We asked and WOW did we get a response! We are very happy to announce the beginning of a new feature here on the PaperBackSwap Blog. We are proud to give a showcase to our Members who are also Authors by sharing some of their work. We will have Author Interviews, Book Reviews and Book Give-Aways of some of our own very talented Members!
We begin this series with an interview with Member and Author H.L. Blake. We hope you enjoy!
Seagirl by H. L. Blake
Cheryl: Thank you Ms. Blake for agreeing to an interview with us for the PBS Blog. I thoroughly enjoyed your book, Seagirl. Where did the idea come from?
Ms. Blake: I have always loved the ocean, even though I haven’t been lucky enough to live near it. My sister had her wedding on a beach in North Carolina, and we stayed in a beach house there for a few days before the ceremony. It was an amazing experience that stayed with me for weeks when I came back to “inlander” civilization. I was looking for a book to recapture the magic feeling of that trip and couldn’t find just the right one. Then I woke up at 4 a.m. with Serena’s story fully formed in my head, wrote the first and last chapter that morning, and filled in the rest in the next few weeks.
Are you as enamored with the sea as Serena?
Oh yes. When Serena’s stream of consciousness talks about her love of the ocean, that is me talking. And some people do give me funny looks when I go on and on about it! I still don’t know why I don’t live there. Someday perhaps.
There is a theme of loss through the book, and all of the main characters seem to deal with their losses in different ways. But returning to the sea is healing for all of them, has there been a place of healing for you?
I think nature in general is healing for me. A quiet stream in the hills of Pennsylvania with nothing else around – the desolation and grandeur of the northern part of the Grand Canyon without all the tourist traps – and of course the rush and wind of the ocean. These places clear all the detritus of the world away and show the earth in its raw, original form, clean, breathtaking, and wild. When I spend time there, my mind is clearer and my soul made calmer by the experience.
This book is referred to as Young Adult fiction with a dash of fantasy, but I believe it is a book that young people and adults will enjoy equally. Did you write it as a book for young adults?
Young Adult fiction is a funny genre. I think when the main character is of that age, publishers and perhaps readers too automatically identify it as young adult fiction. I personally enjoy YA lit and read it extensively, even though I am a few years past that age myself! But I did try to keep the vocabulary and prose to an age appropriate to a main character in her early twenties, so by extension it would likely be comfortable for a reader of that age. Certainly, any age is welcome to read and enjoy it – we can all be YA at heart!
I related to Serena’s struggle with acceptance, both of her mother’s death and coming to terms with herself and her father. I wanted to tell her to take the time she needs to heal. Was there anything you would have liked to say to Serena?
Don’t let people tell you what you need to feel. The pressures from around Serena led her to suppress her emotions unhealthily for years, to the extent that she cut herself off somewhat from others, and it was painful to try to “live” again after all that time. Persons, even well-meaning loved ones, can cause great harm by telling those in pain to get over it. Only the one who has been hurt has the right to say what she is feeling and what she needs to survive and heal in time.
Serena is an artist, using her art as a means to survive. Do you find being creative is as necessary for yourself?
Absolutely. Writing is my lifeline and has been as long as I can remember. When I write, it is like opening a vein onto the page, my whole heart and soul given to the art – certainly it can be raw and painful – but afterwards I have something real and beautiful, and feel that ugliness and pain has been drained away. My poetry is most like that, my prose also to an extent. For me, writing Seagirl was a difficult but ultimately very healing experience.
Serena loves sea creatures as much as she loves the sea. Have you ever seen a mermaid?
*Laughing* I wish I could say I had. I did believe in fairies and unicorns long past the age when one usually gives up such things, and still greatly enjoy escaping into the world of fantasy. Just because they only exist as words on a page does not make such things not real – they are as real as your own inner thoughts, dreams, and imagination. You don’t have to give up dreaming and believing just because you are an “adult”!
Being a long time member of PaperBackSwap, do you find being an author and a member is at odds for you?
I’m not sure what you mean by “at odds” unless you mean that “reading” time takes away from “writing” time. That much is true! I have to force myself, as E. L. Konigsburg says, “to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish!” Sometimes the lure of the freshly arrived paperback in the mail overcomes the desire to give hours of blood, sweat, and tears into finishing a chapter or two of my own next novel. But I suppose I can always claim my reading time as research into the genre…
What is next for you?
I have previously written a science fiction novel for middle grades, which needs some editing before I try and publish it too. I also have a dystopia in the works (what author nowadays does not?) which is going to be very hard to finish, but I know will be my best work yet. My greatest hope is to be published more widely. It is very difficult (impossible) to break into authorship these days. Online- and self-publishing gives starving artists like me an outlet, but the one single item on my bucket list is genuine national publication. Here’s hoping.
