Interview with Charlotte E. English

About the Author

Originally from England, Charlotte now in the heart of windmill country in the Netherlands. She has a degree in Heritage, and her interests include books, crafts, cooking and social history. She likes to write whimsical, colourful tales full of character and humour.

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The Interview

 1. How did you get started as an author?  What or whom inspired you?I can't trace exactly when I decided to be an author. I've always enjoyed writing stories ever since I can remember, and I've read voraciously almost since I learned to read. Stories have always had a profound impact upon me, and I began to feel at a very young age that I wanted to achieve the same for other people, someday.

2. How many books have you written and in what genres?
I've written six novels so far, and four novellas. They are all fantasy fiction, though across a range of sub-genres: high fantasy, steampunk, dark fantasy/mystery and fairytale with a historical setting.

3. What writing projects are you currently working on?  What can you tell us about these projects?
I'm currently writing the second book in my series Tales of Aylfenhame, of which Miss Landon and Aubranael is the first. This story is about Isabel Ellerby from book one, and her adventures (and romances!) in Aylfenhame.

4. What does your writing process look like?
I'm not sure that I have a process; that makes it sound almost ritualistic! I pick a place to write depending on how I feel that day (this is a mysterious impulse which I can't explain...). At the moment I'm writing about 4000 words a day, fuelled by tea and biscuits. It helps if I can contrive to have a cat in my lap while I do this, but that's not always possible. They're contrary.

5. Where is your favorite place to write?
I write in a few different places around my house, but my favourite is my office, which I have decorated with all of my favourite things!

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6. How important are the names in your novels? How do you choose names for your characters?  Do you have any name resources you would suggest?
Names are very important to me. I always try to choose names that sound "right" for the character, though I couldn't precisely explain how that works. I don't usually use name generators. Sometimes names pop into my head apparently out of nowhere, and sometimes I have to spend a while playing with sounds and spellings until I find a combination that I like.

7. What authors/novels that you enjoy would you recommend?
My favourite fantasy authors are numerous! Kage Baker is the author of my favourite fantasy book ever, The Anvil of the World. I also enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold, Jim Butcher, Sarah Zettel, Susanna Clarke, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Patricia C. Wrede, Robin Hobb, K. E. Mills, Galen Beckett... I could go on!

8. Where is your favorite place to read and why?
I tend to read more in the colder months, and my favourite place at those times is on the sofa in my attic. There's a big window directly above through which I can see the sky, and it's a warm and cosy spot. Usually I have a cat curled up somewhere about me, too.

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9. What period of history interests you the most?
My favourite is the early nineteenth century (Regency) - no surprise that it was the first period I chose to set a novel in! I'm drawn to the whole of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however.

10. If you could choose someone famous to star in one of your books made to a movie, who would you choose and for which character?
I don't have an easy answer to that question, as I don't picture any of my characters as resembling any particular actors. That would make it very odd, I think, if there was ever a film someday! I'd have to do a lot of mental readjusting.

11. What inspired the idea for Miss Landon and Aubranael?
I wanted to combine two of my favourite things - fairytale fantasy and Regency England. I also wanted to write about a heroine who was less beautiful, highly skilled, powerful or wealthy than they often tend to be. The rest... I don't know! Sometimes ideas pop up out of my mental fog and I can't trace where they came from.

12. What other hobbies do you enjoy when you are not writing?
I like crafts - sewing is a favourite thing (I particularly like to make historical costumes). I cook and bake a great deal, I enjoy walking and naturally I love to read. I also enjoy knitting blankets for my cats...

Check out my review of MISS LANDON AND AUBRANAEL.