Hi-de-ho mateys. How’s it hanging? It’s me, you’re friendly, neighbourhood lunatic. Enough people say I’m crazy, so I’ll let them believe it – though we know the truth, don’t we? Anywho. The lovely Lorna Suzuki joins me in the asylum today. Now Lorna has a movie deal going on her books, which I think is very cool. Looking for anyone to play crazy? Let’s find out...
What’s your name?
Hello, Sin! Depending upon whom you ask, I usually go by Lorna Suzuki. You can just call me Ms. Suzuki.
Yes, Ms. Suzuki. Whatever you say Ms. Suzuki. So. Lorna. Where are you from?
I live in the southwest corner of beautiful British Columbia, in the ‘burbs just outside of Vancouver.
Do you like living there? If not, where would your favourite place to live be? Is yes, where would you least like to live?
The west coast of BC is wonderful & the wet, cold winters are conducive for writing. It’s also referred to in the film industry as Hollywood North, beinghome to a lot of big screen movies as well as TV series like Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, Continuum, Fringe and Sanctuary to name a few.
As for the place I’d least like to live? I’d say the slums of Mumbai, India! Between the heat, the crowds, the less than sanitary conditions, etc. I’m very happy here, thank you very much.
Sounds like Lincolnshire, where I’m from. Cold and wet in winter - and summer to be honest. I agree with you on Mumbai, though somedays that’d be preferable to here! As you’re a writer, is this your ‘day job’?
Thanks to the movie deal, I was able to quit my ‘day job’ when my books were optioned about three years ago! So, yes! I do write full-time. I’ve written scripts for a TV travel adventure series that has gone international with about 14 million viewers now, but I’ve yet to work on film for the big screen. Even with the adaptation of my novel for a major motion picture trilogy, I’ve been hired as a creative consultant, but I don’t think this qualifies as filmmaking! When I’m not writing, I teach martial arts to a select few that seem to enjoy being mangled into the ground. ;-)
That’s very impressive. Do you get the same sort of say J.K. Rowling had on Harry Potter? Saying that, can you see a line of merchandise coming out? Tell me about your latest project.
I am madly proofreading the 10th and final novel in my movie optioned fantasy series. This is the half-human/half-elf protagonist, Nayla Treeborn’s last kick at the can as the surviving members of the illustrious Order are pitted against a mysterious adversary on a killing spree. Their nemesis comes armed with deadly weapons they’ve never encountered before and have taken prisoners, including Nayla’s young daughter. All become pawns in a deadly game that has the potential to drive the elves from the realm and change the history of the mortals left in this world.
Sounds epic! Especially with it being the tenth book in the series! That’s a hell of a story. But, more importantly, how do you feel about bacon? A crazy person once said it was the food of the gods. OK, I admit that person was myself...
Eating bacon or wearing it like Lady Gaga’s meat dress? I do enjoy eating crispy bacon… Bacon is especially tasty when someone else cooks it up for you. If it was made into a dress, I’d have you fry it up for me and I’d even let you have some of the bits that fall off from the hem.
Oh, definitely eating it. Lady Gaga’s meat dress was... Well, let’s say she deserved her name. As for your hem, you just want me on my knees because I didn’t take up the offer of a mangling. What is your favourite film?
I did enjoy the LoTR trilogy by Peter Jackson, but I failed at trying to read the novels by JRR Tolkien. Mind you, I like films that have great stories about overcoming incredible odds and exceeding the expectations of others, even if they are family-oriented animations. Films like How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda are wonderful and I can so relate to the Viking misfit Hiccup as well as poor, clumsy Po!
I love the LOTR films, and the Hobbit, too. I read the books at school but found them hard going. Po is class. My favourite film character has to be Dory, though I can’t remember why... Have you always wanted to be a writer, or is it something you found yourself doing one day?
At one time, I headed up the education and volunteer department at a local zoo. On Feb. 6th, 2002 I had a job, the next day, the entire management staff were let go, myself included! I started writing the first novel in the Imago Chronicles series on Feb. 7th, 2002! So, no… It was something I never considered. If you told me in 2001 I’d be writing fantasy novels and the first three would be made into films for the big screen, I’d probably be rolling about on the floor laughing at you!
