Anyone looking for good clean reads from various genres, or looking to support young authors will enjoy this platform! Be sure to share with your friends and family to help support the authors you love! Subscribe to access out posts and receive our emails!
MUM HAS ARRIVED
|
stumbles into your inbox whilst attempting not to choke on my coffee Bonjour! with extra accent Okay. So. This is not Gil. Why? So, you’re absolutely genius, normal Wednesday host, had to help do sheep fence last night,
Which means I have been tasked to… provide some material of worth for you to consume. Have I done so yet? No, no, I don’t believe so. So let’s get to it. coughs violently on said coffee to hide a smirk Okay, yeah, you gotta admit, at least all of you writers and readers, that ^^^ was very much a material worth consuming. And if you don’t… um… I will valiantly take up the cause of needing more books for you… Anyways, I am very much doing spur of the moment for this article, and as it turns out, after racking my dead brain for about half an hour, I brilliantly came up with something substantial for this. Yes, I am writing this at 5:38 in the morning. Yes, this will be released by 9 so long as I don’t take too long. Yes I literally asked Mum about this at 5:14 this morning coooouuuugggghhhhssss What was this brilliant brilliancy that I mentioned you may ask? An interview with Mum. ominous music plays The legend. The myth. The mum-who’s-favorite-child-is-megan-kissling-no-matter-what-she-tells-ellie-and-gil The Mum who I’m not sure if we’ve ever talked about before eXtReMe GaSp Of HoRrOr Which is what we’re going to fix. Right now. For a little context before I just hand you to my Mummy— Family Tree.Charlotte/Mum: Mum Gil: Son that is older than Mum Megan: Daughter whom is the favorite and is Ellie’s twin Ellie: Daughter who isn’t as wise and mature as Megan and is also her twin Alia: Irish twin to all three of the above Emma: Cousin… or sister… or… I forgot fp Abby: Godmother whom Mum doesn’t approve of. Mom: My and Gil’s real mother who every once in a while will hear us speaking of Mum and get confused Understand? I didn’t think so. leaves you in utter confusion Alas, maybe if you’re confused enough we’ll try to explain it… maybe. smirks And now for the interview cocks head and raises brow dramatically Behold, MUM!!!! (WILD APPLAUSE) Alright. Questions. ◈ NUMBER EIN Who are you?: (raises brow even further than before yes, good question, wonderful person who decided to ask such a thing, who are you Mum?) HELLO THERE PEOPLES waves energetically WAIT BEFORE I GET INTO THIS I JUST NEED TO SLAP MEGAN slaps Megan SINCE WHEN DID ABBY BECOME YOUR GODMOTHER?!? SHE IS YOUR AUNT AND IS NOT ALLOWED ANY FURTHER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU… coughssmirks at Meg and considers dumping cayenne pepper in her coffee Commentary Insert From The Host: SLAPS BACK (word of advice, never actually slap your mum or mom. Not a good plan,) Okay. Change of family tree. Note to the world. Abby is my aunt, not my Godmother. I am Mum. grins and nods Yep, Mum to both the Author’s Collective’s very own Irish Twins, as well as three other daughters. It’s… a complicated situation. starts singing Your Nonsense Makes Sense —deep conversations when I really should be in bed, and all-around insanity. BUT coughs it would appear I’m getting a little off-track. Before we continue, it’s very essential to note that Gil is my favourite child, despite what Meg and Ellie will tell you. Commentary Insert From Host: heh. I would direct you to the family tree above, good readers. She lies. (Also never accuse your mum or mom of lying.) My non-Mum name is Charlotte Emily, and I’m a 16-year-old Christian writer. I was born in New Zealand and grew up there, but I live in England now (which is where my parents are from). If you know of All Creatures Great And Small, I live on the moors, not the dales, so just two hours or so from the land of ACGAS… and yes, it’s gorgeous and the accents are simply wonderful. ALSO YES, before anyone asks, I have a British accent, albeit twinged with a tad of the Hobbit-ish dialect of New Zealand. AND I WILL FOREVER SPELL THE ENGLISH WAY, DESPITE MY LOVE OF AMERICA looks at valour and grey Commentary Insert From Host: Do any of Mum’s children have her accent, you might be wondering? looks at Gilgrins he tries… and fails. But no. Unfortunately we can only attempt to mimic and then silently judge Mum’s spelling as Americans across the pond waggles brows Commentary Insert From Guest: I should make Gil attempt a British accent for me… Commentary Insert From Host: You should ◈NUMBER ZWEI What do you write?: (Oh yes, we can’t go a single article without writers talking. Mum writes you’d better be sure of it.) I write a variety of genres, but the ones I focus on the most are fantasy and historical fiction. I have a whole sci-fi novel planned out and a dystopian to follow, but I just haven’t written