Nelani A. Nettrour, author of Soaring Free and Arcan's Revenge, agreed to answer some questions for me. I hope you find her answers as interesting and enjoyable as I did.


Nelani is a beautiful, yet unusual name. What does your name mean? Were you named after someone special?
My mom said it means "Heavenly Gift". It is Hawaiian. I was the first girl after three boys, so she was really ready for a girl when I came along. My dad was stationed in Hawaii and when my mom came over and visited him, they were married. My oldest brother, Kirk, was born there. She always loved the place and the names. Still, of her 9 children, she only gave my sister, Moana, and me Hawaiian names. We did go to Hawaii when I was 9, after my father died. Mom thought she wanted to move there with us, but without the support system of family it was really hard, and we moved back after a short time. It was a beautiful place and I still carry memories of it.


Soaring Free and Arcan's Revenge are part of a series. How many books will there be in this series?
Only God knows, really. There will be at least nine, but probably more. The third, A Fatal Blow and the fourth, Chantra's Awakening, are published. I am working on the 5th, Arch of Discovery, now, along with a 13th Anniversary Edition of Arcan's Revenge. I am also redoing Tales of Lamac as a young adult series, though I am keeping the original three with the color illustrations as children's books. I wrote the series of the original creators of Lamac and their children. I wanted to have illustrations of the creatures of Lamac, etc., and I really planned on making it a long series, each fully illustrated. But my girls are already stacked with projects to illustrate for me. Still there is a lot of history there, and we don't want to drop the series. So the first three will be expanded with black and white chapter illustrations. and the stories will continue in that way.


How did you first get the idea for these stories?
Love and Life. I married my true love, my soulmate, so I know and believe that such a thing exists. Some people deny it does, but I think it is only because they never found theirs or let theirs slip away. Then they are living lives without the kind of love that is meant to be in marriage. I also have very vivid dreams. I have used some of them in the book and some of the feelings of them as well.

Also being a Christian, eternity really played a role in the development of the world of Lamac. While studying the Bible, and especially the Millennium, it made me wonder more what that would be like. In the Millennium God brings back long life and the connection with the creation that He intended in the very beginning. We have abilities we can only dream of now. Lamac developed out of those questions and speculations. God also presents a very living world that is also filled with intelligent creatures in the Bible. Even giving only a few of the examples of the multitude spoken of in the Bible, we have a good idea. In Isaiah 55:12: For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing , and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. In the beginning when God created all, He looked upon His creation and said that it was very good before sin entered into the picture. Genesis 1 and 2. In Genesis 3 when the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden, she was not surprised that the serpent could speak. Also in Genesis 3, once the man and woman chose to disobey, sin entered the world. The creation itself became cursed, and though still beautiful, it was not what it was first created to be. Corruption and death had entered it. In Genesis 4:8-12, God describes what happened to the earth and to Cain because of murdering Abel. In Numbers 22, God opened the mouth of the donkey, who was obviously pretty observant and could see what Balaam could not. In Luke 19:41, Jesus talks about the rocks crying out if the people remained silent. In Romans 8:18-23, God tells about creation itself groaning as if in the travail of pregnancy waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption placed upon it at the fall. I see such glories even in our fallen world that thoughts of the wonders of Heaven and of the time of the Millennium really awaken my mind to glories that can hardly be expressed. Then even after all the perfection of the Millennium, there will still be those who will turn against God in the end, choosing to follow Satan to battle against Jesus and His people. The battle of good and evil is woven throughout the Bible and the history of our world. Those of us who have read the Bible know how it will all end!