Hello everyone! It’s my favorite month of the year – October! This week I’m thrilled to bring you one of my Sisters of the Fey, fantasy and horror author, Adele Marie Park. Adele has recently released the second book in her fantasy series called, Wisp II, Sea Dragons. I asked her to come by and visit, share a cup of tea, and tell me more about herself as a writer, including where’s she from and where that vivid imagination of her’s comes from.

Here she is! Welcome, Adele!

Adele Marie Park was born in the north-east of Scotland, and at the age of six months, she moved to live with family on the Orcadian island of Rousay. The tales and legends of old surrounded her childhood, and these became the themes and beliefs she’s carried with her through life as they now emerge and live within the pages of her books.

Adele’s first published book is Wisp. A tale of murder, passion and intrigue set in the mythical world of Edra. Wisp II – Sea Dragons is now available on Amazon. She has won awards for her short stories and many have been published in successful anthologies.

Her writing crosses genres between fantasy and horror but is always character driven. Transforming the pictures and characters in her head as if by magic into the pages of her books. Her belief in magic, faeries and the paranormal has never wavered.

Adele Marie Park

Hi, Colleen. Thanks so much for this interview. I’ve been looking forward to our chat.

Hello, my dear sister! Adele, your new book, “Wisp II ~ Sea Dragons” delves into the darker realms of magic with Dante Asano trapped inside Pendra’s body. Do you believe in possession?

I do believe in possession. Unfortunately, there are too many reported cases spanning thousands of years. There are stories of Jesus casting out demons and the Sumerian lore about demons. The Egyptians believed in them, and when I was younger, I thought, it’s best to err on the side of caution and not do anything which might leave me open to possession. 

As I got older, I remember my Mother reading a weekly magazine which had serialized The Amityville Horror and of course, I read it. It terrified me. Later still I watched a program called “The Haunted Collector” with John Zaffis, which led me to his Aunt and Uncle Ed and Lorraine Warren. Now they were famous demonologists and paranormal investigators.

Through reading about their work I learned about Father Malachi, an Irish priest who as far as the church thought was a rogue, but between him and the Warrens, they helped so many people rid themselves of demonic and negative entities. The Conjuring movies come from some of their more famous cases, which James Wan did so well.

READ: You Won’t Believe How Much of ‘The Conjuring’ Is True

Unfortunately, by the time they came out, Ed and Father Malachi were dead, but Lorraine was still alive, and they consulted her about the material they could use. Lorraine has passed now as well, but her nephew, John Zaffis, is still alive and showing no signs of slowing down.

So, as you know, Colleen, one thing will lead to another and that is how I came to my belief today that yes, demons are real and yes, they can possess people. Why they do it? I don’t know, and it’s something I won’t be investigating.

Adele, you’re much braver than I am. I would have nightmares forever, if I watched The Conjuring! Now, let me ask you this: You portray Wisp as a marsh faerie. What are your thoughts about the good neighbors?

The Good neighbor’s? Oh, I adore them, but again err on the side of caution. They are not the gossamer winged characters which were so popular in the Victorian era. Rather, they are themselves and we should use caution when dealing with them.

I believe they have always been on this earth and in their own realm. There is a reason we have quarter days as they used to call them, and there is a reason we have celebrations on these days. The veil between worlds is thinner and they say that the Faeries move courts on those days and it’s best to appease them rather than to be bold with them.

That’s why I leave out an offering such as bread and honey and some dried fruit, all mixed with a drop of the good stuff. They brought me up to do this, told by my Aunt Adeline who raised me, and I follow the tradition. If you are lucky to have a brownie in residence, then never thank him or her or they will disappear, taking their luck and their skills with them.

I honor the good neighbors the same way you do, Adele. I leave a cupboard open over my stove for my house spirit. That way he/she always has their own place within my home. Now, tell me this… What movies have influenced your writing?

There have been many movies which have influenced my writing. I have to say that most Stephen King movies have influenced me, especially Christine. I love that movie. The old Hammer Horror movies are a fond memory of childhood, and they’ve influence my writing to an extent.

Chinese Kung Fu movies, a strange one but, to my mind, they have everything a novel should have to make it worth a read. A hero, a villain, obstacles for our hero to overcome, a beautiful maiden often better at martial arts than the hero, and a solid supporting cast of buddies who usually make up the comedy element.

Japanese horror movies are noteworthy because no one can do terror better than they can. The Grudge, The Ring, all the Japanese versions, are terrifying. Many of those elements seep into my writing.

I like to write about the normal, becoming paranormal, and where the main-character sees what no one else can, and they think they are going crazy. The Conjuring franchise, which includes all the Annabel movies, is another series that comes to mind. There are too many to mention, but I hope I’ve done the ones I mentioned justice.

What is it about dark fantasy, horror, and thrillers that draw you to those genres? I’ve read some of your short horror stories and they are chilling!

By now you can guess I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, but also in the stories which my relatives used to tell me. There were many stories about faeries, selkies, Trows, goblins, and the like.

It was after real-life threw me a curve ball that I learned that real-life is far more terrifying than paranormal happenings. People can be so cruel and twisted with no hint of being possessed. People often are the real horrors and monsters out there.

So, in my writing I combine the two because that’s what I know. Fantasy worlds were and still are my safe place. No matter what goes on in those stories, they are an escape from the reality of everyday life. The two genres wrap around me like a warm blanket and save me from what’s outside the door.

That might seem strange, but I’ve gone through so much in my life. My experiences proved that certain people can be so cruel that they inflict more pain and horror than any monster. I write hoping someone who might be in the same situations as me will also find an escape that keeps them from giving up.

Adele, why do you write? What is it that keeps you pounding away at that keyboard, day after day?

Oops. I’ve kind of answered this question with the last line above, but there are more reasons why I write. My brain constantly plays multicolored movies in my head, and if I don’t write them down, I get so distracted that the muse shouts at me.

Also, I love making worlds where I get to make the rules, although the characters do their best to go their own way. My imagination is so strong that many of these worlds form in my head before I write the first sentence on the paper.

Even though I write horror/dark fantasy, I always include an injustice which gets conquered in the main plot. My stories are about the underdog, and how the big bad overlords don’t see him/her coming until it’s too late. 

I also want people to read my stories and come away feeling empowered, knowing they don’t have to put up with shit, and that they can do something about it in their own lives. This is not to mean in any way that someone should go out and get a sword and start whacking their boss’s head off. Sorry, I just want people to know their own inherent power.

Adele, many people in our writing community know little about you. I know you were raised on the Orcadian island of Rousay. Where exactly is that? Tell us about some legends you grew up with from that part of the world.

Rousay belongs to a group of islands called The Orkney Islands and they are 10 miles off the coast of Caithness, Northern Scotland. The crossing of the ferry, which I remember so well, is across a stretch of water known as the Pentland Firth. Apparently, the name is a corruption of old Norse Petlandsfjörð, meaning “the fjord of Pictland”. The crossing can be dangerous as the waters have many tidal anomalies, a whirlpool, and several skerries.

I remember waiting with my Dad at Scrabster to cross to Orkney. I was pregnant at the time. The gale force wind was so bad that the ticket office, which was a wooden box, blew over with the woman inside it. She was okay, and we still sailed.

Rousay itself is a fairly big island; one road circles around it. It has two main hills, Kerfie which towered behind our house, and Blotchnefield which is a longer hill. The beaches are wonderful, and I adored my childhood beach called Lopness. It was also where the seals basked on huge black rocks in Summer, and the porpoises swam in the sound between Rousay and another island called Wyre.

Speaking of the legends, the first myths concern the seals, which we call selkies. I was always told that they could come ashore and shed their seal skin, turning into a human. If a human were to steal their skin, they could keep them on land, but as soon as the selkie found their skin again, they were back to the sea.

Another legend, which Tommy told me, concerned the Finn Folk and the Wizards. The Finn Folk were dark of hair, eye, and swarthy of skin. They were master tricksters and could shape shift into other forms.

Years and years ago, more years than I can say, the Finn Folk of Orkney battled against the Wizards. No one knew where they came from, but there were enormous battles in the skies between the two races. Whether the Wizards won, or the Finn folk did, no one remembers. However, we still talk about the Finn Folk legends and sightings to this day.

The last I want to talk about are the Trows, Orkney for Trolls. There was a field just beside our house which Tommy would use for the cows but never plowed, as there was a knowe, a small hillock, in the middle. He said the trows lived there, and no one should disturb them.

Trows can be good and kind, or really wicked. When visiting my uncle Willie, I had to cross a small bridge… yep; you guessed it. A trow lived under that bridge. I wasn’t to dangle my legs over the edge or look under it. Believe me, I didn’t either.

Those ancient myths are fascinating, Adele. So tell me… Even though you write fantasy/horror novels, have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real-life into your novels?

Well, to start with my Mum was Irish. I was always told stories about how Ireland should be one country. That division, plus the religious divide, played on my mind and hence the two countries divided by civil war became the basis for Edra in my Wisp series.

Then, the colonization of countries came into play in the series when the Elves and the humans became the conquerors of the native peoples of Edra. That magic is natural to the natives, but the Elves had to learn how to wield it further, which shows that they are foreign to Edra.

The writing of Tad Williams and his series, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn influenced my development of the Marsh fey, of which Wisp is one. Greek mythology influenced the dryads, while the other fey races are entirely my own, or until I find out someone else has thought of them too. The arboreals are the shyest of the fey and merge with their plant or tree. Peaceful and loving, their magic comes from the deep earth.

In that regard, my own beliefs influenced me and what I witnessed in nature. Wisp and his companions, and all the characters in my books, influenced the geography. I went along on their journey, and they continue to influence me as they grow through their own trials and tribulations.

Thanks so much, Adele, for stopping by to chat. I’ve read and reviewed both, Wisp, and Sea Dragons – Wisp II. Please click on the links below to read my five star reviews. Thank you.

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a tiny amount from qualifying purchases. If you purchase from the Amazon.com link above, I earn a small commission to fund my reading habit. Amazon will not charge you extra, and you’ll keep me supplied in books that I can review. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

P.S. I’ve added an international buy link for those individuals who live outside the U.S. Thank you. ❤

How to Contact Author, Adele Marie Park

BLOG: firefly465.wordpress.com

TWITTER: @Binky567

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/firefly.fly.14

Thanks for stopping by to learn more about Adele Marie Park. Until next time… ❤