Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! Nice to meet you! I am a Canadian, UK, Swedish citizen living in Sweden. I grew up in the countryside with not much more than my imagination to occupy me. I have been crafting stories ever since I was a child.
I particularly love to write about the complexities of love and one’s mortality. I tend toward sci-fi/fantasy in my writing because I love quantum physics, the multiverse theory and that time is just a concept. This gives me a lot to play with, and the freedom to explore love stories outside the framework of death and the constriction of linear time.
Altogether, since 2016 I have published five books. I am currently working on my sixth and have plans for my seventh.
My books tend to be quite meaty. The three books in the Transcendence series (of which The Lost Valor of Love is the first) are of epic length. The first two books are about 150k words each and the final book is 220k words.
I publish under the imprint Arundel House Press.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Rise of the Goddess was released in paperback Feb 2020. It is the final book of the Transcendence Series (which begins with The Lost Valor of Love, and continues with The Call of Eternity).
While on one of my many trips to Luxor in Dec 2003, I dreamed of an epic love affair during the New Kingdom period. Initially, it was Ahmen and Meresamun’s story, but Sethi and Istara were in there, too, as was the battle at Kadesh. It was vivid and lasted most of the night. As I woke to the sun rising over the Nile and more than three thousand years slammed back into me, I heard these words: Tell the story. Do not let it die.
It was a big ask. It took five years of research, (and imagine my vindication when I found out Ahmen was a real person just as I had dreamed, including his position as Pharaoh Ramesses’s chariot driver).
All told it took me sixteen years to research and write the full series. At last it has come full circle. I hope I have done the story justice.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
If I get stuck. I stop, go for a walk, cook or just watch Netflix. I find if I ignore the problem, it resolves itself at the strangest moments. The answer has come while cooking onions, or in the shower, or out driving. Just like that. Solutions to writing problems tend to be like cats, I have found if I chase after them they run away, but if I ignore them, they turn up when one least expects it!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See
Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid
David Brin, Earth
Carl Sagan, Billions & Billions
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
Circe, Madeline Miller
Arthur C. Clarke, Rama
What are you working on now?
My current work in progress, I, Cassandra was inspired by how fast our world is changing societally and environmentally. I wanted to peer into the near future where climate change has shattered most of the world and only a select few are allowed to live in enclaves built in Greenland and the far north of Canada. Also I love a good love story, so crafted that into it…so far I think it’s pretty delicious…you can get a sneak peak of it on my website under the heading I, Cassandra
Here’s a bit about it.
Year 12127. An elite soldier wakes up from cryogenic freeze in a world he does not recognise. As he wanders, alone, through vast ruins overgrown with vegetation, he tries to piece together what happened to the planet he left behind. When he finds a battered safe, he determines to find a way to open it, desperate to connect with something, anything, from the world he lost.
Year 2086. In a world divided between the select few living in privilege and the billions left to survive on a dying planet, Cassandra’s ability to predict global disasters marks her as valuable asset. Lost in a terrorist attack, she is discovered in the ruins of London by an elite soldier who does not know who she is until far too late, and he too becomes an asset owned by faceless powers.
As the world around them collapses from the greed of humanity, he fights to protect the one he loves, to save her from what is to come, and to give her a second chance . . . no matter the cost.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Actually I began by posting my first book The Lost Valor of Love on Wattpad, where it now has over a million reads. It has been reduced to a sample now, but it won numerous awards there and was even featured by Wattpad HQ who took me onto their talent team. I gained a big fan base, but so far it has mostly been word of mouth. Since I completed the series, I have moved away from Wattpad, and am looking for new ways to reach readers, to let the world know about my books.
Besides reaching out to awesome gang, I use AMS ads, my social media presence, contests, giveaways, and enter book contests. I am about to go on a book tour with Silver Dagger tours in April as well. I think I will give BookBub a try, even though its pricey. You never know!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Observe constantly. Think about describing things as you experience them, such as the sound of tires on a rain swept road.
I think it’s important to remember that stories are sacred, they belong to the characters. It is the author’s job to respect their story, and tell it as authentically as we can.
Make sure to understand the ‘scaffolding’ of writing, the grammar, POV’s, dialogue, brevity in sentences, the meaning behind Chekov’s gun, everything matters. Writing is so different from speaking, it’s another language altogether and one must learn its structure to develop a powerful voice.
Never stop writing. Ever. Every word one writes takes them that much closer to the stories that long to be told.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As someone who writes about love and all its facets, I would have to say the best advice I have ever heard is to do with love.
“If they like you, you’ll know. If they don’t, you’ll be confused.”
What are you reading now?
Actually I am just about to start a new book The Kommandant’s Girl by Pan Jenoff. I am really looking forward to it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
When I complete I, Cassandra, I have a plan for another sci-fi, historical fantasy.
‘The man behind the military might of Thutmose III, Commander of the Army, Thanuny. An elite soldier from the future who will stop at nothing to find the love he lost in the past.”
Thanuny is an elite soldier from the future (whose task is to time travel and tweak the course of history) who lost the woman he loves (a fellow elite soldier) in the 13th century BC Egypt, so he strands himself in the distant past to find her and love her again…
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?
The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen
Contact, Carl Sagan
War & Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Author Websites and Profiles
E A Carter Website
E A Carter Amazon Profile
E A Carter’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account