Author Interview: Cinthia Koeksal

Cinthia Koeksal is the author of The Scarlet Omen, her first published book, and has been writing since she was six years old.


Where to purchase her novel:  Amazon|B&N|Smashwords

Interview 

How long have you been writing for? 

Cinthia: I've been writing since I was six. I wrote a few novels in high school but they were only read by my friends. I started writing The Scarlet Omen in 2003--just after my mum passed away and after a few years was finally ready to explore the literary world in all it's glory.

How many books have you written *officially*? 

Cinthia: The official count is three, with one of them having been published and the others are waiting their turn. One of them is the sequel and another the prequel to The Scarlet Omen.

Is your new novel, The Scarlet Omen, your first book? 

Cinthia: My first published book, yes. My first novel was a ghost story that took place in a boarding school. I wrote it about 15 years ago and have no idea where the draft is :)

How long did it take you to write it? What was the inspiration for it?

Cinthia: It took me three years to write this novel. I went through a long editing process afterwards--till I thought it was ready for pitching. 

I grew up in Malaysia; a country full of myth and legend. I've always loved fantasy stories and I thought using the Asian angle to write a paranormal fantasy for young adults would be something new and interesting for readers.

 The Scarlet Omen (Book #1)

What It's About!

The Valley of the Hornbills, an ancient land surrounded by magic and legend, suffers under the tyranny of Lady Suriya, the vampire queen. Babies are being taken at dark moon, magical properties are stolen before they can replenish and the inhabitants live in constant fear of losing their loved ones to the blood drinkers. But the fairies, humans, animals, tree spirits, dragons, water people and mountain people do not lose hope. They believe in the prophecy:

            “One day, our beloved valley will be soaked with blood of the innocent. Evil that has come from the outside world will reign and nothing can stand in its way. But when it seems that all hope is lost, a dark skinned girl with almond shaped eyes, on a quest to escape the demons of her past, will come from the outside to rid our valley of the evil queen. In the end, only one will remain standing. We pray that it is the Nirupita*.”

            However, the Appointed, Anjeli, a sixteen year-old girl haunted by omens of blood orgies, angels and demons, does not yet know that she is to save a whole civilization. She is living the life of a somewhat normal teenager, learning about young love and feuding with her over-protective mother, Alice. But one dreadful day, Alice passes away suddenly of a heart attack and Anjeli is thrown into a pit of despair at having taken her mother for granted. She scores her subconscious for memories that will redeem and remind her that it had not only been war and tears between them. With her boyfriend, Mark, Anjeli revisits a town in Borneo where Alice and she were once happy together. She is completely submersed in her memories and does not realise that she is being led to fulfill her destiny. Prophecies have a way of taking what is rightfully theirs.