In A Town Far, Far Away

Finnegan’s rainbow…

f you go down to The Village Bookshop in Greystones today, you’re going to be in for a nice surprise.

For there, sitting atop the likes of George R.R. Martin’s Game Of Thrones, Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel Of Time is local author Karyn Finnegan.

Only, her fans will know her as K.A. Finn, the pseudonym used by the Greystones writer for her award-winning Nomad series of books.

With a fourth outing due in 2018, this sci-fi series centres on Gryffin, sole survivor of a failed experiment by The Foundation to transform children into hybrid cyborgs – half-human, half-machine. Left for dead in The Outer Sector, Gryffin has managed to survive by embracing his machine side, his twenty years in the wilderness now threatened by The Foundation’s plans to colonise the area.

Having picked up a gold medal at the 2015 New Apple Science Fiction awards and silver at the 2016 Readers’ Favourite Science Fiction love-in, earlier this year, the first book, Ares (the other two being Nemesis and Perses), was a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite Audiobook category.

Now living in the UK, we caught up with young Karyn to find out more about her work. And, of course, what the post-apocalypse holds for Greystones.

From War Of The Worlds and Planet Of The Apes to Star Wars and Blade Runner, sci-fi tends to offer metaphors for the way we live today. Is that the case with K.A. Finn’s Nomad series…?
The series reflects the battle for resources in an increasingly pressurized system and the continual search for human perfection trough bionic engineering. Yes, I have practiced that line quite a bit!
One of my reviewers described the series best as Star Wars meets Beauty and the Beast – but darker. My main character has been through a lot (I am a bit hard on him) but won’t back down. I do put my characters in difficult situations facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles but how they deal with that is what makes the story. Life is hard and they have to fight to survive. It’s the age-old battle between good  – well, most of the time – and evil.

The first book in this series, Ares, tells of Gryffin, surviving for twenty years in The Outer Sector by suppressing his human emotions and embracing his machine side. This is about the priesthood, right…? And The Outer Sector is Newtownmountkennedy…?
Can’t really say priests or Newtown featured high on my sources of inspiration list! My ideas come from things with a bit more of a sci-fi theme. That’s the joy of fiction – especially science fiction – you can make most of it up!

The reviews have been pretty spectacular – with the likes of AudiobookReviewer.com and Readers’ Favorite both going the full five stars – whilst Ares has also picked up those gold and silver awards. Were you surprised by the success, or is this all going to your evil plans…?
I’d like to say it’s all part of my evil plan but in truth I wrote the first book so I could say ‘I’ve written a book!’. Pushing the publish button on something I completely made up was terrifying. What if people hated the characters or thought the plot didn’t work? Then the reviews started coming in followed by the awards. I was amazed that total strangers from all over the world were spending their hard-earned money on my books and were enjoying them. My fans (yeah, I have fans!) care about my characters and what happens to them. It’s such a buzz.
I went to my dentist last week and he refused to see me again until I’ve completed the fourth book. Having him quizzing me about what‘s going to happen next with Gryffin and the rest of the characters while checking my teeth was very surreal (and impossible to respond to in that situation!).

Being from Greystones, you’re smart, beautiful, witty and talented. What made you decide to use all those attributes to become an award-winning, jetsetting novelist?
I spend more time on ferries than jets! They say that everyone has one book in them, so I thought why not – I might as well use those attributes you listed to get my characters and world out there for other people to experience.

Was this a childhood dream? Are there heroes who sparked this path…?
Never. I’ve always been a keen reader but never even considered writing- especially sci-fi. Some of my favourite shows are ones with Star in the title – Trek, Wars and Gate, with a bit of Firefly thrown in to spice things up. I guess that’s where most of my inspiration comes from. As for my main character, Gryffin, I have no idea where he came from – he’s a law unto himself! He popped in to my head one day and took over. He is the series to me and always will be but I find my other characters are fighting for the limelight. They all have their own strong personalities and are like family to me. I enjoy spending time with them – even if they don’t always do what I planned. But that’s the fun with writing. There are no set rules.

Talking of paths, what the hell were you thinking, leaving Greystones? And how often do you get back to the ranch…?
It’s just the way things went. I followed my then boyfriend – husband now – to Hereford with his job more than ten years ago and haven’t looked back since.
We try to get back every few months to catch up with friends and family and see the sea – one thing Hereford doesn’t have unfortunately!

You’ve been busy – Ares was followed quickly by Nemesis, with the third book, Perses, released earlier this year, and the fourth, Cronus, due in 2018. A full-time job…?
That’s the plan! I have a five-year-old and a one-year-old, so, they’re my full-time job at the moment. I usually write during nap time or after they’ve gone to bed, but this doesn’t always work. Trying to write about moody space pirates while still in mummy mode is a recipe for disaster, and could create some interesting scenes!
The dictation app on my phone is full of ideas I get driving back from the school run or waiting for ballet lessons to finish. I really do love writing now but, until I published Ares, I didn’t know how much work goes in to publishing. Writing the book is the easy part. I learnt a lot on Ares and am now lucky to have a trusted group of people I work with for beta reading, editing, cover design, and proofreading. It makes the process so much easier and more enjoyable.

Do you have an endgame in sight for the Nomad series, or is it just a case of following your cyborg nose…?
The initial plan was to publish Ares, and if it didn’t flop disastrously, maybe unleash a second one. The reception has been so good, I allowed the characters to run riot. The forth book, Cronus, was meant to be the final in the series but I’ve already started jotting down scenes for a fifth installment. It looks like I’ll keep following my cyborg nose. It really depends on what my characters decide – I don’t have a great deal of control over them.

Hollywood is in love with sci-fi right now – any encouraging noises in that direction…?
I wish! I’ve had quite a few people say the series would be perfect for the big screen. I guess I’ll just have to keep everything crossed and continue to get my characters and their story out there for people to see.

Is sci-fi your world, or do you have a period drama or a gritty prison drama inside, just waiting to burst out…?
I love sci-fi and the endless opportunities the genre offers. My writing brain naturally veers towards that area, but I do have other story ideas. Period drama isn’t my thing so nothing like that in the pipeline – ever. I do have other books planned for some time in the future. One is more of a paranormal thriller and the other is a straight forward thriller – no cyborgs or spaceships.

The first three books are available at The Village Bookshop in Greystones – as much as the international success and recognition is important, I’m guessing having your work stocked in your hometown must have a special kind of kick to it…?
The series had been available from online retailers as an ebook and audiobook since March 2015 but seeing the physical books on the shelf in my hometown bookshop is amazing. When they were put on display, I found an excuse to go down and ogle at them regularly for the first few days. They were placed with Stephen King and Robin Hobb. My books! It was definitely a very special feeling.

Finally, is there anything else you want to share with the group?
Give Gryffin and his Nomad crew a shot! They’ll really appreciate it.
There’s also loads more content, artwork and excerpts  -including clips from the audiobooks – on my website. I post on my Facebook page when I have writing updates, so it’s worth checking that out too.

You can check out K.A. Finn’s website here, her Facebook page here, and, most importantly, her books just down the road, in The Village Bookshop.

Cover illustration by Marc Diamond. You can check out Greystones and its writers right here.