Friday, September 30, 2022

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Blue Flame By Alison Levy

 An Interview with

Alison Levy

    

  1. Can you tell us a little about how you started writing and what led you to this book series now?

I wrote a story for an English assignment in 6th grade, a time in my life when my anxiety was particularly bad.  My English teacher, Mrs. Webb, pulled me aside to praise my story and tell me what a good writer I was.  It gave me a desperately needed shot of confidence.  I’ve been writing ever since.

I’ve actually been trying for years to write this story the way I imagined it.  I started and discarded two previous versions that I just wasn’t feeling.  This time, I think I got it right!

  1. How has writing impacted your life and your struggles with anxiety?

Living with anxiety, for me, is like having a tiger in the house: the tone of my day is dependent on the tiger’s mood.  If the tiger is active, everything I do revolves around it; I can still get things done but if I do the wrong thing, it bites, and then I’m incapacited.  Some days the tiger sleeps or wanders out of the room, but I’m always conscious of its presence and waiting for it to strike.  Writing is hugely therapeutic for me.  When I write, I can tune out the real world and dive into my creation.  When my mind is fully engaged in creating, the tiger disappears.


  1. What was the process of creating the world that your characters live in? Where did this story start?

This story started with my main character, Rachel Wilde.  Rachel sometimes feels like the embodiment of an anxiety-free me; she’s brazen, resilient, sharp-tongued, and hard-headed.  Throwing her into a difficult situation that would turn me into a pile of jelly and imagining her working through it is very empowering for me.


  1. Your undergrad education was in anthropology — how did that influence your writing?

Anthropology teaches that we as human beings are products of the society we live in.  Our day to day activities are not a universal experience; what is normal and mundane to us is exotic or bizarre to others depending on where we come from.  I love inventing new cultures that are exotic and bizarre to the reader but normal and mundane to my characters. 

 

  1. What did you do differently in your writing process of Book 2 and what do you hope readers take away from this book?

One comment I got on my first book was that the villain lacked complexity (I did this intentionally but it’s a totally fair criticism).  I took that into account for this book and tried to give the antagonist more depth.  This time around, I crafted a character who does horrible things because of an immense amount of societal pressure; he wouldn’t necessarily choose to inflict harm on others but in this circumstance, his culture inflicts negative social consequences on him and his loved ones if he fails to do so.  I enjoy creating and writing about different cultures so this felt like a natural evolution of my world building.  As always, I hope readers take away an appreciation for the many ways in which culture and society affect our lives and our personalities.  For this book in particular, I hope readers come away wanting more!


  1. What is next for the Daemon Collecting Series?

Just finished the first draft of Book 3 and I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone!  Coming up in the series, expect to learn more about the history of the Arcana and why it has been interwoven with our dimension for thousands of years.  Expect to see the hidden terrorist group stepping into the light.  Expect to see Simon and Leda connect with lost relatives and find themselves in a dangerous situation.  Expect to see Bach struggle with his abilities and have an encounter with another oracle that turns his life upside down. 

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