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| Emma Faragher, Author THE HOUSE The Trix SinClara Series |
British author Emma Faragher
created Trix SinClara, a spaceshifter who needs to protect those around her.
THE HOUSE is the first book in this urban fantasy series, where, “Growing
magic and rogue vampires turn Trix's life upside down.”
Currently studying at Sheffield University, Faragher balances
her writing with her studies and hobbies. She has been writing for
pleasure for many years. THE HOUSE is her first published work.
Don’t miss the excerpt at the end of the interview.
Q: How would you describe THE HOUSE to your
readers? Supernatural? Fantasy? Romance? Suspense? Why should they read it?
Emma Faragher: It’s an urban fantasy set in the future. It’s a new take on the
supernatural community with characters I feel readers will really be able to
relate to.
Q:
Tell us about Trix SinClara.
Who is she? Is she based on a real person? How did you create her?
Emma Faragher: She’s not based on a real person. In real life a person is made from
the genetics of two people and a whole lot of environmental influences. So I
put her together as a basic person in my mind, allowing her to pretty much form
herself. Then I added in her life story to the genetics. The death of her
parents, a controlling grandfather, rebellious teen years, the teasing at
school from the witches for not being enough like them etc. Other traits just
sort of formed as I went along, like the great need she has to protect those
around her. That’s actually one of her main driving forces throughout the series,
a need to keep others safe. It felt more like I was getting to know her than
making her up.
Q:
You tell your story from the first person perspective of your
protagonist. What are the advantages of using the first person?
Emma Faragher: I feel that using the first person allows the reader to really get
inside the head of the protagonist. They are intimately involved in the story
as they follow Trix’s closest thoughts and secrets. They see the world through
her eyes rather than as an outsider.
Q: Do you write for entertainment and/or are you delivering a
message? Educating?
Emma Faragher: I write because I have to. I have a story inside my head and I need to
get it out or it will drive me crazy. I don’t deliberately put a message into
my books. It’s more that the issues just come up occasionally. Trix is
different, the witches don’t like her because of her abilities and the humans
don’t like her because she’s supernatural. She always has to hide parts of who
and what she is to function in the world. I think that’s how a lot of 22-year-olds
feel. It’s not a message but it’s something I know a lot of people will relate
to. The out-of-control feeling you have as you’re just starting to find
yourself as an adult and realizing that life isn’t quite as long as you
thought.
Of course I think that if
you look hard enough there is a message in almost all published works. I
dissected enough of them at school in English not to want to do it as an adult.
Reading is an escape for me and I want my readers to be absorbed into the world
I have created rather than always dissecting the word choice to infer a
message. Of course if anyone wants to do that for Trix’s story I wish them all
the best. I’m sure they’ll find something.
Q:
In a world of shifters and vampires, how important is credibility? What
do you do to help readers buy into your supernatural world?
Emma Faragher: Credibility is very important to me in a fantasy book. I have a
background in science so I like to be able to explain as much as I can. The
magic has to have rules and restrictions. As well as side effects. Trix is a
telepath, she could do incredible or terrible things with that power, but it
might just drive her insane along the way. But there has to be limits.
In the world I created,
magic is more of a different type of energy, like heat or electricity. The
witches have done plenty of scientific experiments over the years. The vampires
for instance, aren’t dead and they aren’t immortal. They simply survive off of
magical instead of chemical energy. When the magic runs out, they die. Then
since the sun interacts with the magic the vampires have, they are more
powerful at night. Because I had to keep some of the folklore intact.
Of course the rest of the
world has to make sense too. Water and food has to come from somewhere.
Government and leadership have to be established. A social order. The how and
why of everyday events need to make sense or the rest will just flow into
chaos.
Q:
Do villains and heroes play a part in your story? What are characteristics of heroes and
villains in the supernatural?
Emma Faragher: There aren’t so much villains and heroes in my books. I feel that a
villain knows that what they are doing is bad. They do it to hurt people. The
“bad guys” in my world are doing what they think is best for the people around
them. There are a lot of long games played by some of the characters that will
come out as the series progresses. And some politics that requires compromises
Trix never thought she’d have to make. There are of course a few very selfish
characters who are purely out for personal gain, so they might be counted as
villains. Trix isn’t really a hero as she doesn’t see herself that way. She’s
just someone who is trying to survive a changing world and to keep those around
her safe. She’s not out to save the world, just keep her little corner of it
from sinking.
Q: What inspired you to write about a
supernatural world?
Emma Faragher: Mostly, it’s what I read. I get very absorbed into my reading and
writing. I’ve read non-fantasy books and some of them didn’t affect me very
well. I was angry for days after reading Martin Cole’s The Take, because the characters were angry and violent. That
doesn’t happen so much with fantasy and supernatural books, as they are further
removed from the real world. I’m not crazy though, I promise. So I read and
write fantasy, I like the freedom of it too, the escapism of entering a
completely different world and being able to make up the rules. A fascination
with ancient mythology probably helped my along that path a little bit too.
Q: How do you help readers care about your
characters?
Emma Faragher: My characters all have back stories, like real people. They have
heartbreak and great achievements. I try to really bring my characters to life
so that readers feel that they could almost interact with them. Many of my
characters would make really fantastic friends to have and I’ve tried to put
that across. The loyalty and the fact that they keep trying is what many people
are drawn to in a person and in a character. Not for everyone of course, but
it’s impossible to do anything that pleases everyone.
