Interview with Miriam Greystone, author of 'Truthsight'

Debut author Miriam Greystone writes urban fantasy stories filled with magic, romance and the occasional centaur. She fuels her creativity with an insatiable appetite for reading and frequent episodes of Doctor Who. She lives just outside of Washington DC with her husband and children, and when she isn’t hunched over her laptop, she can often be found baking or going on long hikes with her family.

Her latest book is the urban fantasy, Truthsight.

Visit Miriam Greystone’s website. 
Connect with Miriam on Facebook and Twitter. 
Find out more about Miriam at Goodreads.

Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

So the idea for my book actually is rooted in an accident I had, and proves that even tough situations can have lovely outcomes! Some time ago, during the winter, I slipped on some ice and fell, face first and very hard, into a bank of ice. The fall was so hard that it actually caused a small fracture in my collarbone. I ended up with a small, painful lump in my chest that took a very long time to heal. As the months passed, I couldn’t help imagining a woman who was plagued by pain like mine – a constant, painful ache in her chest. Only her pain was because she was carrying something magical buried deep inside her – something that was too powerful to be safely kept inside a human’s body. As soon as I knew that my character would be in pain, I also knew that she would be a healer. There was something very powerful to me about the idea of someone who is gifted with the ability to heal, but cannot heal herself. Amy’s character grew in my heart very easily after that.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

This book felt like a relief to write after my previous project! The book I wrote before this one (a not-yet published book called Echoes) had multiple points of views and characters with complex, separate and yet intertwining story lines. It was a lot of work to try to keep those separate story lines in sync, and was an extremely intricate piece of writing. After that, writing Truthsight, and getting to focus on one central character throughout the whole book felt wonderful. I loved spending the whole book in one person’s head, and I fell in love with Amy and Rowan so much that telling their story was a real pleasure. The hardest part for me was realizing that I had to let go of a large chunk of content that didn’t really help to move the plot along, but even those pages are still saved on my lap top. I’m sure that I’ll find a use for them someday!

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I am extremely lucky to be publishing with City Owl press. They have been beyond

phenomenal to work with, and the other City Owl authors are like a cheering section, support group, and expert mentoring team all wrapped up into one! My editor has been truly amazing to work with, and I have learned a lot from her, and everybody has been kind and supportive!

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

The most surprising thing was how much I enjoyed the editing and publishing process! I have heard so many hard stories about people who really struggled with having to give up control of their work, or accepting major changes to their work that they didn’t really want in order to get to publication. I feel extremely fortunate that I found an editor who really shared my vision of where Truthsight was going, and was supportive throughout.

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I have two projects that I’m working on now. One is Truthsight Two, which hopefully will be coming out from City Owl press in the near future.  (And yes, eventually it will have a better title than that!)  And I am also working on a final revision of the multiple point of view novel, Echoes that I mentioned earlier. Echoes is a reimagining of the Siren myth in modern day Washington DC, and I am excited to see that the novel is finally really coming together.

Q: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

I think that readers will enjoy having a chance to get to know a lesser-known mythological creature, the Leshy.  A Leshy is traditionally understood to be the spirit king of the forest that he inhabits. I very much enjoyed re-imagining this creature, his bond to the land he lives on, and his relationship with the other creatures who populate his territory. It was fascinating to build up a complex world around what a Leshy is and what might cause him to be weakened or endangered. I always find it fascinating when there is a very strong character, who is used to being strong, who suddenly has to cope with being vulnerable. I think many things about the Leshy character, Rowan, will surprise and interest the reader.

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

My primary goal in writing was to sweep readers up in the story. I don’t have any one, specific message that I want them to walk away with. I think the book is about people facing real, meaningful challenges that many people will be able to relate to. Amy struggles with an overwhelming guilt over past choices, which impacts her sense of self-worth. Rowan’s relationship with his father is deeply troubled, and Jason does not know who he really is, or where he fits into the world. All of these struggles are ones that many people experience, and I hope they will feel kinship with the characters. There are definitely messages that a person can take away from what I’ve written, but I think that every person will take away something different, and that is just fine with me.

  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

Thank you so much for having me on The Writer’s Life! I loved being here. I really love to keep in touch with readers, and would love to be connected through facebook or twitter. So please, look me up – I can’t wait to hear from you!