Inis L Fal was raised in the rural countryside and has enjoyed a varied and adventurous life full of unique landscapes and experiences. When she is not spinning yarns in the romantic tradition of a bard under a starry canopy reciting sagas to a captive audience, you will often find her under a wild plum tree spinning wool yarns, weaving pine needle baskets, playing her Armenian duduk, painting, reading or singing a favorite Celtic ballad.
Your real name and pen name? My pen name is Inis L Fal. There is a special secret behind this name, but to unlock the mystery…you must find where it is hidden within the plot of my book!
Please share some of the best memories of your childhood: As a kid, I was raised on my family’s homestead up in the mountains. I loved growing up with the animals and watching their funny antics, especially the new spring lambs, calves and kids. We had just about every critter imaginable on our place, and it was a joy every day to see their beautiful and sometimes downright ornery personalities! Growing up alongside them, they became a part of our family.
Inis L Fal Sharing Childhood Memories
Or maybe it was the other way around? Who knows? Even at a pretty young age, I loved all the traditional things that come with an old-fashioned homestead…things that the pioneers had done before us, like harvesting wild foods and vegetables fresh from the garden, or learning how to milk three different kinds of quadrupeds! I also enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen putting up food for the winter, making cheese, baking, canning, or going out into the woods with my dad to help cut firewood.
Every season brought with it, its own special projects to tackle, and they weren’t all work, either! Come summer time we would pick berries, go backpacking, hunt for arrowheads, and eat some of the best watermelons on God’s green earth! Then it was off to the river for a cool swim and a dive for mussel shells and other underwater treasures! On the other end, with winter time came the joy of unthawing frozen stock tanks with blow torches, sledding down steep hills and having the ultimate snowball fights! I’m grateful to say that I have a lot of fond memories from my childhood…and these are just a few!
About your education: I’m pleased to say that I was homeschooled from start to finish…and it was a blast! I’m so grateful to my mom especially for the wonderful job she did with my education, all of her hard work, time, sacrifice and patience. Without it, I would not have been exposed to the same knowledge and opportunities that I was otherwise. Thanks, mom!
Inis L Fal Telling About her Career
What career did you plan during your education days? I would have to say it was a combination of translator and archaeologist. Archae-trans-logist, maybe? When I was six years old (or so) my mom bought me a book called The Children’s Guide to Knowledge, all about the wonders of the world and other fun and interesting facts. At the back of it was a chapter with samples of five to six words from dozens of languages around the globe. I used to take that old book and sit on my bed and memorize all of them from start to finish, and then recite them back for my parents. And when I wasn’t doing that, I was ‘digging’ into any kind of archaeological book or magazine I could get my hands on.
Anything ancient fascinated me. Indiana Jones? One of my all-time favorite movie characters! So I grew up with a real love for both ‘professions’ you might say. I still continue to teach myself foreign languages and pursue my interest in archeology and historical research, and I believe that there is plenty of time and room yet to actually do both ‘in the field’ so to speak. But for the time being, I enjoy incorporating them into my writings!
What languages you can speak and write? I speak and write four languages: Icelandic, Scottish Gaelic, Russian and Mandarin Chinese, though not as fluently as my own mother tongue! (But I’m working on it!)
Inis L Fal Sharing Her Source of Inspiration
What is your biggest source of inspiration in life? I believe in living life to the fullest, making sure that every day counts and is full of spice, wit, color, richness, adventure, the thrill of discovery, contentment in the little things as well as the big things, and lots of good belly laughs! In my book, life’s short, so it should be a wonderful experience all the time, and if I can share a small measure of that with someone else, that’s an added bonus!
What hurts you most in this world? Sadly, that’s a question that’s hard to give just a single answer to. But for me, seeing cruel treatment of people and animals in all situations and walks of life is one of the hardest things to have to witness, and it breaks my heart. I look forward to the day when innocents no longer suffer.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced? How did you overcome it? As far as writing goes, my greatest challenge was when I set out to write my first book. I was taking on something that I had never attempted to do before, and without any professional help or experience. Mercifully, I read books endlessly as a kid (and still do), so I was able to see other authors’ writing styles, which helped give me an idea of how to proceed. But I still had to figure out the ‘nuts and bolts’ of it on my own, like how to come up with a good plot, and then how to work out all the ‘in-between’ stuff.
Inis L Fal Sharing Challenges of Life
I had to learn the rhythm and tempo that all good authors have, and then how to write words in such a way that they flowed, not too fast, not too slow, descriptively, not blandly. Creating a story that would really come alive in the minds of my readers and make them feel like they were right there in it, be seeing it, feeling it, be hearing it…that was definitely a challenge. And then as both a young person and a brand-new author, learning how to get published on my own…yikes! How did I overcome it? Well, I just jumped in with both feet, did my best not to lose sight of my goal, and perhaps the most important part…always had fun with it! Because if you don’t enjoy what you do…why write in the first place? Right?
When did you start writing? What is the purpose of your writing? Technically I started writing when I was still being homeschooled. My mom would give me vocabulary lists, which I would have to look up in the dictionary and then incorporate into a short story. I began writing my first book, When the Lion Roars when I was seventeen. To me, the purpose of my writing is both to express my own interests and to open doors in the minds of other young people (and hopefully adults!) to places and experiences that they never dreamed existed, just as it was for me!
Inis L Fal on Writing
Every time I picked up a book, I wanted to feel like I was right there in the story, being swept off my feet and transported to far-away lands! At the same time, I wanted to learn and discover new things that were real (especially ancient and historical), and I still feel that way. So I hope that my writings can do the same for others: inspire, uplift, and give them wings to see the great wonders of the world…past and present!
Which of your works has been published so far? Would you like to share a synopsis of your work? At the moment, I have my first book When the Lion Roars available in the market. It is about four teenagers who travel to a clandestine military base and are then back in time to the ancient world. There they have a great adventure, along the way meeting a host of historical characters from epic heroes to treacherous villains, and by uncovering history in the past, discover their ultimate destiny. For a complete back cover synopsis, you can log onto my website. Or, you can go to my Goodreads profile page, where the teenagers make semi-regular blog postings of their adventures and answer questions.
Inis L Fal on Forthcoming Writings
What are your forthcoming writings? Currently, I’m working on the sequel to my first book, called ‘The Kurgan’s Secret~ Lost in the Kingdom of Moesia’!
What genres do you write in and why? I write in Christian, Historical Fiction, Adventure and Young Adult, as those are topics that reflect my own background, interests, and pursuits, and because I believe it is important for people of all ages to be able to read good, down to earth, family value literature. It’s my hope that When the Lion Roars and The Kurgan’s Secret will also fit into such categories as humor, inspiration, travel, etc.
Inis L Fal on Motivation
What keeps you motivated towards writing? Basically, the short answer is…I like to create. Period. I like taking things that are there and transforming them into something new…which is why I like storytelling. It’s a great feeling to see all of your hard work, thoughts, interests, and efforts pay off, especially once you’ve reached the end of your rainbow and you can say… “I did it! I’m finished!” That never gets old!
How do you plan, schedule and monitor your writing commitments? I never really work around a schedule. Because I find that it’s never a good idea to force yourself to write when you’re not ready to. If you do, chances are it won’t have the spark of creativity that you were hoping for, and you’ll have to start all over again! I do, however, always try to be consistent as much as possible, but I let the inspiration come to me. Even if that means stepping back and taking a little break for a while, I will. And almost every single time, when my mind is ready, the inspiration comes, and I’m happy with the result!
What are your future plans? I plan to make When the Lion Roars and The Kurgan’s Secret the first two in a long series. With at least three or four more books following! Wish me luck!
Inis L Fal on Print or e-book
What is generally your preference in reading— a paper book or e-book? And why? I prefer to read paper books that I can hold in my hands, mainly because of my homestead upbringing. The pioneers read old fashioned books with leather bindings, paper, and ink…and… well, what can I say? If that’s the way they did it, then it’s good enough for me!
How much real life goes into a fiction writing? A surprisingly large amount, I think! The plots of fiction books may be just that made up. For example, I have never personally traveled back through time…more’s the pity! But the descriptions of how people interact with each other, how things look and feel and sound, what people do or did, or what things actually happened in real life, especially historically…all of those things go into the making of a work of fiction.
But perhaps the reason why people love fictional stories so much is that the idea of living happily ever after or sailing off into the sunset isn’t really fiction at all, or a hopeless desire of what they wish life could be, but a tangible dream that they can experience in real life themselves! For me, that’s one of the reasons why I love both reading and writing fiction!
Inis L Fal on Imagination
Is a high level of imagination important to have for an author? Definitely! It’s an author’s job to create the world around the reader that they can jump into. And that feels real to them. Not just tell a story blandly with flat, boring words and no interesting plot. Words are powerful creative agents. Even if you don’t know exactly what a place or person looks like or sounds like, bingo! That’s where imagination can go a really long way! In my opinion, imagination for authors is a MUST!
Your dream destination on earth? For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of seeing Iceland and the British Isles. And now part of my wish is about to come true! This summer, I will be packing my bags, and heading out for…Iceland!
Favorite time of day: The whole thing is my favorite!
Your favorite color and why: Red. Why? I’ve been asking myself that for a long time. But I think because it’s such a vivid, warm color. Because it fills up all the spaces and seems to shout boldness and courage everywhere it goes! Well, something like that!
Inis L Fal on Favorite Book
Your favorite book and why? Oh, dear! That’s a tough question to answer! So tough, in fact, that I don’t think I can! But several of my top favorite books are from various series. Like, The Education of Little Tree, The James Herriot series, Born Free, The Music of the Dolphins and Modoc. Also, Rora, The Jade del Cameron series, and the Redwall series. Why? They all have an adventure, travel, humor, poignancy, beauty, courage and appreciation for life in common.
Your favorite movie and why? That question might be even harder to answer! Some of my top favorites are Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Anastasia and Second Hand Lions! Why? For about the same reasons as my favorite books!
Your favorite celebrity and why? Charleton Heston. I like John Wayne a lot, too. Because both actors often portrayed men of integrity, honor, deep conviction and true grit!
Your favorite food? Is it possible? A question that’s even harder to answer than the other two? Well, the best way I think I can put it is…international.
Your favorite sports? Mountain climbing, ice and floor hockey, sheep shearing and Olympic milking!
What comes to your mind when you think of India? Brilliant splashes of color, water buffalo, gorgeous fabrics and women’s saris. In addition, tigers, monkeys, mouth-watering food, verdant green mountains, fragrant spices and cups of warm chai tea.
State your signature line/tagline/best quote: I’m still working on it!
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