Author Interview

with Aaron Hodges

Author of  Oathbreaker, and the Descendants of the Fall series, 

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I am currently just writing the blurb for my next new release, Age of Gods, which is due to hit shelves on the 8^th November. The third book in my Descendants of the Fall series, the book is set in a world where humanity is at war with the Tangata, a humanlike species with inhuman powers. And humanity is losing.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

It is something I’ve been thinking of for a while, a kind of combination of a post-apocalypse series with a medieval setting, with two species of humanity vying for supremacy. There’s also the Gods, but we won’t get into any spoilers just yet 😉

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

I mostly write in Epic fantasy, but I have been trying to mix things up a bit lately. As I mentioned, this series is set in a fallen world, kind of post-apocalyptic going back centuries, but in present day evolved into a medieval setting. I’ve also written a dystopian scifi series that I love! 

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I love to really get into the heads of my characters, to know them completely, if only to then torture them through the book! One of my favourite authors, Ian Irvine, once wrote that he good fantasy is creating interesting characters and then placing them in difficult situations to see what they do, and that’s exactly what I do now

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

My father passed away when I was quite young, and I think this has influenced the backstory of my characters somewhat, but more generally, my life travelling the world has certainly influenced my stories. I’m constantly drawing inspiration from personal experiences, interactions, and landscapes I have visited!

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I’m a kiwi, and as we write in British English, this does mean some spelling might be a little different for readers from the USA!

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Ian Irvine for sure. He’s an Australian writer who spent almost twenty years crafting his world before he published his first book. The history and politics of his world is phenomenal and the geography, well, let’s just say he crafted a map the size of a door to fit in all the details! 

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

My latest! No, I’d say either Oathbreaker or Warbringer. Oathbreaker is a bit older, but I still think the characters and plot are some of the best of my series. Warbringer is the first book of my most recent series and I’m really enjoying playing in this new world—and readers seem to be enjoying it as well!

 

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

I think the decision to quit my job as an environmental scientist and travel the world. If not for that, I would have never had the time to sit down and finally finish the novel I’d started all the way back in high school. That novel when it was finally published is still one of my bestselling ever, and was the building block upon which I managed to become a fulltime author.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Honestly, I would love to talk more with my fans about what they think about my books, the characters, the plots, the worlds. Being an author is like being a superfan of a tv show/book/movie, but with no one to talk about your obsession with!

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

Write on! It was a saying we used to have in a group on writing.com, in which we would review each others work. That site really helped me develop my writing, so I still use the phrase as a way to remember that.

my social media links are:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantastic.adventures

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14713614.Aaron_Hodges

author@aaronhodges.co.nz

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08653PM1L/

 _____________________________

Thanks to Aaron for participating.

This week I took a dip in the old movie pool, swimming in the black & white end and came across an oldie that I've been wanting to watch for some time, but I had not found it on any streaming service that I had available -- until now.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947), directed by and starring Orson Wells, with Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloan, and Glenn Anders is a film noir about a Irish sailor, Michael O'Hara, who encounters Elsa Bannister, a beautiful blonde. He rescues her from thugs in a park, and has the good sense to walk away when he learns that she's married. Elsa has other plans. She has her husband, a famous criminal defense attorney, hire O'Hara as a deck hand to accompany them with the other law partner, Grisby, aboard their yacht on their trip from New York to San Francisco. During the trip, things heat up between Elsa and O'Hara; Grisby attempts to recruit O'Hara to murder him, and the fact that Elsa, Bannister, and Grisby despise one another becomes apparent. When they arrive in San Francisco, O'Hara decides to take Grisby's offer so that he can use the money Grisby promises in order to run away with Elsa. As one might expect, there's a catch to Grisby's offer. He doesn't actually want to be murdered; he wants O'Hara to sign a confession to the murder, and go through the motions to implicate himself in Grisby's murder while Grisby goes of to live free and easy. Grisby's body will never be discovered, so O'Hara can't be convicted of the murder. The plot thickens. Grisby is murdered and O'Hara goes on trial for it. Bannister represents him. As the jury is about to return a verdict, O'Hara escapes from custody and the grand finale involving O'Hara, Elsa, and Bannister takes place in a fun house.

