Terra Harmony on Life, her Books and some awesome Powers!

This post is part of ‘Terra Harmony as featured author for an entire week’. During the week we will be having a number of posts by Terra. You can find the details here. There will also be a giveaway happening for 10 copies of Terra Harmony’s novel Water, which is the first book in the Akasha series. You can enter the giveaway  here.

Also be sure to check back everyday. We have some great posts coming your way. This is going to be an amazing week!

Ritesh: If you don’t already know, Terra is the author of an eco-fantasy series ‘Akasha’.  Today, she talks about herself, her life and her books. Be sure to answer the question Terra asks, for a chance to get an extra entry in the giveaway!

Terra Harmony on Life, her Books and some awesome Powers!

First, I want to thank Ritesh for the wonderful opportunity to be the featured author of the week.  What a great way to really get to know the books and the authors behind them! Ritesh has done a wonderful job with the blog – I am hooked!

Now to me. I admittedly always have trouble talking about myself – it feels awkward.  I’ll start with something simple – my name.  Several people have already commented on my author name.  It is, in fact a pen name.  Although my first name is truly ‘Terra’, meaning ‘Earth’, it is actually my middle name, not my last name that is ‘Harmony’ meaning ‘peace’.  Put together, my name means ‘Peace on Earth’. You guessed it – my parents were hippies.  I have to say Terra Harmony was a much better choice than their original idea of ‘Moon Shadow’.

Whether or not people choose to live up to their name is still a mystery to me.  When I was in middle school, I came up with an idea to coordinate a carpool system for people to get to and from work.  I was looking for ways to help the environment.  My advertisements contained my mother’s work number.  I couldn’t very well take calls during the day – I was in school!  Needless to say, mom nixed the idea pretty quick.  Now I wonder if these antics would’ve occurred at all had I been labeled with any other name.  But here I am, still a Terra, and still doing what I can to help the Earth.  My latest ‘antic’, and by far the most successful, is writing. As my blog states, I am an Eco-Fantasy Author.

My series is more fantasy than anything else, but there is a larger message I want to convey. We don’t exactly have to be blessed with elemental powers to make a difference! Though – how cool would that be?  If given the choice, I’d go with fire (despite my first name).  I am a Leo after all!  Be sure to leave a comment with your element of choice.

I love the idea of elemental powers, and am still hooked on it.  Good thing to, as I have two more books to write!  My initial draw with the fantasy genre began with Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ series.  Though in my own writing I prefer to keep things short and concise, leaving much to the reader’s imagination, Jordan does a good job with his description of both scenery and powers.  He writes about using ‘weaves’ when using powers, something I adopted into my books.  I have always been an avid reader and when I ran out of stories I could ‘swoon’ over, I started creating my own!  My writing comes from my own, personal daytime fantasies.

When I’m not writing, or daydreaming, I am probably working at my full-time day job with a small translation company.  I do the business development, manage the contracts, hire the translators and do a little translating myself (sometimes).  I am a native English speaker, but learned Russian and Serbo-Croatian while serving in the Marine Corps as a linguist.  Foreign languages have always fascinated me, and I am a big proponent of learning several and learning them young!

My time in the Marine Corps is something that helped to shape who I am today.  Joining was a rash decision.  I was anxious to do something with my life and if it was going to be the military – it had to the best!  Besides, the Marine Corps had awesome commercials.  I served one enlistment, 5 ½ years, and going back, wouldn’t change a thing about it.  That is where I met my husband!  We’ve now been married 13 years, and have three children together.

Family life is an adventure in itself.  I have a 12 year old, a four year old and a one year old.  They now officially outnumber us, so we’ll try to hold steady.  When not working or writing, you might find me at the park trying desperately to keep up with my one year old while she jumps off the bridges or wrangling my four year old to wipe the blood dribbling down his chin from a fall.  They certainly keep life interesting, and put me through a great workout regime each day!

All of this leaves very little free time; but when it does come around I use it for piano practice, photography, reading or snowboarding.  Whew!  Someone get me a latte!  Anyway, now back to the really fun stuff.  Elemental powers!  I’m curious to know which one you would choose! Leave a comment with the element and explain why! Ritesh – which would you choose?

Earth: The earth element is the most dependable, steady and practical.  Earth magic operates at a slower rate, but it is more likely to persist and endure.  The Earth elements represents North, the color green, midnight and winter.  It signifies stability, order, birth and death, and fertility.

Air: Air expands your consciousness and represents truth.  It is also associated with thought and language, the breath of life.  The Air element represents East, the color yellow, mornings, and spring.  It signifies intellect, reason, science and youth.

Water:  Water elementals can be described as timid and shy, though some of the most dangerous natural disasters are water based. The water element represents West, the color blue, twilight and autumn.  It represents emotion, intuition, healing and wisdom.

Fire:  Fire is the purest element in the sense it cannot be polluted – though it depends on other elements to exist. The fire element represents South, the color red, noon and summer.  It represents strength, passion, energy and transformation.

Ritesh: I think this could make for a really interesting discussion! If I could choose an elemental power, it would have to be  Air. Firstly, I like the free spirit which it seems to represent in my mind. Also, I just love everything it signifies, I like to think of myself as a huge science nerd! What about everyone else?

Don’t forget to visit Terra’s blog. She has some big news about the series. She also posts weekly short stories on her blog in the same world as the ‘Akasha Series’ which are a lot of fun. Here is the link:

 http://harmonylit.wordpress.com/

Let the world know if you are a Fire, Earth, Air or Water – and look good doing it! Visit Terra’s store (http://zazzle.com/terraharmony). All profits from t-shirt sales will be donated to Friends of the Earth (http://www.foe.co.uk) environmental charity.  Or, consider making a direct donation!