions about details of the imaginary world and I would answer with confidence, as if the goblins themselves were feeding me the answers. Their world is a dark and scary place for a human traveller. It's very close to nature with all the perils that survival on a hostile planet can provide.

Later the potential of the world of Steampunk attracted me with the imagery that the song Airship Pirates by Abney Park evoked as I listened. I had to create an alternative history story where airship pirates roamed the skies of Victorian London having adventures. Those who grew up with Peter Pan will understand the allure of fantastic stories that touch the real world just enough to entice the reader from the comforts of their easy chair into the swashbuckling magic of a fantasy adventure.

In Fantasy, there are no limits. Time travel, airships, goblins and other creatures can all play in the imagination to create an entertaining story. Perhaps it is only diversion from the mundane realities we all live within, but Fantasy can make us laugh or cry, scare us or make us fall in love with characters who only exist within a story. Most of all, it's fun.

Jaq D Hawkins is the author of;

Dance of the Goblins

Demoniac Dance

The Wake of the Dragon

all available at http://astore.amazon.com/jaqdhawkins-20

The final book of the Goblin trilogy, Power of the Dance, is due for release May 2013.

Website http://jaqdhawkins.co.uk

Blog http://indiewritenet.com/jaqdhawkins/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GoblinSeries

Twitter https://twitter.com/JaqDHawkins