Today's interview is with Elena Marie Ball who is a fantasy author from Alaska, and she hand-crafts magical tales, mirroring her own reading preferences, featuring the kind of formidable female protagonists she aspired to be in her youth.

Having dedicated years to writing stories and building original worlds, Elena has now left her mechanical engineering position to focus entirely on her budding writing career.

Her recently released novel "Being Red" is a contemporary fantasy thriller starring a powerful heroine, a werewolf, and lots of magic. Our conversation covered the essential elements of contemporary fantasy, the benefits of a first-person narrative, and her personal growth during her novel's development.

Her cheerful disposition and impressive expertise made her a pleasure to interview; Elena is a talented communicator whose insights are both informative and engaging.

It was fascinating to discover the impetus behind her novel and her powerful reasons for its completion.

In this intriguing interview, I chat with Justin Vaelorin, a network engineer by day and an unexpected universe creator by night.
J.Vaelorin is a gifted creative entrepreneur, and he has channelled his experience with depression into a dark fantasy narrative.

Justin has crafted an intricate, fictional world for his debut novel, titled "Shadow Sword." He calls this paracosm "VaelorinVerse" - which he developed because he wished for a world that made trauma feel 'normal'.

We explore how dark fantasy can serve as an effective 'container' for grief. And we delve into why immersing oneself in dark fantasy fiction can be an uplifting, perhaps even an empowering experience for some readers.

We explore the advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing. We also discover Justin's reasons for choosing a completely independent route into publishing and why he has rejected conventional storytelling methods.

Besides writing epic romantic fantasies, Hannah Baribeau, originally from Astoria, Oregon, but who grew up in Indonesia and now resides in Wisconsin, is a stay-at-home mom to four young boys. Gradiare is her first publication, with plans of many more titles to come, including a suspense thriller! Our conversation focused on techniques for crafting suspense in fantasy, such as cliffhangers and rising action, as well discussing the use of 'spice' in the genre. Additionally, we touched upon her love of George MacDonald fantasy books and her remarkable start as a writer… she began putting books together before she'd learned to read!