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| Elaine Isaak |
If someone hasn't read your work yet, where
should they start?
The
start of my current series is Elisha Barber. This is a dark
historical fantasy about medieval surgery—it was a lot of fun doing the
research, but perhaps not for the faint of heart!
When did you first think of yourself as a writer?
I
knew I wanted to be a writer from a very early age. I actually have a tiny
Snoopy notebook with "stories" I wrote in the first grade. I was
grateful to have a teacher who sometimes let me stay in during recess and hide
out in the Reading Hut in our classroom to read and to write. One of the magic
moments of my first book publication was when this same teacher came to a book
launch event and I got to thank her in person.
How did you end up living in NH?
My
folks and I moved to Hollis toward the end of junior high. When I decided
to leave college, I returned to the state, first sharing a seacoast apartment
with my sister, then returning to my parents' house. I met my future husband at
a poetry reading in Nashua, and we've been living in different parts of the
state ever since.
Where do you like to write?
I
have a small, but dedicated writing office on the first floor, with one sunny
window, sometimes distracting when birds are flying around outside, or simply
when I'm thinking that it looks like a good day for a hike.
How important is place in your writing?
I
do a lot of research before I write, and researching the setting is critical to
that process. Investing in the place of a story allows you to really dig
in and explore the characters who live or visit there, the specific sensory
details of the environment, and how its history and landscape can influence the
story. For my Elisha series, set in medieval England, I bought the
Ordnance Survey maps of the specific areas where the story takes place, and
also had a chance to visit many of my settings to capture the feel.
Sometimes, studying the maps gives me ideas about scenes or where to set
them. The right place adds incredible resonance to a work.
What do you do when you aren't writing?
I'm
the mother of two, and I also work part-time as an outdoor guide and climbing
instructor for the YMCA in Goffstown. It's a great balance for being
alone in my office, playing with my imaginary friends. Being an adventure
guide gets me outside, working with people and being active. I'm also
doing a lot of hiking with my hiking partner, hoping to do Kilimanjaro some
day!
What’s the best piece of advice (writing or otherwise) you were ever given?
"There
are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree: catch that first limb and
climb, or find a good, healthy acorn, sit on it, and wait." Too many
people I know, especially would-be writers, choose to wait rather than to start
working, but it's only when you begin, when you take chances, try and fail,
that you discover your passion and you improve your art, whatever that art may
be.
What books do you love and what about them speaks to you?
Mary
Doria Russell's The Sparrow, which blew my mind, and showed me the
emotional impact a great book (conveyed through a great character) can have.
Richard
Bach's Illusions: the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, because it
proclaims that we are capable of anything we strive to do.
Tim
Powers' Anubis Gates, which is an experiment in beautiful prose and
bizarre, yet effective, plotting.
Maurice
Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, because inside the room of my mind,
a forest grew and grew, and that is what great books are really about:
what grows inside the mind of the reader.
What are you working on now?
I
have just sent an Asian historical epic about a clockwork doomsday machine out
to my beta readers, and am now developing the plot for my first
action/adventure novel.
You
can learn more about Elaine’s work at www.TheDarkApostle.com/books
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