Indie Author Spotlight – N.R. Champagne and “Prodigal Angel”

Here’s another great indie author for you on this holiday morning: N.R. Champagne…

N. R. Champagne grew up the “tomboy” in a family of all girls, preferring climbing trees to playing with dolls. With a strong desire to see the world, she joined the Navy, where she got a permanent case of wanderlust. She met her current husband in the States, who encouraged her to fulfill her lifelong dream of writing. Together they moved to his native Scotland, where she is happily pursuing that dream. When she’s not writing, she can be found rambling in the woods and fields or cooking stodgy British meals for her husband. She recently self-published her debut novel, Prodigal Angel, a paranormal fantasy/scifi adventure, and is now at work on the sequel, Desolate Angel.

Follow her at:

Her Website: www.nrchampagnebooks.com

Her Blog: http://nrchampagne.blogspot.com

Facebook: N.R. Champagne

Twitter: @NRChampagne1

 

Here’s the book…

If you fall in love with a powerful immortal, beware—he might have powerful, immortal enemies!

Lonely engineer Miranda Jones finds the new guy at work attractive, but rather strange. What she doesn’t know is that Jared is Irin, an ancient race with supernatural abilities descended from the Fallen Angels. Despite Miranda’s resolve she falls for him, but she didn’t count on his Bysh brother, Gareth, an evil outcast who is bent on destroying them both. At stake is a revolutionary new green technology that could change the world…

You can buy it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1koeXXu

And you can read an excerpt at N.R.’s website: http://www.nrchampagnebooks.com/prodigal-angel-excerpt.html

And also, here’s a great interview with her…

Who is your favorite author?

I’ve been smitten with the books of Olivia Butler and I’ve always loved C. J. Cherryh, but I’d have to say my all-time favorite is Ursula K. LeGuin. She’s an anthropologist who writes science fiction the way I think it should be written: with the focus on people, not technology. Her works are literary in the way they take her characters on journeys of learning and self-discovery, and the way they expose truths about our world.

How do you describe your writing style?

It might be easier to describe what it’s not: it’s not flowery, but it’s not spare, either. It’s not “snarky,” but it’s not stuffy, either. It’s just comfortable, I think.

Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?

Because it’s an enjoyable piece of escapism which might also make you think a little.

Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?

No, although I’ve borrowed bits and pieces from other people in my life. Some of the characters might be modeled after what I would like to be. However, they all have their quirks and their flaws. No Author Avatars or Mary Sues here.

If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?

It’s hard to answer that without introducing any spoilers! But I think I’d be Miranda, my main character. She started with so little in her life; by the end of the book, she has an opportunity to begin a rich, fulfilling new existence.

What books have most influenced your life?

I think it must be Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed. I’m still trying to find an answer to the question she set up in that book, which is: can humankind ever create a truly just society? I was only 16 or 17 when I first read it; I didn’t understand what I was reading then. But it was still fascinating and cool to me. Over the years I’ve come to understand the book better as I’ve come to understand the problems and injustices in the world. The story sets up two societies on different planets: one on a rich planet that is like an exaggerated Western capitalist country, with wealth and opulence but a wide disparity between rich and poor; and the other on a poor planet where an anarchist system has been set up based on brotherhood, sharing and cooperation. A physicist from the anarchist planet comes up with the holy grail of physics, which is a Unified Theory of Everything. This promises to bring all sorts of new technology, like faster space travel. So of course, this man becomes much sought-after, and becomes uncomfortably caught up between the interests of the two worlds.

If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why?

I can’t think of a book I’d do that to, but I can sure think of some movies. The main one that comes to mind is the much-underappreciated The Golden Compass, based on the book by Philip Pullman, the first in the brilliant His Dark Materials series. This is “an epic fantasy trilogy in which two children range across parallel universes battling the forces of the repressive Magisterium (a thinly disguised Catholic Church) and encountering Victorian Zeppelins and armoured polar bears” (http://dailym.ai/1mn48r5). The book was beautiful, but Hollywood made an unintelligible mess out of it. Two or three movies should have been made out of just the first in the series, à la Peter Jackson. Maybe that way the audience could be let in on some of the sweeping themes (dogmatic religion, sexuality and innocence, good and evil) of the books. But no, Hollywood has to go and give it the usual ham-fisted treatment, making it all glitter and no substance. A warning to any author who may receive a movie option offer!

(James’ note – I agree.  I loved the book, and the movie was even more of a mess than Hollywood usually makes out of a book)

Beatles or Monkees? Why?

There’s absolutely no comparison between the two, is there? The Monkees are pure entertainment; the Beatles are true artists. Not that I didn’t enjoy the Monkees when I was younger, they were a lot of fun! But the Beatles were revolutionary. I find it incredible now how much of their music has been made into “easy listening” instrumental-type stuff, makes me laugh.

Who should play you in a film of your life?

My life is not extraordinary enough to make a film out of. Although having said that, I feel it has been a bit more interesting than the average life. I never really settled down, you see. I didn’t get married right away, have kids, live in the same town and do the same job for many years like a lot of people. I’ve traveled, experienced other cultures, done a lot of different kinds of work, and learned a lot of interesting things. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

 

 

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