Why don’t we start off with
you telling us a little about yourself.
Thanks for having me! I SO appreciate bloggers for the good
work you do to help authors get the word out about their books, and you’ve been
especially kind to me. Thank you!
So, I’m a YA author with a now complete (hooray!) series of
dystopian/post-apocalyptic books. The Brilliant Darkness series begins with The
Scourge, a 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist, and includes
The
Defiance and the just-released The Fire Sisters. There are also two
novellas in the series. The series features a blind girl who believes she’s mysteriously
protected from flesh-eating creatures called the Scourge, but she hasn’t been
tested—until now.
I’m also a psychologist, which makes my workweek an
interesting mix of fantasy and heart-wrenching reality.
What is
your favorite comment from a fan that really lifted your spirits?
I LOVE my readers, and I have such nice ones. They are incredibly
supportive. One comment that has always stuck in my brain came very early after
I first published The Scourge in
January 2012. I was not planning to self-publish, but at the time I couldn’t
interest an agent in my writing. I thought no one would buy or read my book.
A woman, an early reader, said she was so engrossed in The Scourge that she read while trying
to do her housework, and while changing her baby’s diaper. I was thrilled that
the initial response was that the book was hard to put down. I see that as a
primary goal for an author: to make you lose sleep, because you can’t stop
reading : ) Consider that fair warning! You can see her actual comment here,
third one down on the left:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Scourge-ebook/dp/B0073O59OI
How did
you come up with such a great idea for a story?
I initially came up with the idea of people trying to
survive in a post-apocalyptic world full of swamps. I figured they’d move up
into the trees. But, what if half the people moved up and wouldn’t share with
the other half? That’s how the two main groups in The Scourge, the Lofties and Groundlings, were born. (The swamp
idea kind of fell away, although water is very important to the story.)
Then, I thought, what if the main character, a Groundling,
was blind? And THEN, I thought, and what if there were zombie-like creatures
that only she was protected from, due to her blindness??? And that was it.
Fennel and the Scourge were born.
Your
characters have a ways of getting themselves into so many bad situations and
some causes problems for those around them. Which character(s) gave you the
most problems when trying to write their story?
Hmm, I’m not sure any of them gave me problems. I LOVE
creating characters. They usually just jump into my head fully formed!
Who was
your favorite character to write?
I’m attached to my two mains, Fennel and Peree. It was so
fun to build their relationship from scratch. But the most fun to write was Moray.
He’s a bad guy, really, but he has heroic, good guy moments. I really tried
hard to write him so that you couldn’t classify him, so he wouldn’t be black
and white. I hope I succeeded right through The
Fire Sisters.
Do you
feel there will be a spin-off or prequel in the future?
Hmm, this is it for NOW. Funny you should mention a
spin-off, though. I did try to leave the ending somewhat open for a few
characters, and there are many more questions about the world of the Scourge…
What are
you working on now? Has a new story started to bring itself to life?
Thanks for asking! I’m writing a YA time travel short story
right now for an indie anthology that will release in March. I met a group of
women writers here in Denver who all write YA and are mostly indies. We have
done a few writing retreats together, and at the last one someone said, “Why
don’t we publish a short story anthology?” So, Tick Tock: Seven Tales of Time came to be! It’s so much fun to
write a new character in a new world. I could totally see this leading to its
own series down the road…
I’m also revising a novel I wrote last year that is YA
speculative fiction. It will be a duology, if all goes as planned.
Book &
Author Details:
The Fire Sisters by A.G. Henley
(Brilliant Darkness #3)
Publication date: September 25th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
(Brilliant Darkness #3)
Publication date: September 25th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Fennel and
Peree are finally where they’ve worked ceaselessly to be: together and safe
from the Scourge in the protected village of Koolkuna. But on the day of their
partnering ceremony the children of the village are stolen away—Fenn’s loyal
companion, Kora, among them.
Fenn wants
to bring the children home, especially as the villagers seem to blame Peree and
her for the tragedy. Only since the death of her own family, she’s terrified
that a wrong move on her part will lead to the loss of others she loves.
Despite
her apprehension, Fenn and Peree join a small search party led by rival Kaiya,
the one person who stands a chance of finding the children thanks to her
mysterious past. As they travel away from the safe waters of Koolkuna and into
the Scourge-infested wilds, Fenn endures Kai’s scorn, her subtle designs on
Peree, and the squabbling of the group. But nothing in her life so far has
prepared her for the fierce warrior women who will steal others’ children to
preserve their own existence—the Fire Sisters.
If Fenn is
to survive the threat of the Scourge, rescue the children from the Sisters, and
have a hope of making a life with Peree in Koolkuna, she must face her fear of
failure and loss and become the leader she’s destined to be.
Read THE
FIRE SISTERS, the thrilling conclusion to the bestselling young adult fantasy
Brilliant Darkness series! There are three novels and two short stories in the
series. The first novel, The Scourge, was a finalist for the 2013 Next
Generation Indie Book Award.
RECOMMENDED
SERIES READING ORDER:
The Scourge
The Keeper (novella)
The Defiance
The Gatherer (novella)
The Fire Sisters
The Scourge
The Keeper (novella)
The Defiance
The Gatherer (novella)
The Fire Sisters
Purchase:
AUTHOR
BIO:
A.G. Henley is the author of the BRILLIANT DARKNESS
series. The first novel in the series, THE SCOURGE, was a finalist for the
2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award.
A.G. is also a clinical psychologist, which means people either tell her their life stories on airplanes, or avoid her at parties when they've had too much to drink. Neither of which she minds. When she's not writing fiction or shrinking heads, she can be found herding her children and their scruffy dog, Guapo, to various activities while trying to remember whatever she's inevitably forgotten to tell her husband. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
A.G. is also a clinical psychologist, which means people either tell her their life stories on airplanes, or avoid her at parties when they've had too much to drink. Neither of which she minds. When she's not writing fiction or shrinking heads, she can be found herding her children and their scruffy dog, Guapo, to various activities while trying to remember whatever she's inevitably forgotten to tell her husband. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Author Links:
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