Author Interview: S. C. Flynn.

Today on TheTattooedBookGeek  I am very lucky to be interviewing S.C Flynn, author of “Children of the Different”.

Welcome and thank you for agreeing to this interview.

SCF: Thanks for inviting me, Drew!

For the first part of the interview I’d like to ask you about your book and future writing plans.

1-Would you please tell us about your book?

SCF: “Children of the Different” is a Young Adult post-apocalyptic fantasy novel set in Western Australia. The story begins twenty years after a brain disease killed almost the entire world’s population. All the survivors had something special about their brains, and now their children go into a coma at the beginning of adolescence and either emerge damaged or with special powers. The novel follows the Changings and later adventures of two telepathic twins, Narrah (a boy) and Arika (a girl).

2- What made you choose that specific genre and setting to write about?

SCF: I am originally from Western Australia, and the setting offers a huge variety of landscapes and strange creatures to work with. Post-apocalyptic stories are common, but ones with fantasy elements are rare, so it was interesting and challenging to work on something that is not often done.

3-Is the book a standalone or part of a series?

SCF: Standalone, but if there were enough interest, I could make it the beginning of a series.

4-What was your favourite part of writing the book?

SCF: Seeing the female characters develop and interact. There is a long section where Arika and another girl go on a long journey together and rediscover the friendship they had as young children. There is also an older woman who developed into a good character as the story proceeded.

Writing the baddie, the Anteater, as well. I had that character in mind for years, until this novel gave me the chance to bring him out.

It was also satisfying to finally be able to use the “mental shapeshifting” idea.

5-What are you currently working on?

SCF: Right at the moment, I am totally involved in the blog tour and publicity for “Children of the Different” of which this interview is part – it’s a lot of work!

6-Have any authors influenced your work?

SCF: Jennifer Fallon and Guy Gavriel Kay the most, among contemporary fantasy writers.

7-What are your ambitions for your writing career?

SCF: For the foreseeable future: to publish the other three fantasy novels (very different from this one) that I have ready to the same standard (leaving the three earlier experiments safely locked in a draw for ever!) Then – well that depends on what point I will have reached after all that….

OK, so we’ve learned about your book and future plans for writing, now would you please tell us a bit about yourself, so we can find out about the author behind the work.

1-When did you decide to become a writer?

SCF: I have made up and written stories as long as I can remember, but the precise moment that I thought “that’s what I want to do” in a focused sort of a way goes back many years now. That moment changed the whole way I looked at my life, so I remember it very well….

2-Why do you write/What inspired you to become a writer?

SCF: It’s not a new answer to give, but I really think that, if you have it in you, writing is something that you simply have to do.

3-Have you read any good books recently?

SCF: James Tiptree Jr’s collection of stories “Her Smoke Rose Up Forever” and “Beggars in Spain” by Nancy Kress have been my favourites in the last few months.

4-What are your top three favourite books of all time?

SCF: “The Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin, “Soldier of the Mist” by Gene Wolfe and “Hyperion” by Dan Simmons.

5-How can readers discover more about you and you work?

SCF: My site is www.scflynn.com, my Facebook page is S. C. Flynn and I tweet @scyflynn

Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview, it’s greatly appreciated. Before you go, do you have any last words or thoughts for the readers of this interview?

SCF: Firstly, thanks for hosting me here, Drew. Secondly, I have worked hard for a long time with a great professional support team to make “Children of the Different” as good as it can be, and I hope everyone who reads the novel enjoys it. Thirdly, I hope you and your readers will check out some of the other things I am doing on this blog tour!

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Children of the Different:

Book Blurb:

Nineteen years ago, a brain disease known as the Great Madness killed most of the world’s population. The survivors all had something different about their minds. Now, at the start of adolescence, their children enter a trance-like state known as the Changeland and either emerge with special mental powers or as cannibalistic Ferals.

In the great forest of south-western Australia, thirteen year-old Arika and her twin brother Narrah go through the Changeland. They encounter an enemy known as the Anteater who feeds on human life. He exists both in the Changeland and in the outside world, and he wants the twins dead.

After their Changings, the twins have powers that let them fight their enemy and face their destiny on a long journey to an abandoned American military base on the north-west coast of Australia. If they can reach it before time runs out.

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You can find my review !!HERE!!

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Purchase Links:

Amazon UK  /  Amazon US  /  Amazon Australia

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About the Author:

S. C. Flynn was born in a small town in South West Western Australia. He has lived in Europe for a long time; first the United Kingdom, then Italy and currently Ireland, the home of his ancestors. He still speaks English with an Australian accent, and fluent Italian.

He reads everything, revises his writing obsessively and plays jazz. His wife Claudia shares his passions and always encourages him.

S. C. Flynn has written for as long as he can remember and has worked seriously towards becoming a writer for many years. This path included two periods of being represented by professional literary agents, from whom he learnt a lot about writing, but who were unable to get him published.

He responded by deciding to self-publish his post-apocalyptic fantasy novel, Children of the Different and, together with an American support team, aimed for a book as good as those created by the major publishers.

S. C. Flynn blogs on science fiction and fantasy at scflynn.com. He is on Twitter @scyflynn and on Facebook. Join his email newsletter list here.