Thank you Ms. Blake for this interview!
Ms. Blake has generously offered 2 brand-new autographed copies of her book, Seagirl to members who comment here on the Blog.
Good luck to everyone!
Tags: Authors, Book Recommendations, Book Suggestions, Contests
Nice piece. Congrats on your success.
Never having read anything by this author, I am, of course interested. Always fun to find new reads!
Best of luck! Looks like an interesting read.
Sounds like a great read. I need to put it on my reminder list!
Looks interesting!
Your outlook on being an “adult” and what is expected behavior is the most honest and refreshing outlook I have ever encountered. Your book sounds like it will be an enlightening read.
Sounds like a wonderful book!
Looks interesting!
Until moving to Maine I’ve always lived near the ocean. I miss it terribly. Congrats on the book.
I’m always looking for new authors to read, sounds good!
That sounds great, sign me up!
Thanks for the thoughtful interview. I have remembered times when my emotions sort of ran away with me along for the ride. It’s important to have someone supportive with you. Though they can’t control your feelings any more then you can. They can remind you of what you have vs. what you have lost. You got to get that balance back. I would love to read the book.
I’ve always loved the ocean and have been fortunate enough to live near it for periods of my life. I’m far from being a “Young Adult” but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying books that are written for them.
Clare
Sounds interesting.
Mike
sounds like a real good read i love discovering new authors to read.
Wish I was at the beach right now!
Great author to add to the list. Thanks!
I hope you fulfill your Bucket List. I will look forward to seeing your name published Nationally.
The book sounds very interesting and I love that the author quoted one of my favorite childhood authors E. L. Konigsburg.
I would love to win, but I plan to read this book either way.
I’d love to read the book!
Thanks for a way to meet new authors.
Ohhhh Id love a copy!!!
I am an artist and really relate to going out to nature to reconnect and refuel. This books sounds very interesting! I would love to have a copy for the YA section! Available on amazon?
Congrats and good luck getting your other books finished. I’ve had one in the making for years 😉
Also love scify! Can’t wait to see more.
This sounds like an interesting read!
Thank you for the chance to win!!
Hope I win; thanks for the chance!
I too am a person who loves the ocean and is land bound. I understand the healing after a death the ocean can give you.
Thank you
Just moved to NC from PA. Love the area and the book sounds interesting.
I really like Y.A. books, too, even though I’m 42. Just a kid at heart! The ones I read are usually paranormal, mystery, or historical.
The book sounds very interesting. Congratulations to PBS on 10 years!
This blog is great! I love the ocean, nature, and young adult novels. It makes me want to rush out and get this book. Thank you.
I can agree with Mr. Blake about being enamored with different things and getting weird looks. Also, ANYTHING outside (weather, animals, plants, rocks) has my attention, clears my mind, and brings me peace. I LOVE pulling weeds! See what I mean….you’re looking at me weird aren’t you?? LOL
This book sounds very interesting! I would love to read it!
Sounds like a good story. I put it on my reminder list!
My daughter would like this.
Yes to staying, living, and loving and yes to reading this book…
Sounds good
Being a South Jersey girl who lives less than an hour from the shore, I also have a deep love & fascination for the ocean!!!
The beautiful sound & sight of the waves crashing on the beach, the salty air & water with its healing properties, and the sun
shining on the water are all irresistible to me!! I feel so close to God when I am near His beautiful ocean!! I also love stories about the beach and dolphins and mermaids! I look forward to reading Mr Blake’s book and challenge him to also visit the
mountains, like Shenandoah in West VA. He will definitely find inspiration there for another story!!
Refreshing!
Good luck with the future Sci-Fi book as well – looking forward to perhaps reading it some day. Always enjoy the Sci-Fi’s with a whimsical bent, too serious makes one to have to pay attention, which becomes work (ugh!).
I like the Young Adult genre.
Would love to read this! Thanks!
Sounds like a cool and interesting book…would definitely like to read!!
Looking forward to reading it. 😀
I can relate to the call to be near the water. The ocean or a just gentle stream seem to call to me.
Thanks, Cheryl, for bringing us a glimpse into this story.
Sounds like a good book!
It seems A Nice and interesting book, it would be nice to read it
This sounds like a good book! I love the E.L. Konigsburg quote LOL I will have to try to remember that the next time I have a new book in my hands and still have to get some work done.
Had a family reunion on the outer banks many years ago. NC is beautiful!
I grew up in Newfoundland and miss the ocean terribly! I would love to read this!
I’m always glad to find a new author. I love the ocean and always enjoy a book with a beach/ocean setting; Seagirl sounds like a very interesting read.