Interview with fantasy author TK Thompson

Author TK Thompson is chatting with me today about her new fantasy novel, The Dark Eve: A New Recruit.

During her virtual book tour, TK will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Welcome, TK. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born in Provo, UT and raised in copper mining towns in-between Arizona and New Mexico. I can be compared to a lizard. The warm weather makes a great home, but I have always had a love for the rain and overcast skies, extremely contradictory from my given habitat. That’s how I see myself sometimes, a lover of opposites. 

I would consider my childhood to be groundless when it came to my imagination. I was trapped inside my own mind and I believe I learned the world in small harsh but necessary truths, like a slow awakening. My little stories had their encompassing place along with underdeveloped drawing skills. But rationality whispered in my ears through my upbringing. I sought out what I felt to be important, the events of graduating high school, Silver City, NM 1999. I went to a safe community college in Thatcher, AZ. 

They say that college is a large defining time in a young person’s life. It’s where they start to wonder about who they are, what they know as truth, and far away from those that defined it for them. I was, of course, set with innate knowledge and experience and given power with irrational brain resources. My heart had plenty of stitches and I gave many to others. But I could not find peace in a single person. My ideas of life, love, and the world that I wanted to exist in felt unattainable. Having the whole picture felt like an impossible task. 

I went on a mission for my church in Washington, where I happily got my rain and clouds. Spending eighteen months dedicated to serving others and not yourself is a mind-opening task. It set me up to find the true roots within and be ready to insult my future husband Dustin Thompson when he walked through the door. I am as plain as I want to be. I have three crazy children to help fuel my life and since have received my bachelor’s degree in business management, UOP. But most of all I have tapped back into my imagination, pushed aside all rationality, and finished one of my best thoughts so far. Every day I continue to face my vulnerabilities.

Please share a little bit about your current release.

Young Audim Basile hates life dominated by his cold, controlling father. But his dreams of fortune and adventure are turned upside down when he runs off to weigh anchor with the toughest, most barbaric band of pirates the criminal underworld has ever known.

Together with their dark, mysterious female captain, Acantha – who’ll run her sword through anyone who looks at her the wrong way – Basile and his fellow swashbuckling bandits sail the globe, fighting hordes of terrifying supernatural creatures that would make even the hardiest buccaneer quake with fear.

Together with his newfound crew mates, Basile must help with finding Acantha’s sister – who’s been missing for over a year – while being consumed with trying to solve the mystery of Acantha’s illusive past – before the evil Wraith King sends all of them to a premature watery grave.

Will Basile survive the fiercest test of his young life? Will Acantha sacrifice her own ship and crew (including young Basile) just to save her sister? Will young Basile come to terms with the price of the high-seas way of life and fortune?

Only time will tell if Acantha, Basile, and their hardy shipmates will live to tell this heart-stopping tale and fight another day.

What inspired you to write this book?

The story idea came from a reoccurring dream that replayed and continued for several weeks. Finally, I decided to write it down. It’s the only idea I was ever able to finish at that point in my life. Even though it took me four years to finish it.

Excerpt from The Dark Eve: A New Recruit:

“She walked into town with only the clothes on her back. She changed everything. I’m not saying she was responsible for everything. No person can have that much power. But she was a force of nature, only eighteen, more beautiful than any one person should be. With so much authority in her that she could take whatever came at her. Wild, impulsive, untamable like an animal that had been caged its entire life and had just been granted freedom. She had so much life in her. Her smile…” he paused as he remembered it with an affectionate yet devastating look upon his face, “she was the only person I could have ever loved.”

He said it with finality. Basile tried to imagine the place he spoke of, Dagan as a young man running around with the captain, going swimming, being in love, but there was no reality in which he could imagine that. The person he knew was not the person that Dagan portrayed. The captain was dark, stern, and intolerant. He had never imagined he would see a smile on her face. Until now, he recalled her smile. It was beautiful, perfect, and what made it even more picturesque as he remembered it, was that it was genuine. Feelings for this old man had to exist inside her for her to visit him every year. Everything inside Basile screamed that he shouldn’t believe this story, but there was a small hint of skeptical possibility. What else did he have to believe?

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am actually on the third book of the series. The Dark Eve: A New Recruit is the first and then follows The Dark Eve: A Witch’s Curse and I am currently on The Dark Eve: The Golden Catacombs. This third book has proven to be an intense project for me and I am even more nervous and excited for its release.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Just recently I have been able to feel comfortable introducing myself as an author. I never expected to be an author and have had a difficult time claiming it. I think it is mostly because I didn’t study the art of writing and my low self-esteem said I wasn’t legit. But my journey has only been reflective of positive experiences. People have given me such great feedback about how much they loved my book, can’t wait for the next one, tell me to keep going, and never stop. I have realized that whatever definition of, an author, was in my head is not correct. I am an author of a great story that lives and breathes an epic journey into the minds that read it.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Well my day job is mommy of three kids. It was the only thing I ever wanted and is so fulfilling to me. I write whenever I can. That does sometimes mean that laundry sits a little longer on the couch and the dishes in the sink. Now that my kids are older it’s not as hard to find time. My workday consists of waking up, getting kids ready for school, and sometimes I babysit. I usually sit down and have a show playing in the background while I write. Then I do chores, get kids, help with homework, and make dinner, which my hubs helps with as well. I usually exercise three times a week at night and crawl into bed with my computer and write some more. There are times though that I have to stop writing. It especially happens after my third run through of a book. I have to shut my mind off and I play age of empires, until I’ve been mindless for a while.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I have conversations in my head with my characters all the time. I want to be sure that they are real and relatable so I have tried to define them as much as I can. If ever I find myself having a hard time continuing in the story, it’s usually because I’m not feeling my characters’ motives. Which means some thinking time with my characters. 

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A MOM. I always thought it was strange that I didn’t have any great ambitions in life. My husband still asks me if I could go back and change things what would I change. I respond I would have studied writing and everything else would be the same. I’ve always wanted a simple life and I have found that. I am very happy just being a mom, but I’m not just a mom. I am a very strong woman. I have education and leadership skills. I am not reduced by my choice of career or lack thereof. I believe there is no greater success in the world than helping the future be brighter and stronger through your influence. Which can be done in many ways, but as a nurturer, I feel that success every day of my life. It is my calling.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Don’t stop believing in your dream. Take time each day to work on it. Everyone’s idea of success is different. Some just want to be able to write a book, others might want to take it further, and some just want to share and connect with the experience of writing. Whatever it is, it can be accomplished.

Links:

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Thanks for being here today, TK!

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