them yet… they’re gonna come, but I have more pressing projects to attend to looks at the five-book series I can’t seem to get away from to write anything else… Said series is fantasy, I believe in the… low medieval fantasy spectrum. Yes, I’m the author, but… don’t quote me on that… coughs My his-fic is entirely made up of short stories and flash fiction, and I’m not really planning on doing any longer projects with it. As far as flash fiction goes, apparently, I write a lot of emotional realism and literary fiction, which, honestly, I didn’t even know existed until I was told that. Commentary Insert From Host: Yes, Mum is actually quite good too, if you were wondering. And I’ve seen her list. She summed it up into a less scary looking summary but believe me, her list is scary. Commentary Insert From Guest: Thank you, thank you cackles ◈NUMBER DREI Why do you write?: (She doesn’t know it yet but I have many difficult questions, like this one for her) I write because… I want to change the world. I know that sounds horribly cliche, but I don’t really mean it in the typical sense of the phrase. Just one story at a time, one reader at a time. Not the whole word… that would be a little crazy… but a tiny portion of it that then might change other parts of the world. In fact, maybe I want to change the people in the world, not the world. shrugs Anyways… I want to write stories that inspire young people and teens specifically to have firm convictions, stick together when the going gets rough, and make the right choice even when it hurts. In a sense, I want to show teens that they’re not alone if they’re longing for more or for some sense of conviction in their lives, and to give them the courage to stand up and fight rather than just going along with the immorality that gets hammered into their brains. My main goal in this is to lead readers to Christ and glorify Him through my characters, my stories, and the messages I get across to my readers. Commentary Insert From Host: I don’t have anything to comment. That’s beautiful. nods Commentary Insert From Guest: whispers that was a comment… coughs Thank you Commentary Insert From Host: oh shush sticks tongue out at you (don’t ever do that to your mom/mum either guys) ◈NUMBER VIER What inspired you to write this particular book/series?: (I promise you’ll get different questions soon non writers who read thisss) Hmmm… now that’s a hard one. Each book in the series has its own inspiration in a sense. With Book One, I would say a lot of it came down to the completely unequal treatment of people across my nation and the world, especially regarding abortion. The book deals with the fact of there being value in every human life, rather than just the ones who are ‘wanted’ or ‘important’. I also kept seeing a huge lack of fantasy books that are both engaging and fun to read while also having deep themes that leave the reader thinking about their own lives and values. Book Two moves more towards the struggle between staying silent to avoid hurting people you love but disagree with, and standing up for what you know to be true, defending the voiceless, and taking the consequences. And then the rest of the series follows on from there. I have a lot of different books and movies that inspired me with this, but some notable mentions would be Defiance, Walking With The Enemy, the Ascendance series by Jennifer Nielsen, Valkyrie, Hope Ann’s books, and N. D. Wilson’s books. Commentary Insert From Host: I love that, and while this isn’t my interview, I absolutely 100% agree. The fantasy lacking deeper themes while also still being fun and engaging too, oh my word, it’s horrible. Which is why I personally have a 21 book low fantasy set of epics planned coughs Commentary Insert From Guest: Thanksss, and yeah it really is horrible. shrieks in excitement at the future hope of getting those 21 books ◈NUMBER FÜNF In your own words, what does the phrase/motto ‘Violence first’ mean?: (smirks in knowledge) cackles VIOLENCE FIRST! What a glorious family motto, if I do say so myself. This motto… well it entirely sums up the way my children and I feel about violence towards our characters— (Gil… does not enjoy this as much as Meg and I, despite my efforts to reform him in the painful enjoyment of making your characters suffer wipes away a tear and grins) Commentary Insert From Host: No he doesn’t, but at the very least we make up for it with To Kill In Peace Chat nods —and towards each other as family members. I honestly can’t remember how the phrase first got invented… I believe it was Gil who first said it as a motto, but it stemmed from a variety of family conversations involving a lot of violence. As a family, we believe violence is a beautiful thing and a certain way of showing affection. Slaps instead of hugs, y’know? Commentary Insert From Host: Slaps instead of hugs… We must add that to our family motto list. Commentary Insert From Guest: Indeed… we must.
