Please welcome my guest, Ronel Janse van Vuuren.
Ronel, pleases tell us about yourself.
I’m a Rottweiler pack leader who
lives in South Africa with a whole menagerie to inspire me. I’m fascinated by
folklore and mythology; researching it and using it in my writing makes me
happy. I also spend (a lot of) time on my compost heap while stories are sorted
out in my head. Sometimes you can hear me arguing with my characters…
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
When I was twelve. I’ve always
loved reading. Writing my own stories to entertain me seemed like the next
logical step.
Where do you start when writing? Research, plotting, outline, or...?
An idea will come to me, so I’ll
write everything down I know about the story forming in my head. Then the
characters will come calling, the story will show itself more – needing
research – and an outline will be written before long. I’ll work on the plot
before refining things again.
What did you learn from writing your first book?
That a main character can’t just
observe or have things happen without them choosing to be part of the
adventure. I’m currently rewriting that first book and I’m amazed at how much
my writing has developed.
How many hours a day to you spend writing?
If it’s a shiny new story, twelve
to fourteen hours. If it’s rewriting and editing… I can’t do more than eight
hours before my head wants to explode (or I want to cry because of the death of
so many darlings).
If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it
be?
Patience is a virtue, persistence is divine.
What two authors would we find you reading when taking a break from
your own writing?
Holly Black and Rick Riordan.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
For folklore and mythology, I
rely on several sources (The Poetic Edda; Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic
Folklore, Mythology, and Magic by Clade Lecouteux; The Forest in Folklore and
Mythology by Alexander Porteous; Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and
Mythology by Theresa Bane; Encyclopedia of Giants and Humanoids in Myth, Legend
and Folklore by Theresa Bane; The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies by Lucy
Cooper; the sacred texts site that archives all ancient folklore and mythology
texts; and the folklore and mythology site hosted by the University of Pittsburgh
that lists, categorizes and hosts all folk texts imaginable; whatever new
resource I can find that will help me).
As for ideas, they sort of just
come to me. I have folders and notebooks filled with ideas that I still have to
use.
Tell us about your latest release,
including its genre.
I’ll describe my latest book as a
mixture of fairy tale retellings and original tales about Faerie with a Dark
Fantasy twist.
It’s about the secrets of how Faerie changed, why Faerie changed, who
the rulers of Faerie truly are, the secrets of the seasons, and how magic and
fae have infiltrated the mortal realm. And it’s also about the characters,
their choices and experiences.
Dark fantasy is all about
examining the human condition, looking at the consequences of actions and
decisions, and how the beliefs we hold can change the way we see our world. I
think “Rumour Has It”, “New Divide” and “Castle of Glass” depicts all of this
from different points of view about the same moment in Faerie history very
well.
“Once…” crosses over to New
Adult. New Adult is all about figuring out who you are, who you want to be and
what you have to do to get there. Some of my damsels in distress turn into
independent women who can take care of themselves…
Once…
Blurb:
Damsels in distress, curses, echoes of
faery tales and tragic love affairs swirl together in sixteen stories found in
a dragon’s lair by a curious half-fae.
Unexpected changes to reality causes more
than one damsel to turn into a strong, independent woman who takes charge of
her own life.
A collection of short stories about Faerie
and the fae that live in the human realm. A few of the stories had won
competitions and all of them had enchanted readers.
Learn their secrets and enter the realm of
the fae…
ISBN EPUB: 978-0-6399476-2-4
ISBN Paperback: 978-0-6399476-3-1
Publication date: 23 May 2018
Available on most online retailers.
Also available in Afrikaans as “Eens…”.
Universal Book Links for Afrikaans and
English versions of this book:
Universal Book Link (UBL)
UBLs give
you one link that leads to every online retailer selling your
book.
And when
your readers click on that link, they're shown a list of everywhere your book
appears online, so that they can choose the retailer or eReader that works best
for them
One link. Every
bookstore online.
Excerpt:
Mortals cannot perceive the veil unless they are invited to
– or extremely gifted. For centuries, Man and Fae have been kept apart, for nothing
good ever comes from them mixing. The collection of The Adventures of Saphira the Faery Dog is proof of this.
Still, there are magical creatures that side neither with
Man nor Fae.
Dragons are such creatures. They hold the knowledge of both
worlds. Some even collect it in the written word, keeping it safe in their
lairs.
An inquisitive half-fae once broke into the lair of a dragon
known to hoard books. The knowledge she found was too much to keep to herself…
Here are a few tales, myths and legends from Faerie. Some
may sound remarkably similar to legends held by mortals, while others are… well… as otherworldly as the fae themselves.
One last question. Where can readers find you?
Readers can find me across the web.
Thanks for having me, Diane.
Ronel
Janse van Vuuren is the author of New Adult, Young Adult and children’s fiction
filled with mythology and folklore. Her dark fantasy stories can be read for
free on Wattpad and on her blog Ronel the
Mythmaker. She won Fiction Writer of
the Year 2016 for her Afrikaans stories on INK: Skryf in Afrikaans. Her
published works can be viewed on Goodreads.
Ronel
can be found tweeting about writing and other things that interest her, arguing
with her characters, researching folklore for her newest story or playing with
her Rottweilers when she’s not actually writing.
All
of her books are available for purchase on Amazon.
