Hey, everybody, welcome to our exclusive interview with KSR Kingworth author of the new fantasy book, “The Secret Speekers and the Search for Selador’s Gate.” She has been very busy these past few months. Aside from promotions for her book, she was also recovering from an illness. Yet in the midst of it all she made time for our interview. A huge thank you goes out to her. I hope you all enjoy our interview and also take the time to check out her book.
NarniaFans: Your book has a remarkable story of how it came to be. Would you care to share it with our readers?
KSR Kingworth: This isn’t easy, but I’ll do my best. In 2001, when my children were 7, 11, and 13, I was in a potentially life-threatening situation. I did all I could to bring them with me out of state so I could be safe and continue to nurture and raise them. In the end I needed to leave alone. I’d been a stay-at-home mother so I grieved for the fact their lives had been turned upside down, including mine. I took comfort that they were with their father, so that helped. We’ve been living nearly 2400 miles apart since then.
To back up a bit, I began Secret Speakers thirteen years ago in our charming little Cape-style home on Main Street, in Richmond, Vermont. It was a non-fiction book that had several revisions over the years. Then, in 2006, at a time when I was incredibly sad about not being able to mother my children day-to-day, one day I asked God, “What can I create out of my life that’s good?”
From the moment I asked that question, I couldn’t stop writing. I knew, as in KNEW, I was supposed to re-write the book. But it was supposed to be a young adult fantasy, not non-fiction. I wrote it for my children with hopes it would bring us together in whatever way God would see fit, and I wrote it as a way to, well, create something good. This book has been a blessing for me because it’s given me purpose when I thought I’d lost everything. More importantly, I’ve seen it bring us closer together, because they each helped me with different aspects of creating it. I believe the most difficult parts of life turn out to be our most beautiful trials, especially when we stay focused on creating something good out of the mucky muck. At least that happened with me.
NF: For the Read it and Rate it Event, did you post each chapter on the internet one at a time or did you put it out all at once?
KSRK: I posted a link for the entire manuscript on my blog and readers were able to download it there. At the time I wondered if I was crazy to do something so unheard of, but in the two years since then I’ve seen it done on a lot of different website platforms from Smashwords to Authonomy.
NF: Did Rawle & Windsor Publishing go to you to publish your book or did you go to them?
KSRK: I’ve got a surprise for you: Rawle & Windsor is my own publishing imprint. I published Secret Speakers independently to stay close to my readers and it’s been well worth it.
NF: Wow! Rawle & Windsor is your own company! Did it cost a lot of money to start your own company?
KSRK: It cost less than $50 to start the company in name only, but we could have bought a car with what we put into printing, promotion, and other costs. Needless to say, we’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal lately.
NF: I’m sure the success of the book has ended up paying off whatever that cost was.
KSRK: Our distributor sends royalty checks three months after sales for any particular month. So, as the book came out in April, I’m just about to be paid for June! Give me another month and I’ll be able to say that yes, we’ve paid off the cost!
NF: The Secret Speakers are one of the most ingenious creations in fantasy (not to mention narrative devices ) I’ve seen in a while. How did you come to discover them?
KSRK: Discover is an appropriate word to use here. One morning at 4:30 a.m. I woke up with a very clear image of a glowing golden orb. As I saw its luminous beauty revolving in the dark of my mind, I saw it and others acting as a narrators of our lives that are eventually downloaded in the Eternal Book of Time. So, I’d say they discovered me, rather than the other way around. Thinking back on that moment makes me smile. It was like seeing one of my newborn children for the first time–a moment you don’t forget, and one filled with wonder at the potential that lies within–and my own responsibility to nourish that potential.
NF: Would you describe these speakers as being like guardian angels?
KSRK: How interesting! I hadn’t thought of them as such, since they have no capacity to protect their charge, but they do suggest another realm from which the Cloven Gravians are all observed and cared about. Without going into much detail, your question touches on something that will emerge in Book Two.
NF: It must have been flattering in the Read it and Rate it event to have such a positive feedback. Did you count on readers saying they liked Secret Speakers better than Twilight or Harry Potter?
KSRK: I was shocked, quite frankly. When the poll was first posted there was no “better than” option for readers. When readers started emailing with requests to put a “better than” option in I was stunned. Then, when the combined results for “equal to or better than” were totaled to 82% and 68% respectively, I didn’t know quite what to say.
NF: While the main character of the story is a woman and you do write it mainly for women, do you
hope men will enjoy Fair’s story as well?
KSRK: I’ve had great feedback from readers of all ages, including men. In fact, on the Read & Rate It poll, voters voted it equally enjoyable for men and women, as well as boys and girls.