Here's a nice scene:

The movie is a tasty meal right up until the final course. Once Grisby dies the whole story goes off the rails. Everything that passes for investigation (of which there appears to be none) and the legal process (which is patently absurd) races away from logic and common sense. Additionally, Grisby (before his death, of course) comes across like a psychopath that only a complete idiot would want to associate with--let alone go in on a deal to frame himself for murder. The twisted ending is simply too much to swallow. I've always hated movies that end in a fun house or anywhere else in an amusement park. I'm wondering if this is where that trope began. Anyway it's a four star movie with a one star ending. I suppose that rounds out to three stars overall. Watch it for yourself, but don't say that I didn't warn you.

***

The writing this week took a bad hit as nearly every night was taken up by the radio show presentation rehearsals and performances. I did get a couple compliments on what one person called the "leprechaun dance" I inserted at the end. Nevertheless, I managed to find some time to add to the short story that I started last week. It's an urban fantasy detective bit. I had some difficulty selecting the time frame. I had contemplated the 40's, and then almost committed to the 70's, but finally decided that present day would work just fine and wouldn't alienate those who cannot imagine a world without the internet and cellphones--and it also gave me some flexibility with some particular aspects of the story. There are some characters that I look forward to exploring more in followup stories. This first one primarily focuses on the main character and acquaints the reader with the particular nuances of the world.

If film noir, mystery, or the 1940's interests you, let me recommend my non-fantasy noir detective novel Smoke

Click here to get it.

 Author Interview

with Poppy Kuroki

Author of ABard's Lament, Oath, and Rhoda

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I’m currently working on a steampunk adventure about two female characters, one rich and one a poor runaway. It’s my first time writing steampunk and it’s a whole lot of fun!

 Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

 The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and the classes tend to judge each other. Of course, humans tend to do that anyway based on the tiniest of differences. The story has a lot of themes, but one of them is learning to get to know people and accept them for who they are, not making assumptions about them because of their upbringing.

I was thinking making it a medieval setting, but then I realized I really wanted Zoya to have a motorbike. Jumping into the steampunk genre has been an awesome journey.

Do you write in more than one genre?

My existing books are all dark fantasy, but I’m hoping to write more steampunk in the future as well.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Colette goes through a lot of rough times in Oath, and I was going through similar rough times (not being forced into assassinhood though!) when I wrote it. How I felt at the time was definitely a huge influence on the book. I didn’t pull any punches for Colette.

 

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

Aside from books and writing I’m passionate about video games, so if you love gaming be sure to get in touch! I also live in Japan and have a travel blog; be sure to check it out: https://poppyinjapan.com

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

I love TL Morganfield, but she doesn’t seem to really be active anymore. I also recommend Elizabeth Davies’ her historical fiction.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

I recommend starting with A Bard’s Lament. It’s raw, it’s emotional, it’s got original music, and it’s a quick read you can enjoy in one afternoon.

 

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Since ghostwriting full time, I got a lot more inspiration and decided to try writing for myself again. Taking courses and making connections has definitely been a huge help. It’s still early days for me but I’m hoping I can continue meeting amazing people and maybe make my mark in the writing world.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

“Would you like a slice of cake?” Just kidding… I suppose I’d like to be asked about my books more in general. I won’t talk about them if someone doesn’t ask as I don’t want to come across as annoying. It’s the best feeling ever when someone takes a genuine interest or when they’ve read your stories and have questions or comments.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

“It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop” – Confucious. It makes me feel less bad about not hitting my writing goals. As long as we can write a little bit every day and do what we can, the next project will be completed.

___________________

Thanks to Poppy for participating.

In my own writing this week, the story progressed though another milestone. I'm over 80K words into Promise of Carnage and Flame, which takes place in an alternate history 1776 America in this fantastic flintlock fantasy. I've avoided most of the more famous action of the war to focus on the characters and their adventures which are extremely personal to them. However, the New Providence Raid has made its way into the story line featuring Captain Rip and Antonio on a mission to the Bahamas. One of the dragon hunters and a gryphon have joined the smugglers in Washington's service. Alex struggles to recover from a major calamity, and another of the dragon hunters has swallowed a draught* of both triumph and tragedy. The latter, and Iago's adventure are my favorite threads, but Alex and Lucette will face some terrible trials, the outcome of which may well determine the fate of the revolution. 

