{"id":176024,"date":"2025-04-23T14:17:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T04:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=176024"},"modified":"2025-10-15T13:45:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:45:31","slug":"ten-terrifying-questions-with-louise-holland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2025\/04\/23\/ten-terrifying-questions-with-louise-holland\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Terrifying Questions with Louise Holland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meet our SFF Indie author of the Month, Louise Holland. A voracious reader, writer and lover of all things fantasy, Louise has played Dungeons & Dragons for many years and uses her table\u2019s adventures as inspiration for her works. She currently lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she spends most of her time wearing an obscene amount of pink, playing (heavily modded) Skyrim, and listening to a completely normal amount of Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. To begin with, why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Hi hello! I\u2019m Australian, but I was born halfway around the world in Malmo, Sweden. My father was working for the Submarine Corps and was contracted there for a year right as my mother got pregnant with me. Unfortunately I don\u2019t have anything cool to show for it (like an accent or dual citizenship), just a pain in the ass to get any documentation since my 80\u2019s birth certificate is in Swedish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At twelve I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist, as was the style at the time, or of course a pop star like Britney Spears. Eighteen was journalism; I did one semester of university before dropping out due to a combination of undiagnosed ADHD and my mother\u2019s chemotherapy (she\u2019s fine now). Thirty? I had no idea. I just wanted to make enough money to support doing what I really love, which is writing, being with my family, and playing tabletop games with my beloved idiot friends. Holds true now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Oh gods, this is a bit early in the interview to be getting existential don\u2019t you think? I was very naive when I was younger. I\u2019d say I believed that if you were nice and did whatever anyone asked of you then you\u2019d automatically be loved and respected. I don\u2019t believe that now \u2013 the world is a much darker place than it was in 2006, but also I think I\u2019ve learned to stop giving people my energy who simply don\u2019t deserve it. I\u2019ve stopped trying to make everyone like me and no longer tolerate bad behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. What were three works of art \u2013 book or painting or piece of music, etc \u2013 you can now say had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Music is incredibly important to me, I couldn\u2019t live without it. Seeing Moulin Rouge<\/em> when I was 12-13 (objectively WAY too young lol) opened me up to a world of musicals and theatre I\u2019ve only fallen further in love with as time goes by (don\u2019t get me started on Wicked<\/em>!). Telling story through song is beautiful in such a unique way \u2013 you\u2019re limited in time, so the words have to count. Anyone who\u2019s spent more than 6 seconds in my presence will know I am a massive fan of Taylor Swift, who is a master storytelling craft in songwriting. I recommend those not sure of her sound to listen to the indie-folk album folklore in particular. Lyrics like \u201cThey told me all of my cages were mental\/so I got wasted like all my potential\u201d \u201cthe greatest films of all time were never made\u201d \u201cis it romantic how all my elegies eulogise me?\u201d are poignant and inspire me to find not only the words, but to be mindful of the cadence and feel of sentences. Reading should be a joy; the writing should sing to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember. I used to write awful Harry Potter fanfiction on my parent\u2019s windows 95 cream monstrosity of a computer. I also used to write these dorky fake news articles about myself as a grown up pop singer\/movie star, usually filled with dating rumours of whatever celebrity I was obsessed with at the time. My blog on MySpace was filled with short stories and poetic musings (all terrible, thank god they\u2019re lost to the ages). A novel was a natural progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. Please tell us about your novel, Spark of the Divine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Spark of the Divine <\/a><\/em>is a love letter to all the fantasy experiences I\u2019ve ever had. You might already know it was originally a real-life Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but that\u2019s an oversimplification. Adapting the journey my friends and I had into a novel soon transformed into a renewed passion for the written word, and before long I was weaving scenes, characters and stories that never appeared on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Spark of the Divine<\/a><\/em> follows a group of adventurers attempting to restore stolen godpower, and along the way they have to face the parts of themselves they\u2019d rather keep buried. There\u2019s warring countries, realm-hopping, shape-shifting, religious guilt, romance, betrayal, espionage, gunfire & sword fights, and a masked ball to top it all off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Spark of the Divine<\/a><\/em> is what I\u2019d call a romantic adventure fantasy. Sure, there\u2019s a big long quest to save the gods and all the chaos of battles and action that come with it \u2013 but it\u2019s really the story of a group of people learning to trust each other. Spark\u2019s<\/em> real strength is its characters. A book could have the most interesting plot in the world, but it isn\u2019t worth much if nobody cares about who it\u2019s happening to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Spark<\/em> is comforting and uplifting and bittersweet, and at the end of the day, it\u2019s about who you want next to you when you\u2019re trying to stop the world imploding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I hope they feel like they made friends. I hope they carry the message that grief is only love in a heavy coat, and allowing those around you to help shoulder the burden does not make you weak, it makes you loved. I hope they can tell just how much love and care I placed into every word on the pages. Besides a typo or two. I\u2019m human. It happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8. Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Robin Hobb<\/a>. Discovering she was a woman was what flicked the light bulb in my brain that maybe I could do this, I could be a real fantasy writer.I had the pleasure of listening to her speak at Dragonsteel 2024; her journey is incredibly inspiring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    I especially appreciated her speaking about the balancing act of having to take her kids with her to early cons, missing out on being involved with anthologies set up by other authors in the bar afterwards because she was with her family instead. It\u2019s easy to feel disadvantaged when everyone\u2019s in their own little cliques. Robin\u2019s pioneering of fantasy as a genre women belong in did more for the world (and for me) than I can put into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Short answer: write more books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I don\u2019t often set specific goals or deadlines, because I\u2019ll wallow in self-loathing if I don\u2019t make them and end up wasting even MORE time. I try to write every 48 hours, but I don\u2019t beat myself up if I can\u2019t. Life is hard. I also used to think about distracting things like crazy special editions and paintings and whatnot, but the truth is none of that matters compared to just writing more books. Write the damn books first!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I do dangle carrots occasionally \u2013 I\u2019ve promised myself that when I finish the first Kalaraak Chronicles trilogy I\u2019ll celebrate by commissioning art by the incredible Stephanie Brown (@\/offbeatworlds). So expensive art is my motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I have picked up SO many little isms over the past few years, I\u2019ll share my favourites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can\u2019t edit a blank page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every book you read is a last draft, their first was probably just as bad as yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The first draft\u2019s job is to exist outside your brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Criticism is to help you improve, but it shouldn\u2019t be nasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Read your dialogue out loud as you\u2019re writing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Write the story you want to tell, in a way you\u2019d want your best friend (or dad or whoever) to read. Reading is an experience and you want your readers to enjoy it, so if you want to sell books you do have to consider their perspective. But it\u2019s still YOUR story. Don\u2019t write a story about dragons if you actually think dragons are boring just because \u2018The Market said dragons are so hot right now\u2019. Write what you love or it will feel hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re feeling down, read one star reviews of your favourite books. You\u2019ll soon learn it\u2019s impossible to be everyone\u2019s cup of tea. Some people prefer coffee, and others don\u2019t like hot drinks at all. Be patient and you will find your tea drinkers \u2013 books don\u2019t expire. I was incredibly lucky to find my tea party on twitter and at local indie author events. Actually, that\u2019s another one: say yes to more things! Unless you\u2019re close to burning out, the only way to put yourself out there is to get out there. (I hate this. I hate that it\u2019s true and I can\u2019t just Suzanne Collins myself into famed obscurity.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thank you so much to Mark and Booktopia for giving me the Indie Author Spotlight for May. I appreciate it so much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2013Lou<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thank you for playing, Lou!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Meet our SFF Indie author of the Month, Louise Holland. A voracious reader, writer and lover of all things fantasy, Louise has played Dungeons & Dragons for many years and uses her table\u2019s adventures as inspiration for her works. She currently lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she spends most of her time wearing an obscene amount of pink, playing (heavily modded) Skyrim, and listening to a completely normal amount of Taylor Swift. To begin with, why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled? Hi hello! I\u2019m Australian, but I was born halfway around the world in Malmo, Sweden. My father was working for the Submarine Corps and was contracted there for a year right as my mother got pregnant with me. Unfortunately I don\u2019t have anything cool to show for it (like an accent or dual citizenship), just a pain in the ass to get any documentation since my 80\u2019s birth certificate is in Swedish. 2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why? At twelve I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist, as was the style at the time, or of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,111,6676],"tags":[15709,15710,5184,15711],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176024"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176037,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176024\/revisions\/176037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}