Forsaken

Forsaken

In a world hidden beneath our own, a war rages between two of the most ferocious creatures in Heaven or Hell: Werewolves and Vampires - Immortals. Their weapon of choice? A deadly disease! With the entire human race caught in the crossfire.

The Vampire Council must protect the human race from ultimate destruction. Daleina Stark and her two colleagues, Richard and Scott, must eradicate the disease before it is too late. As Daleina and her colleagues fight against time to find an antidote, will the chilling truth to the conspiracy be uncovered?

With wide appeal to fantasy fans, Forsaken is the engaging debut novel from emerging QLD writer N.R. Marxsen.


N.R. Marxsen grew up in a small town on the coast of Queensland, in a very enterprising, artistic and musical family. She developed a love for writing at a very young age and now spends most of her time singing, writing about the fantastic new worlds she creates, and sketching.

She also has a love of animals and is particularly passionate about horses and everything equestrian. While working part time in the family business, she lives with her husband Nathan and is busy raising their two children in rural Queensland.


Forsaken
Dennis Jones
Author: N.R. Marxsen
ISBN: 9780987453921
RRP: $24.99

Interview with N.R. Marxsen

Question: Can you tell us about Forsaken?

N.R. Marxsen: Forsaken is a bit of a twist on the vampire genre as I wanted to take my vampires on a bit of a different adventure. It's a little action packed, a little investigative and of course there's a touch on the romance. I didn't want it to become strictly a romance story; my desire was to go a bit more with the intrigue.


Question: What inspired the story of Forsaken?

N.R. Marxsen: When I was around fourteen I kept having the same dream, it was so real that I just had to turn it into a book, I had been writing other stories but once I started running with Forsaken I was hooked on it. I'd never really read many vampire stories at that age, I was more into crime and criminology, but Forsaken actually got me into vampires in a big way.


Question: What's the best thing about writing, for you?

N.R. Marxsen: It's a great way to relieve stress. In secondary school I used writing as a way to escape the stresses of school and studying. I can sort of just switch off and relax while I'm writing, so it's definitely a place for me to escape into great adventures of my own.


Question: What do you enjoy most about writing young adult fantasy?

N.R. Marxsen: The fantasy. I love the magic in it and I guess I would like to think that the magic in fantasy stories is real, at least in some part. I was always a fan of fairy-tales when I was young, the imagination in it is endless, there aren't limitations to what can happen in a story and it seems to always bring out the strengths in characters like valour, honour, chivalry and love. It's just fantastic.


Question: Can you talk us through how you went about creating and developing the character of Daleina Stark?

N.R. Marxsen: Well, Daleina is an image of me when I was younger. I was sassy and a little pig headed, but behind it there was a sweet and frightened girl. So she's a little bit of me, but also a little bit of every Australian teenage girl.


Interview by Brooke Hunter