◈NUMBER SECHS What’s your favorite book and why?: (I ask others this question but I will not answer it myself, I know, i’m quite wonderful,) MEGAN. THAT IS AN UTTERLY HORRIBLY HOPELESS QUESTION. I WILL NEVER HAVE ONE FAVOURITE BOOK, THERE’S TOO MANY WONDERFUL ONES SOBS NOT FAIR Commentary Insert From Host: You’re very welcome 🫶 sniffles and turns to my long list of favourite books for help Okay… let’s see if I can be really, reeeeeaaaally nice and narrow it down to… um… five. Ehhh sorry Meg, it’s not going any less than that. I’ll just explain one, though smiles sweetly So here beeth the list - Ashtown Burials series Commentary Insert From Host: Book Math. Watch and Understand »link« by N. D. Wilson, THE OUTSIDERS AND THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW BY S.E HINTON (YES, GIL TOLD ME ABOUT THESE AND YES, MY LIFE HAS NOT BEEN THE SAME SINCE), The Lonely Island by R. M. Ballantyne, And the Men of Grit series by John J. Horn. There, that’s five. And that’s not even including non-fiction books, I have a whole ton of favourite non-fics as well. Actually, I’ll just mention my absolute favourite non-fiction book is The Loveliness Of Christ by Samuel Rutherford, and it is one of the deepest, most beautiful, most encouraging and most inspiring books I have ever read. Now which one shall I explain… We’ll go with The Outsiders. When I first listened to the musical of The Outsiders, I fell in love with it immediately. It was raw, real, and deep.
It’s probably my favourite musical ever by this point. What I felt when reading this book was that life hurts and life is hard, but life is also a precious gift. You’re not alone, even when it feels like your world is crashing and everything you love is going to ruin. You don’t have to go along with whatever it is your life is stuck in; you can start fresh and stay true to what’s right, not just what’s done. Stay gold. I could seriously ramble about The Outsiders for so long, and don’t even get me started on That Was Then, This Is Now. It’s safe to say that Susie Hinton is now one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to the effect I want to have on my readers. goes into the next question singing Stay Gold Commentary Insert From Host: accepts the refusal of only one favorite with dignitystarts mumbling stay gold with Mum then switches halfway to belting out Hoods Turned Heroes Commentary Insert From Guest: I WOKE UP THIS MORNINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Commentary Insert From Host: wants to insert the next line but if i do we might end up just belting the entire song… ◈NUMBER SEIBEN What’s one thing that people are generally surprised to find out about you?: (I’m curious yet I think I already know what she’s going to say) Oh this one’s easy. That I have children already grins. I usually get a horrified look when I tell people that and then a ‘you’re weird’. Which, of course, I hurry to agree with entirely. (Sidenote: Another family motto is ‘embrace the weird!’) Commentary Insert From Host: I CALLED IT. THAT WAS ME. I KNEW WHAT IT WAS THE SECOND I PUT THAT QUESTION IN HERE FOR HER. SITS BACK TO PREEN Commentary Insert from Guest: APPLAUDS WELL DONE MEG, VERY WELL DONE Commentary Insert From Host: bows dramatically WHY THANK YOU MUM Uhh another thing… hmm… I’m gonna have to come back to this. jumps down to the next questions returns after filling out every other question considers for a moment Nope, I’m leaving it at that. smiles and departs again ◈NUMBER ACHT If you could have dinner with any 3 people, dead or alive, who would it be?: (smirks fun fact, this question was in the ‘character interview’ list I was given in my first writing course) Ooh I like this question. But… it’s also gonna be very hard to narrow it down. As you may have guessed, I have problems picking favourites Commentary Insert From Host: smirks like dad/jaron back Yes, we all know I’m the favorite, very easy to pick. Okay… Desmond Doss, John Welch, and… consults list of inspiring people Man, that would be an odd but incredible dinner cackles ◈NUMBER NUEN What was the last thing that you googled?: (ahahahahahah, the question you always want to ask an author. Sometimes it could be a boring synonym, i promise you mine would prolly be mostly synonyms, but then you get the oddly random things like ‘what the salt is a meetcute’ (i literally had to google this one time)) The last thing I googled.. goes to check Seriously this is so boring and this is what happens when the majority of your friends live in America and you live in England. rolls eyes and sighs The last thing I asked Glorious Google - “What is 9.99 US dollars in British Pounds?” Yes. Boring right? Let’s see if I can find a more interesting one. OH okay here’s a better one that I looked up recently. “What do you call a bird’s leg?” cackles I was writing a scene with a bird in it and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to call it’s legs, or if they were just called legs. Like seriously, you’ve got the talons or claws, but what on earth is the rest? And how do I have no idea if a bird has legs or not? raises eyebrows and shakes head Commentary Insert From Host: