Tamara Lakomy discusses her new book, “The Shadow Crucible”

Tamara Lakomy was born in London, but grew up as a feminist tribal girl in a North African repressive regime to divorced parents. She was raised between the slums where her father resided and the richer suburbs where her mother lived. The contrast made her fierce yet genteel. She saw the ugly side of poverty and lawlessness in the slums of Mellassine. She studied archaeology and became enamored with the shamanistic practices of indigenous people. She is an author and poet who seek to challenge our notions of reality, and see life with a different perspective. She work in East Africa with indigenous tribes studying the origins of mankind and the salient golden thread in the tapestry of humanity's beliefs. She writes poetry and frequently publishes them with magazines. She is also a resident poet at Penhead Press.

D.O: Thanks for joining us today on Authors' Curtilage Book Dialogue, and welcome.

TL: I am delighted to participate!

D.O: The audience would like to know which part of the world you’re joining us from.

TL: I reside in London mostly; I am British born.

D.O: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

TL: I’ve always wanted to, especially when I was a child, but I gave up for a long time, then when I was at University, I began thinking about it again, but only began seriously in my early twenties, encouraged by my family.

D.O: What are the various craft you've studied before you came into the entertainment industry or do you just possess some natural tendencies to write stories?

TL: I think I have a natural talent. My mother’s family is full of great story tellers, especially my grandmother, she came from a culture that celebrated folklore and passed down stories, but I was deeply into languages and the cultural heritage of other civilizations. Stories are what widened my horizon and allowed me to grow and think.

D.O: What are the steps you took to develop your book from a rough draft into a published novel?

TL: Refining it as much as I could and studying real cases around me of grief and eccentricity, and especially delving into human nature. I wove their mannerisms and behavior to give my story genuine authenticity, also taking on board my editor’s suggestions.

D.O: What did you do differently in your book to make readers feel fear, concern, sadness, love and laughter?

TL: I based my characters on real people I knew, people I’ve studied closely and whose sorrows and joys were raw and real. Naturally the story is fantasy but the essence of the characters is real, I tend to observe people and amplify their virtues and vices. There are a lot of psychological games played between the characters and issues that transcend time and space, pains that could affect us all. The usual theme is good versus evil, but my characters tend to be more selfish and more interested in saving themselves rather than saving the world and achieving equanimity rather than sacrificing all for the greater good.

D.O: What sensitive materials does your book deal with?

Reply from author: religions and the thread connecting them all, the pagan past behind that seeps in no matter what, the whole dynamic of a human becoming god, recurrent in many faiths.

D.O: What's the subject matter of your book?

TL: False gods and false creators, being manipulated by them as they masquerade as our liberators, and the demonized old gods who are in fact patiently watching, as we turn on one another, believing we are serving god’s will. Imagine a usurper posing as god and desiring ownership of your soul.

D.O: I can imagine. What is the underlying theme that explored truth or moral in your book?

TL: Well I based the mythology behind the novel on the gnostic teachings in tandem with paganism, so there is this balance I strike between the two; the truth is elusive and transcendental.

D.O: What town or city does your book story portray and what is the feeling we have in this dwelling places?

TL: The novel is based in England, imagine a parallel universe, quaint and old fashioned, a seemingly pious medieval society on the surface, underneath a simmering war of magic.

 
D.O: What does the lead character of your book want most in the world?

TL: She wants her freedom, from the divine rulers of earth and Lucifer. She is a pawn on their macabre chessboard as they fight for dominion and the rulership over human souls, and as she is a Seer she is too aware of the cruelty going on. Power is dreadful especially in the hands of such beings and she is too cognizant that humanity acts like a cog in a machine that fuels their battles. She wants to be away from them, hence her desire to join the Twilit world.

D.O: What does she do to achieve this goal?

TL: She does what she’s good at; wriggling out of the situations that she feels are forcing her to conform and sacrifice herself for a cause she doesn’t believe in. She renounces earth and offers herself to the elder gods and offers to watch humanity rise against the antichrist, and coach the man destined to fight him.

D.O: What are the core truths for your lead character?

TL: She is resilient with a sharp wit and also a deep desire to thwart authority. Her disdain for the establishment and dogma is her defining trait.

D.O: What are the two conflicting values you created for her?

TL: She believes in taking a stand against Samael the false god, and refuses to give in to Lucifer but at the same time she doesn’t want to risk herself by fighting against them, because siding with the Templars is against her nature.

D.O: Do these values make sense from her backstory?

TL: Yes, witches, or women with gifts used to be persecuted and burned at the stake, so naturally someone in her position would have massive distrust for the church.

D.O: What is the personal trait you gave your lead character to survive your book story?

TL: The ability to make alliances with sometimes dangerous people, and trusting herself to manage those relationships carefully without getting burned.

D.O: In the end of your book did the story goal satisfy your lead character's ambition or did she devise another method to achieve her goal or failed at achieving it?

TL: She found a way out, she knew she couldn’t win by being a pawn by either of the warring deities, so she chose a way out that gave her freedom to observe and influence from the margins.

D.O: Any hint about your next book?

TL: Cults and necromancers, religious fanaticism and eugenics in magic…. Dark heavy stuff.

D.O: Thank you once again for joining us on Authors Curtilage Book Dialogue. We wish you the publishing best and hope that all good things come your way with your book.

TL: thank you so much, I hope the audience appreciates the novel.

Get your copy of THE SHADOW CRUCIBLE here: Amazon Barnes & Noble Waterstones

Tamara Lakomy joined Authors’ Curtilage Book Dailogue via email from London.