Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, I’d like to welcome author Kara Jacobson, from Atmosphere Press, for an author interview with The Reading Bud.
About The Author
Kara Jacobson resides in the beautiful, rolling hills of Red Wing, MN with her husband and young son, Logan. She and her husband both work at the local hospital, where they first met. Born with an insatiable appetite for science fiction, Kara has always been intrigued with the notion of entire civilizations existing within the earth. She was a New Media Film Festival (2021) nominee for The Intra-Earth Chronicles, Book I: The Two Sisters.
You can connect with author Kara Jacobson here:
Author Website
Interview
Welcome to TRB! Please give our readers a brief introduction about yourself before we begin.
Hello, Beautiful Book-loving Friends! My name is Kara Jacobson and I am a little on the shy side. I adore my family, nature, friends, art of any fashion, movies (Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones are a few of my all-time favorites 😊) and fantasy books!
Yes, I am a daydreamer, always walking in two worlds: the mesmerizing and shimmering one playing in my head, and the ordinary, everyday one of working in a hospital pharmacy and taking care of my family (a husband, son, and two cats). Maintaining the perfect balance of both worlds is crucial!
When I first set out on my writing quest, I tried my hand at writing movies. I must admit that writing movies is an art that I have yet to master.
Please view my projects on my author website: https://karalynejacobson.com/
Please tell us something about your book other than what we have read in the blurb?
Pictured above is Sasha. She is the intuitive older sister (15 years old) with a red diamond-shaped birthmark on her forehead. Sasha’s diamond-shaped birthmark tingles before she receives a premonition. This picture is in black-and-white in the book.
Adrianne is the younger of the two sisters (11 years old) and is the fierce girl depicted on the cover with the tiger. She wears a brass hair clip in her crimson hair that conceals a tiny, sharp knife.
The initial inspiration for Adrianne was, actually, a real person! Adrianne was inspired by my childhood friend, Bria Gehringer. Bria was an only child who lived down the rural Wisconsin highway from me. She was charismatic, free-spirited, fearless, and harbored a deep connection to the animal kingdom (she had a ton of pets: dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, rats, and an iguana, all of whom she called siblings) and I remember her dying her hair bright red at least once. She saved me from ultimate loneliness as a kid as I accompanied her on many childhood adventures.
The rest of the characters in this story have been completely conjured from my imagination.
A fun fact: The Intra-Earth Chronicles; Book I: The Two Sisters, was selected as a nominee for the New Media Film Festival 2021 (They accept books under their scripts category!). Here is a link to the Q&A Session for The Two Sisters: https://medium.com/authority-magazine/kara-jacobson-5-things-you-need-to-know-to-become-a-great-author-f0d4a82e511
What is that one message that you’re trying to get across to the readers in this book?
That there is always hope for a better tomorrow even when outer circumstances appear most dire.
Sasha clung to the hope that Adrianne was still alive and living inside the ravine, which drove her to set off on this adventure across the desert.
Adrianne never relinquished the hope that she could commandeer a nuclear machine that could revive a dying civilization.
Who is your favourite character in this book and why?
Adrianne, because she is absolutely fearless!
What inspired you to write this book? An idea, some anecdote, a dream or something else?
In my early 20s I had the chance to attend a “Walk-Ins International Conference” in Las Vegas. The group took a tour to a park outside of Reno, NV where there were large, intricate stone circles in the ground that were places where they believed that the inner earth beings were close to the surface. This concept blew my mind, and I have been actively exploring the subject ever since!
How long did it take you to write this particular book?
Seven months. It would have been faster, but I have a 4-year-old son and suffer from a multitude of distractions, internal and external.
What are your writing ambitions? Where do you see yourself 5 years from today?
I would love to occupy the ranks of true “author” vs “writer of stories for my own joy”. Or, compromise on an amalgamation of the two.
Are you working on any other stories presently?
The second book in the Intra-Earth Chronicles series is nearly complete!
I also have another book, Beneath Storm Mountain, currently being published by Pegasus Publishing (with a possible 2023 release date) that was first written as a movie screenplay. The screenplay placed as a Semifinalist in the 2019 ScreenCraft Animation Contest.
Beneath Storm Mountain is a YA fantasy adventure that also takes place in the civilizations below the earth’s crust. Two 15-year-old boys, Darren and Kale, star in this tale. While on vacation in South Dakota’s Black Hills, the boys discover an otherworldly relic in their fishing hole that is coveted by evil shadow beings. The boys meet a mysterious girl from the intra-earth, who leads the boys below to her technologically advanced civilization to hide them from the evil shadow beings that hunt them.
I have included scenes from Beneath Storm Mountain, illustrated by Brendan Kulp.
Why have you chosen this genre? Or do you write in multiple genres?
I adore middle grade! I also write YA, but prefer middle grade. My constitution is a bit sensitive, so middle grade is usually the easiest for me to digest.
When did you decide to become a writer? Was it easy for you follow your passion or did you have to make some sacrifices along the way?
A 5th grade teacher (Mr. E.) once said to me, “Kara, you are a writer.” I discarded this message at the time, but it must have remained ingrained in my subconsciousness, because now writing is what I feel most compelled to do!
What is your writing ritual? How do you do it?
I do a meditation for receiving inspired writing and art, created by bj King, when I have time or remember. You may contact her at bjnamaste@gmail.com for the direct prayer.
The meditation involves sealing the room on all sides from negativity, connecting a cord of light (or a lightsaber) into the great central sun at the center of the earth, opening your heart, and then inserting the light cord high above yourself into your own Oversoul or Higher-self. A series of counting begins as you focus on your mid-brain. This puts you into a higher state of consciousness and awareness, to begin the transference of automatic writing from your soul.
How do you prefer to write – computer/laptop, typewriter, dictation or longhand with a pen?
I do both, longhand with a pen and paper, and computer writing. As inspiration strikes, I jot everything down into my pink notebook (as scribbles at midnight), and much later it gets transferred (often changing its form entirely) onto to the computer.
What are your 5 favourite books? (You can share 5 favourite authors too.)
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (I love anything related to King Arthur and Camelot. The Merlin series, starring Colin Morgan, was a smash hit at my house!)
- The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
- Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
- The Dead Zone by Stephen King
How do you deal with Writer’s Block?
I take a break and return another day when inspiration strikes. I regret, admittedly, that I am not the most disciplined writer. I truly write for only a few hours a week when I have the house all to myself. Though I think about the story continuously.
What advice would you give to aspiring non-fiction writers?
Write what you yourself would enjoy reading or watching on the big screen! Others will, hopefully, also enjoy your creations 😊.
Submit your books to Atmosphere Press—they are phenomenal!!
Thank you, author Kara, for your insightful answers!
About the Book
The Intra-Earth Chronicles
The Two Sisters #1
In the year 2444, two noble sisters, Sasha (15) and Adrianne (11) have survived a nuclear fallout, only to be torn apart.
The ground splits open and Adrianne is thrown from her horse, plummeting into the ravine. Spurned on by the hope that Adrianne lives, Sasha embarks on a journey through the desert to face the ravine that claimed her only sister. Meanwhile, deep within the earth, Adrianne is running for her life. She took something that did not belong to her.
In The Intra-Earth Chronicles, Book I: The Two Sisters by Kara Jacobson we experience a fast-paced fantasy adventure woven within the earth, and the unshakeable bond between two sisters.
You can find The Intra-Earth Chronicles here:
Amazon | Goodreads | Atmosphere Press
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The Reading Bud 