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Monday, August 10, 2009

Author Interview: Mark Freeman

Mark Freeman is the author of The Kindling of Greenfyr, which I read and reviewed here. Graciously, Mark has agreed to an interview with me! Learn a bit about Mark below and if you have any further questions, you can check out his website or tweet him @greenfyr on Twitter.

Onto the Interview!


Tell me one interesting/quirky fact about yourself (or a few if there's too many to limit to one!).
Hmmm, good question! :) Well, even though I've been writing since high school, I never went to college for writing; I'm educated and trained as a wildlife biologist. I've studied grizzly and black bears, tracked cougars in Arizona, song birds and waterfowl, turtles, and bobcats. I think much of my wildlife work has influenced my writing. It's pretty easy for your imagination, especially when you have an over active one like mine, to run wild when you're alone in the woods for 8 or 10 hours a day. It's funny, I was reading a journal paper on Stellars Jays the other day, the research for which was done in and around Forks, WA, and I immediately thought of Twilight. I think I'm the only biologist alive who laughed when I read that paper and immediately thought of vampires and werewolves.

What inspired the fantasy realm your book is set in?
Again, I think a lot of of it is credited to my field work as a biologist. I first started to imagine Parathas, the world Owen travels to, while working in the Canadian Rockies. Those mountains are amazing and it was easy for me to imagine myself in places like Middle Earth or Narnia. The seeds for the book really started to germinate while I was studying grizzlies in those mountains. That, coupled with my love of the fantasy genre, and I think it just sort of took on a life of its own. I carried Lord of the Rings with me, re-reading it by headlamp in my tent at night, so I credit much of it to Tolkien.

The characters in the book are very different and original. Did you base any of the characters off of people you know personally?
Great question! I have to say, with the exception of two, no. The first is the main protagonist, Owen, and is really an amalgam of me, my four nephews, and really what I envisioned a son of mine - if I had one - would be like. The other character is Boone, who was very much based on a "person" I once knew. I should also say, though, some of the characters are based on many from mythology, theology, or previous fantasy works because of one of the underlying themes of the book. I've always loved and been amazed by the traditions and similarities of so many fantasy books. And even though some of those similarities can be written off with simple explanations, I've always wondered wouldn't it be cool if there was something more or what if? For example, the similarities between characters like Odin, Dumbledore, Merlin, and Gandalf may simply be written off as something as simple as white hair and long beards connote wisdom, but what if there was something more to those characters, or a connection between them?


How many books can we expect in this series and do you have a timeline for when they'll be available to read?
The series is outlined and plotted for 4 books total. The next of which, The Welling of Wisdom, I'm hoping for an early 2010 release.

What types of book do you enjoy yourself?
I am a HUGE YA and Fantasy fan. I do enjoy sci-fi also, as well as other sub genres within the two. I'm currently reading the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins and Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Teeth and Hands. With that said, however, I'll really read anything should it catch my interest.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
WRITE! Write, and keep writing. Find some honest and trust worthy people to read your work and have them really tear it apart and then go back and write it again. Develop thick, very thick, skin and send out your work to every appropriate agent and publisher.

Anything else you'd like to tell your readers?
Yes, thank you for reading and reviewing YA literature! YA and children's literature is finally beginning to gain some respect and becoming more mainstream and it's in no small part due to you!

Thank you Mark for taking the time to answer my questions! :) Don't forget to check out his website and my review of The Kindling of Greenfyr!

23 comments:

  1. Interesting interview! I'm on the list of 1 Arc Tours, so I should be getting his book soon! I can't wait (plus, I think it's cool that he didn't go to college and major in english/writing/etc).

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  2. Great interview, great author, great book!

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  3. Great questions! I loved Suzanne Collins Underland series. He has such an adventurous life that its not surprising that hes a writer. Great interview, you have a wonderful blog.

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  4. How awesome that he wrote a book and didn't study writing! You don't see that a lot. :D

    I am enjoying it! And I only just started, lol.

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  5. My pleasure, Kristen! Thanks again!

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  6. Awesome interview! It was fun reading...and I totally agree with pirate penguin:D

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  7. Oh and @Mark Freeman: plans for future works?

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  8. These are great questions! I love reading about how authors think, and especially how they come up with their characters.

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  9. Future works? Yup, the next three in the Reunification Conspiracy are plotted and outlined. Book 2 is already underway. I had also begun work on another story, an Urban/Supernatural/YA, before GreenFyr was published. It's tentively titled The Last Valkyrie. Currently, quickly, finishing it before picking back up with Book 2 of this series. Thanks for asking! :)

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  10. Awesome interview! i can't wait 2 read he's book. it looks really interesting :P

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  11. The Kindling of Greenfyr sounds awesome! I actually heard of it back when it came out last year, and I remember thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, I missed the deadline for the 1 ARC tour... :(

    paradoxrevealed (at) aim (dot) com

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  12. Great interview! It's always fun to hear how a story comes together. It cool that his wildlife experience was what influenced his work. I love the outdoors!

    Casey
    paranormalfanatic@gmail.com

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  13. Mark Freeman had some great advice - to keep writing. You never know what will happen.

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  14. Mark is an interesting guy, I love that he reads YA sci-fi and is a wildlife biologist! Great interview.

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  15. Nice interview. I like the picture of the author and bird. What kind of bird? LoL on the bit about Stellar Jays and Twilight.

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  16. I can't wait to read The Kindling Of Greenfyr. I love that it is going to be a series too. I just love new series.

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  17. Oo, I want to read this one. Nice interview.

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  18. Amazing interview!
    The worst thing is that we have to wait until 2010 to read the sequel!

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  19. OMG I didn't know that Suzanne Collins has another serie! Gonna research about it now!

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  20. Well that was a great interview!

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  21. Thanks Mark for taking time to answer readers questions =)

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  22. Great interview Kristen and I can't wait to read the book. =]

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  23. Another awesome interview. I love that he got the seeds of the book while working as a biologist. I also loved his response to whether the characters were based on real people. I will have check out this book.

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