Be warned readers ... you may end up addicted to Ashala Wolf and her tribe. I have read one book and can't wait for the next.
Ashala is the main character in Ambelin Kwaymullina's first novel, The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf.
Aimed at young adults, particularly those in New Zealand and Australia, the story is set in a world where society has been destroyed by an environmental catastrophe called The Reckoning.
Ashala and her tribe, some of whom have special skills such as sleepwalkers, firestarters and rumblers, are considered "illegals" by the new "civilised society".
Readers meet Ashala as she is about to be interrogated by the machine - a device designed to read her mind and search out her secrets.
Born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1975, Kwaymullina is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is the first in a series. It has adventure, romance, action, magic and an underlying environmental message.
I asked her some questions.
YOU HAVE WRITTEN A NUMBER OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS, WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE YOU WERE READY TO WRITE NOT JUST A NOVEL BUT A SERIES?
I've been writing a novel or at least, trying to write a novel, for as long as I can remember. There's a big box of half- finished ones sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe. But The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was the first one that was any good. This was the story that seized hold of me and demanded to be told, the one that wouldn't let go and pushed me to be a better writer than I ever knew I could.
WAS IT HARD WORK?
Yep! It involved many, many, many cups of coffee; it involved staying up all night and all the next day as well; and it involved writing when I was so tired the computer screen was blurring in front of my eyes. Then there were the times when I was convinced I'd written a really great chapter, only to read over it again and decide it was rubbish. I'd have to scrap the whole thing and start over.
There's a point in the book when Ashala talks about how, at any given moment, there are thousands of possible futures. I believe that to be true, and writing is as close as I will get to experiencing those many possibilities. I wouldn't give it up, not for anything.
HOW DID ASHALA EVOLVE?
I don't feel she evolved so much as I discovered her, and I found out about her slowly, the same way readers do. She's like me, in some ways, so I understood her from the start - she shares my stubbornness and occasionally grim sense of humour. And she's in a tough situation, which is a good way to find out what people are really made of.
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO A BELIEVABLE CHARACTER?
Believing in them myself. People are complex and writing about someone in a convincing way means dealing with them as a whole person. That can get hard in the context of a novel because you don't always get the narrative space to explore all aspects of someone's character. Also, the story is written from Ashala's perspective and, although she's very good with people, she's not always right in her judgment of those around her. This makes it more difficult to convey an accurate sense of a character who Ashala herself doesn't fully understand.
CAN YOU GIVE US ANY CLUES TO WHAT ASHALA AND HER TRIBE GET UP TO IN THE NEXT BOOK?
Oh, that's hard! I don't want to give too much away but there'll be a lot of big revelations that build on things in the first book, and more action and drama. I'm afraid Ash and the Tribe aren't going to get a happy ending just yet. The stakes will get higher, too, as society begins to change, and the people in the government who want to continue the oppression of people with abilities begin to get a little desperate.
New enemies will be added to the ones Ashala already has, and new friends. And she's going to find things out about her best friend Ember, and the world they live in, that will come as quite a shock.
WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK AVAILABLE AND HOW MANY BOOKS ARE THERE IN THE SERIES?
Next book will be out next year sometime, I'm not sure exactly when, and there are four books in the series. I can reassure readers that I know how it all ends. This won't be one of those series that drags on forever and forever with no resolution in sight.
WHOM DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN THE LITERARY WORLD?
To me, the truly great storytellers are the ones who put layers of meaning in their stories, telling a much bigger story within a smaller one, a story of great complexity that appears simple. The elders of my people are very, very good at this. They build up a tale slowly, holding their audience enthralled, and the story stays with you, so that years later you find yourself thinking about it and discovering yet another level of meaning. Those kinds of stories are like gifts. You can carry them with you always, and they will see you through hard times.
WHAT IS THE FIRST BOOK YOU CAN REMEMBER READING?
I read lots of books from a very young age but the one that comes to mind, one I could recite by heart, wasn't really a book. It was the script to Return of the Jedi.
I have no idea how I even got hold of it, but I remember the text being interspersed with cool pictures from the movie, so it was probably some kind of promotional thing. I loved the Star Wars movies and I read that script over and over and over.
Because I'd seen the movie lots of times I could "see" the action happening as I read the words. I guess that set me firmly on the track to writing speculative fiction. And I do see everything I'm writing about happening in my head when I write.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf
by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Walker publishers
$21.95
WIN
We have a copy of Ambelin Kwaymullina's first novel The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf to give away. Send your name and contact details to regionalfeatures@apn.co.nz by August 18.