Featured Interview With Carmela Ben-Nun Moshe
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in a small town surrounded by desert. I remember the desolate landscapes surrounding the house where I grew up. I watched the sunrises and sunsets against the backdrop of mountains from the balcony of my house every day. The silence of the vast expanses and the teeming life inside the wilderness fascinates me to this day. Today I live in a small village far from the desert, in a house surrounded by fruit trees and viewing fields. I am a mother of three children and exploring nature is part of what they love to do every day. In an area bordered by fields there are always rich worlds for plants and insects. In addition, we’re raising a family of chickens and a dog. The peaceful exterior allows the restlessness in the interior to bubble and arise out through writing.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My passion for reading began very early. I was a curious child who swallowed books from the library. During my childhood I wrote short poems, and part of them were published in newspapers in the sections of children and youth. I was fascinated with rhymes and from the ability to express a whole world through a song. When I grew up, I had two books of poetry published: “From the top crater”, inspired by the desert and – “Song of Life” deals with the beauty of nature, feelings and thoughts about life and death. The richness of the language and the ability to knead it and build sentences from it that refines events, situations and emotions are wonderful in my eyes. My most recent book “The Wonderful journey of Tara in an unknown land” is a fantasy book for youth and adults.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite author is Michael Ende. I love his book “The never-ending story”. I also love the books of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, mostly “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. My favorite Genre is fantasy but I also read books which are rich in imagination and have insights to life, such as “The Fountainhead” of Ian Rand, and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The book “The Wonderful journey of Tara in an unknown land” depicts a journey of a young girl named Tara who wants to discover her roots and destiny. The girl spent her entire life in an iron island of that has an evil ruler and strict rules. She runs away from the island to find out who she really is and takes her friend, a small rabbit, with her. In a journey that surpasses all imagination, the girl meets wonderful creatures, such as an unhappy tree because of unrequited love, and a white unicorn who is flying toward a starry sky. She also meets wonderful creatures that are called “Mahopeians” who live in a place called “Mahopeia”, which sounds similar to “My hope”. The Mahopeians are helping people in all areas of life and are divided into groups, each one of them has a different color and function. Members of the Order family, for example, maintain order and harmony in Mahopeia, and are known to everyone as “Redions,” on account of their red capes. The Guardians family, who are in charge of security, are known as Blueions; and there are the Greenions, the Purpleions, the Crimsonions and many more. Tara learns how people are calling the Mahopeians for help, and discover to what group she belongs to, what is her color and job. Later on a love starting to blossom between her and a member of the green courage group. At one point, when the future of Mahopeia is in danger, and her best friend is kidnapped, she realizes that she can no longer sit quietly and decide to go out for a challenging journey back to the evil realms, and learn not only about her destiny in life but also about love.
The book was written during about five years. It grew slowly as a tree, each time bringing out another branch and a group of leaves. In the book I distilled all kinds of insights that I learned during my journey of life and wanted to pass them to my children in a way of a fantastic story. The combination of fantasy that has deeper and even philosophical layers is unique and appealing to me. I love writing for teens because I was there, too, often confused and searching for myself. The magic of imagination and the ability to find your strength to overcome challenges through stories helped me than and guiding me while I am writing today.
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