Millennial Team: Welcome to our clubhouse, Lionobsession,

Lionobsession: Thank you for having me.

MT: Please make yourself comfortable on our comfy couch while we have this nice chat!

L.O. : Looks comfy! Thanks!

(After author sits down)

MT: Congratulations again on winning in the Millennial Awards last year. We'd like to ask you a few questions about you and your story  Unite: The Broken World Trilogy Book One! 😀

So let us start, shall we? Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

L.O. : Hi, I'm lionobsession. As you might be able to guess from the name, I like lions. A lot. I like writing primarily fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, though I have dabbled with horror in the past too. I also experiment with different mediums of writing, including stage plays and screenplays. I did a degree in Music and Drama, so I always have a passion for stage and screen.

MT: That's cool! Then, is " The Lion King" one of your favorites?

L.O. : Yes, it is! Thanks for the picture of the lion family. The father is ferocious looking.

MT : It was our pleasure. Glad you like it! 

What is the inspiration behind the title of your book?

L.O. : My placed book was When the World Calls, sadly not still up on Wattpad as I am currently adapting it into a screenplay. My inspiration is a bit weird for this. I can't exactly remember how I got to this title, but I kept typing phrases like (*major spoiler alert*) 'Long Live the Queen' and 'Saviour of the World' into Google translate, passing them through a multitude of languages until it arrived back into English, and seeing what had been generated. I'm pretty sure that's where I got When the World Calls from. (If you're interested, the screenplay adaptation currently has the working title All The Wide World Shall Speak Of Us, a line from Le Morte d'Arthur, as I like to think of When the World Calls as a sci-fi retelling of the Arthurian legend with the idea 'what if King Arthur never wanted to be king?')

MT : That's interesting. Yes, what if King Arthur never ruled? The legend of Camelot would be so different. 

So, what do you do when you aren't writing?

L.O. : When I'm not writing, I'll probably either be knitting or crocheting. These crafts are my mindfulness, so I do them all the time. I also enjoy watching TV and films, and throwing myself into the arts. I frequently act/sing/dance in a local amateur dramatics group, sing in choirs, and play the trumpet/cornet in brass bands.

MT : Wow! You surely have musical talent as well! 

 How did you choose the genre that you write in?

L.O. : I chose to write sci-fi after taking a module at university which looked at science fiction throughout the ages, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to modern sci-fi films, such as Jurassic Park and Alien. I found it fascinating to learn that a majority of science fiction takes a problem from the current world (or a topic the creator thinks is a problem) and exaggerates it to throw the issue into light. For me, I had just watched a programme on plastic waste and I started to think 'this is a problem in the current world, could this be turned into a science fiction story?'. This is where the world of When the World Calls came into life, with plastic in the water and environmental damage in the world. But the first genre I chose to write in was fantasy. To this day, I'm not entirely sure why I chose this as my first story—I wasn't really a fantasy reader. I liked action/adventure, mystery/thriller, sci-fi, etc., but the story came to me and the genre it had to be was fantasy. This is different to my historical fiction writings which I knew had to be historical fiction. Sometimes I combine it with fantasy, but rarely.

MT : Is there any particular book or author that influenced you in any way either as a child or an adult?

L.O. : Can I list three? Anthony Horowitz, Michelle Paver, and Patrick Ness. Anthony Horowitz wrote the Alex Rider and Power of Five series, which I kept rereading throughout childhood. I actually saw one of his talks and wrote about it in my school newspaper at the time! Into adulthood, his novel Moriarty showed me the power of a plot twist and the impact of narrative voice. I wish I could go into more detail about it, but that would be MAJOR spoilers and I recommend you read it yourself. Similarly, just the general exploration in plot and slow reveals in his murder mysteries is amazing. I also had the pleasure of going to a talk by Michelle Paver. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness are again stories I reread almost every year. This is where my love of historical fantasy comes from, and also animal companions (such as Merlin in When the World Calls). Plus, she is brilliant at writing in different genres—her ghost stories freaked me out (I don't normally read ghost stories, but I'd thought I'd give it a go) and I absolutely loved her modern gothic novel, Wakenhyrst. Fantastic! Finally on my list is Patrick Ness. If you haven't read the Chaos Walking Trilogy, you should! The first book is being released as a film this coming January, so read before it comes out. Plot twists, characterization, plus the use of accent within both dialogue and prose. Like with the two above, I reread these books all the time.

MT : Do you have any advice for aspiring writers/authors?

L.O. : Just go for it! Don't hold back. Write the story you want to write. However, if ever you find writers' block has hit, you can't write another word or think of another plot point, let me tell you it's okay to take a break. It's okay to shelve a project. We all need to walk away sometimes. There's no point in stressing over something you love.

MT : And is there anything that you'd like to say to your readers and fans?

L.O. : Thank you so much for reading and supporting me. Honestly, it means the world to me! Sending hugs to you all!

MT: And thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!

L.O. : It was a delight to stop by!

That was the marvelous interview with @lionobsession . We wish her the best in her future writing endeavors!