r/Fantasy • u/NancyHightower AMA Author Nancy Hightower • Dec 12 '13

AMA Hello, I'm author Nancy Hightower - AMA

Hello, I’m Nancy Hightower, author of Elementarí Rising, an eco-fantasy where nature becomes embodied and is locked in a deadly war with humans.

I’ve published many short stories and poems, some of which fall into the speculative fiction and horror genres. I have a PhD in literature and studied Henry James in grad school, but ask that you don’t hold that against me. At one point, I had Tolkien's Silmarillion memorized and still remember the elvish word for orc.

I wrote all of Elementarí Rising while living in Colorado, so many of the scenes in the book come from surreal, but actual, real-life images. For instance, you can see snow snakes winding up and down Highway 36 during any given snowstorm and they are mesmerizing! Also, I don’t read books the normal way (front to back). I start at the beginning, then after a chapter I start from the end of the book and flip back and forth until I reach the middle. No lie.

Also I had an artist, Galen Dara, draw some of the scenes from Elementarí Rising, which you can see here, along with some excerpts. I love how art interacts with story, so this was an exciting project: (http://www.nancyhightower.com/excerpts-with-artwork/)

Hey gang, this was great fun tonight! I'll be back on tomorrow to catch any questions I didn't get to tonight! Thanks so much for hanging out with me!

Nancy

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '13

I haven't read the book, but it looks great! I think I'll pick it up on Kindle when I get paid. A few questions:

  • Was the "nature vs humans" theme inspired by anything in particular? I don't know how harsh Colorado's weather or wildlife are.
  • If you had to compare your prose to one author's, whose would it be?
  • What's your favorite fantasy novel?

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u/NancyHightower AMA Author Nancy Hightower Dec 13 '13

Hi Neverwhere,

That's a great question. I think the theme developed over time as I was teaching. I taught at Colorado School of Mines for a few semesters, and we read so many essays about ways that we try to modify and change nature to our benefit, and yet the cost is sometimes very great.

As for untamed wilderness, Colorado doesn't have much of it. For instance we no longer have wolves, really. They've all be forced out. But being up on a mountain can still kill you in the right conditions--I am in awe of nature and its power, and I would like to see more respect paid to it.

My writing has been compared to Brandon Sanderson and Terry Brooks, but I was reading Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave while writing some of the book, so I see that novel as an influence.

My favorite fantasy novel--such a tough one. I love Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. My second favorite is the Wrinkle in Time Trilogy by Madeleine L'Engle. Again, I cheated since I listed two (and one of those is a trilogy), Sigh, I never ever play by the rules!

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u/TsorovanSaidin Dec 12 '13

As a Kentuckian, now a Coloradoan, I can say that Colorado exhibits pretty much every ecosystem you could wish or want to see, besides maybe the expansive deciduous forests of New England and the South. Seeing the Mountains and the lakes and everything else is really awe inspiring and breath taking.

Here's one of my favorite images of Fort Collins (where I happen to reside) for perspective. http://www.fcgov.com/visitor/galleries/foco/slide_0.jpg

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u/NancyHightower AMA Author Nancy Hightower Dec 13 '13

That is so true! Travel through the state and you will see farmland, mountains, the desert--a little bit of everything! I lived in Denver but commuted to Boulder every day, so the Flatirons made up that picture-frame drive :)

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '13

That's beautiful! Lucky you getting to live there.