Meet the Characters – Eleanor Palmer from Haven Wakes by Fi Phillips

It’s time for another ‘Meet the Characters’ post and this week my guest is fantasy author, Fi Phillips, who is going to interview her character Eleanor Palmer from her debut YA novel, Haven Wakes. Let’s take a look at the cover and blurb first.

Blurb

The year is 2110. Everyone has their own robot, and magical worlds are just behind the next door…

Steve Haven always thought he was just another ordinary twelve-year-old boy. Well, as ordinary as he can be given that he’s the nephew of Rex Haven, founder of the globally successful Haven Robotics Corporation.

But when Rex dies in mysterious circumstances and Steve is given a strange artefact known only as the Reactor, he finds out that the world he thought he knew is a lot stranger and more threatening than he could have ever imagined.

On the run from a group of dangerous villains, Steve is plunged into a hidden magical world. With his parents missing and no one in the normal world he can trust, Steve must join with his new-found magical friends to discover the truth about the Reactor and his uncle’s death.

Haven Wakes is the debut novel by Fi Phillips and the first in The Haven Chronicles, an exciting and enthralling journey through new worlds, both futuristic and magical.

Some nice reviews

Great debut novel

Steve is an unlikely hero who goes on his own journey taking the reader with him. Each character you meet, you are wondering if they can be trusted, each part of the story leaves you wondering what will happen next and wanting to know NOW. I couldn’t put this down and I am little older than the YA readership it is aimed at. Very pleased there will be more as I still have questions. Fi Phillips has a wonderful imagination and really knows how to engage the reader. This is a real page turner. In short I loved it and I really want to know what happens next. Not sure how many books there are in the series but I know I am buying them all.

I absolutely loved this and can’t wait for the next book in the series!

I’ll be honest, I was initially a bit sceptical about Haven Wakes as so many books say they are for fans of Harry Potter and Skulduggery, but by Chapter 2 I was hooked. The writing is great, the characters are amazing and the pace keeps you reading long after you expected.

I now tell as many people as I can about this truly brilliant book. I can’t wait for the next one.

Simply brilliant. Fantasy? Sci-fi? Funny things? This has got you covered

This is a true page turner. Seriously – a test of willpower to put down. Follow Steve on a journey that ignites the imagination, pulls at your heartstrings, raises the hairs on the back of your neck, respects your intelligence and paves a solid path into a wonderful world of magic and technology. My suggestion is to savour every detail; I did, find turning the last page sad in the sense of wanting more. With this being Book One I have high hopes the author will write many stories – this world, these characters – they deserve nothing less.

Now let’s move onto the interview with Eleanor

Hello Eleanor. Lovely to chat. I was a little surprised that the author chose you to interview because you’re not one of the main characters in Haven Wakes. Why do you think that is?

I had wondered that myself, but I did play my part in helping Steve and the others to… Well, I don’t want to reveal too much – spoilers and all that. I suppose, being from a non magical background, I share the reader’s journey as they discover the hidden underbelly of Caercester. I had absolutely no idea that such things – like magical doorways, mysterious artefacts, and all of Hartley Keg’s nonsense – had any place in my world until Steve told me about the Reactor. It all came as a complete and rather unwelcome surprise at the time.

Well, now we’ve established that, why don’t you introduce yourself?

My name is Eleanor Palmer. I am, or rather I was personal assistant to Rex Haven, owner of the Haven Robotics Corporation, the most successful multinational robotics manufacturer in the world. I worked for Rex for over forty years. I was with him from the start when we were both in our twenties. I’ll let you do the maths.

When Rex was murdered – I still find it difficult to say that word – I was at a loss. I was, in effect, rendered jobless and without direction as Thomas Winters stepped into Rex’s shoes. That’s why I made it my mission to contact Rex’s heirs, the Haven family. That’s how this whole debacle got started.

So tell us about the Haven family. Who are they?

Elijah Haven is Rex’s younger brother. Where Rex was a genius with robotic technology and looking to the future, I’m told that Elijah always had an eye on the past, hence his career as an archaeologist. That’s how he met his wife, Mary. Their only child, twelve year old Steve, was the one who drew me into our little adventure.

So when you’re not working at the Haven Robotics Corporation, Eleanor, what do you get up to? Interests? Family? Home?

It wasn’t until after Rex’s death that I realised how much of my life was committed to the Haven Corporation. I’m a career woman. I don’t have any family. I never married or had children. There’s just me and Hetty. Hetty is my robot. She cleans my city centre apartment. Cooks for me. Even helps me with my choice in clothes on occasion. Like every Haven Corp robot, she’s programmed to bond with her owner so she’s an excellent companion.

Robots, eh? How much do they figure in your world?

An incredible amount. There are so many applications for robotic help, from transport to domestic help, education, security – you name it, a robot is probably doing it. Personally, I had never met anyone who didn’t have a robot until Steve introduced me to his new magical friends.

So these magical friends don’t have robots?

Not as far as I saw. The longer I spent amongst the magical community, the more I began to realise that not everyone can afford to own or even hire a robot. I suppose I’m lucky – working for the world’s most successful robotics corporation, with an excellent salary and access to the latest developments in the robotics industry. Yes, I do feel that I’m very lucky.

So finally, Eleanor, how has your adventure changed the way you view the world? Or hasn’t it? Was it simply a debacle?

Of course, it’s changed me. For a long time, all of my life really, I lived in a polished, efficient, attractive little life that started and ended with Rex and his corporation. I didn’t look outside that life. It was a perpetual rinse and repeat and I thought I was happy.

Now, I realise how hollow that existence was. Like a beautifully wrapped parcel with nothing inside.

My adventure, yes, it definitely was an adventure, gave me a good shake. One I needed badly. It tossed me around, broke the odd nail or two, and brought me face to face with the reality of my world.

I was left a little bruised, but ultimately it pushed my life back into colourful but realistic focus. I know exactly where to go from here and, to quote Hartley, it’s going to be marvellous.

Buy Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haven-Wakes-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B07WJ4YFNX

Burning Chair Publishing – https://burning-chair.myshopify.com/products/haven-wakes-by-fi-phillips

Meet Fi Phillips

BIO:

Fi Phillips is a fantasy author living in North Wales with her family and a pooch called Bailey. When she isn’t ‘authoring’, she works as a freelance copywriter. Writing about magical possibilities is her passion.

Her debut novel, Haven Wakes, was released in 2019 by Burning Chair Publishing and the second instalment in The Haven Chronicles is due to be released later this year.

Contact Links

http://fiphillipswriter.com/

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Congratulations on the publication of your debut YA novel, Fi. Thanks for dropping by to tell us about it.

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Karen King – Writing about the light and dark of relationships.

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/y2q5audb

Website: http://www.karenking.net/