Author Interview with Tricia Mingerink

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Growing up as a reader there was always questions that filled my head. Now these question were not always about reading. I’ve just naturally wondered why things happen they way they do and normally I got answers to my questions by google or by asking those around me for answers. My questions about books were always left answered because no one in my family reads and they do not have contact with the authors to be able to answer my burning questions.

When I started Isamonkey’s Reviews I wanted to change that. I wanted to understand why the author chose to kill off a well-loved character or how they came up with there book series. It took a lot of research, time, and effort to find out some authors not only let you do reviews but a lot more. They let you do character interviews, author interviews, charter spotlights, reviews and so much more.

When I found myself that I had to see if Tricia Mingerink would do an author interview and she agreed! Now enough of me talking you want to hear her answers!

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How did you come up with the idea of The Blades of Acktar?

I had just graduated college where I had researched some of my family history for a final project. My great-grandparents were in the Dutch Resistance in the Netherlands in WWII, and that somehow meshed with my love of fantasy to form the initial idea for The Blades of Acktar. When I got the initial idea, it was an image of a group of black-clad assassins sitting around a table reporting to their king. I knew one of those assassins was named Third Blade Leith Torren, and he didn’t want to be there. The rest is history. 

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Which character was the hardest to create?

Renna. Sarcastic characters like Martyn or funny characters like Brandi or skilled characters like Leith are easy to write. But Renna is all the things they tell you not to do with characters. She starts out scared and passive. Her strength is a moral strength, not a physical strength. I’ve had some readers hate her to the point of putting down the books. But I’ve also had readers really connect with her because many of us would be a lot like Renna if we were put in her situation. 

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Which character would you say that you connect the most with and why?

Leith. His personality is the most like mine, though he is far more brave and skilled than I am. About the only skill that he has that I have is I know how to ride a horse. And I’ve been rock climbing, though always with a harness. I’ve never scaled a castle wall, lol. Leith is very protective of his family and friends. He will do anything for them, and I connect a lot with that. 

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Was Leith and Martyn friendship based on a friendship that you have or a friendship that you have seen?

No, not really. It just developed over the course of the books. But, I have experienced deep friendships with my friends, and my brothers in my own family are close to each other. So the brother camaraderie came from that. 

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You said this in your 3^rd book Defy, “When I get to Heaven, I want to remember every sin so I can thank Christ for saving me from each one of them,” how did you come up with this idea of thanking God for saving us from every sin we commit?

That was all Leith, lol. By the time I got to book 3, he pretty much did his own thing. For Leith, he is deeply thankful for his salvation. He convicts me to always remember to be thankful for the salvation God has gifted me. 

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Thank you so much Mingerink! I can not thank you enough for answering these questions that have been circling my mind since I started reading your books. Anwsering these questions means so much to me and I was so excided to get your email with the answer to my questions. There is nothing like the feeling of having an author answer the questions that you have been making up answers just so that you will be able to get some rest.

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Be sure to check out Tricia Mingerink’s website here and her Instagram. She is an amazing author that will keep you wondering as to what happens next. Check out my reviews on all of her books here.