About the Book:
Bitch.
Bastard.
Orphan.
Ata had become inured to these epithets – her self-directed labels cut much deeper:
Spy.
Liar.
Traitor.
Their accuracy rent to the bone… But all people had their roles to play and hers was one of secrecy and survival-driven destruction.
For the greater good.
Follow Ata’s travails through royal intrigues, violent invasions, and hard-forged alliances as she fights alongside friend and foe for the survival of the continent of Áitarbith. She questions old relationships and forges new ones whilst navigating treacherous courts and brutal battle landscapes, possibly finding love along the way.
In the face of an implacably ruthless enemy, as well as uncertainty as to who can be trusted, the final outcome of this struggle is anything but certain.
This is Book 1 of a trilogy titled The Chronicles of Áitarbith.
Purchase Links:
‘A gripping, well-paced first installment with a resourceful female lead.‘ Kirkus Review
Full review: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kis/the-assays-of-ata-the-chronicles-of-aitarbith
Author Interview:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I’m a former high school English teacher and an avid knitter and crocheter. Sometimes I sketch. But my great passion in life is reading. Like many other readers, I also enjoyed creating my own stories as a child, teen, and young adult (the first one I remember actually writing down fully, as opposed to play-acting it out with my sister, was around the age of eight). But alas, also similar to other reader-writers, by the end of my undergrad studies I realized that I wasn’t a particularly good writer because I never finished any of my writing projects. So, I dutifully accepted that I was a reader, not a writer – and I was fine with that. Even now, I consider myself a more invested reader, but (for once), when the writing frenzy took a hold of me this time, it didn’t abandon me by chapter three, and I still seem to be enthused by this writing project. Enough to continue, anyway. My long-winded answer (I am notorious in my family for being the long-story-not-so-short waffler) is that I have always been a writer, just never a) a writer of a complete text, or b) a published one. I am very proud that this is about to change.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
I will probably horrify multiple people with this –it’s apparently unhealthy re circadian rhythms – but my bed, and in the wee hours of the morning. I have a very bad habit of swapping my day and night sleeping schedule, staying up until the sun rises, and then sleeping past noon. Also, I am told my posture will suffer immensely from my bed-typing setup, but I find it comfortable and conducive to writing. I tend to get most of my brainwaves (at least, I hope they’re that) when I’m lying in bed and waiting to fall asleep. When I was teaching and couldn’t stay up the entire night writing, I would keep a journal on my bedside table and jot down ideas for writing projects; I call it ‘The Book of Unfinished Things’.
3: Where do your ideas come from?
No one place or process, I think, informs my ideas. Some I get from reading, others from life (and observing people around me), still others just from the tangled mess that is my subconscious. It’s a mishmash, really, when it comes to the origin of my stories. My main inspiration has to be the fantastical elements in our humdrum lives; there are these hints at magic in many things, but especially in nature (though the bugs are a magic I would happily do without). Like if we look at something at an angle and squint, then it might reveal its true nature, or we just catch a glimpse of it from the corner of our eyes. It might sound like a bit of frou-frou mysticism, I suppose, but I stand by the idea that the world is more magical than mundane. The same goes for people; even the simplest of utterances or gestures hint to a plethora of internal worlds. We get to try and map them from small clues in our interactions.
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
Yes; I am definitely the kind of author that does a thorough outline of the plot and characters beforehand, the “main strokes” of a composition, as it were. But, once I do start writing, the text sort of takes over and, though it goes in the general direction I have assigned it, it also meanders a bit within those parameters. Doodling between the broad strokes. I like to keep track of what’s happening, though, so when an unplanned character just invents themself, I add them to my running list of characters, as well as a short description of them. I do the same with places, because I didn’t start with a map from the get-go, having had a general idea of the geographic placement of towns and regions in my head, but about halfway through, I put pen to paper and used my poor cartography skills (along with the list of place names I’d been keeping) to create something more structured and accessible (for myself and the reader) to orient ourselves (pun intended).
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
Fantasy (for now, anyway), with a bit of romance in there too. For once I can give a short and sweet answer: my favourite reading genre is fantasy because escapism has always been the primary aim of (fun) reading for me. They say you should ‘write what you know’, and though I don’t claim to be any great shakes at fantasy writing, I definitely know it is the genre that I have read the most and am most passionate about.
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
This is a tricky question, because I have this weird reservation about even imagining my writing being made into a film (even hypothetically). It’s not that I’m ultra-possessive of the concepts and characters, but more that… I’m wary of how the film version (again, even an imaginary one) would fall short of my expectations? (I’ve been burned one too many times with that in the real world – I won’t mention names).
