Meet Para Kindred author Suzanne Gabriel

We remain with all things Wraeththu today with Para Kindred author Suzanne Gabriel, who's dropping by to subject herself to a little Q&A. Welcome, Suzanne. Do tell us what you love about the Wraeththu Mythos?

I connected immediately with these stories as I have always been fascinated by how societies see the concepts of male and female. Boys don’t cry and love sports. Girls love pink and shopping. Boys are big and muscular. Girls are petite and graceful. Who makes up these rules?

Growing up I was a tomboy; I rescued earthworms (still do!), got muddy (I still do that too!), but I also loved ballet class, and make-up. When I was very little I decided that our spirits were not male or female and that gender/gender-identity must be something that was on a sliding scale; something fluid.

I also love that fact that the post-apocalyptic world is the result of the slow decay of humanity rather than zombies, or aliens.

Everyone’s story will have that spark that set the wheels spinning? What was yours?

So many people are so driven, so ambitious, and want to be the biggest, the best, and the most powerful. They allow their career to define them. They say they are happy, but sometimes I wonder. In the past few years I’ve seen a number of people forced to drastically re-evaluate their priorities due to job losses, or health, and sometimes relationship changes. I thought it would be fun to pull the rug out from under a career-focused har and see how he adjusted.

Without giving any spoilers, can you share a bit about your story?

Tobian is ambitious and driven healer who aspires to further his career, but after a sudden fall from grace he finds himself far from home and learning to adapt a new pace of life. He discovers that despite his elite training, he still has much to learn and there are still mysteries to explore.

Are there any underlying themes you visited?

Oh dear… I’m not sure. Resilience and adaptability? Curiosity and acceptance?

Then, a little bit about yourself and your influences.

My parents had wanderlust so I grew up in USA, Canada, UK, and back in Canada again. I’m always looking for a label so that I could more easily describe myself but since I’m a little bit main stream, a little bit hippie, a little bit science geek, history buff, … I can’t! When asked, my eldest says “the weirdest mix of dark humour, science, and new age hippie”. I have way too many hobbies and too many books on my ‘must read’ list. I’m such a skeptic that I am constantly questioning the things that I believe in.

Follow Suzanne on Facebook or check out her blog.