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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Meet The Contributor - Cornelia Amiri


Cornelia Amiri
The Celtic Queen

"Sharpen your Swords.
Find your Courage.
Prepare to lose yourself in Passion and Myth."


I am proud to introduce Cornelia Amiri, The Celtic Queen, and another contributing author at The Writer’s Lens.

The first novel I read by Cornelia Amiri was The Fox Prince, now rereleased as The Celtic Fox. Very few historical authors draw me into the stories and the culture the way Cornelia Amiri did. It was like I was actually living in this time period – her knowledge of the time period and her skillful writing puts her at the top of the list of My Favorite Authors.


Question: You've written about more than one historical time period; including Celtic Historicals, Ancient Egypt, Steampunk, and even about Woodstock in the 1960s. What is it about these time periods that you found fascinating?

Cornelia Amiri: "As far as what I like that connects all three is the art. Of course Woodstock was all about music told stories and conveyed hopes and dreams. Music was key to the Celtic Culture also. Bards were part of the religion, included in the Druidic order. They didn’t have a written language so their history and beliefs survived through the oral tradition of songs and stories. Visual art was of utmost importance to the ancient Egyptians, there writing was based on it. They told stories and conveyed hopes and dreams with their art. The decorations on the tombs and the artistic amulets included in the mummy wrappings helped guide the dead to the afterlife. All three cultures, the Celts, the Egyptians, and the hippie culture had an emphasis on art that told stories, and shared hopes, and dreams. They embraced art with their minds, hearts, and souls. As someone at Woodstock would say, that turns me on, I dig it."



Question: Historical fiction takes a lot of research, do you have any favorite online resources?


Cornelia Amiri: "Here are some:




Ancient Egypt for Kids (it’s for kids but adults like it and use it too) http://egypt.mrdonn.org/

The Megalithic Portal http://www.megalithic.co.uk/



Question:  What are your favorite writer's manuals?

Cornelia Amiri: "I love Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing and I also like Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood."


Question: You've written quite a few books, which one is your favorite - and why?
Cornelia Amiri: "I love Druid Quest because it’s about Boudica, who is my favorite all time historical character. The Celtic Warrior Queen, Boudica, is the reason I began writing seriously. I love history, and in reading a book about the dark ages, I came across Boudica. I was so inspired, I started jotting down notes, but they were fiction (it-must-have-happened-like-this type). Before I knew it, I had written a novel. I thought, gosh I can really do this. So after accidentally writing that novel, I wrote one on purpose which was my first published book, The Fox Prince, which has been revised to The Celtic Fox, now available on Amazon.com's Kindle for only 99 cents."

For more information about Cornelia Amiri visit her website: http://celticromancequeen.com/

For more information about Cornelia Amiri's books go to Amazon 

9 comments:

  1. Great interview! I love your research links. I could get lost for days. How do you balance your writing time with the time you need to research?
    Off to check out your books!

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  2. Thank you so much for your kind words Ansha. I really appreciate it. I have a new release today as well, a Steampunk/Romance To Love A London Ghost http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615725168 What a great question you asked about research, I would say that it's at periods when I need a break from the writing that I turn to research. Often the research will regenerate my tired mind to go back to writing. I am a history buff so I am driven to research as much as I am driven to writing. That’s why my writing voice turned toward historical fiction.

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  3. Cornelia, impressive interview! Diana, good questions!
    Cornelia, I'd heard how much you love history, and this is really interesting how you weave your reasearch into your writing.

    Congrats on your new release!
    Cherri Galbiati

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  4. Thank you Cherri, I appreciate that so much.

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  5. Loved learning more about you and congrats on your new release! I'll have to check out the resources you mentioned--I love Egyptian culture, but haven't researched Celtic before to any extent. I am a fan of all things Arthurian, though, which has given me an intro. I learned about the warrior queen through a couple of fiction books and also find her fascinating. That's one reason I read and write historical fiction--to keep learning.

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  6. Thank you so much T.W. for your comment. Due to your interest, I wanted to share that I have an authurian novel - the hero and heroine in it are both in their middle ages - over 45 and it has a funny match making ghost but it also includes a scene when 15 year old Arthur is chosen as war leader and it has the first four battles he fought - it's only 99 cents on Kindle - The Celtic Vixen - the cover is at the top of this interview.

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  7. Thank you so much T.W. for your comment. Due to your interest, I wanted to share that I have an authurian novel - the hero and heroine in it are both in their middle ages - over 45 and it has a funny match making ghost but it also includes a scene when 15 year old Arthur is chosen as war leader and it has the first four battles he fought - it's only 99 cents on Kindle - The Celtic Vixen - the cover is at the top of this interview.

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  8. Hi, Diana and Cornelia,

    A very interesting interview! Always great to get acquainted with new authors--at least new to me.

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  9. Very interesting, thanks! I appreciated, at the very beginning, your connection of the various historical periods/events through art, and especially music, an element I sometimes use in my own short stories and poems.

    James S. Dorr (who also likes airships -- edgarc@rocketmail.com ;-)

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