snickers Its okay Mum, you’re not the only one, I just finished googling ‘raking your brain’ because I couldn’t remember exactly what the proper word for that phrase was and ‘raking’ sounded the most similar yet I knew it wasn’t the right one ◈NUMBER ZEHN What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out writing?: (pay attention people) If I was talking to a new writer, I would say to them to just write. Just write. I spent years starting projects and stopping them halfway there because I decided they were bad. I’ve talked to so many young writers who are still in this same position, and it really makes me sad. As the famous quote goes by someone who I have no idea who they are, you can’t edit a blank page. When I decided to write my first novel and actually finish it, I made myself keep going even when I thought it was no good. Because of that, I finished it and the amount I have grown in my writing since starting is huge, far, far more than I ever did while stopping projects halfway through. Is that book ready for publishing right off the keyboard? Absolutely not. But it’s worth working on. And often, the motivation you’ll get from having a finished project will be enough to boost you into your next one. Remember that it’s a first draft. It won’t be perfect. It can’t be perfect. But the first draft is what you need to get the story down and have something to work with on other drafts. Even if you never publish those first projects, you will grow across that whole writing process in a way you just can’t with half-finished projects. So just write. Don’t incessantly edit what you’re still writing, and don’t judge it against published books. Commentary Insert From Host: Wise words nods sagely ◈NUMBER ELF What’s your biggest pet peeve?: (immediately starts singing ‘pet peeves’ from dude perfect for no other reason then… its what my brain is doing) Hmmm. People eating loudly, probably. That really, really bugs me… shivers OH WAIT NO I HAVE ONE THAT’S EVEN WORSE. Okay I strongly, strongly dislike when people hear a song but don’t try to learn it, so then they proceed to sing it 24/7 for the next month with half the notes just a semitone off and it is incredibly irksome because it hurts my poor music brain that is hearing the song being sung the right way at the same time sobs Commentary Insert From Host: I would agree with both of those. Absolutely horrid. We will judge if you are someone who does either. Commentary Insert From Guest: Yes, we will judge you forever. ◈NUMBER ZWÖLF Top three book recommendations?: (smirks because there doesn’t seem to be anything else to say for this one) Let’s see if I can actually stick to three. Commentary Insert From Host: does not have faith in Mum’s abilities clears throat and racks my brainhope I actually spelt that right cuz now Meg has made me have no idea which way of spelling that word is actually the right way for that phrase Commentary Insert From Host: Sorry but not sorry smiles sweetly coughs and smirks at Meg Now that you’ve said you don’t have faith in me, I will certainly be able to do it. For inspiration on living your life to the full, read Death by Living by N. D. Wilson. For THERE MEG I DID IT EVEN IF IT TOOK A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF BRAINPOWER smirks Commentary Insert From Host:
◈NUMBER DREIZEHN Ice cream or coffee?: (there is only one right answer to this question) enters cautiously O-oh… Hmm. Um. I’m allergic to caffeine, so… I can’t have normal coffee. And ice cream… well, I have sensitive teeth, so ice cream hurts me as much as I love it. BUT An iced coffee made with ice cream, or a coffee ice cream? Heavenly. chef’s kiss And out of those two, I would choose coffee ice cream, so I suppose ice cream wins the day. Commentary Insert From Host: For a second there I was debating whether I’d have a Mum by the end of this. Wise choice nods Commentary Insert From Guest: I don’t know if I’m allowed to make commentary inserts, I guess we’ll see if I’m dead after this… anyway uh yes I had to choose my words carefully to avoid being murdered if I was not supportive enough of ice cream. Also fun fact, I use the very random expression ‘hokey pokey ice cream’ all the time grins in randomness ◈NUMBER VIERZEHN What’s your favorite thing about writing?: (many possibilities with this question brow raises) Hokey pokey ice cream, that is hard. For the benefit of the audience, I will say that myself, Meg, and Kaitlin have a group chat called To Kill In Peace, in which we write snippets murdering our characters and then dump them there in that chat for the other murderers to read. It’s wonderful smiles Commentary Insert From Host: Ah. yes, we love TKIP chat. In all seriousness, this is an impossible question. I’m terrible at choosing between things like this sobs There are so, so many things I love about writing, I couldn’t even list them all if I tried. I love when I’m writing, and it feels like my characters are kinda just taking over and dictating their own story, and I’m just writing it down for them. That’s when I feel really into my character’s heads. nodnods Also, the utter randomness of being with other