Author Interview: E. Rachael Hardcastle - Part 2

by - 8:00 PM


Every now and then, I like to take a moment to introduce an author to all of you! With this interview series, I've come to know an amazing group of writers and I want you to know them too! 

For today's installment, I've had the pleasure of interviewing author E. Rachael Hardcastle! According to her website, she's a "dreamer, a deep thinker, a bookworm and grammar nerd."

Of course, I know we all want to know more than that! That's why I've sent her an in-depth questionnaire with 75 of the most intriguing questions I could come up with! And since E. Rachael is an amazing interviewee, she took the time to answer every single one of them! So not only do we get one interview with E. Rachael, but we actually get three!

In case you missed the first one, you can check it out here!

About the Author:
  • Be honest, do you judge a book by its cover? Yes, which is why I feel indie authors should outsource or spend some extra time on their cover designs. I designed mine alone, but they went through several versions before I settled.
  • If you had the power to unread a book, which book would you choose? Why? Flood by Stephen Baxter. I very rarely have to put a book down, but I think I stuck with it longer than I should have. It wasn't for me.
  • Who has been your biggest inspiration so far? Mitch Albom, Stephen King and Brandon Sanderson have inspired me a lot over the last 12 months, but other indie writers inspire me too.
  • If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be? To believe in myself and not to slow. Writing needs motivation and dedication. It took me longer than it should have to focus my energy on writing.
  • If you could put any book in the high school curriculum, what would it be? Why? There are a lot of books I believe should be read in schools. I can't pick just one. I think to some extent students should be able to choose their own, providing it suits the topic of study and is appropriate.

About Being an Author:
  • What’s one thing you said you’d never do as an author? Have you? I haven't said this on my website or officially, but I don't think I would ever write erotica. So far I have dabbled in romance but have not published anything more than a short story.
  • What does author success look like to you? Have you achieved it yet? I think authors make their own success and that each goal we meet is a success in itself. We should be celebrating our new book covers or our 1000 sales markers or our 2000 Twitter followers because each of these are new experiences we have worked to achieve.
  • What is your ultimate author goal? What are you doing to make it happen? Or is something awesome already in the works? I think we all dream of writing full-time but it's very difficult. I'd love to be on the NY Times Bestseller's list with a high fantasy novel, and I'm working on one at the moment. I'm even learning to make maps, which is so much fun.
  • Do you read your book reviews? If so, how do you react/cope with them? I read all of my book reviews because the readers took the time to write them, so I should take the time to listen. I try not to take negative feedback personally – you can't please everyone, and I note down the points I clearly need to improve on.
  • Do you Google yourself? What’s the funniest thing you’ve found? I do sometimes just for fun, and everything I've found is fairly standard. Just links to books and images of me.

About Your Book:
  • Is your book a part of a series? If so, can you give us a little preview of something that’s ahead? Yes my Finding Pandora series will be 12 books long, most of which have been written but only three are currently available. I'm re-writing and re-releasing the others. Book one is free on most devices and chapter one of book two is at the back if anyone would like a sneak peak.
  • Which formats are available for your books? Paperback and e-book on a wide range of devices.
  • If you had to compare your book to another published work, what would it be? Why? I try not to compare myself to other writers. We are all unique and talented in our own way. A 4 star review of Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life said, “It's a strange mixture of City of Ember and Hunger Games."

About Your Writing:
  • If you could spend time with one of your characters, who would it be and why? Arriette Monroe. She has some awesome supernatural powers and lives on a beautiful futuristic planet.
  • Do you have any new projects coming out? Yes I have a few. I have the fourth Finding Pandora Book (Eternity) in the works, two more Aeon Infinitum books (The Wanted, Faded Realm), a post-apocalyptic zombie book (It's All In Your Head) and my high fantasy book (Dragonborn).
  • What’s your favorite piece of work so far? I tend to prefer my newest books because I think they reflect everything I have learned as a writer.
  • Are there any secrets or patterns hidden in your writing? I have been told there is a spiritual theme (meaning of life etc) in my work but this is not intentional.
  • Do you try to include a moral or lesson in your writing? Yes, most of my stories so far have involved the destruction or ruin of Earth and human beings being unkind. I want to bring current related issues to notice and encourage people to be better.
  • What’s the hardest scene you’ve ever had to write? The death of a character, but I'm not going to give away who or how!
  • What made you choose to publish the debut novel that you did? I’m sure that you had other awesome ideas to work with :) My debut novel is no longer available and I count Finding Pandora: Book One: World as my first due to how much work into promotion etc I have done. It was the first in a series and I love the genre and the characters so much that I wanted the world to know them.

About the Process:
  • How often/how much do you write? As often as I can. Everyday. Sometimes not for very long though due to other responsibilities.
  • What does your day look like as a writer? I don't write full time so I can't detail what my day looks like, but I try to focus on writing scene by scene and not worry too much about a word count.
  • Do you have a special writing routine or playlist? I just have a YouTube music list with songs I like or that have been recommended. It never changes, it just gets longer.
  • How long does it take you to write a book? I can write a book in a month if I don't have other commitments, but usually an initial draft will take approximately 4 months.
  • Do you support/participate in events such as NaNoWriMo? Why or why not? I did in 2012 and I wrote the first draft of my book Aeon Infinitum in 30 days. I haven't since, though.
Author Bio:


E. Rachael Hardcastle is an author from the UK and she believes that through writing we face our darkest fears, explore infinite new worlds and realise our true purpose. She writes to entertain and share important morals and values with the world, but above all, she write to be a significant part of something incredible.

All of her fantasy and post-apocalyptic books face our planet's struggles because she believes that together we can build a stronger future for the human race.

In addition, she supports independent publishing so all of her stories are written, edited, formatted, and published by the author herself, offering a low-cost, epic adventure, and a memorable escape from reality for her readers.


If you want to follow up with the author or purchase a copy of her books, please follow these links: 

Have another question for the author? Ask it in the comments below!

* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I'll receive some type of commission. For more information, you can read our full disclosure here. *

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