Guest Blog: Madeline Courtney

You might remember Madeline Courtney from my last interview with her. Well, since then, she has written another book, and has asked for another interview. I'm excited to bring this fresh young writer to you again. Enjoy!

1. How was writing Firelight different from writing your last book,
The Case of Irene Adler?

Madeline: As you may know, IRENE ADLER takes place in the late eighteen hundreds while FIRELIGHT has a modern day setting. So that's fairly different. The characters are also very different. Jonelle Watson was shy, but angered easily. Alice Rosewood (FIRELIGHT heroine) is a worrier, but also annoyed easily because of her anxiety. Everything is very different and I hope fans of my SUPERNATURAL SHERLOCK HOLMES book 1 will like this.

Kylie: I love your attention to personality traits, in both novels. It makes for memorable characters!

2. Obviously Firelight features fairies, something that has been done
a lot in the fantasy genre. Are your fairies the cute and bubbly kind,
or the dark "careful she bites" kind? (My fingers are crossed for the
latter, but either way it sounds awesome)

M: My fairies or "Fae" as they call themselves in the book are pretty awesome! They do Earth Bound Magick (which is a fancy way of saying Wicca) and it's their job to protect the creatures of the Earth. The Pixies, however, are shrewd fairies, gone evil for power. They feel they should control the world instead of saving it. After all, aren't they doing all the work while humans sit on their asses destroying the planet? There's a lot of Magick and a war is rising in this novel between the Fae and the Pixies.

K: Yesss, evil fairies. Check. LOL, and I prefer the term "Fae" as well. ;)

3. What was the inspiration behind this novel?

M: I went to school with a set of beautiful (if you don't mind me saying) native American twin girls and I knew I wanted to write about twins. And I've always had an obsession with fairies. They sort of merged together one day while I was taking the two hour car ride to KC (read my blog on the subject)

K: It can certainly be surprising to see where we get our inspiration from. Sometimes a novel just wants to be written, and we just have to go with it. Which is kind of awesome.

4. How do you plan to market Firelight?

M: I wanna sell it on Ebook and Amazon (and any other site that will take it for that matter!) But I also want to put it up for free download on my site and on WATTPAD (a lovely writing society).

K: Very cool of you to want to make your book free! I hope it will help bring you more readers :)

5. What can we expect from you next?

M: I have absolutely no idea. FIRELIGHT is taking up all of my brain. Literally, everything I do links back to fairies.

K: That's dedication! I wish I could stick to one project, LOL.

6. What is your advice to fellow writers?

M: READ. WRITE. TWEET. REPEAT.

K: Good advice! I usually get stuck on the "tweet" part, as I think many writers do. Social media can be such a distraction, but it's also a great way to stay in touch with readers and let people in on your progress :) Thanks for letting me interview you again, and good luck with everything! 

}i{

Guest Blog: Madeline Courtney

Madeline Courtney is currently 16 years old, living in Missouri, and self-publishing her first novel, THE CASE OF IRENE ADLER. When she asked me to interview her for my blog, I was more than happy to. I asked her a few questions, and she answered them beautifully. Enjoy:

1. How long have you been writing? 

"I've been writing since I had this school project in the first grade. We all had to write a short story about our favorite animal. Mine was a cat named Mykin. In the end it got run over by a car. It was very sad."

2. What inspired you to start writing? 

"Um... I've always been writing really. I think what inspires me to keep writing is my life. It's pretty terrible and I'm not just saying that because I'm a teenager. I was sexually assaulted and tortured by a family friend from ages 3-13 and I did not have justice. Everything was settling down when my parents decided to move. At my new school I was again sexually assaulted by football players, told to commit suicide, brutally bullied so bad I had to drop and be home-schooled. Now, I am doing homeschooling online at the library and have absolutely no high school experience. Which is why I am moving out next year so I can have a senior year in my home town, Carthage Missouri. Basically to shorten the answer, I write to disappear. To escape reality and FINALLY live a peaceful life."

3. Your book "The Case of Irene Adler" is a retelling of "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Arthur Conan Doyle. How does your book differ from the original? And will Sherlock Holmes be making an appearance? 

"My book is Urban Fantasy. It's much the same as the original, except Irene Adler is a vampire controlled by the evil James Moriarty. John Watson is actually a female Witch Doctor named Jonelle Watson... I can't really say much about Holmes without giving away the ending. Yes, he's in there. Yes, he's super badass vampire killing awesomeness."

4. Do you have any future novels in the works? If so, can you describe them in a nut shell?  

"YES! Obviously this book is the first in a trilogy. The next book is called A STUDY IN MORIARTY which has something to do with THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLE, and then a modern retelling of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, set in the deep south."

5. You're still 16 years old, with your whole life and career ahead of you. Where do you see your writing career taking you in the next 10 years? 

"Honestly, I would just be happy working as a librarian and writing on my down time. Actually, that's my plan. I want to either work at Books-A-Million or a library, and write when I come home. I was debating on giving my novels away for free on Ebook and perhaps also selling them on Amazon, giving people the choice on if they want to buy them or not. Is that good answer?"

YES, those are ALL great answers! It's awesome of Madeline to want to give her books away for free. It shows that to her, writing isn't just a money making scheme, but a true passion and something she is willing to share with the world just because she loves it. Being a sexual assault survivor myself (and Founder of RISE) I sympathize with Madeline and truly hope things get better for her. And I agree - Writing IS a great way to escape, AND a great path to healing! 

 If you want to keep up with Madeline and her work, you can follow her on Twitter HERE. 

Thank you for sharing, Madeline, and good luck with everything! I'll be looking out for your work :) 

Keep Rising, 

Kylie Kerosene. 

}i{