Who is visionary fiction writer Christina Greenaway?
I was born in Mevagissey, a small fishing village on the coast of Cornwall, England, and developed an early love for the legends of our rugged land. Their mythical characters lived on in my mind long after their stories ended. I felt particularly drawn to the legend of Tamara and the Giant Brothers Tavy and Tawridge.
In a nutshell it goes like this. Tamara, spirit of the Earth, lives in a cave beneath the moors with her parents. The giant brothers Tavy and Tawridge roam the moors at night, and are generally feared by the people. Tamara’s father forbids her to mingle with giants.
Tamara disobeys him. In punishment, her father turns her into a river of tears, and Tamara forms the river Tamar, the dividing line between Cornwall and the rest of England. In my visionary fiction Age of Jeweled Intelligence series Tamara lives as the spirit of the River Tamar and serves as a soul guide for the human family.
Tell us about Time Blade the visionary fiction that you have created?
Sky Hunter, a young Californian, takes up life on the road. Born with sacred abilities inherited from a former incarnation, Sky seeks his true mission in the modern world. He’ll live by the hand of chance and work odd jobs to support himself. Chance challenges Sky’s resolve as he crosses the River Tamar in Cornwall, England.
Tamara, spirit of the river, appears to him in a body of sparkling light. She tells Sky that eons ago, he lived in the dazzling Age of Jeweled Intelligence. He wrote a sacred future back then—a promise to restart that Age on the planet when called to do so. Time calls him now. He must travel back to his ancient life and learn how to meet his vow.
What are your hobbies?
I’m a born traveler, but that’s more of a calling than a hobby. In addition to reading, I enjoy all the arts. When in London or New York I binge on theater, concerts, and visiting art galleries. I like to walk by the sea, hike in forests and canyons whenever possible.
Are you married and with children? If so please describe what makes your relationship with your family special.
I have been married twice, but I don’t have children. I’m in a long and loving relationship with my boyfriend of twenty years. He has children and grandchildren. My family lives in England, and we visit each other as often as possible.
Did your family relationships play into the writing of your book? If so, and in what area?
I was not conscious of imposing any of my family issues on my characters. That said, I had a difficult relationship with my father and Sky Hunter, the main character in Time Blade, has some problems with his dad. I don’t see any similarity in these situations. I expect a complicated father figure is an archetype I’m always exploring.
How did your educational or life background play into the writing of Time Blade?
I was educated at a private boarding school in England, with a strong emphasis on turning out well-mannered young ladies. There were strict rules to abide by, but after lights out at night, we set about breaking them. We played truth, dare, or promise. I always chose dare, and I think my sense of adventure was born here. A dare might be to run up and down the front staircase, reserved for staff only, or climb out onto the parapet surrounding the dormitories, which meant passing through a door marked DO NOT ENTER, or knocking on the door of a housemistress and fleeing the scene.
If caught, punishments ranged from getting up early and scrubbing the cloakroom floors, or hours of translating Latin, or being deprived of going on the Saturday afternoon nature walk. Along with the thrill of challenging authority, I learned to accept the consequences of getting caught. I have no formal education beyond what is the equivalent of a U.S. high school grad.
I’ve traveled extensively. Among my varied careers, I’ve worked in advertising in London and New York, fashion modeling in Paris, partnering in a frog farm in Costa Rica, waiting tables, and washing dishes. I’d call myself streetwise with manners at my fingertips. Never discount manners. They open doors that are otherwise hard to pass through. Sky Hunter, the main character in Time Blade, sets out to travel the world, certain it will teach him all he needs to know. It does, just as it taught me.
What books are similar to yours in the marketplace?
I don’t know, but growth in consciousness is the central theme in visionary fiction, and drives the main character. This is expressed in many different ways. “The Alchemist” by visionary fiction writer Paul Coehlo endorses the power of following your dream. An alchemist coaxes metal into gold, a metaphor for the journey of the main character Santiago.
If a person from your audience were standing in front of you, what would you like to tell them?
I’d want to know about that person. What brought them to hear me talk? If I knew that we could have a conversation. The inscription that precedes Time Blade reveals how I feel about my readers: “I would not wish any companion in the world but you” – William Shakespeare.
About the Author
Christina Greenaway is a visionary fiction writer that has authored the series The Age of Jeweled Intelligence. Her most recent book is Time Blade. Greenaway was born in Mevagissey, a small fishing village on the coast of Cornwall, England. She developed an early fascination for legendary tales that helped to spark her creative nature. She describes an encounter of writing down sagas that were placed into bottles and tossed into the sea. Then, like the legends of long ago, the stories were released to take a life of their own. Greenaway has worked in advertising in London and New York, has modeled in Paris, and partnered in a frog farm in Costa Rica. She has travelled the globe in life and with her diversified career. Her most recent work Time Blade Age of Jeweled Intelligence can be found at Amazon or by direct link to Amazon through her website.
Excerpt from Time Blade:
Chapter 3
Sky drives up the dirt lane, and nudges his truck into a clearing beside the studio, Valhalla, as his Great Grandfather Leo had named it. Valhalla means hall of the slain, of those who died in battle, and is watched over by the Nordic god, Odin. That fits Sky. He’s pretty sure his spirit has been in Valhalla, perhaps is even still there—well, part of it anyway—that which got left behind as the rest of it veered over the blue skies of Istanbul. His way of seeking life on Earth, according to his mother, who happened to be there at the time with his father, madly in love, her speak for making out in some park. As she tells the story, she was gazing into bluest of blue skies, and felt his spirit. It shone like blue fire, and so she named him Sky Blue. Annoying as it is be to constantly asked how he got his name, he can only be grateful that his mother wasn’t in country-naming mood at the time of his conception as she has been with his three younger sisters: Peru, Himalaya, and Thailand. Otherwise he would be called Turkey Hunter.
Wind whispers through the river birch trees surrounding the studio, and night shadows the land. Sky slides the patio door open. Home greets him, the cool calm of the solitary. He kicks off his shoes and treads on the paint-splattered concrete floors, squishing his toes against cerulean, vermillion, and yellow ochre, paint that overshot Leo’s canvasses.
Moonlight shines through the tall, iron-framed windows, casting shadows on the bed—a mattress on the floor, close to the earth. Sky sits at the old captain’s desk left over from Great Grandfather Leo’s days, the cubbyholes that once held charts and maps now jammed with random articles about foreign lands—places where chance might take Sky—one week from today when he sets out to see the world.
Sky opens the top drawer of the captain’s desk, and fishes out his wristwatch, also left by Leo. It’s a manual wind from the 1940s, trimmed with yellow gold. The only numeral on the face is the twelve. The quarter hours are marked with a dash and the other numbers by square-shaped dots. Sky had it brought back to working condition and purchased a new tan leather band. He slips the watch on, tucking the end of the strap through the leather loops. Having time on his wrist brings a feeling of being in control—time in its own encasement, ticking because he winds it up every morning.
All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us. – Gandalf – Lord of the Rings