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Interview with Alianne Donnelly, author of The Royal Wizard

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The Royal Wizard is part of a trilogy I am working on. It’s the story of a kingdom which is sort of a border between our world and the worlds of mythical creatures. The old wizard is no longer able to advise the king, and so he finds a replacement, who just so happens to be female. This creates a lot of tension in the royal court, especially with the king who struggles with having to honor his duty, and needing to honor his heart. Both he and his new wizard are bound to put the welfare of the kingdom before the king’s, but for a king who rules with his heart, that can get very complicated–and it does.

This is a fantasy novel, right?
This is a fantasy book with a strong romantic element, which is turning into an epic through the series.

The Royal Wizard will appeal to fans of both fantasy and romance and is New Adult appropriate as well.

So who do we need to meet – the king, the old wizard?
Nia is the main character. She starts out as a starving orphan on the streets of Frastmir (the capital city of Wilderheim) but there is magic in her which has the power to alter destinies. Her very presence shifts the path the other characters were on.

Tell us about the king, and their connection.
Prince Saeran is heir to the throne of Wilderheim. He is bound by duty to see to the welfare of his kingdom first and foremost, but is also torn by his need to see to Nia’s wellbeing, too.

There is much more to both of them than meets the eye; more even than they realize, and that knowledge will end up changing everything between them, and in the kingdom as a whole.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
Absolutely! The Beast series is my retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a very dark twist. The first novella, Bastien, is written from the prince’s point of view, before he became cursed and tells the story of how it happened.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up in a small country in Europe. It’s not very know for its industries, but more for its natural beauty. While they’ve adopted Christianity as the main religion, many of the old pagan customs and beliefs are still prominent, though now they tend to be labeled as superstitions. I’ve grown up believing in elves, fairies, demons and vampires as part of life. It’s been a tremendous influence on me personally and on my writing. I write what I would want to read, describe worlds I’d want to live in and creatures I would want to meet, and in that sense, there is a little (or a lot) of the supernatural and magical in all of my books and stories.

I’ve been writing in some way from a very early age. Most of my earliest writing were poems, but the very first prose I wrote was a mystery/thriller novella about a man who got brutally murdered and became a vengeful ghost set on avenging his own death and protecting his beloved wife. Now that I think about it, that probably should have been my first clue that I would become a published author one day. The story was pretty dark and gruesome and very detailed in its plot and mythology. Most eleven-year-olds don’t write that way, I don’t think.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
All of my books are listed on my website, http://aliannedonnely.com , along with blurbs, excerpts, and some more fun stuff. I also update my blog fairly regularly and have a strong social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.

What are your Facebook and Twitter handles?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alydonnelly
Twitter: @AlianneDonnelly

What’s next?
I am currently working on two other novels, one of which will continue the tale of The Royal Wizard, and the other a complete break with the fantasy genre, a post-apocalyptic action-packed adventure. It’s pretty exciting to be working on them both!

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Airport, Darkness – can you give us a brief storyline?
The power went out at the airport where a man was waiting for a woman to disembark from her plane. In the panic, no one realized there were people going missing left and right. A small child cried for his mother, a woman called for her brother. Realizing something was terribly wrong, the man raced desperately to his girlfriend’s gate to save her. But just as he spotted her in the distance, the shadows swallowed her whole…Dun, dun, duuuun

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