An Interview with Author Carolyn J. Nicholson

Today I’m interviewing author Carolyn J. Nicholson as part of her blog tour for her latest book The Last Witch on Skye, a middle grade fantasy. Thanks so much, Carolyn!

CJN: Hi Michelle! Thank you so much for interviewing me for your blog. Much appreciated.

MC: My pleasure! What inspired you to write The Last Witch on Skye, and how did your ancestral connection to the Isle of Skye influence the story?

CJN: I didn’t start out to write a children’s story. I didn’t start out to write a book. My little writers’ club decided we should each write a story using five words as prompts. Two of the words were: fairies and witches. So, after we wrote our 1200 words and read them to each other and had a bit of a laugh, they moved on to other topics and I kept playing with my little story. I guess I got enchanted by Magaidh and just kept writing. It is true that I had more than a little connection with the Isle of Skye as my Nicolson ancestors were from there and in the past the people of Skye certainly believed in witches, fairies, water kelpies, dragons, etc.

My third great grandmother is a MacPhie. This is the anglicized version of MacDubhSìth – literally: black fairy. I seem to be related to the fairies!

Also, the word for fairy, sìth, also means ‘peace’. So it was easy for the Queen of the Fairies to recommend to Magaidh that peace was the best choice rather than revenge.

MC: Can you tell us more about the main character, Magaidh, and her journey throughout the book? What do you hope readers will take away from her experience?

CJN: When I was writing the book, people would ask me what it was about, the theme. I always told them that I wasn’t writing an educational book or something with deep or hidden meaning; I wasn’t trying to indoctrinate them into any ideology. I just wanted to tell a story that would make children happy. It seemed to me that children had enough to deal with these days and I hoped my little book would be a reprieve from the day-to-day, an escape into another world.

Magaidh – like the rest of us – is trying to lead her life. She has parents and a brother and sisters, although she sometimes wonders about her relationship with them. She has her own business, Spell, Inc., and she loves Skye and wants to live there. But all is not as it seems regarding her family and additionally there is the BW&F Party who want to drive her out of Skye along with all the other supernatural creatures.

Like the rest of us, Magaidh must make decisions about what she wants to do, and decision-making is often hard. Most of us have had a bad experience and wished we could get back at the people who treated us badly. But is that really the best decision? Where will that get you in the end? The Fairy Queen advises that Magaidh chose peace rather than revenge. I suppose if there is any ‘moral’ to the story is that peace is the right choice. But, again, I wasn’t trying to write about morals; just about Magaidh’s life and her choices.

MC: The story is rich with folklore and Gaelic culture. How did you go about researching and incorporating these elements into your book?

CJN: I have been trying to re-claim my Gaelic heritage and language all my life. I have researched my family both in Nova Scotia and in Scotland. I have taken several Gaelic language courses and read many, many books about the history of my Gaelic ancestors. I have travelled to Scotland and to Skye many times. I have joined Clan MacNeacail and will be attending the International Gathering of Clan MacNeacail this year – late September/early October. So, I am very involved in the culture and continue to learn. For example, I have five books written by one of the best Gaelic scholars writing today. I wanted my little book to be as authentic as possible so I referred to all my research material as well as a book I bought the last time I was in Skye, The Guide to Mysterious Skye and Lochalsh: Loch Monsters – Fairies – Ghosts – Clan Legends – Stone Circles, by Geoff Holder.

MC: The Last Witch on Skye includes illustrations. How did you decide which scenes to illustrate, and what was the process like working with the illustrator?

CJN: OC Publishing recommended the illustrator, E.M. Gales (Lisa), to me and we met after she had a chance to read the manuscript. She had made some sketches and I made suggestions so they would more nearly look like what I had in mind. Originally, I thought why not have an illustration for each chapter? But several issues arose: time, cost, and her health. So, we settled on a map plus seven illustrations.

It was great to work with Lisa. For the most part, she could see what the characters should look like, so we had very few difficulties. As this was the first time I worked with an illustrator, I was never quite sure what was possible or how late in the process things could be changed. But we always worked things out with a minimum of difficulty. I really enjoyed the process and am so pleased with the result.

MC: Magaidh faces a significant choice between revenge and peace. How did you develop this theme, and why do you think it’s important for middle-grade readers?

