For the past week or two, many of us have been living in some level of isolation, whether it’s full lockdown or partial isolation where you venture out for mere essentials.
To varying degrees, the shine is already beginning to wear off for many of us. We need distraction—and we need it now. So what better way to distract ourselves than to grab a work of fiction and dive into someone else’s fantasy life for a while?
In part two of this series, we’re going to look at the fiction writers who live among us as well as their works of well-crafted prose. Truly, fiction-writing is the most difficult in this craft, as it not only requires a skill for the written language but an imagination that’s captivating enough to drag the reader along (willingly) on a sometimes fantastical journey.
Sabrina Falk
Not Far from the Peach Tree is the debut novel of Niverville resident Sabrina Falk. Published in early 2019, Falk’s story follows the life of 22-year-old Abigail Hartley, a young woman with not much going for her.
When tragedy strikes the Hartley household, Abigail sets out, alongside her younger sister, to uncover the answers to years of family secrets that have just begun to surface.
While the story’s primary characters are in their teens and early adulthood, the theme of the book is ubiquitous enough to draw in readers of all ages. By the final page, the power of forgiveness and the strength of the family bond will be the clear takeaway.
“I definitely relate with my protagonist, Abigail, most of all,” Falk says. “She’s not me, but her struggles with anxiety hit close to home. I’ve always been a quiet, introverted type with social anxiety. I can get really in my head at times, so it was kind of cathartic writing that out.”
In terms of the story’s setting and interwoven relationship struggles, Falk worked with details that were familiar to her, including small-town living and a history of interesting family dynamics.
Sherry Peters
Île-des-Chênes author Sherry Peters completed the final novel in her first fantasy trilogy in 2017. In this series, Peters dives right into the fantasy world of dwarfs and elves, focusing on one primary character named Mabel.
“Writing Mabel, having the opportunity to play with fantasy tropes and have fun with them, gave me the freedom to address something that all of us face: how to be ourselves when family and society expects us to be something else—married, with kids, looking a certain way, having a certain job or income, etc,” says Peters.
The series, The Ballad of Mabel Goldenaxe, is available through Amazon and Kindle. The first book, Mabel the Lovelorn Dwarf, follows the ups and downs of a young female dwarf who just doesn’t fit in. For Mabel, though, that’s just the way she likes it.
But she must deal with an overbearing family, jealous friends, and deep family secrets on the road to her self-actualization.
In book two, Mabel the Mafioso Dwarf, the young protagonist finds herself a pawn of the Elven mafia. In this volume, betrayal, missteps, and intrigue threaten to stand in the way of the life Mabel seeks for herself.
The series concludes with her finding love and infamy as Mabel the Notorious Dwarf. But even while she’s finally found love, and with her career soaring, Mabel is forced to navigate the mire of tumultuous relationships and betrayal that often come with achieving great things.
As well as writing, Peters also provides coaching services to aspiring writers. She’s written two non-fiction books to assist new writers, Silencing Your Inner Saboteur and Blueprint for Writing Success.
Evan Braun
Our final fiction writer is none other than The Citizen’s own Evan Braun, editor and journalist. In 2015, Braun completed his own fiction trilogy, The Watchers Chronicle. The series, he says, follows a genre he’d consider more supernatural thriller than fantasy.
“There’s definitely a blend of genres in these books,” Braun says. “The overarching story has been called a blend of Indiana Jones and The DaVinvi Code, with the characters running around the world in an Amazing Race-style hunt for ancient artifacts, each one leading to more and more compelling questions and mysteries. It’s got suspense and a touch of science fiction. Regardless of how you might classify it, it’s designed to serve as a sprawling, fast-paced adventure—and the last few years have shown that it appeals to a broad audience, from teenagers to senior citizens.”
Braun says the inspiration for the series developed through brainstorming sessions he shared with a good friend, Clint Byars, who was instrumental in crafting the stories and is credited as a co-author.
The individual books in the series, The Book of Creation, The City of Darkness, and The Law of Radiance, share as their premise the possibility that our understanding of Earth’s ancient history may, on some levels, be completely wrong.
“The books piece together puzzles of biblical origin and bring them into contact with some of the world’s best-known mythologies,” says Braun. “The events of the first book are kicked into motion with a paradigm-shifting discovery in the ruins of ancient Pompeii: a master index to the Library of Alexandria, from which no manuscripts are otherwise known to have survived. This hint at the content of that fabled library offers some tantalizing breadcrumbs for the novels’ protagonists to chase after.”
In the five years since his last novel was published, Braun’s been busy with a new series of science fiction novels.
“There are three completed volumes so far, each standalones,” Braun says. “I’ve been actively shopping them around the last few years to agents and editors at major publishing houses. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before they lead to my next big opportunity.”