You’d have thought I was crazy. Ah... Do you have so many ideas they dribble out of your nose if you don’t get them down, or do you have to hunt around the floor and the back of your sofa to find where your Muse is hiding?
I’ve had milk dribble out of my nose, but never ideas. When I can drag my Muse out from the local pub, the ideas are there, but more often than not, writing for me is almost like transcribing actions and dialogue as a movie plays out in my head. So far, lucky for me, I’ve yet to endure a bout of writer’s block.
That’s good. That Shaun Allan fella-me-lad has stacks of ideas, but never the time to write them down. But, at least you have the pub! If you were in an asylum, what would your particular delusion or psychosis be?
I’d probably have delusions of grandeur that I am a great entity that controls the destiny of many lives and can feel mighty smitey, altering lives with mere words when the citizens of this imaginary world decide to revolt against me. Yes, I’d be the ruler of this universe! People will live and die, and I will subject them to all kinds of trials and tribulations just to see how they’d respond to my subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Luckily, being a writer, you only get to control the destiny of many lives and... oh... Erm... What genre(s) do you write?
So far, I’ve written 10 epic adult fantasies (Imago Chronicles) and 3 YA fantasies (The Dream Merchant Saga). I wouldn’t mind trying historical fiction, but I’m getting too old to subject my mind to undertake this creative endeavour!
You’re never too old unless you’re too creaky to hold a pen or press a key. Even then, there’s dictation! What genres(s) do you read?
When I’m writing fantasy, I don’t read it. (Advice I take to heart from one of my favourite writing instructors the fabulous Terry Brooks.) Instead, I’ll read novels by my other writing instructor, Jack Whyte or I’ll dive into classics by Alexandre Dumas.
I love Terry Brooks. He’s your writing instructor? Cool! If these are the same, what attracts you to them. If they’re different, why do you think that is?
With Jack Whyte, tales of Arthurian legends that are grounded in reality intrigues me and I love Dumas’ subtle style and swashbuckling tales of the Musketeers, when men lived by a code of honour. If anything, both are read as a study on character development, writing dialogue, etc. One day, I’ll be able to read fantasy, but first, I must get these movie projects underway!
I always used to read fantasy, particularly Brooks and Eddings. Then I moved into horror and paranormal books. And now I kill people. Perhaps I should have stuck to DIY books? Maybe I could then fix a dripping tap without touching it? Bacon – just cooked or crispy?
Always cooked, never raw! Ewwww! Cooked crispy, but not so crispy it shatters when you bite it. (Or with my old age, not so crispy that it shatters my teeth when I bite into it.)
Tim Stevens said he liked it ‘burnt as a Salem witch’. That’s a bit well done for me, but crispy is good. Now you’re in the asylum with me, how do you aim to get out? Do you have an escape plan?
Oh, yes I do! As a martial artist practitioner/instructor it’d be pretty dumb if I didn’t have an escape plan. Just know that you’re part of the plan I’m hatching, but if I told you what this plan is, I’d have to kill you… slowly!
Have you tasted the food in here? I think Connors is doing that already!
A fan of Alexandre Dumas of The Three Musketeers fame, Lorna Suzuki noticed that it was the men going off on great adventures, enjoying the camaraderie of a brotherhood while the women were portrayed as the damsels-in distress.
In writing the Imago fantasy series, by adding a female protagonist, one that is reluctantly accepted into this brotherhood, the author drew on her own experiences as a woman in a once male-dominated field of law enforcement and martial arts to bring Nayla Treeborn the female warrior to life.
When she is not writing, Suzuki is a martial arts instructor. With 30 years experience in martial arts, Suzuki is a 5th degree black belt practitioner of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, a system incorporating 6 traditional samurai schools and 3 schools of ninjutsu.
Lorna can be found at:
Website:www.newmobileme.com/imagochronicles9
Buy links:
Smashwords bit.ly/ajQrVz
Amazon amzn.to/zMxJ0u
Twitter: @LornaSuzuki
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