CJN: Is there anyone on the planet who hasn’t felt hurt by the actions of another and thought about ‘giving them a taste of their own medicine’? I imagine children struggle with this and I’m not sure what the message is that they’re getting from movies, TV, video games, etc. In any case, I thought it was a rather universal human issue that anyone of any age could relate to.

MC: Family plays a central role in your book. Can you discuss how Magaidh’s discovery about her father and her relationship with her siblings shape the narrative?

CJN: I believe that strong, healthy families are essential to children’s well-being. It must be quite a shock to find out that your primary relationship is not quite what you think it is. Magaidh struggles with this information but decides to find out the truth no matter what. Siblings are not necessarily supportive of their parents’ relationships with those who don’t completely fit in. Being a half-sibling can’t be easy and Magaidh must deal with this problem in both her families.

MC: You’ve had a diverse career before becoming an author. How have your experiences in health information management, education, and ministry influenced your writing?

CJN: Health Information Management was my first career, and I greatly enjoyed the work. Once I became a manager it was less rewarding. Middle managers have total responsibility for their departments, but not total authority to make changes in staff and procedures if you work for the provincial government.

I taught Health Information Management courses in both provincial and private community colleges. I really love teaching and I can say a lot about recent changes that make it less rewarding.

I loved ordained pastoral ministry and perhaps my favorite thing was researching and writing sermons. I took this very seriously and many congregants told me how much they valued the understanding of their faith in depth. That is where I learned how much I like researching and writing. Writing a sermon once a week for 52 weeks no matter what else happens that week is a real challenge but one that I always enjoyed.

I think all these careers helped me understand people and understand how to offer material in a way they could find useful.

MC: The Last Witch on Skye introduces various supernatural creatures and elements. Which one was your favorite to write about, and why?

CJN: This is a very hard question as I am quite attached to all my characters. I think you want to know about the ghost (Big Blue Donald), water horse (Calum), the dragon (Aneirin)? I think I’m most attached to Aneirin, the dragon who was left alone for 500 years. Aneirin is quite emotional, roaring when he’s scared (and he’s mostly scared), crying when untoward things happen, and finally joining up with Magaidh, Sean, and Iain for their strolls through ‘downtown’ Port Righ just to amuse the tourists. It was such fun to write about a dragon – trying to imagine how he would react to being found by Magaidh and the fairies and to finally leaving the cave. The whole bit about him overreacting to the little dog barking at him and flying up to the roof of the Bank of Scotland and then over the rooftops of the town, was very amusing to me and I greatly enjoyed it.

MC: What was the most challenging part of writing The Last Witch on Skye, and how did you overcome it?

CJN: As I recall, the most challenging part of writing The Last Witch on Skye, was deciding on who or what would be the antagonist, the ‘bad’ guy. People would say, “Oh, you can’t say that, or you can’t use that!” In the age of political correctness, it is very hard to find a ‘bad’ guy. So, I made one up – the BW&F Party. There is no such party to my knowledge, so no worries about offending someone. Not that I would ever want to offend but my political correctness ‘sensor’ wasn’t as sensitive as some others.

MC: What advice would you give to aspiring authors, especially those looking to write for children and incorporate cultural and folkloric elements into their stories?

CJN: Re: writing for children: it’s not as easy as you think. You need to know about age groups. So go to Chapters and find out what age groups there are and pick the one that comes the closest to what you think you want to write about. Then read a lot of those stories to get some idea about what children are reading these days and try to find out what the most current political correctness issues are so you don’t offend anyone. Also, take some courses from your local Writers’ Federation on writing children’s stories. This is what I’ve learned – and not in that order. Mostly trial and error. Then pick a child in the age group and write to that child. Imagine them reading your book and enjoying it.

Re: Incorporating cultural and folkloric elements into their stories: immerse yourself in the culture and its folklore. If you can find experts in the area buy their books or take their workshops. Probably best not to write about a culture and folklore that is not your own. Why not explore your own culture/folklore that way you have less to imagine and more to base your story on. Don’t just drop random words into a story without knowing the grammar. For instance, in Gaelic when you address a person you put ‘a’ in front of their name and that lenites the word and changes the spelling. I had a Gaelic speaker advise me and proofread all my Gaelic words.

MC: Thank you, Carolyn, for your wonderful insights!

The Last Witch on Skye, will release on September 17th in print and accessible ebook. Available now for pre-order on Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo, or ask your local bookstore to order one in for you.