Q:
What’s next?
Emma Faragher: I’m writing book 2 “The Solstice” and I’ve a few short stories up my
sleeve. There’s an anthology of indie published authors I’m writing something
for at the moment. Which will hopefully be out (for free) some time in August
or September.
I’ve also started editing
my first novel, the prologue is up on my blog if anyone is interested and I’m
debating a way to get it up chapter by chapter. It’ll be published eventually
but for now I’m focusing on Trix and her story, because there is still a lot
more to say.
Q:
Tell us about Emma Faragher. What do you like to do when you’re not
writing?
Emma Faragher: I like to do lots of things. I love my university course, so I actually
enjoy studying. Especially since I live with such a great group of people, just
being around the house is fantastic.
I’m a fair weather outdoors
person, in other words, I love to go walking in the woods or on the beach in
the sunshine. (Of course with the British weather I always take a coat anyway).
I’ve always been one of those people with too much curiosity and not enough
“stop that might be dangerous”. I’m fond of high places; trees, cliffs,
climbing frames. Which I’ve recently learn scared my mother half to death when
I was younger!
I also do some crafty
things. A bit of sewing, since I prefer my clothes to fit properly, some
scrapbooking and card making. I took up knitting last Christmas and made some
great prezzies for my family. And I’m also fond of baking, funnily enough, my
housemates are also fond of my baking. With all that it’s a miracle I even have
time for writing! But I don’t do everything all at once.
About Emma Faragher
Born in the UK, Emma grew up with a love of books. She always looked
forwards to her school's weekly trips to the library from the age of 5. Then
progressed to exploring bookshops, before finding Amazon and getting a Kindle.
She started writing night time stories for family friends when they were
on holiday together and never stopped, moving on to writing books aimed at
adults as she became one herself. Her first full novel was started at age 16
and finished age 18. It has yet to see the light of day but ignited further a
passion for writing that could not be denied.
Currently studying at Sheffield University she is the author of the
"Trix SinClara" series. An urban fantasy set in the future and
following a shapeshifter as she is thrust into responsibility she never
imagined she'd have. The first book in the series, THE HOUSE is currently
published and available, with others coming soon.
Emma balances writing with studying and her other hobbies. Always busy
she sometimes finds time to sit and read a book as well. Escaping into other
worlds.
About
THE HOUSE
Shifters are going missing.
Growing magic and rogue vampire turn Trix's life up
side down. Then shifters start to disappear without a trace. Leaving Trix in
charge of the House, where wayward shifters go for comfort and control. But to
help, Trix needs to get control of herself and her magic. Her shifting has
always been natural to her. But her magic is growing and telepathy is not
something easy to deal with. It might just drive her mad, and take everyone
else with her.
The witches won't help and rules are changing. There
is more at stake than any of them realize. The House may just become the centre
of the biggest disaster the supernatural community has ever seen. Can Trix pull
everyone together before it's too late?
Excerpt
Excerpt (Chapter 2)
“What do you
want?” my voice didn’t crack and I managed to slow my heart down to an
acceptable level, yet fear crawled through my insides making them feel like
lead. I was fairly sure what they wanted, unfortunately for us we probably
wouldn’t want to give it to them. Vampyre most often wanted two things, both of
which they could and would take from us. Companionship, and when you’re over
five hundred companionship means more than just a friendly chat, and blood.
They craved blood, needed blood mostly, unless they were very closely tied to
their “master”. They were going to struggle with the latter since I was fairly
sure that shifter blood would do more damage than good, not that we’d be in
much shape to appreciate it by that stage.
“You my sweet,
I, we, want you.” The vampyre in front of me spoke, his voice was clear and
menacing but I’d heard worse. I could probably do worse, just not right at that
moment in time. I was having enough trouble keeping my voice even at all.
“Sorry but
we’re not currently available, have to get home, meet our curfew.” I said
absently, I sounded like I was discussing the weather, because that’s the only
way I could not sound terrified. “So if you’ll kindly step out of the way we’ll
be going now.” I finished and I felt Stripes’ hand in mine, hot and moist with
her pulse strong and fast. It didn’t help me relax and I felt my own pulse
speed in time with hers. It felt like my heart was trying to beat it’s way out
of my chest.
“Oh but there’s
nobody else here for you to go with. Two young women out alone at night, you
should know better.” It seemed the one in front of me was the leader; he was
the oldest and so far the only one to have spoken at all.
“We aren’t
defenceless.” I said, much more confidently than I felt. It was true; we
weren’t defenceless. It just happened our defences would likely do little to
deter them unless we could shred them, or at least a few of them, into pieces.
Which was highly unlikely considering that vampires are almost as fast as we
are.
“I don’t see
anyone here to protect you and there is nowhere in your very, charming, outfit for you to hide a
weapon.” He sneered and I faltered. They had no idea what we were, which made
no sense. I debated telling them, but then again that would take away our
chance of surprising them. Yet, I might hold enough clout to get them to think
twice, at least long enough to get away. I dithered to and fro for a matter of
moments before choosing, I just had to pray it was the right choice.
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