Over the next few
months I'll be bringing you some different authors and their new
releases here on my blog. Today I'm delighted to welcome L.E.Fred who
is talking about her début YA novel, LUCID.
L. E. Fred is a
perpetual dreamer who writes about worlds both within and without
this realm. With a degree in psychology, she tends to get lost in the
mind, the greatest adventure of all. L. E. Fred is currently
travelling the world, finding more adventures to inspire new tales of
dreams and beyond.
EXTRACT FROM LUCID
I
know that most adventure/fantasy/whatever you would like to call
these-stories, start with something magical, but my story starts with
something ordinary, dreams. I’m talking about the “I’m taking a
test and don’t realize I’m in my underwear” kind of dreams. We
have them every night, whether we remember them or not. Sometimes
they leave us waking up with excitement or inspiration. Sometimes
they cause us to wake with a shriek and to look around our rooms.
Sometimes they leave us waking up confused or ashamed. These
experiences are probably commonplace for most people, but I doubt any
of you could ever say your dreams caused you to stay asleep for a
long period of time.
What
if your dreams made you disappear?
LUCID sounds
intriguing, so I put a few questions to the author:
Q: What inspired the
creation of Lucid?
A: I started writing
Lucid after experiencing my first lucid dream. It’s a very
out-of-body and surreal experience. We’re used to dreaming every
night, but being able to control your actions and fate in the dream
world is almost a magical thing. After figuring out how to wake up
(yes, you have to oftentimes find your way out of the dreams,) I
started pondering the idea of a dream world actually existing, and
before I knew it, I had Devon and the plot for Lucid.
Q: You write from
the P.O.V. of a 15 year-old boy. Is there anyone who shaped Devon’s
character as the protagonist.
A: A wonderful
counsellor-in-training that I worked with actually inspired Devon’s
character. Real-life Devon, who shall be nameless, was one of those
campers that turned into a CIT when he outgrew the camp’s age
groups. I never went to summer camp as a child, so working at one was
a very interesting experience. I got to witness real-life Devon
change from being a happy-go-lucky camper to a miserable CIT. As for
Devon’s personality, that was shaped by my own sense of humour. I
wrote Lucid through Devon’s eyes, and my own commentary sort of
slipped through. It fit his sarcastic nature, though, and rereading
some parts still makes me laugh.
Q: What about the
villains? How did they come to be?
A: Ever since I can
remember, I’ve been fascinated by mythological monsters. There
seems to be a common thread of villainous snakes and lions. A chimera
combines these two deadly creatures, along with a goat, into one evil
creature. I liked the idea of having three diverse villains; the more
you get to know a villain, the scarier they can become for the reader
and the heroes. As I wrote, Serpentine, Gruff, and Leona, seemed to
appear out of nowhere to fit the evil villain’s roles. The
Nightmares were a little trickier. I thought long and hard about how
they should be portrayed, and I eventually started combining features
of animals and creatures that people feared the most into one
character. That’s why they have shark teeth and devil horns.
Q: Lucid is your
first novel. Are you currently working on anything else?
A: Since Devon and his
friends’ story didn’t want to finish at the end of Lucid, I’m
currently working on the sequel. The story will continue our heroes’
adventure, but you’ll get to hear from other characters in it. It
will also have much more of a fantasy element with an even crazier
cast of characters. Aside from Lucid, I’m working on two more
stories, both in the YA fiction genre.
Q: What inspired you
to write YA fiction?
A: I’m a teacher, so
I love working with young adults and teens. I’ve seen the power of
books transform kids’ ways of thinking about the world and boost
confidence. Never underestimate the power of reading. I know it
played an important role in shaping my future, and I hope to reach
out to as many young adults to inspire them to find their inner
heroes and go change the world for the better.
Five fun facts about
the Lucid crew.
- Devon’s favourite thing about the Dream World is the pink grass.
- Kyle is deathly afraid of insects. Devon hinted that his older brother screams like a small child when they find roaches in their houses.
- Mitch, despite his love for water sports, is afraid of open water. He saw JAWS one too many times to trust the murky deep.
- Viv fights with Elis frequently, but she is secretly jealous of his sword skills.
- Iven researched the history of human music (with the help of Sophia.) His favorite tunes come from 15th century Gregorian chants and 1980s pop.
Discover more about
L.E.Fred and LUCID at these links:
Facebook:
http://facebook.com/only.but.a.dream
Goodreads:
http://goodreads.com/marsjaws
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And
please visit my website: www.annevansbooks.co.uk
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