Interview: E Cathrine Tobler

As part of my week away from the internet, I am interviewing a couple authors. First up is E Cathrine Tobler, who is a fantastic author with a brand-new release, Rings of Anubis: Gold & Glass, which you need to read right this instant. I’ll let her tell you more about it:

Gold & Glass is out now!

Every Writers favorite question: What is Gold & Glass about?

Once upon a time, in the deserts of Egypt, something remarkable happened. Our Heroine, Eleanor Folley, tries to determine exactly what that something was, even though her family doesn’t want her to pursue it. She is aided by the theft of a ring, a man who seems more beast than gentleman, and strangely, the past that has always haunted her.

What was your favorite part of writing it?

My favorite part was “the end”! Beyond that, I had a great time playing with time travel and putting together lives the way you might a book; scene by scene, your life adds up to an extraordinary story. How would you react if you found yourself confronted by that book? Judged by it?

What was the hardest part?

The hardest part was probably getting into viewpoints that were highly unlike my own. The book deals with shape shifters and ancient gods and an opium addict, and while every person who isn’t US is going to be vastly different inside, I found writing The Other a definite challenge in this case.

I’m totally stealing your soundtrack question. Go.

The first three tracks of my soundtrack would be:

1. Twilight Galaxy, Metric –

2. Silk Pajamas, Thomas Dolby –

3. Howl, Florence and the Machine –

What’s next for you?

Silver & Steam, which wraps up the adventures in Gold & Glass, will be out in August!  I have a handful of short stories that will be out later this year, and next year…I’m not sure I can talk about that yet. 😀

If you could go back in time and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?

I actually wrote my younger self a letter some time ago, which you can find here: http://www.shimmerzine.com/2011/05/04/letter-to-a-young-writer/ And mostly that holds true: stick with it, younger self. Sometimes, you don’t see the path, but it’s there. I promise.

Take two minutes to write about anything at all:

I haven’t felt like writing this week, I even protest this prompt (how dare he! I just finished a new short and a new novella and I am empty, drained, a husk!), though I know the myth (and the sage advice is) “write every day.” Some days, it’s not there. I’m empty of words, but then I’ll sit quietly, or read, or do something else, and the words will start up again. Perhaps it is strange if you’re not a writer to explain this. I’m not sure what kicks the imagination into overdrive, if it’s just something writers naturally do. I don’t write every day, I don’t submit everything I write, but I finish everything I start, even if it’s a good many years later (as with one recent story). I’m thinking now about stories I want to write, stories I want to revise and expand, and I think too about another story involving the crew from Rings of Anubis. I think about deserts and a solitary patch of shade, and who is working within that scant respite from the heat, and what she’s about to find. I can see it–she’s not pleased, but I am.