Look and Listen

Biography

Archaeologist, independant traveller, travel writer and poet, Carmen started my working life as a librarian, where her eclectic reading matter complimented the grounding in Grimm's fairy tales (in the original german), given by a Swiss mother and German father. To this was added the Mabinogion, since she lived in Wales, and European fairy tales and legends, because her aunt is one of Sweden's authors and sent books such as Pippi longstocking and the Moomintrolls LONG before they were known in Britain. With such a chronicle, it is scarecly surprising Carmen began writing fantasy at a very early age; recently publishing the first volume of the Landsinger Chronicles: Naditu which isto be found at www.prophetpress.dom.uk

Inspiration

As a child carmen and her brother created an original world from their eclectic reading matter. Literally 'dumped' in the local public library every Saturday while their father did the shopping (and visited his mistress) they read EVERYTHING and, being no fools, soon discovered that, under the requisite title of 'non-fiction' could be found all the more thrilling adventure authors such as Alexander Dumas, Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Adding these elements to the fairy tales and legends of Grimm and the mabinogion, with copious real life experience gained from her studies of Near Eastern and Chinese archaeology, languages and art history, Carmen then stirred the pot with memories of her own extensive travels abroud; which began when she was four and taken to visit her Swiss grandparents, extended through being put on a plane - with instructions to look afterher younger brother - to visit her aunt in Sweden, to Backpacking through China the year after the Tianamen Square massacre: which essay has been published in 'Even the rain is different' by Honno Welsh Women's Press. As a ssecond generation immigrant, a stranger in a strange land, it was perhaps inevitable carmen should create an entirely new world, and write from the POV of the native inhabitants, with humans as the villains. a complete turn around from the general run of the mill fantasy novels currently in print. Not surprisingly, her work is best understood, and beloved, of those who feel themselves to be 'outsiders' in their own culture.