Marie Powell

I was born in Canada, in a small, picturesque city called Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I’m the youngest of four. I could write a novel about my backyard adventures as a little kid, but I think it was pretty normal for a relatively sleepy neighbourhood in a small prairie city.

To be honest, I made a lot of mistakes in those years. My dad died of cancer when I was a teenager, and I didn’t handle it well. I had a lot of problems, but I had encouraging teachers who helped me get into writing workshops and summer arts schools. That really got me through a lot. The summer I was in Grade 11, supportive teachers helped me get into university classes as a conditional special student, and that changed my life. I have five university degrees now, but there was a time I didn’t think I’d live long enough to finish high school.

I loved books as a kid, so I have too many answers to that question. The Once and Future King by T. H. White probably tops the list, but I loved Ten Great Stories by Edgar Allen Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series, and so many others. We went to the library regularly, so I always had lots of books around. My Dad either read to me or told stories at bedtime. I really became interested in children’s books as an adult, working as a children’s programmer in a public library.

So many great lines leap to mind that I can’t decide what to share. How about a play? “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in [our] philosophy.” And the most inspiring quote for me comes from a Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem”: “There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”

I came to novel writing late, after being a journalist and a published short story writer, poet, children’s book author, and even a dramaturg/playwright. It never occurred to me that I wanted to write long-form fiction. But I was lucky enough to receive scholarships to attend the Sage Hill Writing Experience three times, twice for short fiction and once for playwriting. There, I found myself having lunch with “the novelists,” especially one summer when Robert Kroetsch was teaching novel-writing. I started asking the kinds of questions that could only be answered by writing a novel. I wrote a few very bad novels that will never be published, I’m sure. And these two novels, Spirit Sight (Last of the Gifted, Book 1) and Water Sight (Last of the Gifted, Book 2), were really inspired by a trip to Wales to explore my family heritage when I was in my late 40s.

I prefer fantasy or speculative fiction, but I also write nonfiction and journalistic articles. My series Last of the Gifted meshes those two activities: it’s fantasy based in a historical setting, with a combination of historical characters and supernatural or magical characters.

I had planned to write three, but readers are convincing me that these two books are a satisfying duology. The third book, which I’m writing now, is becoming three more books, so I’m planning to turn it into a related series instead that will follow these characters after the fall of independent Wales.

No, I really didn’t! I didn’t expect much success with this series at all, but it was my heart-project, so I was just happy to have it published. The day it got the “best-seller” flag on Amazon for the first time, I was literally dancing with joy! I’m part of a community of writers called the Creative Academy for Writers, and I immediately posted a screen shot there. And I’m so pleased that it’s a #1 Best-Seller in Arthurian Fantasy. Given the books I read and had read to me as a child, I think my Dad would have been proud.

A lot. I researched books, articles, and magazines of course. I did a lot of Internet research, finding websites, images and photos, maps, blogs, Google satellite, you name it. There’s a list of recommended reading in the back of the books. I emailed and even phoned scholars and historians to interview them about the period. And I travelled to North Wales a couple of times to visit castles and mines and other areas in person. I took a Welsh class at Nant Gwrtheyrn in North Wales, and I learned a lot about Welsh culture from my instructors there. I stayed for a week in a reconstructed 13 th Century hut near Aberystwyth, visited an archeological dig, and explored a lot of the sites that ended up in the books. Finally, I was lucky enough to secure some funding from Creative Saskatchewan that allowed me to hire a historical editor with expertise in the time period, Daniele Cybulskie, and she checked my accuracy and gave me a lot of good tips.

I’ve always loved writing. I wrote my first “book” when I was about six, for a neighbour of ours. To earn a living, I became a reporter and a freelance journalist, but I always wrote stories and poetry as well. I feel very fortunate and grateful that my work has been chosen for publication by so many different magazines and publishers.

I have a home office, but I usually end up writing at my kitchen table. This is a habit I developed when my kids were young, and I still find it the most cheerful and comfortable place to write. I can also grab a coffee or tea anytime I want one, and that helps!

Poetry is a joy to write. It’s an opportunity to play with the sounds and colours of words. It’s a very precise form, and I think that attention to detail and nuance actually helps sharpen your prose writing as well.

I am working on the new spin-off series, and a more contemporary fantasy that I think of as “Veronica Mars meets the Invisible Man.” I’m hoping to get both completed by the end of the summer, and then we’ll see what happens next.

I’ve been with AllAuthor since January, and I love it. It was recommended to me by a writer friend. It’s great to have a place to feature my book as a best-seller and to help advertise book deals. The mock-ups and GIFs are useful, plus I’ve just entered Spirit Sight into the June cover contest, so I’m crossing my fingers!