I found Issabelle through the blog she’s co-founded, Teen Writers’ Nook, written by teens for teens. You can find her short story here: “Fairly Impish”. You can also follow her on Goodreads.
This interview is mostly about Issabelle’s WIP, Forbidden. As a die-hard fan of TWN (Teen Writers’ Nook), I have been closely stalking – *coughs* I mean, following their posts. Issabelle just started a series called A Peek Into My Notebook, which is basically her spilling the beans on her projects. Her first post was on her idea for her series The Forbidden Chronicles. This was so much fun to read that I decided I have to do something like it in the future. You’ve been warned. 😉
So, without further ado, here is the interview!
Tell us a bit about yourself – your name, what genre you like to read/write, and what (assuming you have one) your garden looks like.
Hey, y’all, I’m Issabelle Perry. I’m a quirky, self-proclaimed exclamation mark enthusiast, LOTR obsessed nerd and co-founder of Teen Writers’ Nook. Oh, yeah, and I’m also a teen published author, too, so y’know there’s that. XD I love to read a variety of genres: fantasy, spy fiction, contemporary romance, historical romance, plain ole historical fiction, historical fantasy, Christian fiction… okay, y’all get the point. XD I mainly write YA fantasy, but I have some plans to try out a few other genres. If I had a garden, let’s just say most of the plants would be dead. I am not a person blessed with a green thumb. XD
Why did you go into writing? Do you plan for it to be a hobby or career, or something else?
Hmmm… honestly, I have no idea. I just started doing it one day, and then I kept doing it, and then eventually I found this love for it and decided I didn’t want to stop this writing thing any time soon. I know writing’s hard, but I very much hope that writing will be my full-time career one day.
Can you give us a short synopsis of Forbidden?
Oh, sure!! I’d love to!!! Be forewarned, this is an early synopsis version, and things tend to change with my stories as I get to writing them more. 🙂
Magic is forbidden in my country…
Cascade has grown up her whole life taught to shun those born with the curse of magic known as the “Forbidden” and avoid government officials at all cost. However, that is easier said than done when government officials arrive at her house one day and claim she is one of the Forbidden. Immediately, Cascade is taken from her home, family, and the only life she has ever known and thrust into the mix of one man’s crazy conspiracy theories.
Discovered as a Forbidden, Cascade knows death is the only fate to follow her until Abner Brilliant, the man behind her “arrest,” offers her what no one else can: a chance. Anticipating a war with elves from the Northern Border who were supposed to be extinct, Abner has gathered Cascade and three other Forbiddens–one of which is a mysterious boy with a shadowy past–to train them in their magic and help stomp out this growing threat. Though Cascade would rather stay far away from one man’s crazed theories, she has no choice but to excel in the training. Because whoever fails will meet the same fate as the Forbidden before them.
What was your inspiration for Forbidden?
Well, actually a mixture of things. The whole idea about magic being outlawed… Well, to be honest, I can’t remember for the life of me where that specific idea came from. But I got the idea of adding things like elves, and there will be other mythical things like that, from Lord of the Rings. The idea for the training part came sorta from Keeper of the Lost Cities in a weird, you-wouldn’t-really-believe-it way. The idea that if Cascade doesn’t succeed, she’ll die kinda thing came from The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen and just my love for stories with that kinda plot. 😉 So, I gathered a lot of my inspiration from books and movies and general tropes I love.
Ok, don’t hate me for this, but do you have a favorite character? Why or why not?
Lol, don’t worry, I’m actually not one of those authors who can’t pick favorite characters. It’s mean, I know, but there’s always that one character that gets a little closer to my heart than the others. For Forbidden that character would probably be the mysterious boy I mentioned in my synopsis, Justin. *dreamy sigh* Y’all, he’s just awesome and I have such a HUGE soft spot for the mysterious boy characters.
What is the theme for Forbidden?
The theme for Forbidden would be about staying true to yourself and not letting the world define you. And I ALWAYS have some emphasis on the power of love in my novels, so there’ll also be that too. I also want to briefly focus on found families and sticking by one another through thick and thin.
Who is your target audience, and why?
My target audience would be fantasy readers around 12-18, more likely on the lower end of that spectrum. Why? Well, that’s the age group I connect with and my heart has always kinda gone out for teens who are trying to find their identity in the world. All of my stories to some level focus on that. As I had put it in Into the Lamp, another novel of mine, really shows the message I try to keep in each of my novels: “Can this world give you peace or hope or love? No. Then why should it determine anything about you? It will only be a lie.” Or something like that, I don’t remember word for word how I wrote that, lol. But that’s always been my heartbeat for my novels. That and also about how the most insignificant, flawed, and broken person can still rise up from the ashes and find the courage to do the right thing. Those are two messages I really believe the teen audience needs to hear, I know they’re ones I always need.
You have mentioned that you have a “mysterious” character named Justin – since he automatically piqued my interest, do you mind telling us a bit more about him?
Aaahh, of course not!!! Justin is totally an awesome character that I’m sooo excited to be able to explore more of him in the novel. So Justin has one of those arrogant, I-know-what-I’m-doing-so-don’t-mess-with-me kinda personalities, but he has a huge soft spot underneath all of his tough, firm nature. He has fire powers and is like REALLY strong with them but he refuses to use his magic. However, no one can figure out why. He also has this whole past that is so sad but kinda makes me love him even more. #ifyouknowityouknowit I would say more but spoilers. Seriously, there is going to be a LOT of shocking, plot twist moments around this dude, so I shall leave y’all in suspense until then. 😉
And last but not least, if you were on your deathbed and you could only impart one bit of wisdom to a budding author before you died, what would it be?
Lol, girl, this has got to go on the list of most geniously worded interview questions in history!! I LOVE IT!!!! Anyway, my biggest piece of advice is to never give less than your best to your stories, your characters, and everything in between. To never let the writing “rules” distract you from writing the story on your heart. Because your story will be at its best when you let your wishes for it overrule what you think will “sell.” And the second, equally important, advice is to NEVER EVER EVER stop writing!!!!! You will learn the most, grow the biggest, become the best author you can be by just simply writing. Published books, famous authors, hey, even movie deals… that stuff just doesn’t happen overnight. Every author in the world has been where you are now. What sets them apart is that they never gave up. So keep on being awesome and never stop writing!
Thank you so much for doing this interview, Issabelle! I had a lot of fun and it was so awesome getting to learn more about your story. 🙂
I’m going to go ahead and repost some of the links here in case y’all don’t want to scroll back up to get them. 😉
Issabelle’s Blog: Teen Writers’ Nook
A Post by Issabelle: A Peek Into My Notebook
Issabelle’s Story: “Fairly Impish”
Issabelle’s Goodreads: Goodreads
Alrighty, that’s it for this week! God bless, be courageous, and stick with it. 😉
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