writers, and permission to Google and discuss the strangest things, because there’s something about our brains that’s just different from most humans. I mean, are we even human? Probably not. Commentary Insert From Host: shh, don’t tell all our secretssss And who else gets to Google ways to poison people and how long it would take to recover from a stab wound inflicted by a four-inch knife without being a serial killer? snickers and remembers being told to shush when my writer sister and I were discussing, in the middle of a cafe, how it would feel to have your throat slit Commentary Insert From Host: If you’re asking yourself if you should be concerned for or about Mum right now… smart move. Commentary Insert From Guest: blinks and nods ◈NUMBER FÜNFZEHN What hobbies do you have?: (has there been much connection between a lot of these questions outside of writing? Nope. live with it.) I have loads of hobbies, and not enough time for them sighs. Reading, obviously. Some of my best memories are of me sitting in a tree reading a book. That was a big paragraph… maybe I should break it up… nah y’all can get through it. Commentary Insert From Host: Mum is very sympathetic isn’t she Commentary Insert From Guest: Oh yes, I’m very sympathetic smirks ◈NUMBER SECHSZEHN Where can people learn more about you?: (me and Gil can spill secrets too, just so you know, we’ll explain even the deepest secrets of her heart, like how i’m the favorite child regardless of what she tells people and she knows it) Uh oh… secrets… that actually could be quite entertaining. looks at Meg and Gil If you want to spill my secrets, just do it in front of me at least so I can either be embarrassed or cackle nods Commentary Insert From Host: 👍 I have a blog over at Substack where y’all can sign up to get writing snippets, learn more about my projects, get book recs and reviews, and stay updated about progress on my novels! Here beeth the linkio - The Dagger And The InkWell WELL MY FRIENDS I BELIEVE THIS IS THE END OF EVERYTHING FOREVER Not quite. But alas, the time has come for me to say goodbye to you. I hope you enjoyed my rambling ramble of rambles with my daughter, and y’know if you come over to my Substack, you get even more… waggles eyebrows and snickers bows dramatically Thank you for tolerating my insanity on here, and until next time, STAY GOLD! Commentary Insert From Host: applauds wildly Wonderful goodbye Mum, absolutely wonderful ;) waves dramatically Aaaand, that’s the end of ‘Mum’s Interview’ ominous music plays once again What do you think? See any family similarities? waggles brows smirks She’s the inspiration for our chaos… in part, being our Mum, y’know. Anyways, I hope y’all enjoyed that, I don’t think we’ve ever done a guest interview quite like that before, and um cough I don’t think the ones we did do were quite so long, BUT Y’KNOW WHAT ITS THE BANUSALINGS ITS FINE does not explain what the salt banusalings is so you have to go ask Mum on substack… or reply to this email… Gil should be back on friday, so you don’t have to suffer enjoy immensely another absolutely spur of the moment interview/article from yours truly nods And with that, we’re done! salutes DON’T DIE. CAUSE MINOR TROUBLE. I’LL BE BACK. starts singing Hamilton musical “Life is all about finding the people who are your kind of crazy” —random pinterest pin I found one time ~Megan 🖊️💣😇🎶 (And Mum ⚔️🤯🎙️✒️) |
AUTHORS COLLECTIVE
Anyone looking for good clean reads from various genres, or looking to support young authors will enjoy this platform! Be sure to share with your friends and family to help support the authors you love! Subscribe to access out posts and receive our emails!
“Gil! I need to make my noodles before lunch break is over!” Giana cried as she stood by the side of the very boy she spoke to, who currently was busy cooking coffee the old fashioned way and busy boiling water for that. “Look, I’m sorry Giana,” Gil replied, “but I can’t go without my coffee, I will pass out at my desk if I do! Coffee is an author’s life!” “No, noodles are, and I need mine!” Giana argued, shaking the box of noodles she held. “You already have the water boiling, please?” “No,...
Real Quick before I start... Whaddya think of my new logo? (UPDATES ON NEWSLETTER COMING, JOIN HERE IF YOU WANT TO READ SOME OF GILS FICTION AND GET A SERIES OF CRITIQUES ON SPECULATIVE FICTION AND CLASSIC LITERATURE) Twill be a moment before fully assembled, so expect a month or two before any of those promises materialize. Oy. Gil is busy and tired. Who knew that sheep actually could put you to sleep? Ours don't make great pillows though. They have hair, not wool... and what wool I have had...
Gil hummed as he danced into the feast room with his favorite mug, on which were the words ‘Character Tears’ with sobbing silhouettes scattering it. It had been gifted to him on ‘boss appreciation day’ by the others collectively— which was fitting being many here were part of the Authors Collective. He sighed as the song he’d had in mind ended and walked up to where the coffee station was. Or had been. There— WHAT?! How was there no— Gil’s eyes darted around for the suddenly vanished coffee...