Obscura Burning by Suzanne van Rooyen
Published: Harmony Ink Press
November 10, 2016
Cover Design: Terry Cronje of Cronje Design Co. http://cronjedesign.com/
Goodreads
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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Suzanne van Rooyen here today. Suzanne agreed to share her thoughts about writing and her latest novel, Obscura Burning. Welcome, Suzanne, thanks for answering some questions for us.
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- Where do you normally draw your inspiration for a book from? A memory, a myth, a place or journey, or something far more personal?
It really depends. Inspiration comes to me from so many different places, but most often it tends to come from art or music. I regularly trawl through Deviantart for images that speak to me or demand a story. I similarly often find myself imagining the backstory or certain songs. Some of those imaginings have turned into stories and some are still waiting to be written.
- Are you a planner or a pantzer when writing a story? And why?
I used to be a pantzer, but I’ve come to realize the importance of having an outline, even if it’s just a seven-point plot arc or rough sketch of the protagonist’s character arc. Since I’ve started writing fantasy, planning has become imperative in order to keep track not only of characters and plot, but of all the world-building. These days I rarely start writing without having some kind of plan to work from.
- If you had a character you’ve written you would write differently now at this time in your writing career, who would it be and why?
This is an interesting question. I pretty much had this opportunity with Obscura Burning since this is the second edition. Harmony Ink allowed me a round of edits and I was able to rework a few story points, but most importantly, my protagonist. I must’ve been in a pretty dark place when I originally wrote this story because Kyle was so bitter and resentful. I couldn’t really relate to him anymore so, without compromising his core personality, I reworded a few things and let other things affect him to a greater or lesser extent, making him a slightly less unlikeable person – I hope!
- Can a author have favorites among their characters and do you have them?
Hm, I’m not sure. It’s a bit like asking a parent to say who their favourite child is. I have moments where I might prefer one or the other, but I love them all!
- If you were to be stranded on a small demi-planet, island, or god forbid LaGuardia in a snow storm, what books would you take to read or authors on your comfort list?
Anything and everything by Neil Gaiman. I’d also want the Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater to keep me company. Those two authors are quite easily my favourites.
- Were you an early reader or were you read to and what childhood books had an impact on you as a child that you remember to this day and why?
Both, my mom always read to me at bedtime and I started reading by myself or with my parents from a really young age. Books had a huge impact on my life, one in particular that still haunts me is The Voices of Silence by Bel Mooney about a little girl growing up in Romania at the time of the 1989 revolution.
- If you were writing your life as a romance novel, what would the title be?
As a romance novel? Um, I have no idea… I rarely read romance so I’m quite clueless about good titles, but if ever I were to write my memoir or autobiography, I’d want to call it ‘Remember me as a time of day,‘ which is a song title from one of my favourite bands, Explosions in the Sky.
Blurb
The world’s going to end in fire…and it’s all Kyle’s fault.
Kyle Wolfe’s world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks away from graduation, a fire kills Kyle’s two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle’s friends aren’t all that dead anymore. Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it’s Shira who’s alive…and now they’re friends with benefits.
Shifting between realities is slowly killing him, and he’s not the only one dying. The world is dying with him. He’s pretty sure Obscura has something to do with it, but with his parents’ marriage imploding and realities shifting each time he closes his eyes, Kyle has problems enough without being the one in charge of saving the world…
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Author Bio
Suzanne is a tattooed storyteller from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland where she finds the heavy metal soothing and the cold, dark forests inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she grows up, she wants to be an elf – until then, she spends her time (when not writing) climbing, buying far too many books, and entertaining her shiba inu, Lego.
Author Links
- Website – http://suzannevanrooyen.com
- Twitter – https://twitter.com/Suzanne_Writer
- Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/suzanne_writer/
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-van-Rooyen/304965232847874
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