NF: Is Fair O’Nelli’s world supposed to be our world in the past or one connected with our own to some degree?
KSRK: Fair O’Nelli’s world of Cloven Grave is connected to our own world, but it remains hidden from view in the Lands of Ice in the chilly northern climes of the planet. One could compare Cloven Grave to Shangrila in Lost Horizon if that helps.
NF: It does! There was something vaguely familiar about the villain, Harrold King. At least he seemed like a figure who may have been around in the Bible and in other history books. What individuals were the inspiration for the villain, Harrold King?
KSRK: Ha! You got it. I spent hours and hours researching the life of Herod Antipus and King Henry VIII. They were both inspirations for Harrold King. Now I have a question for you to think about. Any idea why I chose the name?
NF: I’m assuming it has something to do with a combination of the phonetic similartites between the name “Harold” and “Herod” and the fact that sometimes people named Harold may go by Henry as a nickname.
KSRK: I have a surprise for you! Your guesses were fun to read, but my answer is that Harrold is a synonym for Herald, in the sense of someone who proclaims or announces. Harrold King by no means intends to announce Sauveren’s arrival, but he is certainly a catalyst that leads Sauveren to accomplish his purpose.
NF: One of the things I liked about the opening for the book was the sort of invocation Liver gave, almost like at the beginning of The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Illiad, The Odyssey, or even Milton’s Paradise Lost. Was it your intent to emulate these old epics?
KSRK: Thank you for honoring me with such a compliment. My intent was merely to create scope for the story. Fair’s journey needed to be sandwiched between the Realm of Airen Or so the reader understands what power structure is truly at play. Without such an introduction, or to introduce it later through back story, the work wouldn’t have enough legs to stand on without falling over. As for your allusions to The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Illiad, The Odyssey, or works of Milton, I confess I still live in the world of old musty classics. Perhaps that can’t help but influence my writing–either that, or it reveals what an egghead I am.
NF: Due to the books overwhelming success, will there be a sequel?
KSRK: Yes!
NF: The Press releases for the book said that Library Review compared it to Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Did either CS Lewis or JRR Tolkien influence you as a child or even as an adult?
KSRK: CS Lewis had a great influence on me when I was in high school. I read through the Narnia books curled up on the floor next to my bed. My heart seemed to turn to spiritual things after the death of my father when I was six. Discovering those books and absorbing the allusions to Christ and the many symbolic references to things that mattered to me gave me hope. They also provided the intimate connection of having found a friend of sorts–a gift that inspiring literature provides. I went on to read quite a bit of his other works during those years of my life.
I also read Tolkien’s, The Hobbit and found the world delightful. I’m sad to confess I have not read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Every copy I’ve picked up has had dauntingly small, closely-set type. For some reason it’s nearly impossible to read books in that format because words already swim on the page when I read, so that makes it even more challenging. If anyone knows of an edition that’s easy on the eyes, let me know!
NF: How old where you when you first “discovered” Narnia?
KSRK: I was in high school. I’m not sure how I hadn’t come across them sooner.
NF: Did you have a favorite book in the series? Why was that one your favorite?
KSRK: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was my first moment of discovery and remains clearest in my mind out of the seven books in the series. It’s when my heart beat the hardest, wondering what was going to happen to Lucy and the others once she first put her foot on snow, not wood. The fact it’s my favorite isn’t based on any literary judgment, but on pure sentimentality.
NF: Did you have a favorite character in the series?
KSRK: The easy answer for me would be Aslan, since his character helped me see Christ as a personal friend, not a distant Savior; however, I’d like to add another. I’ve come to appreciate what it means to grow and transform as characters in the story of our own lives, so aside from Aslan, my favorite character is Edmund. He has the greatest potential for transformation, and he’s honest in his struggles!
NF: Any words of advice for aspiring authors out there?
KSRK: We all have a book inside us. I believe if you pay attention to the things you’re passionate about and observe the world around you closely, that the day will come when you simply can not stop yourself from writing whatever that story is. I believe you came with divine potential within you that is taking root and spreading out its branches. Keep living to your highest potential by making wise and compassionate choices, and the light of inspiration will shine on those leave when you are ready to create something good. May God bless you in your aim. Please keep me posted by following me @KareyShane. (I use my real name to stay in touch with my readers, even though I’m KSR Kingworth on the book. 🙂
That’s it for now, dear readers. Thanks again to KSR Kingworth for her time. Be sure to come back next week for our review of the book, and make sure to check out her book for yourself.
