Interview with Ruth Fox, author of The City of the Silver Light, a YA paranormal novel and International Giveaway!

I'm very excited to introduce this next indie author, Ruth Fox, who wrote the beautiful novella, The City of the Silver Light.

Goodreads Book Description: On a night of frost and ice, she falls from the sky, the beautiful ice-girl Cari, cast out of her world and into ours.

It’s an unusually cold Winter, but 15 year old Jake is more concerned with the ice forming in his dad’s new relationship and the fact that the girl he likes is dating his best friend.

And now his elderly neighbour is acting even weirder than usual. Could things get even more confusing?

Then Jake finds Cari, lost and alone. Who is she? What has she got to do with the sudden frost, and the wondrous silver city that has appeared in the sky? And what does his elderly neighbour, Mrs Henders know about it all?

Jake is determined to find out. But the secrets Cari bears are more dangerous than Jake can ever imagine. And the fate of our entire world – and that of the City of Silver Light – now rest in their hands.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Author Blurb: Ruth has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. Books and writing are her life-- she lives and breathes stories! She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Editing in 2006. This was a wonderful way to improve her skills and was invaluable in developing her writing. Her dream has always been to be a published author and she considers The City of Silver Light to be a wonderful accomplishment. She hopes to have many more books published in the future. 

Author Interview
1. How did you come up with the idea behind your book?

I came up with the idea for The City of Silver Light about 8 years ago. A scene appeared in my imagination – I saw a girl lying in the grass, apparently sleeping. I wondered who this girl was. Where did she come from? What was her story? As I started to explore this, I developed the character of Jake Miles, and as I started to write, I developed her story through his experiences.

2. It was an interesting choice to write in male point of view. Was this difficult? Easy? 
It is difficult to write from the point of view of a younger male. To envisage how Jake might think and act, I thought back to my own teen years. I was lucky enough to grow up with a younger brother, and this provided me with some insight – I tried to think what he would have said, or how he would have reacted, under the circumstances when he was that age. However, the more I wrote, the easier it became – Jake was a strong and well-defined character in my mind, and in the end, his thoughts, speech and responses to situations were clear.

3. Tell us about your other characters-- I loved in particular some of your supporting characters, especially the old, creepy neighbor. Did you have any inspiration for coming up with those? Did any of the characters surprise you? Did you have a favorite? 
When I was very young, we had an old woman living next door to us. Though she was quite friendly, she was also a little unusual – she had dozens of cats and an overgrown garden full of plaster gnomes. She was definitely an inspiration for Mrs Henders!

I always find that my characters surprise me as they tend to take on lives of their own as the story is written. I didn’t expect Keira to be as forceful and bossy as she turned out to be. Daniel, also, became a much more prominent character than I originally intended.

4. What is your favorite YA book of all time, and what is your favorite YA year over the past year? 
It is very hard for me to choose an absolute favourite young adult book! But if I was pressed, I would probably say Northern Lights, the first book in His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (I think this was published as The Golden Compass overseas). I fell in love with fantasy and the idea of other worlds existing beside our own while reading this book.

Over the past year, my favourite pick would probably be When I Was Joe by Keren David.

5. For our aspiring writers, what words of advice do you have for them? 
The best advice I can give to any aspiring writer is to look at the world around you and examine and remember what you see. Everything you experience can become part of the story world. I would also advise you to read as much as you can, because you’re putting yourself in the perspective of the person who will read (and hopefully enjoy) your work. You can learn a lot about your own writing by reading the work of others. 

If you truly enjoy writing, you should do a little bit every day if you can – my favourite part of the day is when I sit down with my laptop and just let my imagination run wild.

6. Can you tell us a little about the sequel? Do you have anything else on the horizon? 
The sequel will show more of the wonderful City of Silver Light – Shar – and how it links to our world. I’m excited to explore the city further and to delve more deeply into the lives of the characters of Jake, Cari, Daniel and Keira. 

As for other works, I certainly have plenty of ideas! I hope to publish many more books in the future. 

Thanks so much for joining us, Ruth! Now sign up to win a copy of her terrific book!

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