Interview with T.W. Fendley, author of The Labyrinth of Time - Win a $25 Gift Card!
Title: The Labyrinth of Time
Author: T.W. Fendley
Publisher: Silent Partner Publishing
Pages: 226
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Format: Paperback/Kindle
Can Jade restore the Firestone’s powers before the First Men return to judge humanity?
Spending spring break in Peru with her grandmother isn’t sixteen-year-old Jade’s idea of fun. She’d much rather be with her friends at Lake of the Ozarks. Then she meets Felix, a museum director’s son. Jade discovers only she and Felix can telepathically access messages left on engraved stones in the age of dinosaurs. Following the ancient stones’ guidance, they enter the Labyrinth of Time and–with a shapeshifting dog’s help–seek a red crystal called the Firestone. But time is running out before the First Men return on the night of the second blue moon.
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- The Labyrinth of Time is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
T.W. Fendley is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. She began writing fiction full-time in 2007 after working twenty-five years in journalism and corporate communications. In October 2011, L&L Dreamspell LLC published her debut historical fantasy novel for adults, Zero Time.
She fell in love with ancient American cultures while researching story ideas at the 1997 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Since then, she’s trekked to archeological sites in the Yucatan, Peru and American Southwest. When she’s not writing, T.W. explores the boundaries of consciousness through remote viewing and shamanism. She currently lives near St. Louis with her artist husband and his pet fish. Her latest book is the young adult fantasy, The Labyrinth of Time.
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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life, T.W. Fendley. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you’ve been writing?
A: Storytelling
has always been a part of my life. I have fond memories of my sister and me
jumping on our twin beds when we were supposed to be asleep, taking turns making
up a story, one scene at a time. “Pretend
I knew something, but you didn’t know I knew.” Sound familiar?
In middle school (we
called it junior high then), I won a national youth essay contest about
tuberculosis that featured my first imagined character, Timothy B. (T.B.)
Mouse.
I started writing fiction for publication in
the mid-1990s while living in New Orleans. In 1997, I fell in love with ancient American cultures while researching
story ideas at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Since
then, I’ve trekked to archeological sites in the Yucatan, Peru and American
Southwest. You’ll often find references to Inca, Aztec and Maya history,
culture and mythology in my stories.
I began writing fiction full-time in 2007. My
first sale was a short story, Solar Lullaby, in the 2010 Dreamspell Sci Fi Vol
1 ebook.
Q: Can you please tell us about your book and why
you wrote it?
A: The Labyrinth of Time was inspired by my
visit in 2008 to a tiny museum about two hundred miles south of Lima, Peru. The
founder of the Library of Stone Books of Ica believed the engraved black river rocks
he collected contained messages left for us by people who lived in the time of
dinosaurs. Many consider the Stones of Ica to be a hoax, as you’ll quickly find
if you do an online search. If that’s the case, kudos to the enterprising
farmer who shared his fiction by engraving the story on more than eleven
thousand stones.
Q: What were some of the biggest challenges you
faced writing it?
A: When you’re writing a fantasy that includes
aliens with comet spaceships, you need to make it seem plausible to readers.
The first step was making it real to myself, which wasn’t hard to do. For
instance, a comet spaceship like the
one the First Men use in the book became less of a fantasy on Nov. 12, 2014,
when the European Space Agency made a historic soft-landing
of its Philae probe on a comet. Similarly, emerging technology is focused using stones to store
information. Already a DVD made out
of stone can store data for up to ten thousand years. By 2015, Hitachi predicts
it will be able to preserve information for hundreds of millions of years on
laser-encoded slabs of quartz glass.
Q: Do you have a press kit and what do you include
in it? Does this press kit appear online
and, if so, can you provide a link to where we can see it?
A: Under the Media tab on my
website--www.twfendley.com—I have pages with photos, several versions of my
bio, links to media releases, and reviews. http://twfendley.com/media/
Q: Have you either spoken to groups of people about
your book or appeared on radio or TV?
What are your upcoming plans for doing so?
A: So far,
public appearances to promote my book have included a talk at a book festival
(Lit in the Lou), book signings and occasional podcasts with Write Pack Radio. My next event is a book signing at 11
a.m., Dec. 13, at 6 North Café in Ballwin, Mo. Young adult authors Cole Gibsen
and Brad R. Cook, and children’s author/illustrator Jennifer Stolzer will join
me there. We’re calling it “Steampunk, samurai and a mystical Peruvian dog.”
After the holidays, I plan to schedule other events, particularly to promote
the audiobook release.
Q: Do you have an agent and, if so, would you mind
sharing who he/is is? If not, have you ever had an agent or do you even
feel it’s necessary to have one?
A: I would
love to find the right agent to represent my work to the Big Five publishers.
While I’m seeking that person, I think it’s important to continue providing my
readers stories in various formats—ebook, audiobook, and print.
Q: Did you, your agent or publisher prepare a media
blitz before the book came out and would you like to tell us about it?
A: While the
ebook was available for preorder on Amazon and Smashwords in September and
October, I sought reviews via Net Galley and offered giveaways on Goodreads and
Library Thing. I also partnered
with Pump Up Your Books for a blog tour scheduled soon after the Nov. 7 launch
of The Labyrinth of Time, and with Books
Go Social for social media marketing to a global audience. I placed ads in
December book industry catalogs via PW Select and Ingram-Sparks’ Advance, as
well as Author’s Den book ads, in hopes of sparking librarians’ interest.
Q: Do you plan subsequent books?
A: I’m
finishing the first draft of a science fiction novel called Moonblood--a retelling of the Adam and
Eve story set in the near future.
Q: Thank you for your interview, T.W. Fendley. Would you like to tell my readers where they
can find you on the web and how everyone can buy your book?
A: Thanks
so much for this opportunity! My author’s website is www.twfendley.com and my blog is The
Writers’ Lens (www.thewriterslens.com).
The Labyrinth of Time is available online
from most major and indie booksellers, including:
The Book Depository (print)
Literary Underworld (print)
Also, I
love libraries, and many will order my books if they get patron requests.
T.W. is giving away two $25 Amazon Gift Card!
Terms & Conditions:
- By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Amazon Gift Certificate or Paypal Cash.
- This giveaway begins November 17 and ends on December 12.
- Winners will be contacted via email on Monday, December 15.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
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