Ask the Author: M.L. Farb
Answered Questions (6)
M.L. Farb
Hi Sharon. You have an excellent taste in authors. I’m just getting to know (and very much enjoy) RJ Anderson’s novels, and I've read everything I can from the other three.
So which book?
If you want adventure and kingdom politics with faith elements, try the King's Trial and King’s Shadow. Many readers compare these books to CS Lewis's writing.
If you are looking for a sweet love story combined with adventure, you might like Vasilisa. It is a retelling of the Russian fairytale Vasilisa and Staver.
If you enjoy lyrical writing about sisterhood and healing family, try Fourth Sister. It is a Whitney Award Finalist, and though it is slower paced than my other books, it is in many ways my favorite.
For riddles and a monumental character arc, Heartless Hette is a German based tale of a princess who goes on a quest to get her stolen heart back. Be warned, the main character is not likable at the beginning.
I hope this helps. Have a beautiful day.
So which book?
If you want adventure and kingdom politics with faith elements, try the King's Trial and King’s Shadow. Many readers compare these books to CS Lewis's writing.
If you are looking for a sweet love story combined with adventure, you might like Vasilisa. It is a retelling of the Russian fairytale Vasilisa and Staver.
If you enjoy lyrical writing about sisterhood and healing family, try Fourth Sister. It is a Whitney Award Finalist, and though it is slower paced than my other books, it is in many ways my favorite.
For riddles and a monumental character arc, Heartless Hette is a German based tale of a princess who goes on a quest to get her stolen heart back. Be warned, the main character is not likable at the beginning.
I hope this helps. Have a beautiful day.
M.L. Farb
Dreams. I live with a vivid imagination. I dream in 3-D, technicolor, and occasionally with my eyes open. This is a bane when it comes to nightmares. I will not watch horror movies. This same imagination makes writing easier. I not only see but also experience what I'm writing. Some nights I wake up with whole scenes playing through my head, vivid with setting, dialog, action, and emotion. I scribble furiously in the 2am glow of the kitchen nightlight, then catch more sleep.
Another creative jump-start is talking out story ideas with my husband, children, or my writing friends.
Most of all, books are fuel to my imagination. I read all the time and in many genres.
Another creative jump-start is talking out story ideas with my husband, children, or my writing friends.
Most of all, books are fuel to my imagination. I read all the time and in many genres.
M.L. Farb
Write every day. Even if it’s a hundred words. Try flash fiction. Try poetry. Explore the different types of writing. Find what you love.
I spent about twelve years of motherhood where the only writing I did was journaling. But those twelve years of journaling added up to a couple million words and when I reached the phase of life when I had time to create stories, I’d already developed a writing habit.
Find some beta-readers or a critique group. Writing is a very personal endeavor but beta-readers help the writer see the story’s blind spots and they also help cheer the writer on when in a writer’s slump.
Get an ergonomic keyboard. It’s a life saver on the wrists.
I spent about twelve years of motherhood where the only writing I did was journaling. But those twelve years of journaling added up to a couple million words and when I reached the phase of life when I had time to create stories, I’d already developed a writing habit.
Find some beta-readers or a critique group. Writing is a very personal endeavor but beta-readers help the writer see the story’s blind spots and they also help cheer the writer on when in a writer’s slump.
Get an ergonomic keyboard. It’s a life saver on the wrists.
M.L. Farb
I love creating a solid world for the ghost-like stories that flit across my imagination. I write to see where the story will go and what the hero or heroine will do. I find that the story form is often the best way to explore relationships, deep ideas, and flights of fancy. I understand the world, others, and myself better as I write.
A huge bonus of publishing is seeing the joy of my readers as they experience those worlds and explore those ideas.
A huge bonus of publishing is seeing the joy of my readers as they experience those worlds and explore those ideas.
M.L. Farb
I'm working on a retelling of the Chinese tale "The Seven Brothers". It is called "Fourth Sister" and deals with a play on words. In Japanese "shi" is both "four" and "death".
Blamed for her twin brother’s death, Shi, the outcast fourth of seven sisters, apprentices herself to a mask maker; but when the local Kazoku accuses the youngest sister of killing his nephew, Shi must lead her sisters in a deception that will either save the youngest or condemn them all.
Blamed for her twin brother’s death, Shi, the outcast fourth of seven sisters, apprentices herself to a mask maker; but when the local Kazoku accuses the youngest sister of killing his nephew, Shi must lead her sisters in a deception that will either save the youngest or condemn them all.
M.L. Farb
The idea for Vasilisa came from a children’s picture book Serpent Slayer by Katrin Tchana. To save the man she loved, a woman disguised herself as a man and had to pass three tests of strength, skill, and strategy. The picture book took on tall-tale quality as the woman injured her opponents in wrestling and shattered a tree by shooting it with an arrow. How did she become so strong? I wrote Vasilisa to answer that question.
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