Welcome to my August Author Q&A, and I’m excited to introduce you to N.M. Thorn. After meeting through Instagram, we quickly became friends in the writing community, a place you really need to explore if you are a budding writer.
I’m currently five chapters into The Burns Fire, the first book in Thorn’s Fire Salamander Chronicles, and I can definitely say that it’s a gripping read. Being the creative genius behind my book cover for Sorceress of Truth, I think we can all agree that N.M. Thorn is a very talented lady!
N.M. Thorn is an author of the Fire Salamander Chronicles, Urban Fantasy action-adventure series. Currently, she lives in South Florida with her husband and son. Owner of a digital marketing agency by day and a writer by night, she loves spending her time creating new worlds, paranormal planes of existence and anything that could be described as supernatural.
When she is not busy working with everything digital or exploring fantasy worlds, she spends time with her family, reading, painting or practicing martial arts.
Getting to Know You
What motivated you to become an indie author?
What if I told you I have no answer to this question? Looking back, I don’t know why I started to write, and what motivated me to open a Word document and type in the first word. It was some internal drive that cannot be explained. A burning need to do it, no matter what. It took me a while to publish my first novel. My husband and my friend, who’s a successful indie author, convinced me to publish my first book. Since I’ve never considered the traditional route, indie publishing was the only choice for me.
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
My husband and my son are my biggest supporters, and I enjoy spending time with them. I love art and anything creative. Digital art or hand illustration is something I do for a living and as a hobby. Besides that, I practice a few different styles of martial arts, but I hold a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. The best decision I’ve ever made was to share my love for Martial Arts with my son.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
It is the response from my readers and the communications with them. Answering emails and messages on social media is the favorite part of my day. Knowing that people read my stories and enjoy them makes me incredibly happy. I hope that in the current situation, my books provide at least some escape from reality, allowing my readers to take a break and relax.
The Writing Process
What is your writing process?
I always start with the research. Every book of the Fire Salamander Chronicles starts with either a real historical event or a legend, and until I complete my research, I don’t move forward with the writing. I don’t do a detailed outline. However, before I start writing, I make sure I know where my story is going and how it will end.
My editing never ends, and it begins with the first word I put on the paper. I know it is not recommended to edit while writing the 1st draft, but that is exactly what I do, and it works for me. Once I complete a chapter, I read it over. Once I complete an act of my story, I go back and revisit everything I’ve written so far. Not so much to catch the typos, but to make sure I didn’t leave or introduced any holes and that everything, including the dialog, makes sense. I do catch typos and correct them, too. After the first draft is complete, I put my work through three-four more rounds of editing before I finally format the manuscript.
How do you get inspired to write?
I don’t wait for inspiration, I just sit down and write. Every day. No matter how I feel about it. In most cases, the inspiration comes while I’m writing.
What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Believe in yourself. Give yourself some credit. Trust that you can do anything you put your mind to and don’t let people’s negativity stop you from doing what you love. Read, learn the craft, write, and then keep writing. This is the only way to improve.
Reading
What are your five favorite books, and why?
- Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Actually, any book of The Dresden File series. These books are what made me fall in love with the Urban Fantasy genre in the first place.
- The Witch World by Andre Norton. This was the book that introduced me to the Historical Fantasy Genre. The writing style is absolutely beautiful, and the story keeps you at the edge of your seat all the way to the last page.
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. I would read anything written by this amazing writer, but the The Earthsea Cycle Series is my favorite.
- The Iron King by Maurice Druon. My love for historical fiction started with the Accursed Kings series. It is still one of my favorite series in this genre.
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. Historical fiction action-adventure. Please don’t watch the movie. Read the book. Even in translation, it is an amazing masterpiece.
How do you discover the books you read?
At the moment, I read mostly books written by Indie Authors. Most of them I discover through Instagram, but I do read books recommended by family and friends.
The Fire Salamander Chronicles
When you’re a supernatural weapon of mass destruction, it can be hard to walk in the world of humans, especially when you work for the FBI…
Zane Burns–a.k.a. Gunz–is a Fire Salamander who works for a secret paranormal division of the FBI. After receiving a late-night call from his boss, Zane gets involved into a multiple homicide investigation. Little does he know, he is headed right into a storm of supernatural mayhem powered by dark magical forces.
Chased by supernatural thugs and blackmailed by the Russian mob, soon he becomes entangled in a web of lies and intrigue, making it impossible to tell who is friend and who is foe. Time is running out. The stakes are growing. And if he is to survive, he must push himself and his abilities further than he ever has before.
The Burns Fire – The Fire Salamander Chronicles Book One
What inspired you to write The Fire Salamander Chronicles?
The idea of the Fire Salamander was born while I was working on the character of Kal, the Fire Elemental. I was researching all possible magical beings who could represent the magnificent Fire Elemental and came across Salamanders in medieval lore. That’s how the idea of the Fire Salamander came to life. The character of Gunz (Zane Burns) was introduced in a trilogy that hasn’t been published yet, but the Fire Salamander Chronicles is the spin-off from the trilogy.
Is there going to be a follow up to The Burns Enigma?
Yes. If everything goes as planned, I am planning to release the sixth book of the Fire Salamander Chronicles in September.