Lauren Halkon has been writing seriously since 1998 and has had over forty short stories and poems published. 'Field of Angels' was her first professional sale. Since then she has gone on to release a dark fantasy novel, Night Seekers, with Cosmos Books, which has garnered many positive reviews, both from readers and fellow writers. Her short story collection, Chrysalis: Stories of Transformation will be released in 2004. Along with her writing, Lauren is also an accomplished digital artist, working under the business name of Lookinglass Works to produce one-off images and cover art for various musicians and publishers. Questions and Answers With which of your works are you most/least satisfied and why? For most satisfied, I think it would have to be my first published novel, Night Seekers, simply for the sheer amount of effort I put into it. It was two years of my life. Heart, mind, body and soul. To finish it, to edit the proofs, to see it finally in print gave me an immense amount of satisfaction. I imagine it's something like sending your grown child out to face the world – there's a certain amount of trepidation involved there as well! As for least satisfied, I think the first two year's output of my work; it certainly takes a while to become proficient at your trade! What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance? My first professional sale was to "Realms of Fantasy", a short story called 'Field of Angels'. I remember I was away from home at the time; I checked my email one day and discovered an email from the editor asking for some details about the story. I didn't even know I'd been accepted and wondered what was going on! I found the acceptance letter waiting for me a few days later and spent several hours bouncing around telling everybody and anybody till they all got roundly sick of me and refused to speak to me for the rest of the week! When did you first decide you wanted to be an author? I don't think there was ever a conscious decision on my part. I've always written, my favourite pastime as a child was writing stories. I seemed to have a deep-seated need to tell stories, be it my own or someone else's. I think there are two stages to writing, and they're somewhat cyclic in nature. There are times when you are telling wholly your own story and it comes from a very deep part of you, and there are others where you're telling for the sheer joy of the telling. It all depends what you have to say, I suppose. Is there anything more than can be done with Wizards, Elves and Dragons? Of course! It's like asking is there anything more that can be done with people! The possibilities are limited only by the imagination. You can put any character in any situation you desire. That said, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with the familiar, sometimes writers try too hard to make their work different and it becomes a jangling, incoherent mishmash with no real meaning. What influences the names of people and places in your work? Things I've read mostly, they tend to stick in my mind and I forget where I've read them. Left alone in there for long enough they usually mutate into something I can use in a story. Bizarrely, sometimes it will work the other way round, I'll think of a name, put it in a story and a few weeks later I'll read that very same word in a book on ancient myths. That happened with Night Seekers on several occasions. You often get synchronous moments like that when you get deep into writing a novel. Do you use myths and ancient religions for inspiration? I do. Very much so. For a long period of time they've formed the nucleus of my reading. I see it as feeding my brain the raw material it needs to produce a work of fiction. I believe every creation has its roots in something that went before, or even in something that is concurrent. Nothing exists solely apart from its past and surroundings. I take what I need from myths, old and new, and make them into something uniquely Halkon! What book are you reading at the moment? I have several books on the go at the moment, which is typical for me. I'm reading Witch's Honour by Jan Siegel, The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett and Symbolic Landscapes by Paul Deveraux. Do you always know a story's ending when you begin writing? Hardly ever, to be honest! Sometimes I have a vague idea of where I want to end up, but for the most part the story writes itself. Maybe I'm some kind of mediumistic fantasy writer, who knows! ;o) I've written five novels and with each one I sat down at the start of every chapter not really knowing what was going to happen, just knowing that it was going to be something so I'd better get on with it! My characters are always so strong they lead me along by the nose and I dutifully follow! Who or what has been a major influence on your writing and why? My life, the people I've met, the books I've read, the movies I've watched, the emotions I've felt, the sadness I've had to deal with. It's all of life thrown into a melting pot and out comes the fiction. What else is there? What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work? That Night Seekers was "recommended as an antidote to all those Tolkien by beginners volumes cluttering up the shelves in high street bookshops". I just wish I could get on the shelves alongside all those volumes! Plug away – what do you have coming out? I have a short story collection entitled Chrysalis: Stories of Transformation, coming out with Prime Books later this year. It contains most of my work from the last four years, including several stories exclusive to this volume. I'm also working on another dark fantasy novel along the lines of Night Seekers – that may take another year to complete at my current work rate! Keep checking back! Many Thanks, Lauren! Relevant Links Lauren Halkon Main Bibliography Lauren Halkon's Website Cosmos Books Prime Books