Hermosa Teen Publishes Fantasy Novel

Literature, and its magical ability to create worlds through words, remains a big part of Hermosa Beach resident Rashelle Hopkins' life.

So much so, the ability to read and one book in particularly are key aspects behind the plot of the 13-year-old author's first published novel Fionavar (not to be confused with The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.)

In an interview with Hermosa Beach Patch, Hopkins talks about her published work, its fantasy world, and authoring a book as a teenager:

Hermosa Beach Patch: What inspired you to write Fionavar? How did you come up with the idea of the magical land and its characters?

Rashelle Hopkins: Well, I really enjoyed reading fantasy stories. After reading a lot of great stories I became inspired to start writing as well. Ideas would come to me quickly or in pieces, slowly coming together into a story. I liked the idea of taking all my ideas and putting them into a book I could physically hold.

Patch: Tell me about the land of Fionavar, and how does your character Alice, who lives in our world, find her way there?

Hopkins: Alice feels tired and has a headache so she goes to lie down. In her sleep, she gets out of bed and is lead by some mysterious force outside. She unconsciously gets on the back of a large wolf and it takes her through the forest into another realm. Fionavar is a big world with forests, oceans, tundras, and the kingdoms within those areas. It's sort of a medieval world where they don't have all the technology we do yet, and they work a bit differently than we might. There are a lot of mystical creatures from legends like dragons, gryphons, unicorns, and other talking animals that are residents of the world.

Patch: Does your character Alice remind you of yourself sometimes, and how so?

Hopkins: I actually haven't thought about it much, but I guess she can remind me of myself. Sometimes she can get worried but then she tries to decide what is best and just make it through the problems she faces. But at the same time, it's also fun to make characters that are the opposite of you. It's fun experimenting with other emotions you wouldn't normally have, and if you don't always make your characters like yourself, you can have more interesting characters that have different points of view. I'm sure Alice and I have a lot of things in common, but we're also separate in other ways as well. 

Patch: Without giving too much away, what was your favorite part of the book to write?

Hopkins: The start of the book was really fun for me because I got to introduce the world and lead my main character Alice through discovering new things that didn't quite make sense to her yet. I feel the first part of the book was written best out of all the other areas. I might have just been really inspired at the time I wrote it. It felt natural. It was also exciting to write the parts in the book where the characters were in trouble or when an action scene was going on. I feel like I can still improve in how I write fast-paced scenes, but they are still really enjoyable to do.

Patch: At 12 years old, you began to write Fionavar as part of last year's National Novel Writing Month challenge and now it’s published. How does it feel to complete your first book?

Hopkins: I think most of all I felt relieved that it was done. I loved writing the book, but it was also nice to have a break and relax, knowing I had managed to make everything work out. It's also good to know that my book was good enough to make me feel I could put it up for sale. I can also now work on another book, explore a new world, and make another cast of great characters. Plus I can take the knowledge I learned from writing this book and use it to make an even better book. 

Patch: What do you enjoy most about writing?

Hopkins: I like being able to describe things so that I can imagine it in my head and clearly see it. It feels good to write words down and watch it slowly form a story. I can create a world of my own, and it's not that hard either. Sometimes it's tough finding the dedication to finish a novel, but really all you need to do is sit down and move your fingers.

Patch: What do you think is the most challenging part of writing?

Hopkins: The hardest thing would probably be editing for me. Writing the first 50,000 words is fun, fast, and a rush as you hurry to meet the deadline. The only thing is that in that one month of frenzied writing, it usually leaves you with a full story that looks more like a mess of words. It helps a lot to have your first draft done, but the editing process is where you actually focus on your words and make sure the chapters flow. It takes a long time to edit and although most of it is enjoyable, sometimes it just feels slow and painful. 

It's also kind of hard to write a scene where you know it has to be there for the plot, but you don't know much about that type of situation and how to react to it. But in the end, the worst thing is writer's block. Either you just don't feel like writing or you have no idea what to write. Thankfully I didn't have too much of that when working on my novel, but still it's something to note that it's hard to write a book without eventually getting writer's block once. 

Patch: As you grow older, do you plan to turn writing into a career? If not, what type of career are you interested in?

Hopkins: I'm not 100-percent sure on where I'll be when I'm older, but I know I want to be an author, even if it's just part-time. It would be great to be able to write and make a living off it though, and I know that because I've started young I can gain a lot of experience with writing and eventually make good money off it.

Book-lovers can learn more about Hopkins' novel "Fionavar" on Amazon.com.