Today we are excited to have Christian fantasy and steampunk author Morgan L. Busse! She’s a writer by day and a mother by night. Her works include the Follower of the Word series, the recent Carol award-winning Soul Chronicles, and this month her latest fantasy novel releases, the Mark of the Raven. During her spare time she enjoys playing games, taking long walks, and dreaming about her next novel.
Welcome Morgan!
1) What is your favorite part of speculative fiction?
The imagination! There are no boundaries to speculative fiction. And I don’t just mean fantastical creatures like dragons or unicorns, I also mean fantastical scenarios like powerful abilities, unheard of inventions, and using our mind to explore places like space or the deep sea. With speculative, the question is always, “What if?”
2) What is the one author, living or dead, who you would like to co-write a book with someday and why?
As much as I like Tolkien, I think I would have loved to co-author a book with C.S. Lewis. He was not only a fiction writer but a theological thinker. I would have enjoyed discussing God, fantasy, myth, and human nature. I wonder what kind of book we would have come up with!
3) If you could travel anywhere for book research (all expenses paid) where would you go and why?
Ooo, that’s a hard one! I’m going to cheat and say two places: England (for all of my steampunk research), and Japan (because I would love to write a feudal Japan fantasy someday, but I don’t feel like I would do it justice since I’m not a native).
4) What were some of the challenges for you writing your book?
I’m currently finishing up the third book in my latest fantasy series, The Ravenwood Saga. It’s a story about a young woman who inherits her family’s secret ability to dreamwalk and discovers the dark truth behind their gift. Some of the challenges in writing Mark of the Raven were the political intrigues and family dynamics. Most of my stories usually involve a character without immediate family, so writing a story about a family was a change for me. It was tricky writing the family members and political points without being cliche and creating characters readers would care about.
5) Do you listen to music while you write? If so what are some examples?
I do. Most of them are youtube channels or soundtracks (right now, Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online are my go-to for background music while I’m writing).
6) How would you like to be remembered?
As a woman who lived with integrity, humility, and grace and loved the Lord with all her heart.
7) What is your favorite thing you have ever written?
There are a lot of things I have written that I love, but I think currently it’s a scene at the end of Flight of the Raven, book 2 in the Ravenwood saga. All I’ll say is that it’s a gut-wrenching scene between sisters.
***
Thank you so much for joining us, Morgan. Here is where you can find Morgan and her books online (two series are part of Enclave’s library:)
Website: www.morganlbusse.com
Enclave books: www.enclavepublishing.com/authors/morgan-busse
Mark of the Raven: morganlbusse.com/ravenwoodsaga