An Interview with Christian Fantasy Writer Robina Williams
Recently Active Christian Media has been doing reviews of Robina Williams second book Angelos, which is a very fascinating read. We invite you to read them and let us know what you think.
We also wanted to share with you an interview Robina wrote up for our site. We hope you enjoy.
ACM: You write fantasies. What attracts you to the fantasy genre?
RW: I like the simplicity of fantasy. It enables me to tell a story simply. It enables me to put across my ideas clearly. I don’t much like complicated stories, with ramifications in the plot and lots of characters. I haven’t got the head for them. Rather than read a convoluted saga-type book, and lose my way, I prefer to read children’s books, with their smaller cast of characters and easily followed plot. Clarity means a lot to me, and I try to write books with a clear and simple message.
ACM: Let’s talk about plot now. Your books don’t actually have much of a plot.
RW: That’s true. I’m afraid I am not much good at plotting. I admit that my stories are rather episodic in nature. I plan the story before writing it, but I find that the characters tend to tell me where they want to go next. The characters come alive to me as I write about them, and they move somewhat of their own accord from one situation to another. I would not be able to write a mystery or a thriller, as my characters would tend to wander off somewhere en route. I greatly admire mystery and thriller writers for the taut control they keep over their plot.
ACM: Do you see your books as entertainment for the reader?
RW: Definitely. I give my books a Christian setting and try to convey a Christian message of joy and hope in the Lord, but I seek to entertain the reader along the way, insofar as I can. I write my books in as lighthearted a manner as I can manage. I try to write cheerful books, featuring characters with whom the reader can identify: characters with the kind of human foibles we all have, so that the reader goes away from the book thinking, yes, I know people like that, or yes, that’s just how I feel sometimes.
ACM: Do you write your books to appeal to adults or to children?
RW: Both. I originally wrote the books with an adult readership in mind, but I have found that they have acquired a Young Adult readership. I am glad of this, as I wrote the stories as fables, to some extent, bringing in mythological characters. I like fables and fairy stories. “Angelos†features the Minotaur, but he is presented, I hope, in a sympathetic light. I have always felt the Minotaur had a raw deal, as his deformity, if such it was, resulted from the actions of others. I have tried to draw a lesson with the Minotaur (whom I treated as a person, for he was mostly man, after all): there are people who look a bit different to us, who have had the misfortunate to turn out differently from other people, but their humanity is just as valid, whatever their appearance. Appearances don’t actually matter all that much; as Brother Jerome remarks, it’s what’s in the heart that matters. I think that books that are written in fable form, maybe featuring creatures of myth and legend, can help us to see humanity in a new light.
ACM: Which present day author do you most admire?
RW: I greatly admire Terry Pratchett. I think his Discworld books are wonderful, and I very much enjoyed his children’s book “Johnny and the Deadâ€. I thought that little book was brilliant, and quite moving. And the characters in his Discworld are so realistic, so recognizably human. Terry Pratchett is a most gifted writer and I always look forward to reading his latest book.
ACM: What is your next project?
RW: I am halfway through writing the third book in my Quantum Cat series. I hope to finish it later this year. It features Quant, of course - the ginger cat who is, in his true form, a seraph and envoy of the Lord, and who, in earlier times, served a tour of duty as St. Jerome’s protective lion during his days in the wilderness - and also some more characters from the ancient world, including the goddess Gaea and one or two of her relatives. This forthcoming book more explicitly potrays the pre-Christian deities as being fully cognizant of their inferior position in the heavenly hierarchy: they bend the knee literally to Christ, and worship the Almighty Father. Basically, they “know their placeâ€. I suppose some readers might protest that they have no place at all in the divine hierarchy, but I do not entirely dismiss the Olympians and their Titan predecessors; I choose to give them a role that places them in the sheepfold of the Shepherd, and makes them fully aware of the greater power they serve.
Besides, I think the Olympian pantheon gives an author great characters to write about: the deities are so charmingly, and sometimes amusingly, human in their actions and attitudes. They have great literary value, and so I bring them into my stories. They are humans plus - that is, plus a few magical powers that come in useful to a fantasy writer.
ACM: Finally, Robina, is there anything you wish to say to the readers of the Active Christian Media blog?
RW: I should like to say what a privilege and honor it is for me to be featured on this outstanding site. Everyone involved with this site - writers, readers and listeners alike - is walking the same path, the Lord’s path - as Aidan endeavored to do in my book “Angelosâ€. Aidan found it a struggle, and thought for a time he had gone astray, but though he lost sight of the Lord, the Lord never lost sight of him. As he came to realize, the Lord had been with him all the time - as He promised us all He would be: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.†Aidan had thought the Light exstinguished, but of course it had been shining all the time.
I should like to thank Stacy Harp for her unremitting hard work in the cause of spreading the word of the Lord and furthering His work on earth. Thank you for inviting me to talk to you on Active Christian Media, Stacy. It has been such a pleasure for me.
One of my favorite people in Christian ministry today is Dr. James Dobson. Sixteen years ago I had the immense blessing of working at
This morning I had a great time interviewing 






