Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I get asked a lot why I wrote my teen fantasy under a pen name. Because I wanted to be a character in my own story. Dew Pellucid, is my Echo nickname. She is the headmistress at the Orphanage of Castaway children. She’s about 100 years old and read over a million books. In the story, she spies on all that happens at the orphanage using eyes that are hidden in flying crystal balls. I’m not quite as nosy.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The Crystilleries of Echoland” is a teen fantasy, but the idea behind it is very serous. I know that freedom of the individual is necessary to life. But people usually think of freedom in a political context only. I wanted to take a step back and look at freedom in the realm of ideas. So I asked myself: What if there was a world that believed it was inferior to another? If this world is an echo of another world, what could happen.
That’s how Echoland began, a world where the people are called Echoes. And we are their Sounds. They are our see-through reflections. And since they are born only after we are born, they think that they must die when we do.
The Echoes have lost their freedom. They never know when their life might end. So they worship Fortune in the shape of the moon (a giant crystal ball in the sky). And they hope that their Sounds will be lucky and live long lives, so they can live long lives too.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wake up in the middle of the night and have all sorts of story ideas that I have to write down immediately. Otherwise, I am very ordered about writing. I start in the morning and stop in the afternoon, when ordinary life claims me again.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ayn Rand taught me how to think rationally. Victor Hugo opened my soul to the greatness of man and life. The Bronte sisters swept me to wild landscapes. Other authors have influenced me while I read their book, and then the influence was swept away by the next one.
What are you working on now?
Now that my teen fantasy is finished, I am free to be an adult. I am working on a lyrical love story, which I will publish under my pen name: E. L. Neve. My previous love story won 14 book awards, and I’m very proud of that.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not very good at promoting my books, but I did learn that reaching out to readers can be very rewarding, especially via Goodreads.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be a writer unless you love it passionately. Don’t believe the silly people who say that you can write a book in a weekend. Do read books for years before you publish one of yours. And, finally, be prepared to fall flat on your face for the love of writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”.–Winston Churchill.
What are you reading now?
Irving Stone’s “The Agony & the Ecstasy”
What’s next for you as a writer?
Removing myself from the world so I can write another book that will be greater than the previous.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
Les Miserable, by Victor Hugo
Author Websites and Profiles
Dew Pellucid Website
Dew Pellucid Amazon Profile
Dew Pellucid’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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