I do sometimes envision my characters as existing actors, though never the main ones, oddly. So, the characters in Assays that were the most vivid for me were Ians and Danai; the former I imagine looking very similar to British actor Tom Courtenay, who plays a fuddy-duddy retired singer in the film Quartet (2012), with the witty Billy Connolly as his foil; I imagine Ians to be a bit of a combination of the two characters in that film. Danai, on the other hand, I imagine as a dark and austere Ian McKellan. Oh, and King Addai I imagine looking somewhat like actor Rufus Sewell, while Queen Nelni is a dead ringer for Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust (2007) (and also channelling those vain, power-hungry vibes, naturally). All the others? I’ll leave that up to the readers to imagine.
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
Ha! I’ve half-answered this already, so this will (blessedly) be a shorter answer. Fantasy and Sci-Fi (and all the in-betweeners, like Steampunk and Paranormal): Robin Hobb, Christopher Paolini, Mary E. Pearson, Kate Stradling, Mark Lawrence, William Ritter, Jonathan L. Howard, T.A. White, Brandon Sanderson… The list goes on. I should mention I also like a well-written romance now and then; my tastes are a bit eclectic within that broad genre framework, so two (quite disparate, yet equally talented) authors that I enjoy reading are Mhairi McFarlane and Alice Coldbreath.
8: What book/s are you reading at present?
Every now and then I venture out of my comfort zone of ‘fun’ reading (i.e., of the fantastical variety) and read something weightier, so I’ve started The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Though I’ve seen rave reviews over the years, and it’s been circling the book club circuits for as long, I never got around to reading it due to the heavy subject matter. However, I’ve decided the time is nigh and I’m engrossed thus far. I just know I’m going to cry soon! (I’m a big crier – books, films, series… you name it, I’ll probably cry at some point during)
9: What is your favourite book and why?
Again: tricky question. That’s like asking which one of my former students was my favourite; there are many that I could call my favourite for various reasons – usually because of their diverse characteristics. I tend to have a ‘favourite’ in each genre, so for Fantasy it’s currently Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson (although, as a whole, The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb is my favourite series). Both authors construct these amazing fantasy realms and craft characters you care about, despite their flaws and blunders. They stay with you long after you’ve closed the book itself, like a cerebral ear-worm that won’t stop playing over and over.
In Romance, it’s Mhairi McFarlane’s Here’s Looking at You because her light touch with humour while dealing with deep-seated human struggles appeals to me personally. Lastly, for Historical Fiction it’s been River God by Wilbur Smith since I read it the first time when I was thirteen – the epic scale of the story as well as the implication that it has some historic veracity makes it powerfully gripping (especially if you’re a sucker for anything related to Ancient Egypt, as I have been since I was eleven).
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
Each person should find the approach that works best for them, and a perceived ‘lack of success’ isn’t a summary end to your writing ambitions. Sometimes it’s better to shelve a project and move on to the next; at others, maybe pushing through would be best, because just finishing something (whether it’s good or bad) is the achievement. Every person’s process differs, and it’s their task to ferret out what works for them. If it takes years, then so be it. For me, personally, I really struggle with finalising – I will edit, and polish, and rewrite, and repeat, ad infinitum, because the project becomes this huge thing in my mind that needs just a little more tweaking before it’s good enough to be considered finished. Though it can be seen as being thorough, what it actually is, is an avoidance of completion. Knowing this, I have to force myself to just go: “It’s good enough now”; not an easy task, but I’m getting better at it incrementally. Each person has their ‘thing’ that they struggle with (and that consequently inhibits their writing), but if they try different approaches and attempt to be self-aware, then they can identify and address it, making their writing a whole lot easier and more enjoyable.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
There are quite a few (though, more isn’t always better, but here goes):
Twitter: @sara_skulks
Insta: master_of_noniin
TikTok: k.i.s.the_pro(crastinator)
About the Author:
Procrastinator.
Putterer.
Escapist.
Despite growing up in sunny South Africa within walking distance of the wide, sandy beach, K.I.S. was forever carrying a book around and hiding out of sight somewhere, getting lost in the drama on the page. To this day, her idea of perfection is a cup of tea, a comfortable armchair, and a good book (not breaking the bookish, nerdy stereotype at all). To complete this cosy picture, she is also an avid knitter and crocheter, with a definite penchant for cats.
Her first, full-length story was about two ducks that go on a farmyard adventure, bashed out on her mother’s old typewriter at the ripe old age of seven. An English teacher by trade, K.I.S. always envisioned herself as a writer but never got around to actually completing a story after her epic poultry caper… Until now.
Her greatest ambition, like Jo March, is to move beyond the (admittedly ever-supportive) readership of her sisters and family, and share her tales with others.
Reading Nook 