Also, if you missed The Great Christmas Chicken Chase, click on the "older posts" button below to catch up.

*I know; it should be "draft" but I prefer the old spelling, and I like to mispronounce it to rhyme with "thought," and I don't know why.

 

The Great Christmas Chicken Chase:

An after action report and lesson in tactical brilliance.*

 

The story you are about to hear read is true, only the names have been changed to protect the writer.

She came through the door and pulled off her coat.

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“One of the chickens got out. I’ve been chasing it. I couldn’t get it back in.”

The chicken in question was down the lane at the neighbors. They had gone out of town for a few days and had asked us to feed the animals. The lady in question shall remain nameless. She grew up in town and knows not the wily ways of barnyard fowl. Apparently she engaged in the fruitless chase for several minutes.

“I need your help,” she begged. “It ran away.”

Of course she did. She didn’t seem to care that she was interrupting my requisite inviolate time of sitting at the table in my new thermals and my bathrobe while perusing the latest witty memes and political rants on social media. Actually, I was coming to the end of that activity, but the idea of pursuing rebellious poultry pushed me toward petulance.

“Let’s let it calm down for a bit. It won’t go far from the coop. It will come back to be with the others if it’s not bothered.”

After a few minutes, I put aside the pointless diversion and went to don my protective gear for the coming battle. In other words, I put on pants. The shirt and shoes followed, but the key component for any manly activity is pants—don’t leave home without them. I added a jacket, stocking cap, and leather gloves to complete my sassy ensemble.

A warrior must not rush into battle without the weapons to assure victory. A sharp mind and quick reflexes are the forge of victory, but I knew better than to rely on those advantages alone. After all, this was a chicken I was up against. We’re talking five pounds or more of clawed and feathered fury. Those feet are not just for soup. I made a rapid tour about the garage, taking inventory of my resources.

I grabbed a five-foot long rod of some sort of aluminum alloy. I have no idea what it’s for. It has been in the garage since we moved in eight or nine years ago. I cut a length of wire, folded it, and like Ahab touching the harpoons on the Pequod, I bent a catcher into one end. I pinched the skin of my index finger in the pliers only one time, and she pretended not to notice the squelched scream of pain that escaped my gritted teeth. For those of you who are not acquainted with technical terms, a “catcher” is a hook. It’s much like the one at the end of a shepherd’s staff, but much smaller as its purpose is the snagging of a chicken’s foot, rather than a sheep’s neck. I wrapped the rest of the wire about the metal rod, and secured it with a copious quantity of the handyman’s secret weapon: duct tape, or a reasonable substitute. With each wind of the tape I contemplated the object of my obsession, this great white pullet—or whatever color it was. I hadn’t yet laid eyes upon the beast, so my obsession leaned toward the vague and uncertain—but the passion was definitely there. I was ready to chase it round the Horn, around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition’s flame before I gave it up. Despite my literary ardor, I didn’t really want to have to do any of that.

With the instrument of the chicken’s sure defeat held in my hand, we strode together toward the battlefield.

“It looks like you’re carrying a spear,” she said.

Little did she imagine how appropriate was that image.

My determined stride stopped for nothing—except the cat that walked in front of me and caused me to stumble. Other than that, nothing prevented our determined arrival at the champ de bataille. As we approached, I saw something low to the ground disappear behind the chicken coop. I hadn’t seen enough—only  a dark flash—to  know for certain what the thing was, but my gut told me that it was indeed our quaesitum**.

“It’s gone,” she said.

I walked to the north. The chicken had fled to the back, the east side of the coop. As I moved to my strategic position beyond the north side of the coop, before walking east to block the expected dash of the quarry, I said, “It went behind the coop. Walk back there.”

She walked behind the coop. The red devil came trotting toward me, fleeing from my better half. The hen gave me a look of disdain, or was it mefiance, and moved to my flank along the north side of the coop. This was going exactly as I had envisioned. This chicken was no match for my geniusness***. The pullet slowed at the corner. I advanced slowly. The hen watched me with one wary eye. I had no idea what the other eye was doing as it was on the other side of the creature’s head. Smiling to myself, I began to slide the catcher forward through the grass. The chicken stepped away. I made another tentative probe with the catcher. The trick is to slide the business end of the implement past the chicken and to snag one leg on the draw back.

