with Saoirse O'Mara
We are delighted to welcome young adult mystery/fantasy author Saoirse O'Mara to Omnimystery News today.
This summer Saoirse published the third in her "A Rogue's Tale" series, Pirates, Pirates! (CreateSpace; June 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to talk to her about it.
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Omnimystery News: What is it about series characters that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Saoirse O'Mara
Saoirse O'Mara: The characters of A Rogue's Tale just popped up and told me they had several stories to tell, so I sat down and started writing. I'm what's called a pantser in the writing world — someone who writes without plotting much, if at all, but just sits down and starts. My characters develop throughout the series, as do their relationships with other characters in the setting and with each other. I'm basically just sitting back watching them, and then I try to type their stories fast enough before I forget half of what I saw.
OMN: Into which genre would you place the books?
SO: I call my A Rogue's Tale books YA fantasy/mystery since each book has its own mystery that gets solved by the main protagonists, Tayla and Govin, while the whole story is set in a fantasy world. Since it's a genre mix, it's sometimes hard to find the right category for my books if I'm only allowed to choose one. On the other hand, wherever I can give more than one genre, I hope that my mix will attract readers of more than one genre.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a YA mystery author and thus I am also …".
SO: I am a YA mystery author and thus I am also more than just a bit weird. Throw in my love for fantasy and an addiction to coffee and chocolate and you might get a glimpse of what my hubby goes through!
OMN: Tell us a bit more about the book covers for the series.
SO: For the covers of the A Rogue's Tale series, I'm working together with Svenja Liv. I met her online, in a writers forum, where she was creating NaNo spreadsheets, and fell in love with her artwork. Since then, she's drawn my children's book illustrations and done all the covers for A Rogue's Tale, as well as the cover for my ebook-only fairytale The Enchanted Garden.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
SO: I read lots of adventure novels, fantasy, and I think I started pretty early on Agatha Christie's novels too. My passion to write fantasy was pretty much set when I started taking my writing seriously. That I ended up writing children's and YA books wasn't planned but was one of the best decisions I've made regarding my writing career. There's nothing more rewarding than smiles of children during a book reading. The jump to mystery simply happened. It was neither planned nor was a different approach planned; the characters, setting, and stories just came to me and demanded to be written. Since I love mystery novels (especially the British), I was happy to give it a try, and was positively surprised that I'm actually able to write a mystery novel without any outline. The puzzle pieces just fall together at some point.
OMN: Do you have any favorite mystery characters?
SO: Definitely Miss Marple. Apart from her, there are several I really liked: some of the Harry Potter characters, some of Trudi Canavan's characters, Charlotte and Thomas Pitt (by Anne Perry), and probably a whole lot more.
OMN: Give us a Top 5 list on any topic.
SO: Okay, let's try … Top 5 Fantasy Authors You Should Read (in no particular order) …
• Trudi Canavan
• Licia Troisi
• Julia Beylouny
• Tanja Höfliger
• J. K. Rowling
OMN: What's next for you?
SO: I'm currently working on part IV of my A Rogue's Tale series and on book two in my children's book series Miro the Dragon. Personally, my hubby and I are finally moving into a bigger flat, which means I will soon have my own office room for my freelance work and my writing. And my collection of signed books (most of which were either editing, proofreading, or translation projects of mine).
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Saoirse O'Mara is a children's and YA writer and home mostly in the fantasy and mystery genres. For more information about her, visit her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter. You can also become a fan of her two series, Miro the Dragon and A Rogue's Tale, on Facebook.
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Pirates, Pirates!
Saoirse O'Mara
A Rogue's Tale
Imagine you witness a murder but have no clue who the man was, or why he had to die. Imagine you stumble into a rat's nest of piracy and greed and put your own life at stake for the sake of justice. Imagine you don't know who you can still trust …
No matter how she looked at it, she ended up with far too many suspects. How should she ever get to the bottom of the attack and the murder if almost half the harbour population had a motive?
Tayla would have never dreamed that her day off might end so terribly — or that Govin wouldn't find time to help her when she needs him. Yet she decides that justice can't wait, and she follows her heart to right a wrong that happened in front of her eyes. Despite the dangers involved, her resolve stays strong. But who can she trust when the web of greed and intrigue threatens to ensnare her?
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