Saturday, January 13, 2007
Interview of Jayel Gibson
Hello everyone,
During the holiday season I had the pleasure of interviewing a new Fantasy author. If you are looking for a different style of writing or a new adventure, I would recommend you to check her out. Happy Reading!
Jayel Gibson is the author of the “Ancient Mirrors” fantasy series. Her first book “The Wrekening” has been published and is available at most book stores and now at Far West Books and Gifts at www.booksatfarwest.com. For a new reading experience she is a must to read.
The interview did not turn out as expected. Only one question was asked and this lead to a two hour interview. Jayel’s personality is like her writing, exciting and imaginative.
Question: Who was your inspiring author, when you were younger, the one that got you to read?
Jayel: I started out reading Nancy Drew books. They were written by multiple authors. The first Nancy Drew book I got hooked me. I just loved the female lead, which is why I probably write with a female lead. I was so taken by the characters that I read every book. All I wanted for holidays and birthdays was books. I was in the sixth grade. I still remember to this day that before that, I liked books but I paid more attention to the pictures than the stories. When I started to read fantasy, I started with Anne McCaffrey, with the Dragonriders of Pern. I went on to Piers Anthony and advanced to C J Cherryh. C J is one of my favorite authors. It is surprising how many people think C J is a man. I have just reread the “Paladin” not long ago. I read them over and over again, and watch them come back into print after they have been off the market for awhile. That’s when you realize they will be there forever. Anne McCaffrey has kept my attention for 30 years. I have just finished reading “Dragons Fire” awhile back when it came out. Another author is Ursula K Le Guin, even though she is more of a science fiction writer, I love her stories. Those are the writers that influenced me. And of course, Tolkien, but not until I was older. Tolkien actually pays tribute to Beowulf, which was one of my favorite epic poems. Beowulf was probably what got me interested in old English. Tolkien ties so closely with Celtic mythology with great intent. I don’t think any fantasy reader can look at Tolkien and not respect him for what he did. He created an entire universe and languages. Even though he didn’t invent elves, orcs, and Halflings, he came up with a very believable and engaging story. I believe all fantasy writers were influenced by Tolkien. He asserted himself, as an author, he kept his work the way he wanted it, and that is very inspiring.
I love it (imagination). I even have a reluctance to share the character portraits that I have on my web site because of that. So far I have been very lucky. People read my books and say “That is just the way I saw that person!” I owe that to my artist Michele-lee Phelan. The character portraits are actually drawn and painted during my creative process, when I am writing the story. They come to me and I hang them on the wall. I use them while I write. The imagination is a wonderful thing. Every reader perceives a story differently. That is probably the most rewarding thing about reviews. I can read two or three different reviews and it is like they were all reading different books. My publicist sent me a review to read and it was like did you read the same book I wrote. Then another one came in and it was like they were inside my head when I was writing it. So it is interesting to see how readers perceive the work. What an author perceives is not always what the reader.
I am currently reading her next book "Dragon Queen", will let you know what I think when I am done!
Catherine
During the holiday season I had the pleasure of interviewing a new Fantasy author. If you are looking for a different style of writing or a new adventure, I would recommend you to check her out. Happy Reading!
Jayel Gibson is the author of the “Ancient Mirrors” fantasy series. Her first book “The Wrekening” has been published and is available at most book stores and now at Far West Books and Gifts at www.booksatfarwest.com. For a new reading experience she is a must to read.
The interview did not turn out as expected. Only one question was asked and this lead to a two hour interview. Jayel’s personality is like her writing, exciting and imaginative.
Question: Who was your inspiring author, when you were younger, the one that got you to read?
Jayel: I started out reading Nancy Drew books. They were written by multiple authors. The first Nancy Drew book I got hooked me. I just loved the female lead, which is why I probably write with a female lead. I was so taken by the characters that I read every book. All I wanted for holidays and birthdays was books. I was in the sixth grade. I still remember to this day that before that, I liked books but I paid more attention to the pictures than the stories. When I started to read fantasy, I started with Anne McCaffrey, with the Dragonriders of Pern. I went on to Piers Anthony and advanced to C J Cherryh. C J is one of my favorite authors. It is surprising how many people think C J is a man. I have just reread the “Paladin” not long ago. I read them over and over again, and watch them come back into print after they have been off the market for awhile. That’s when you realize they will be there forever. Anne McCaffrey has kept my attention for 30 years. I have just finished reading “Dragons Fire” awhile back when it came out. Another author is Ursula K Le Guin, even though she is more of a science fiction writer, I love her stories. Those are the writers that influenced me. And of course, Tolkien, but not until I was older. Tolkien actually pays tribute to Beowulf, which was one of my favorite epic poems. Beowulf was probably what got me interested in old English. Tolkien ties so closely with Celtic mythology with great intent. I don’t think any fantasy reader can look at Tolkien and not respect him for what he did. He created an entire universe and languages. Even though he didn’t invent elves, orcs, and Halflings, he came up with a very believable and engaging story. I believe all fantasy writers were influenced by Tolkien. He asserted himself, as an author, he kept his work the way he wanted it, and that is very inspiring.
I love it (imagination). I even have a reluctance to share the character portraits that I have on my web site because of that. So far I have been very lucky. People read my books and say “That is just the way I saw that person!” I owe that to my artist Michele-lee Phelan. The character portraits are actually drawn and painted during my creative process, when I am writing the story. They come to me and I hang them on the wall. I use them while I write. The imagination is a wonderful thing. Every reader perceives a story differently. That is probably the most rewarding thing about reviews. I can read two or three different reviews and it is like they were all reading different books. My publicist sent me a review to read and it was like did you read the same book I wrote. Then another one came in and it was like they were inside my head when I was writing it. So it is interesting to see how readers perceive the work. What an author perceives is not always what the reader.
I am currently reading her next book "Dragon Queen", will let you know what I think when I am done!
Catherine
Labels: Jayel Gibson-interview
# posted by Far West @ 3:59 PM 
