Interview with FATHOM author Ashley L. Knight ~ Part 1
My good friend and writer Ashley L. Knight is celebrating the release of her latest young adult novel, Fathom, today. In honor of this event, I took a moment to ask her about Fathom, writing, family, inspiration, and life. Our interview ran a little long, so I've split it into two blogs. Enjoy!
Can you tell us a little about Fathom, your newest release?
Fathom is a lot darker than Fins. Morgan is now eighteen and has been "Blessed" with the powers of being "The Link". She thinks she's far too young to be able to deal with all the issues of the entire merpeople race and she begins to psychologically suffer. I know many teenagers go through dark times during that stage of their life and I wanted it to be relatable to them. It is a time of darkness versus light for Morgan and more of an inward struggle than an outward one. Sometimes she feels that it shouldn't be called a "blessing" at all! This book is mostly about overcoming your fears and insecurities and facing them knowing that you were born completely equipped with what it is you are supposed to be doing with your life. Nothing in your life is arbitrary – it's all for a purpose.
Fathom, is the second novel in a trilogy. Can you tell us why you chose to write three different books opposed to one massive novel, like those that seem so popular in YA these days?
I wanted Fins to be a trilogy from the beginning. The Fins Trilogy is Young Adult Fantasy Fiction – it is not serious adult literature and should not be judged as so. In my opinion, YA literature should not be the length of Tolstoy's War and Peace; it's just too demanding. I'm not stating that teenagers are not able to handle the length, but with the amount of homework, school activity, outside school lessons, etc, reading gets put on the back burner sometimes. In speaking with several teachers, they really liked the length of Fins. They said it was long enough for their students to be able to write a book report but not so long that they became bored with the book, or were not able to complete it in the time allotted. That was a big concern of mine.
What was your process for writing Fathom and the other two novels? (Fins is the first book of the trilogy and Forever is the yet to be released third book.) How was this different from other things you've written?
In university, many of my writing professors made me write a list of where I wanted the story to go, or a collage of ideas, or something. I hated doing that and yet I was forced to do it. I don't enjoy writing like that and as a result, a lot of stories I wrote were, what I considered, junk. I wrote a lot of poetry because those professors allowed me to be "free" and some of my poetry was published.
When I write, it is as if a tidal wave hits me and I have to write. I write until the wave leaves and then I have nothing left in me. Sometimes, only twenty minutes pass until another one hits and I have to write again. Other times, days go by and there is nothing. I wrote Fins in six months. Two of those months were filled with basic editing simply because nothing came to me. Fathom was much the same. There was a lot of re-writing with Fathom because I felt as if I was not getting my point across properly at times. It is a darker tale, and I'm used to writing light, happy tales. The third book will be wrapping things up, so it won't be as heavy, but this needed to happen with Morgan to show growth.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
The phrase "If you don't use it, you lose it" REALLY is true. In college, I wrote all the time; that was my major. Ten years later, I decide to start writing again, and I felt like a stick in the mud! The creative juices just lagged! Finally, about a quarter of the way through Fins, things started to flow and little by little things picked up. Now, idea after idea is coming to me and I'm a bit overwhelmed with the creativity that's been pouring out. I need a bucket or two!
What do you think makes a good story?
I know what makes me want to continue reading a story. The first beginning lines have got to grab me. If they don't, frankly I'm not interested in reading the rest of the book. I've probably missed out on a number of worthy books because of that, but I've always wanted a book to whisk me away from the beginning and blow my mind. There are millions of books out there and I want to read the ones that will take me on an adventure immediately – not on page 75.
As far as what makes a good story, I think that it is very important for the writer to be able to make their readers visualize the world you create for them. If you can get them to do that, you're gold. People want to be taken away to another world and if you're able to do that, you've written a good story. It's all about transporting my readers away for me.
The covers for your books are gorgeous – who designed them?
I was fortunate to run into an old high school friend of mine by the name of Ken Koeberlein on Facebook. When I began chatting with him and saw some of his beautiful artwork, I asked him if he would be willing to design the cover of Fins. He was very excited to do so and took on the challenge. I gave him Fins' synopsis, and he presented me with the cover which was just lovely! I didn't think it was possible for him to exceed my expectations, but he did with Fathom's cover! It's fabulous and I can't imagine what he's going to come up with for Forever. I'm really looking forward to seeing what his artistic mind reveals! If you're interested in seeing more of his work or perhaps hiring him, please visit his website at: www.koeberdesigns.com
I'll post the second half tomorrow. If you have any questions for Ashley, leave them in the comments section and she'll answer them for you!
