Empaneni-born author takes readers out of this world

‘GROWING up in Empangeni provided the right mix of isolation and excitement to fire the imagination and make you think you’re living in your own world – where anything can happen.’

Empangeni-born, but now London-based author Caroline Kerley, who has just published the second novel in her trilogy fantasy series, The Barclan Series, spoke to me about her love of writing, and her methodology when it comes to creating characters, building worlds and juggling being a full-time career professional, a wife and mom to two busy young boys, and staying focused on her main love – writing.

‘I’ve always looked at the world and thought ‘this can’t be all there is, magic must exist somewhere. And here I am, published – and still looking for magic.’

The Hummingbird’s Tear was published in 2015 by Calumet Editions, and the second installment ‘The Giant’s Echo’ followed this year.

The third installment is in the works, and she has hinted that the trilogy may not, in fact, end there.

She errs on the side of mystery though, when pressed, so fans of this breathtaking, beautifully written, escape to another world-style author will have to watch her social media closely.

Methodology

‘I am intrigued by all religions, faiths and mythology and have a very wide in-depth knowledge of many creation myths/facts/histories as I have been studying them for over a decade.

‘My favourites are Norse myths. I study them because they are fascinating insights into human psychology and the evolution of our beliefs, our motivations, thinking and ability to make sense of our world.

‘But I don’t believe any of it, it’s purely an interest driven out of curiosity and a love of stories.’

She says the stories she is writing is fantasy, so there is magic and adventure in them.

But she reiterates that the strong theme follows people and the decisions they make when they are forced to go against their own personal belief system.

‘I have on my computer backstories of the goddesses and gods that my novels are built on, that nobody will ever see.’

The Author

Caroline Kerley, matriculated at St Catherine’s in Empangeni before setting off to London shortly after graduating.

There, she has built a successful professional career as a highly sought after consultant who writes novels in between travelling with her husband Steve and raising their two sons Leo and Aaron in a noisy, happy home on the edge of London.

She is currently working on the next installment of The Barclan Series.

For more information, or to read her blogs, visit carolinekerley.wordpress.com