I suppose this is a good time to admit that I had no confidence in the catcher. I feared that the hook I had fashioned lacked the strength to hold the hen. I worried that the hook would unfold, and the quarry would escape and flee in an agitated and possibly psychotic state—the way many people do after working with me for a prolonged period.

My better half guarded the area at the other end of the coop. The chicken was between us, against the wire on the open side of the coop. I asked her if the other chickens could be secured inside the closed portion of the coop. She indicated they could if I would help her. I leaned my harpoon catcher against the elm tree, deciding on an alternate course. I put away the natural man, suppressing the desire to snag the fowl by the leg and drag it into my clutches in a frenzy of action displaying power and mastery over the cagey egg-layer. The chicken too refuge in the weeds and grass against the wire of the coop.

I walked past the hen. We went to the two entrances on the south side of the coop. A wooden door gave entrance to the closed portion of the coop. An iron gate covered with chicken wire guarded the open side of the coop. I saw two or three catchers of thick, stiff wire hanging from the side of the coop. Here were weapons with which I could once more seize the initiative—and the chicken. I pulled one of the catchers down to confirm my suspicions/hopes, admiring the rigid and unforgiving nature of the metal implement.

I once again tamped down the thoughts of snatching the hen and forcing the shrieking, flapping-feathered fowl into the coop. I reasoned that a gentle, persuasive approach would bear the sweeter fruit. I turned my attention to the iron gate. The rod which secured it was rustier than my foreign language abilities.

My hand went to the handle on the securing rod. My eyes caught movement about three feet away. It was the red hen! She had mounted an attack from the rear. She had us cornered!

I pulled back on the rod, working it back and forth, fighting not only rust, but the offset angle at which it met the latch. The hen came a step nearer. Another chicken within the coop approached the gate. I didn’t know whether she was a Quisling or a Bolivar. The rod came free. I was about to turn the pullet’s maneuver to my rear into my own tactical coup de main. I was all in. With one throw of the dice, I would either take the hen in my trap, snatching the thrill of victory from the agony of defeat****, or loose the rest of the coop’s denizens like a flock of unchained demons upon an unsuspecting world which could not comprehend the terror in store—and not just in stores, but on the streets, in the parks, woods, homes, and meadows. No place would be safe from the poultry menace.

I eased open the iron gate, and stepped slowly to the side so that the gate was no longer between me and the chicken. The pullet avoided my gaze, realizing the devastating impact of both my counter maneuver and the fully armed and operational iron gate. The hen quickly marched by the open gate and over the threshold into the coop to be received by its comrades with welcoming clucks.

My better half and I walked home with the unused catching implement. The cat rejoined us about halfway home. I could tell she was impressed—meaning my wife, not the cat, although…

Some people might call me a tactical mastermind. Others might use words like brilliance and sagacity—and not just because they don’t know what those words mean. I can’t control the effusive praise likely come my way like the steady blast from a fully open firehose. I can only nod in quiet and humble acceptance, smiling with feigned genuine embarrassment when someone mentions the words, “chicken whisperer extraordinaire.”

 

*I realize that it’s not Christmas, and the entire episode cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as “great.” As for that and the rest of the title, I flash my dramatic license as an affirmative defense.

**I admit that this is the first time I’ve ever used that word—as far as I can remember. It means—as far as you know—“the object of the search.”

***I know. It’s for effect.

****I know—unless you didn’t see what I did there, and if you’re not over 40, you won’t get the reference.

*****Don’t go back and look. I didn’t put a 5 asterisk note, but if you didn’t get the two passing Star Wars references, we should re-evaluate the terms of our association.

