Interview with Marie Harbon

Welcome to Jagged Edge!

Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a UK fantasy/science fiction/paranormal writer, who loved writing stories while at school, went to the university of life and then went to academic university to study sport. I’ve worked in the retail industry, taught sport full time for a few years and instructed children in dance. Now, I flit between teaching, writing and my other interests. I’m a self confessed fabric geek too.

What inspired you to write?

I always had stories floating around in my head and tend to live very much in my own imagination. Sometimes the teacher would read my stories out to the class. I turned a school essay into a novella about my class being stranded on an island, maybe a bit of a precursor to ‘Lost’! They stole my idea!

What authors influenced you as a writer?

It’s difficult to say, as my influences stem from both books and film. I’ve always enjoyed ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’, as I love the idea of other planets and alternate worlds, or realities. I also love the film ‘Contact’ with Jodie Foster, and there are some subtle tributes to it in there. Books wise, I guess the Narnia books were an early influence and as I moved through my teens, I loved Stephen King’s books too.

What is your favorite Quote? Why is it your favorite?

The last one I posted on Twitter was ‘Write for the people that love your books, not the ones who don’t’. I think it was John Locke (not the guy from ‘Lost!’). It’s so important to understand that you can’t please everyone. Do what you do best, for those that appreciate it because you’ll never satisfy the ones who don’t, and you risk losing yourself. I also like ‘I dream of a better world.. where chickens can cross roads without having their motives questioned’. Just because it’s random!

If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world, which would it be?

Aside from my own books and the fantastical worlds I created, it would have to be Narnia, post snow!

What is at least one thing that every writer needs to have or do?

A great book! There needs to be an original idea, with plenty of human interest as people can relate to that. Plus, friends that give honest opinions.

Are your books different to your personal favorite books by other authors?

I guess they are, mainly as they draw together a few genres that I really enjoy. As well as the science and the fantasy, I inject a little spirituality and all the things that interest me.

What lead you to writing in this genre?

The opportunity to let my imagination go wild and create some fantastical worlds, plus the ability to draw from science too. I’m a physics geek at heart and love how it can explain spiritual things.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Generally watching it all come alive, right from the framework I sketch out at the beginning, through envisioning the storyline and dialogue, to layering in the detail such as how the characters interact and the setting.

Least favorite part of the writing process?

It’s always the bit at the end, checking through the final proof. It’s necessary but not very creative, more about dotting the i and crossing the t.

What are you currently working on?

I have some of ‘Seven Point Eight: The Second Chronicle’ laid down as a first draft and I’m delighted with what I have so far. It certainly has a faster pace and darker feel than ‘The First Chronicle’. It picks up where the first book leaves off, and does so with a vengeance. I also have some short stories brewing, which may become scripts too. There’s also the screenplay of ‘Seven Point Eight’ to work on, as I’ve made contact with a few film/TV producers.

Where readers can find you?

You can check out the first chapter and a collection of reviews of ‘Seven Point Eight’ on my website, at www.marieharbon.com. I also have an Amazon Author Central page too.

LAST QUESTION:

Was their a question you wish I would have asked but didn't?

Here’s an overview of my book…..

It’s the first in a five part journey about life, the universe and everything! Drawing together the genres of science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal, we travel together from the 1940s, through the 50s and 60s to modern day, following the lives of five principal characters. Sprawling locations, different character perspectives, electromagnetic fields, measuring the soul, psychic powers and their explanation plus consciousness projection into other worlds all immersed in, as one blogger summed it up, a ‘sci-fi soap opera… that may remind you at various times of Sliders, Avatar, Flatliners, X-Men and Star Trek… all wrapped up in a research saga’! There’s geeky science in there twinned with spirituality, seeking to ask the age old questions – Is there a God? What is the purpose of the universe? It’s a very ambitious project!