Emma Austen
Genre:
Epic Fantasy
Home Town:
Ridgecrest, CA (small town on the way to Death Valley)
Home on the Web
Official website: http://www.xaviermosaic.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/XavierMosaic
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/XavierMosaicOfficial
Past Material:
The Xavier Mosaic: Prince Asyrias
Current Project:
The Xavier Mosaic: Princess Siria
Places Where Books are Available for Purchases:
- Amazon.com
- Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/The-Xavier-Mosaic-Prince-Asyrias/dp/146811526X/
- Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082560MC
- Wherever books are sold
Interview questions
How did you get your start in writing?
I’ve wanted to write ever since I was little, though I’m not sure why. I always read piles and piles of books, and I just had this feeling that I wanted to contribute to a stack. Once a story did come to me, it was about six years of thankless toil before my novel could finally be published.
Who are your biggest influences?
Anne Rice and John Gardner (his Grendel, in particular) really changed the way I look at writing. They were able to capture an astonishing array of complex emotions in their works, which is no small task. I try my best to accomplish something similar.
What is your biggest inspiration when creating?
Once I find a character to really fall in love with, their story alone is exciting enough to keep me going. I make it my mission to introduce them to my audience so well that the readers love/hate/admire them as much as I do.
Could you give us the details of your current project?
I’ve just published the first of The Xavier Mosaic trilogy, Prince Asyrias. The entire story is about a royal family cursed by their ancestor, Fabian Xavier, who sold his soul and the soul of all of his descendants in order to found his own kingdom. Each installment of the tale is based loosely on a different fairytale – Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Rapunzel – and gets progressively darker with each book. Prince Asyrias is the only one with what might be called a “happily ever after.” Some have told me that the storytelling method I use is somewhat unusual, jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint, but it’s rewarding overall. Prince Asyrias is available through Amazon and wherever books are sold, while Princess Siria is already around 75% completed. You can read an excerpt on my website:
http://xaviermosaic.weebly.com/princess-siria.html
What is the next goal you would like to achieve with your writing?
After finishing the trilogy, I want to try my hand at other genres. I have a natural affinity for fantasy, but after reading a few Sherlock Holmes books, I wouldn’t mind learning the tricks of a good mystery writer. I’ll probably have to find a new penname for that, though.
Final four (questions we ask all interviewees)
When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Well, if I had no prior knowledge of the coming apocalypse, I would probably be where I usually am—locked up in a dark room, watching playthroughs of Silent Hill while the light of a computer bores a hole in my brain. With some warning though, I’d prefer to be locked up in an toolshed recently abandoned by a man with a strange obsession with storing loaded guns. No reason.
Jedi, Ninja, vampire, were-wolf, pirate, fairy or Spartan?
Favorite of the bunch? Classic, bloodthirsty vampire, absolutely. I have this odd idea that it would actually be the fairy that would win in a fight. It’s too small to attack, and it can drug everyone with toxic dust.
What one piece of art, be it music, book, film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
If it were up to me, everyone would be familiar with Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Not only is it a stunning example of wit, horror, and literary brilliance, it actually teaches valuable lessons about life, particularly mortality. I won’t tell what lessons those might be, though. I suppose you’ll have to read it.
Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
I used to be a belly dancer. I was in a troupe and everything: Nebula Tribal, it was called. No joke—I even have pictures.
