I’ve managed to have a chat with yet another incredible writer. This time Sandra S. Frankowska is telling me about her writing journey and about her incredibly inspiring fantasy series! I hope you enjoy what she had to say, I know I loved every minute and thank you for taking the time to read!
Sandra S. Frankowska is the author of the epic fantasy series Heroes Of the Shadow. When she is not writing, Sandra is either working at the ed-tech start-up, reading, painting or rock climbing.
Some of Frankowska’s favourite reads include The Lord Of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Journey to the Center of the Earth by J. Verne, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Dark Tower by S. King, Jurassic Park by M. Crichton, The Drift by C. Aufenthie and The Hunger Games by S. Collins.
Where do you live?
Recently moved out from London to a small village in Kent, UK called South Darenth.
Why are you a writer?
My passion for writing comes from my passion for reading. For as long as I can remember, I always enjoyed discovering other worlds and losing myself in them. Writing was about the same, just on the brand new levels. I plotted my series in my head long before I wrote the very first word on paper. I drew places and creatures that existed nowhere but in my mind to get them out of my head. Drawing soon wasn’t enough. I painted, sculptured, and tried other forms of expressing it, but with time, nothing worked. My characters began to appear to tell their stories, and I found myself plotting it all on paper before I even realised that this was what I was doing.
Eventually, writing became a coping mechanism for me. It was a way to take a step away from the crazy world we live in and immerse myself in the new place, which only I could explore. It became a way for me to process things I found difficult to process otherwise. To express things that matters to me, that I often felt no one else cared about.
As the first chapters formed, I realised I have a story to tell. A story that I couldn’t find anywhere else, and that I enjoyed. A story that I was looking for in other books, but it wasn’t there. How could it be there? It was inside me this whole time.
What do you enjoy about writing?
There are many things I love about writing.
First one is plotting. I spend a lot of time daydreaming, with my mind travelling across different worlds and timelines to see how the story will develop. I treasure these moments a lot. Being able to see all of that in my head makes me to realise how gifted and lucky I am. Detaching myself from excel tables, grocery planning and paying bills to figure out how the world with dinosaurs and dragons living in one place could look like makes me feel complete. I may be physically still here, but with my mind, I can be just anywhere. Isn’t human brain amazing?
Second thing I love about writing is how it makes me feel the emotions that not only are not mine but also belong to a fictional character. Yet, they are real to me. I write a scene and I catch myself smiling. I write a scene and suddenly realise that my heart is speeding up. My characters are somewhere high up and I feel dizzy. None of this happened, and yet I felt it all.
Finally, writing is self-discovery. My plot and my characters force me to ask myself questions I wouldn’t ask myself otherwise. To understand the complexity of thousands of different experiences that impact the smallest decisions we take. To see how resilient and brave I am. Writing and publishing isn’t an easy process. Many of us experience self-doubts on regular basis, struggles to be seen, and receive little to no support on the way. Realising how much strength you have to continue, nevertheless, should be a huge thing. It was for me. I never knew I had it until I started to write.
Tell us about your most recent works
My debut epic fantasy novel came out last year. “Heroes Of the Shadow. Blue Scar Indeabinito” is a first book in the 24-books-long planned series. It’s a story of a soldier, Thomas McCartney, who was taken to another world called the Indeabinito. It’s a world filled with mythical creatures and other humanoid races, some of which remind him of things he knew (like mermaids and centaurs), some are completely new to him.
While the Indeabinito world has a lot to offer, Thomas actually spends most of his time trying to find a way back to his home. His father is a soldier, and so is he. Taken to another world, he’s worried that people will consider his disappearance a one thing that he would never do: a desertion.
If you could write a book in a new genre, which would you choose?
Based on books that I love, my first choice to try something new, would be a dystopian fiction.
Do you have any role models or people who inspired you to write?
I rarely take people for role models (too easy to get disappointed). There are, however, authors whose art inspired me to write. The two key series that made me to write were The Chronicles of Narnia and Jurassic Park + Jurassic World. The first one, for the simple reason: I loved the idea of the portals that existed in our world and could take you to somewhere else. Exploring Narnia made me to fall in love with fantasy and limitless possibilities it offers. That was my “what” to write.
Jurassic Park and Jurassic World made me to realise the impact of a good story. While I enjoyed the movies, these books carried so much more in them. Particularly Jurassic Park has this one scene that explains how systems used in the park were designed with logical error, and how simple and easy to miss that error was. Everything that happened later was just a huge consequence of one wrong assumption. The way M. Crichton plotted important messages into the world that didn’t exist but felt as if it could be real, was my “why” to write.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
I’m currently working on getting my second book in the series ready to publish later this year, while also outlining book #3.
Where can people buy your books?
My books at the moment are only available on Amazon.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
First of all, you are only aspiring until you start to write. As soon as you started, you are a writer, and never let anyone take it away from you. Other than that, treat anything you hear regarding the writing process as an advice, not as a rule. Writing is an art. There is no such a thing like one size fits all. We all do it in different ways. That’s why our stories are unique. Try different things, experiment, but never force yourself into something that doesn’t work for you.
Writing is not easy, but you should enjoy it. Otherwise, what’s the point?
http://getbook.at/HOS – FIND HEROES OF THE SHADOW HERE
It was incredible to speak to such a talented author. I thank you for your continued support and for reading, so if you liked, like, comment and follow and reblog!
psychedelicwizard 