unless we are growing and changing within ourselves, our own life/plot might feel totally irrelevant
Author: francesca.r.m.riley
Francesca Riley lives and works in Auckland, on New Zealand’s North Island. The stunning beaches of this beautiful country inspired those of Bannimor.
Immersed is her first young adult series.
Francesca is a writer and artist, who loves mysteries, movies and love. And, yeah…coffee. Her favourite books are old-fashioned murder mysteries, or children’s and YA novels where bravery and passion exist alongside magic in the world we think we know.
Music as the writer’s muse
I know I’m not alone when I look back at my life and hear songs on replay. Just like scents, particular songs carry me back to moments and seasons. It’s a bit like a movie soundtrack, tugging away at my emotions, evoking experiences all over again.
Is ‘faster’ fast enough?
In the world of Indie publishing, writers are writing faster than ever. But how fast is fast enough?
Heroines and Villains: Girl Power
How strong female leads should behave is just a polarising as the books themselves – some hate certain traits that others love. But readers want to see the female characters that essentially carry them or even represent them through each book as strong.
Love and Sea-longing
Longing for something just out of reach is in the heart of most of us. And for many, the magic, the essence of freedom and fulfilment that the sea in all its forms seems to offer is like a siren song, irresistible, even if it is just to gaze out at the horizon and feel that inexplicable heart-yearning for something.
Mermaid Wars
Digital and made-to-order bookshelves are crammed to overflowing with fantasy stories set in a world of sea mythology. Mermaids are more popular then ever, and many authors have merged mermaid mythology with vampires, with sirens, with witches and with Gods and monsters. Not just YA but adult and erotica writers have pitched their best efforts into the fray. I feel like an idiot! And my series, even with its dark aspects and sorrow blended in with the growing love story, is so gentle when compared to the worlds many of my fellow writers have created.
Drawn to Water – Arthur Rackham’s Rhinemaidens
I have often felt as if a pool of ideas floats around the globe, waiting for us to draw on it, and every now and then lucky creatives will reach out with their souls or hearts or minds and pluck an idea from the flow
Beginnings – Mermaid fascination
I’ve carried my fascination for them into the deep waters and complex characters of Immersed.
Authorship and Business – facing the long haul. There is hope!
The thought of all the work ahead in finding a readership makes me quail. Makes my brain heavy. Makes me feel sad, and wish for the halcyon days of writing this book with my eye firmly set on the fantasy of a publisher taking me away from all of this. But I recently found a spark of light.
Do writers observe or experience? Being in the moment
I once read that writers are never truly present in their lives. That they are too busy storing up each moment as material. I thought it was a pretty cynical point of view