An Interview with Fallon Brown [WUR 2015].

Even though we’ve only known each other professionally for a handful of years, it feels like Fallon Brown and I go way back, back to the times where I still had the wherewithal and the attention span to participate in the incredible A Round of Words in 80 Days group that I credit with helping me to launch my current path and career. Not only have I had the honor of beta-reading one of her books early in the development stage, but I’ve also had the pleasure to publish some of her work in the World Unknown Review. She brought a sweet tale of a second chance at love to the debut issue, and she brought a suspenseful novella about a second chance at family to Volume II, which you can read here.

And, of course, I had a chance to “sit down” with Fallon to discuss her work and her life and her story to correspond with it being featured for the month of December and probably a good chuck of January. So let’s get started!

Let’s start simply: Who is Fallon Brown?

That’s a good question. There are some days I’m still trying to figure that out. But, basically I’m a shy, introverted, socially awkward person spending more time in my own head than anywhere else. I’m a wife, mother, and writer. When I’m not writing or reading, I don’t usually know what to do with myself. But, really, who are we kidding? There’s not many times I’m not doing one of those. 😉

How did you discover the World Unknown Review, and what inspired you to submit your story, “Into the Sun”?

I’ve followed this blog for a while, so I saw the call for submissions for the first edition. For that one, I believe I had a couple pieces that were mostly ready to go with just a little revision. For this one, I wrote new stuff, and “Into the Sun” was one that came out of a spark of an idea.

“Into the Sun” focuses quite a bit on motorcycle culture. Are you much of a motorcyclist yourself?

I do ride with my husband. We are part of a club that is made up of firefighters and EMTs. Mostly we do rides and fundraisers for various charities and causes. This did influence the story a bit, and even more the assumption most people make when they hear “motorcycle club”. And I wanted to do something that showed another side to that.

The story also focuses on family, sometimes in traditional structure, but often in unconventional ways. What’s your own family life like?

My own parents divorced when I was fairly young, and I was raised by my mom and stepdad, along with my two older sisters. I actually get along fairly well with my stepdad (now that we don’t live in the same house), and I think he’s part of the reason I have a tendency to write blended families into my stories. I have lots of cousins on my mom’s side, so family gatherings tend to be large. My husband’s family is pretty large as well, especially when you count in his stepmother’s family. We have two kids, a girl and a boy.

And, finally, the other prevalent theme in the story are the heavy allusions to Greek mythology. Where did you get the idea to weave those old stories into this modern tale?

I actually started this story by making a list of song titles and picking one at random. Then, when I looked at it, I thought of the story of Icarus. And it just kind of snowballed from there.

Who would play your main characters in a film version of your story?

I actually had to do some searching for this (gotta love Pinterest for that). 🙂 But, I’d have to say Michael Fassbender could play Icarus, Evan Peters for Trace, and Nathalie Emmanuel for Birdie.

Oh, those are perfect (and Fassbender is never a bad choice, ahem!) Tell us about the last book you read.

Well, I just finished reading Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis yesterday. I really enjoy the humor she always puts into her romances. My own tend to be more along the emotional/angsty side, even when I plan to write something light-hearted. Right now I’m reading Into the Fury by Kat Martin, which is more romantic suspense.

Who are your biggest writing influences and inspirations?

Nora Roberts is probably my biggest influence. Although I read a lot, so there are probably other influences as well.

What’s next for Fallon Brown?

I just released the second book in my first series, Healing the Heart, at the beginning of this month. In the next year, I’m planning on releasing the final book in my western trilogy, Stained Blood, as well as the second books in a couple other series. I’m not so good at working on only one thing at a time.

Neither am I. Oh, man, neither am I! Where might we find more of your work?

All of my books are available on Kindle, and except for Stained Snow and Stained by Ashes (the first two books in the western trilogy), are also on B&N and Kobo. I also have the first two novellas in the Riders of Justice series up on Wattpad and will be putting the third there as well once I have it finished. I also post snippets of works in progress on my blog a couple times a week.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Just that I’m glad to have gotten a chance to share these characters with other people.

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And I’m glad to have gotten a chance to get to know them, too! I’d like to thank Fallon for her stories and her time to chat a little, and I really look forward to seeing what else she has in store for us in the coming years. Don’t forget to check out Fallon’s story “Into the Sun” on the Featured Story tab if you haven’t already, or you could just go straight to the source and pick up a copy of the World Unknown Review Volume II today.

Happy reading!