WOLF NOTES: An Uncommon Interview – Cindy Young-Turner

Welcome to WOLF NOTES, where interview questions stray from the rest of the pack. It’s nice to know the usual stuff like where an author gets their inspiration and why they write, but sometimes we need a little fun in our lives.

For the first interview of 2018 I bring you Cindy Young-Turner.

Cindy Young-Turner has been writing for most of her life. At age twelve, she won her first writing contest, a local contest in her small hometown in Massachusetts calling for stories written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Thus began her love of stories that are dark and fantastical. She believes genre fiction can be just as well written and valuable as literature. The universal themes of love, hate, revenge, and redemption are present regardless of whether characters live in the distant future, on other planets, or in fantastical realms. By day she is an editor for international development projects. In her free time, she works on inspiring her characters to fight for change and justice in their imaginary worlds. Her published works include the fantasy novel Thief of Hope and a short prequel, Journey to Hope.

Wolf: If you could be any animal in the universe, what would it be and why?

Cindy: A meerkat. They’re just cool.

Wolf: What is the meanest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?

Cindy: I’ve done a lot of mean things to my characters. Suffering is good character development, right? My heroine has people she cares about killed in front of her and she’s also tortured. But she survives and is stronger for it.

Wolf: What is the nicest thing you’ve ever done to your characters?

Cindy: Offered them a chance for love and happiness. But sadly it doesn’t last that long.

Wolf: Do you consider yourself a cat person, or a dog person?

Cindy: Definitely a dog person. I don’t mind cats, but I’ve never wanted to own one. One of the first things we did after we bought a house was get a dog. 

Wolf: While walking in the woods you come across…

Cindy: A strange door in a tree. Of course it must be a portal to somewhere magical. I open it and step through. I really hope I’m right about it.

Wolf: If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Cindy: I would love to be able to teleport.

Wolf: You and me both. There is a door at the end of a dark, damp corridor. You hear rumbling. What do you do?

Cindy: I consult the other members of my adventuring party and we convince the hulking warrior to bust in the door. He takes the brunt of the dragon fire while the rest of us sneak in to loot the room.

Wolf: Sounds like fun, except for the warrior. What five items would you want to have in a post-cataclysmic world?

Cindy: A pocket knife, a book on edible plants and medicinal herbs, pens, paper, sewing needle. I’m not sure how long I would survive but maybe I could prove myself useful to a group that would take me into their enclave.

Wolf: What story are you working on now?

Cindy: I’ve been working on Thief of Destiny, which is the sequel to Thief of Hope, my first novel. Sydney, the heroine, is going to some dark places in book 2. Seeing so many people you care about die does impact your psyche a bit. I’m also working on a separate novel about a would-be executioner.

Social Media Links:

Website: http://www.cindyyoungturner.com
Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads