❝All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.❞
The book "Marooners' Rock (Interviews)" is an initiative that features Spotlight Authors every month with some special questions about writing and especially about Neverland!
Our second author spotlight for February is SilviaKrpatova , an ONC shortlisted author! Read on to know more about her and her ONC story "Away with the Fairies"!
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About her: An incurable romantic, who started writing to create worlds into which she can momentarily escape from reality.A bookaholic, who reads anything and everything whenever she have a few free moments. An introvert, more open and talkative in the parallel universe of Wattpad than in real life.
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About "Away with the fairies": My story portrays Hans Christian Andersen as a young, fourteen-years-old boy. It's set in Odense, Denmark, in the late summer of 1818-- soon after Hans' mother, a poor washerwoman, remarried (two years after his father's death) and shortly before he was sent to a school for poor children where he had to support himself. Where he became, to be able to afford his schooling, first a weaver's, then a tailor's apprentice, a singer, an actor and finally, once his excellent soprano voice changed, a writer.
Hans and Louise, his (fictional) step-sister, seek refuge from a summer storm in an old shed. There they meet Rosalind, a lost Flower Fairy. When they decide to help her find not only the way home, but even the Butterfly Fairy boy she loves, and intends to marry, they find themselves in a fantastical world of Terra Sonalis. A land of dreams populated by fairies, goblins, elves, mermaids, talking animals... All those mysterious creatures which fuelled Andersen's imagination for the rest of his life.
Her Favourite Quote: "But... how are we to do... anything, without her magic?" Louise asked shyly.
"She, you all, have much stronger magic than the one contained in that wand. The love filling your pure hearts. That can conquer anything." The owl replied to the girl, then turned her yellow, motionless orbs back to Rosalind.
1. Your story 'Away with the Fairies' made it to the shortlist of Open Novella Contest 2021. What was the inspiration behind it?
Answer:
The Children Fiction's prompt about two children finding a fairy in a garden shed made me think about H. Ch. Andersen's tales. After a little research I thought that I could change the garden shed into a park keepers shed in the town park in Odense, where he lived as young boy. As the prompt asked for two children, I invented Louise, his stepsister, and the story was born.
2. If you could offer a piece of advice to an aspiring author looking to complete the ONC challenge, what would it be?
Answer:
Choose the right prompt. Go with the one that pulls you in the most, regardless of it's genre. I never thought that I would write children's fiction -- I was working on my vampire historical fiction trilogy at the time. But this is the best thing about the ONC, apart from the great, supportive community -- it offers so many amazing prompts to choose from, to mix and match, that we are tempted to leave our comfort zone and try writing a different genre.
3.How did you get to know about Neverland? Was it through popular media?
Answer:
I discovered Neverland through J. M.Berrie's books and many movie adaptations of his story. I had a beautifully illustrated copy of Peter Pan and I can still imagine the picture of the great ship sailing through the sky. It was my favourite; I always wondered how it would feel to be on board.
4.Is the fantastical world of Terra Sonalis inspired from Neverland?
Answer:
Not the world itself, that is inspired by Andersen's work. The dynamics between Hans and Louise are inspired by the relationship between Peter and Wendy. As I wrote the story, one of the movie adaptations of Peter Pan was playing in my mind.
5.Do you have a favourite character from Neverland?
Answer:
I love Peter and Wendy, their struggle with growing up is so relatable. Wendy's brothers are great and so are all Peter's friends. I must admit I like Captain Hook too, the story just wouldn't work without him. I always had mixed feelings about Tinker Bell though.
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If you'd like to read Away with the fairies or know more about the author, you can find her at SilviaKrpatova!
