Search Results for: freya pickard

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Freya Pickard, an author and poet who has survived cancer. I have written 13 books to date; novels, short story collections and poetry collections. I write mainly in the Fantasy Genre but my poetry is a mixture of Real Life and my Imagination!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
An Ancient Song is the third volume of The Kaerling. This is a Fantasy series set in the world of Nirunen and focuses on twins, Otta and Erl. An Ancient Song is the natural progression from the first two volumes and deals with a very dark side to Otta’s character.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am currently working in the hospitality industry so I don’t really have a writing routine. I literally get to write for about 10 minutes a day when we’re busy. I write long hand in a journal and keep myself sane during the summer months by writing a short story for my Patreon supporters every 2 weeks!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors JRR Tolkien and Tad Williams have both been a huge influence on my life and my creativity. The Lord of the Rings profoundly affected my imagination when I was 8 years old. And Tad Williams’ novels gave me another creative injection in my early 20s.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on Volume Five of The Kaerling. It continues the storylines of both Lored and Tari. (Readers will meet up with Otta and Erl once more in Volume Six!)

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use a mixture of social media sites to promote my books. I like the way Pretty Hot presents my books and Humanmade.net is very good too. Facebook and Twitter are good for lead up to and launch days.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing whatever criticism you get. Always remember that reviews are just one person’s opinion and an opinion isn’t necessarily right. People will always misunderstand your motives. Stick to your guns and be true to yourself. NEVER change your writing to fit in with someone else’s ideas.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s not what happens to you in life that matters, it’s how you deal with what happens to you that counts.

What are you reading now?
I’m re-reading The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

What’s next for you as a writer?
To complete The Kaerling series in a few years time.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Author Websites and Profiles
Freya Pickard Website
Freya Pickard Amazon Profile
Freya Pickard Author Profile Other Bookseller

Freya Pickard’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
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Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a novelist and poet and have written many books, 5 of which are currently published. I love walking, especially beside the sea, and use fresh air and nature as inspiration for my writing.

I also enjoy baking bread and making meals from scratch. I love cooking up casseroles in the winter, and creating interesting quiches and pasties in the summer!

I exercise a lot to stay fit, and also to allow my mind to disengage from writing. Otherwise I overwork myself! Having had cancer in 2014, I know now to pace myself.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is Vintrig’s Kingdom. I have always loved tales where light overcomes darkness and where summer overcomes winter. But when I started planning my Isu Magan series, I didn’t want the triumphs to be too easy. So a lot of plotting went into the series.

Vintrig’s Kingdom is the first in the series. It was published last year and the paperback has just been released.

The interaction of colours inspired many of the themes of this book, particularly the monochrome tones of winter; black, grey and white. I was interested in how the introduction of colour into a monochrome scene would change the picture and how it would change peoples’ attitudes.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Since having had cancer, I have trained myself to write anywhere at anytime. I can write in my journal whilst my soulmate is watching the TV without any loss of concentration. The minimum amount of writing I try to do each day is one haiku, one other short form poem and between 150-200 words of a first draft. Doesn’t matter what’s going on or how I feel, I write, whatever! (Having come face to face with death makes one appreciate being alive, whatever is happening!)

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe are perhaps the two most influential books from my childhood. In my teens Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern series fired my imagination and Tad William’s Sorrow, Memory & Thorn Trilogy taught me so much about writing and the structure of a novel. More recently I have branched out into Bernard Cornwall and Patrick O’Brian novels for the pure enjoyment of the testosterone and adventure and the detail of their research.

What are you working on now?
I am working on several things. I have two collections of short stories that I am finalising as well as the sequel to Vintrig’s Kingdom. I am also putting together two more poetry collections and writing the first draft of a new fantasy series!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my blog at https://dragonscaleclippings.wordpress.com to promote my work and have just started using promotion sites to get the word out there. (Facebook, Twitter and G+ don’t really sell anything at all I’ve discovered). I’m waiting to find out how successful all these promotion sites are now!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new authors would be to read as much as you can and if you like the books you read, leave reviews of them online. Always write from your heart. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t write. Hone your skill. Keep writing. Ask for feedback. Don’t be put off by negative feedback. Keep writing. Keep writing. Keep writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Life is what you make of it.

What are you reading now?
An omnibus collection of all the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan for 2017 is to continue promoting the books I have already published and to get more books out there!

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien. (Although the films are brilliant, the book is still the best way to travel through the story!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Freya Pickard Website
Freya Pickard Amazon Profile

Freya Pickard’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account