Author Interview: Skhye Moncrief

Current Read: Scandalous by Night by Barbara Pierce

Please welcome today's Word Wizard, Skhye Moncrief!

Thank you, Skhye for being here.When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

I started reading at 4. I loved books. I remember writing as a child and then writing a lot during junior high and high school. But I didn't pick up the torch again until I was in graduate school. A friend was writing a novel and asked me to read it. I did and remembered how I wrote a novel for my journal work in high-school English classes. That's when I became obsessed with writing, again.

I know that feeling! :0) What inspired the idea of He of the Fiery Sword?

Fiery Sword was an idea I had since writing my first Time Guardian tale. I believe it was number 4 in the series. But King Arthur stemmed from "what were dragons" in my kooky oh-everything-was-misinterpreted-in-history-by-the-person-who-witnessed-my-time-travelers story idea. Honestly, that explains the whole story world aside from the gods warring among themselves. The title arose from the same line of thinking. I got my hands on a deck of Brian Froud's Fairy Oracle Tarot deck and liked his card titles/meanings, i.e. HE OF THE FIERY SWORD. But as you know from reading my novel, everything has multiple meanings. So, the title can be a bit misleading. ;)

That is certainly the truth - part of why I enjoyed it! Can you tell us how you researched for this book?

How? Gadz. Must I confess? I knew most hard-core Celtic romance readers were not going to like what I did with my series. Essentially, I disemboweled Celtic legend. But, as I said, I had too much fun twisting what is reported as legend into oops-somebody-got-that-wrong that I couldn't stop. And I used to have a running bibliography. But the list of books and documentaries grew so long that I abandoned the effort after three years of working on these stories. I researched everything from numerology to reading archaeological studies. I am a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to research. So most people would probably wince at the hundreds of books and documentaries I crammed onto my shelves while writing this series. My husband kept asking if I really needed another King Arthur or Viking video... When someone as insane as I finally realizes she has read enough books on astrology, witches, runes, Freemasons, druids, magic, myth, and alchemy aside from history and archaeology reports to write twenty books, I decided to stop buying more research material and just focus on the writing. Of course, this could have just been one of my reasons to collect things... The major epiphany I had with HOTFS was when I signed up for a Medieval Literature course just so I could truly know a fraction of what my Druids would know. That's when I decided to give King Arthur an overhaul. He deals with lust and love just like those medieval romances. He didn't before Medieval Lit. And I had a firm grasp on what King Arthur and his peers knew, had, and did afterward.

What are you working on now?

Now, I mainly work on revising and submitting novels I wrote before baby. I have an idea for a paranormal I wrote a chapter for last year. So, I need to get back to it. At the moment, I have three novels that follow King Arthur's story in edits. And my editor wants another novella for the SONG OF THE MUSES Greek muse series I wrote a story for last December.

Congratulations! It's always great when an editor comes asking. :0) What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

When I'm not writing, I like to shop for incredible deals, sneak chocolate (because I'm not supposed to eat caffeine with my annoying health issue), and I'm working on teaching my daughter to read and do basic math. I'm a bit nutty about education of which carries over into my parenting. LOL

Parenting has a tendency to bring out the nuts in us I think. And your random question: What is your favorite animal and why?

Okay, I'm going with real animals because I studied hard science for an extremely long time in college and tend to be plain-Jane boring. Or I'd say dragons. My favorite animal has always been a horse. Looking back as the student of anthropology, I see my love of the freedom and power reflected in horses. I'm also attracted to their human-induced beauty--the byproduct of breeding. I tend to be drawn to specific breeds (something we can thank humans for instead of Mother Nature). On the flipside, a gal I critiqued with who wielded a few degrees in literature and writing mentioned how females like horses because they had something between their legs... Uh, please don't go Freudian on me here. I'm just into the freedom, power, and beauty of the beast. :) Remember, I'm plain-Jane boring.

Plain-Jane boring isn't how I would describe you! :0) Thank you so much for being here Skhye. This interview was a kick! Skhye writes a blog about reference books which is incredibly interesting. You can check it out here. Also visit Skhye's website here.

We have a signed copy of He of the Fiery Sword up for grabs so share your thoughts with us! The drawing will be on Friday.

Happy Wednesday!