Hello, all! I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving (for those of you in the United States). Today, I have another author, Carol Roberts, whose background and interests have drawn her to dig a little deeper in her novels. I am super intrigued myself! Some of the questions she poses about the human condition are rather deep. And fiction is one way in which we can explore these thoughts and questions about the world around us…even if we delve into other worlds…keep reading to see what I mean…
Hey, Carol. Thanks for being on my blog today. First, can you tell us a little about your novel.
Atlantis is an interpretation of the myth, presented as a fantasy/mystery story.
When Alanthea, high-priestess of Atlantis, connects to a woman in her dreams, she becomes haunted by a warning. Compelled to trace the other woman’s life, she finds coded poems that hold clues to the predicament of her people. Now she has to venture ever farther into forbidden territory to link past and present, and understand the real danger threatening Atlantis.
Arakon always thought of himself as an orphan, a loner without any real belonging. But after a strange encounter his life changes, and he is drawn into events beyond his control.
They move parallel in their search for answers until their destinies converge, and the weave unravels. Yet what they finally uncover lies deep at the heart of collective evolution, and what has been set in motion cannot be undone.
I love all the different points of inspiration for writers…it never ceases to amaze me how the smallest things can jump start the muse. What was the inspiration for Atlantis?
I have several fields of interest. My real passion is mythology, especially stories of origin/creation. I think that mythology preserves what is important enough to have survived the ages, imbued with meaning. Leading on from there is my keen interest in psychology. What is important enough for our collective psyche to remember? And does it possibly store memory that goes back all the way to our evolution? Put together the two, and the mythical story of Atlantis started to take shape and form.
Interesting…my background is in science as well (biology). This is a very intriguing question you ask.
Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be when you were a child?
No, I wanted to study psychology, but then decided to travel. Traveling was fascinating in terms of culture and tradition. What were those people’s stories, what did they preserve in terms of their mythology? I took a lot of notes about places and people, and my first idea of writing was to compile a non-fiction book about stories and myths from all around the world.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
The first time I knew that I needed to put pen to paper was in a tiny village called Malana high in the Himalayan mountains. My partner had wanted to photograph this village that was said to have one of the oldest democracies in existence, preserved by its isolation and disinterest in the outside world. When we finally stumbled into the village on a wet, treacherous goat track, I wanted to put all my immediate notions into words: clouds hanging low, giving the heavily timbered buildings a haunting, medieval appearance, villagers moving away from us, as all non-Malanese were considered as lower caste and untouchable, and the overriding feeling of having stepped into some eerie, timeless bubble that had preserved an incredibly original micro-culture.
Though it varies from artist to artist, something people always want to know is how long does it take to write a book?
Atlantis took a long time, as I wrote it in stages over several years. The biggest problem was the ending. There I was, creating a whole civilization, only to have it disappear under flood waters. But from myth it rose, and to myth it returned.
Now you’ve got me hooked! Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.
Atlantis gave me the opportunity to speculate on concepts of the human condition, the meaning of individual and collective destiny, and the choices we have in it.
How thought-provoking! Do you have any current projects you’re working on? Care to share?
I have now finished my second novel, Tower of Babel, where I am exploring the possible meaning of love in the context of evolution. This novel is romantic suspense/fantasy and only took one year to write.
Wow. This, too, sounds like one I will have to read. Thanks again, Carol, for joining me today and for being on my blog. I am eager for my readers to get a better glimpse of Atlantis. So, I will jump right in.
Atlantis
Enjoy an Excerpt
Time shifted as Arakon carefully turned and dug his heels into the horse’s side. A good horse, a strong horse, just like the old man’s had been. The shade of the trees embraced him, and the sound of the water came closer. Would he still find the track? Was there a track? Time shifted further, and he felt an eerie sensation between his shoulder blades. The forest was too quiet, the water overly loud. Gideon started to slip, and he reined the stallion in even further.
The filtered light threw strange patterns onto the ground, and when the moment came, he let go of the reins and let Gideon run. Leaves slapped him in the face, and as the noise became deafening, he could see the glistening spray which lay like a shimmering web ahead of him. Gideon shied but could not stop. They raced on until the tree-line opened up, and he could see the gorge falling away in front of him like a black, open mouth.
Buy Link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0777J2MC8/
More About the Author
Carol Roberts is a free lance writer with particular interest in cultural myth. Originally from Vienna, she has spent all of her adult life in the Far North of New Zealand. Her work took her to several different countries, where she researched oral traditions of the oldest creation myths. Atlantis is her first full length novel.
Connect with Carol and her books
Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/app/pages/preview/jb2ug
Twitter: @authorRobertsC