Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Interview with Margaret Fieland





Please share a little about yourself.

Born and raised in Manhattan, I have lived in the Boston area since just after the blizzard of 1976, thus missing the opportunity to abandon my car in a snowbank and walk home. I am the daughter of a painter and the mother of three grown sons. An avid science fiction fan, I selected Robert A. Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" for my tenth birthday, now long past. I live outside of Boston with my partner and a large number of dogs.

In spite of earning my living as a computer software engineer, I turned to one of my sons to put up the first version of my website, a clear illustration of the computer generation gap. An accomplished flute and piccolo player, I can also write backwards and wiggle my ears. Thanks to my father's relentless hounding, I can still recite the rules for pronoun agreement in both English and French. My articles, poem, and stories have appeared in anthologies and journals such as Melusine, Front Range Review, and All Rights Reserved. My 2010 NaNo novel, "Relocated", was published by MuseItUp Publishing in July.  I published the book of poems that goes with the book through CreateSpace. My book, "The Angry Little Boy," will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013. I am one of six authors of the poetry anthology, "Lifelines."

Are you a mom?

Yes, I have three grown sons, a step-son and a step-daughter. My middle son, the one who had the blog, is a captain in the army. He's done two tours in Afghanistan and is about to start a new posting in Washington, D.C. He's part of the reason that my alien planet is largely desert and that there's a Terran Federation base and spaceport on the planet.

Tell us a little about your book.

My novel, Relocated, is a science fiction novel for tweens/young adults, though adults will enjoy it as well. My main character, Keth, ends up on Aleyne with his father when Dad is deployed to Aleyne to help thwart a gang of terrorists who are, among other things, infiltrating the computer network at the spaceport.

Have you ever based your book or character on actual events or people in your own life?

Yes. I'm a computer software engineer and I work in computer data security, so no surprise that my terrorists are infiltrating the computer network in my novel.

I also have a chapter book coming out next year that is based on a tragedy in my own life: a friend lost his wife and all of his children in a house fire. In the book, my main character's mother dies, but he and his dad live. It was my way of coming to terms with the whole thing. I wrote the first draft of the book in a weekend, then spent the next two years learning to write fiction well enough to make it really say what I needed it to. I also named the dog in the book after another friend who died unexpectedly.

Is there a theme or message in your book you'd like readers to connect to?

The poison of secrets can kill. Wholeness demands exposing them to the light.There are threads going through novel:
Secrecy/Self knowledge
Self hate/Self Acceptance
Accepting responsibility


Secrets, family secrets, integration of disparate elements of self, self-acceptance and the like are big themes of mine. While some of the secrets in my family, are, from a certain point of view, ordinary, or perhaps trivial, they were nevertheless important to me. "Ignore it and it will go away" was practically a family motto in my home. My main character, Keth, is fighting against this, and his father, Gavin, embodies it.


What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

Hmm. Well, they might have been surprised to learn I'm a software engineer, but if they've been paying attention they know that. I also speak fluent French, play the flute and the piccolo. I can write backwards and wiggle my ears.

I taught my middle son to write backwards when he was in elementary school. He and I thought the whole thing was a giggle, but his teacher was less pleased.

What do you do when you're not writing? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

I'm a compulsive reader and suffer withdrawal symptoms when I'm down to only one or two left to read. I'm better now that I have a kindle and a large number of books I haven't read on it. Plus it's easy to get more.

I've recently discovered the joys of digital photography and have been playing with GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). 





Relocated
Margaret Fieland

Genre: Tween/YA sci fi
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing

ISBN:978-1-77127-111-0
ASIN:B008OHOVVU

Number of pages:155
Word Count: 51272

Publisher's website  Amazon  Smashwords  Bookstrand

Book Description:

When fourteen-year-old Keth's dad is transferred to planet Aleyne, he doesn't know what to expect. Certainly not to discover Dad grew up here, and studied with Ardaval, a noted Aleyni scholar. On Aleyne, Keth’s psi ability develops. However, psi is illegal in the Terran Federation. After a dangerous encounter with two Terran teenagers  conflict erupts between Keth and his father. Keth seeks sanctuary with Ardaval.  Studying with the Aleyne scholar Keth learns the truth about his own heritage. After Keth's friend's father, Mazos, is kidnapped, Keth ignores the risks and attempts to free him. Little does he realize who will pay the cost as he becomes involved with terrorists.

About the Author:

Born and raised in New York City, Margaret Fieland has been around art and music all her life. Daughter of a painter, she is the mother of three grown sons and an accomplished flute and piccolo player. She is an avid science fiction fan, and selected Robert A. Heinlein's “Farmer in the Sky” for her tenth birthday, now long past. She lives in the suburbs west of Boston, MA with her partner and a large number of dogs. Her poems, articles and stories have appeared in journals and anthologies such as Melusine, Front Range Review, Umbrella Journal and All Rights Reserved. In spite of making her living as a computer software engineer, she turned to one of her sons to format the initial version of her website, a clear illustration of the computer generation gap.  Her book, "Relocated," was released by MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy," will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013. 

You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com





5 comments:

Margaret Fieland said...

Wenona, thanks so much for hosting me today.

Gail Roughton said...

Very nice, ladies! Margaret, aren't you dizzy yet from all the blogs today?

Margaret Fieland said...

Gail, my head is spinning. I just hope I don't fall over ad bang it on something!

Unknown said...

Every time I read this promo, I like the book more. I love sci-fi and the premise is very intriguing. The heck with the tweens, (kidding) this book is for me.

Margaret Fieland said...

Lorrie, I do hope you read the book. It's not just for kids.