Interview with YA fantasy author Talena Winters

Young adult fantasy author Talena Winters is here today chatting with me about her new epic historical fantasy, The Undine’s Tear (Rise of the Grigori Book 1).

During her virtual book tour, Talena will be awarding a hardback copy of The Undine’s Tear (Rise of the Grigori Book 1) and also The Sphinx’s Heart (Rise of the Grigori Book 2) to a randomly drawn winner (International giveaway). To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Talena Winters is addicted to stories, tea, chocolate, yarn, and silver linings. She writes page-turning fiction for teens and adults in multiple genres, coaches other writers, has written several award-winning songs, and designs knitting patterns under her label My Secret Wish. Master of the ironic GIF response. She currently resides on an acreage in the Peace Country of northern Alberta, Canada, with her husband, three surviving boys, two dogs, and an assortment of farm cats. She would love to be a mermaid when she grows up.

Welcome, Talena. Please tell us about your current release.
The Undine’s Tear is the first action-packed book in the young adult epic historical fantasy series Rise of the Grigori.

It’s about a powerful undine (pronounced un-DEEN) healer, aka a mermaid mage, name Calandra, who has been raised to save her people by restoring the Heartstone that protects them from being noticed (and preyed upon) by humans. Unfortunately, all the powerful healers in their history have gone insane with disastrous consequences, so she’s terrified she’ll go Mad and kill the very people she’s trying to save. It’s set in 1799, and her brother—who is the first undine male to be born in three millennia, though no one knows why—has been raised in England, unbeknownst to her. The story is about them overcoming their personal fears and demons so they can fulfill their purpose, all against a backdrop of some intense social issues.

Besides a unique take on mer-folk, the series also incorporates sphinx and dragon celestials, cosmos-ending stakes, elemental magic, ancient cultures such as Greece and Sumeria, and, of course, a bit of romance. (It’s YA, after all.)

What inspired you to write this book?
I fell in love with mermaids at the age of six and never grew out of it. In 2010, I was watching the Australian young adult mermaid show H2O: Just Add Water, and wondered “what happened to all the mermen? Why do you never hear about them?” That question was the seed of the idea that became my current series, and is also the reason I decided to learn to write fiction. (Though I wrote a few other books before I got around to this series.)

 

Excerpt from The Undine’s Tear:
“You are wondering how to gain control of your powers,” Damon said without preamble.

Calandra thought about ignoring him or denying it, but what was the point? This was nothing more than a dream, and the slippery logic of dreams fuzzed her will to keep her more rebellious thoughts to herself.

“You know, I shouldn’t even be talking to you. An Unredeemed male. I could get in big trouble.”

The corners of his mouth curved under his trim goatee.

“And who will report you?” He indicated the blackness around them. “Certainly not I. I exist only in your mind.”

She crossed her arms and cocked her head, studying him. “Have you ever been Redeemed?”

His expression became stony. “Redemption is for humans.”

“Redemption is for men. To make them safe. It just happens that the only men are human.”

Thinking of Osaze’s dread, she wondered again at the morality of it. Uncrossing her arms, she shifted her gaze from Damon’s face to his bronze chest.

“And one of them is my friend.”

“All humans should be controlled,” he replied nonchalantly, drawing nearer. “They have not the patience nor discipline to control themselves. And I am not human, yet I am male.”

She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. “I can see that. What are you? I’ve never seen an undine with golden eyes.”

He smiled knowingly. “Not human. But I could be your friend.”

That same feeling of security and warmth from their first encounter enveloped her, as though he were projecting it from himself intentionally. She frowned, wanting to accept it and shake off her heavy heart, but not daring to trust him yet.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to help you.”

Damon came near enough to touch her but didn’t, pausing before her with his arms to the sides in a placating gesture.

She wrapped her arms around herself and glared into the blackness beyond him. “Yeah, well, you can’t. Not unless you can tell me how to control powers that could sink an island and heal the Heartstone without going Mad.”

“Little lark,” he said, amusement dripping from his voice like honey from a spoon, “that is exactly what I intend to do.”

 

What exciting story are you working on next?
After publishing the second book in the Rise of the Grigori series last November, The Sphinx’s Heart, which is even more action packed than the first (and twice as long), I decided to take a break from these very intricately plotted books and write the first three books of a sweet romance series set in an analog of my hometown in northern Alberta. I’m two days away from finishing the first draft of book one, Every Star that Shines, which will be coming out this summer. (https://www.talenawinters.com/every-star). I’ll be turning my attention back to Rise of the Grigori Book 3 in 2023.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
This is a tough one. I went to college for music with the intention of becoming a professional songwriter. While there, I co-wrote most of the first draft of a full-length musical, which my co-writer and I finished long-distance over the next decade. During that decade, I also started blogging and designing knitting patterns. It wasn’t until I got the idea for this series that I even thought I could write fiction, but I’d already been a “writer” of some sort for most of my life. (I did write fiction as a kid, but never wanted it to become my career until much later.)

It was after my first book, The Friday Night Date Dress was published in 2015 that I really went all-in on wanting to be a fiction writer when I grew up (and I was already nearly 38 years old!). The next year, I also got a job writing for a promotional magazine, which I did for four years. I now do developmental editing and have published seven titles, five of which are novels or novellas.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I now edit and write full time, which I started doing in 2020, when I finally “retired” from teaching piano a few years earlier than I planned, thanks to the pandemic. I have sixteen hours a week scheduled to write fiction— four hours in the morning from Tuesday to Saturday—and the rest of my 50+-hour week goes to editing, admin, and marketing. I still design knitwear patterns, but I consider that my “hobby business” to support my yarn habit, so any work on that isn’t even counted in my work week and is done on the weekends. I’m trying to recover from my workaholic ways, especially after burning out in 2021, but I suspect it will be a lifelong struggle to find the balance, because working gives me joy, no matter what the task.

I work from home, so family suppers are a priority. Now that my boys are older, they and my husband each take a turn for one meal a week, but I handle the rest. And the weekends are family and down time, and time to refill my creative well. This has been especially important during burnout recovery.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Hmm. Not sure I have a writing quirk? Except that I consume copious amounts of hot, caffeinated beverages while writing… but most writers do, so that’s not all that “quirky”.

Unless you count my lack of ability to stick to a single genre, lol. Besides sweet romance, I’ve also written romantic women’s fiction, and I have an awesome action-adventure sci-fi short story I’d like to turn into a series someday. And I have ideas for stories in at least three other genres already…

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A mermaid. Or a ballerina, lol.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thanks so much for your support! Readers are the best. Without you, I’d just be talking to myself. Seriously, thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback over the years. You’re the reason I decided that if I couldn’t be a mermaid when I grew up, being a writer was the next best thing.

Anyone who signs up to my newsletter gets the prequel novella to the Rise of the Grigori series for free. The Waterboy is the origin story of Zale, Calandra’s brother, and how he discovers his powers for the first time. (Sign up on my website.)

Links:
Website | Books2Read | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads | Bookbub

Thanks for being here today, Talena.

a Rafflecopter giveaway