 Interview with

Troy Young

Author of  Seeker of Solace, The Other, and The Stone of Death

 Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I am currently writing the sequel to my most recent work, The Seeker of Solace.  The sequel is called The Denial of Deliverance and is due out December 16.  It follows the continuing adventures of Orlan Bazhaev, a member of a criminal gang saved from the gallows by a Frontier Marshal.  The price for his life? Hunt down the surviving members of his gang and eliminate them.  It’s a space western.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

I’d played and thoroughly enjoyed both Red Dead Redemption games. The idea of doing a western appealed to me.  But it was watching the Mandalorian that sealed it for me.  The Mandalorian is basically a western in space, and that is what I’ve written.  It’s got your typical western tropes with some hard science fiction thrown in.  So, combining RDR and the Mandalorian with a sprinkling of Firefly thrown in for good measure, I have a trilogy called The Gunslinger’s Emancipation.  Basically, he’s trying to free himself from his past.

Do you write in more than one genre?

I do.  Most of my success has come from my cosmic horror series.  It is a series of short stories set in Canada in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.  They start out innocuous, and slowly are building to something grand, with a big finale and the fate of all humanity in the balance. I have published 14 of 18 anticipated stories so far; the first 12 have been combined into two compilations of 6 stories each.  Each story is almost novella-sized.

I’ve also written a fantasy novel called The Stone of Death. What’s unique about it is the characters are so not ready to be heroes.  They get pulled into this adventure and are on the run from a cult of assassins.  If they don’t try to find the prize, the Stone of Death, the assassins will catch up to them.  Their only hope of surviving is beating the assassins to this artifact, which has the power to destroy all life.  But they don’t even know what they’ll do with it once they find it. 

It is the first of four books in the series.  There are four companions, and each book will be written from the point of view of one of the characters.  By the time the reader gets to the fourth book, they’ll have great insights into how they view one another.

Lastly (or firstly, depending on how you want to look at it) the book that inspired me to start writing is a contemporary humorous coming-of-age story called The (Extra)ordinary Life of Jimmie Mayfield. It’s about a guy, out of work and living with his mom in a rundown trailer park in Florida.  But he has dreams, and a destiny of greatness he thinks remains unfulfilled. Filled with quirk characters and witty dialogue, it’s the one I’m most proud of.  It is going to be released in November.

 

 Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I write very strong dialogue.  When I first started, I was worried my dialogue would be stilted, but that’s what I get the most positive feedback on.  And my characters are unique and genuine without being stereotypes.  In my Jimmie Mayfield book, a senior VP at one of the top five publishers compared my main character to Holden Caulfield (they still passed on my work, but hey, high praise).

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

I have a strong personality and am not afraid to speak my mind. I have been a CEO and university lecturer for 16 years, so I have no issue with speaking up, standing in front of a crowd and making decisions.  I believe that manifests in my writing. My characters are often strong and decisive too, except when I specifically chose for them not to be.  But even the ones that aren’t often find their voice during the writing and evolve into that.  If my main character is the same person at the end of the book that they were at the beginning I have failed to tell a strong story.  People adapt and evolve to diversity, or they fail utterly.  A book where they main character fails would be boring.  Even in a story where the character fails (the movie Rocky comes to mind) they often win in other ways.

I feel my personal background of evolving minds, teaching them, mentoring people and leading have helped shape my writing.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I mentioned that I was a CEO. One tidbit about that is I have had the same staff; once I hire someone, they stay with me.  None of them want to work anywhere else.  My main team around me numbers four people; two are approaching 16 years with me, one is coming up on 14 and the last is starting her fourth year.  No one wants to leave.  Our organization has won employer of the year in our industry twice in the last five years. Why do I mention it? Because I think it speaks highly to the type of person that I am. 

In the course I teach (it is a management course) we talk about being responsible for your relationships, and understanding how to read people.  The key component to understanding people is to first understand yourself.  This ability to understand people I believe helps me craft believable characters, ones who are not merely tropes or stereotypes.

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

The author isn’t underrated, and it is hard to say that his works are underrated when the books in the series have between 23,000-32,000 ratings on Goodreads (but when his other works all have over 60,000 ratings, they don’t seem to get the same level of love) is The Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurtz.  I think these books are superior to everything else Feist has done (maybe because of Wurtz?), and don’t get enough love.

Unfortunately, as an indie author, I have to say I have not delved deep into the works of other indie authors.  I feel like a bad ally here. I wish I had one indie author that very few people have heard of and could say “You need to read this!” But I don’t.  Sorry.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

My favourite is probably my most recent release, The Seeker of Solace.  I loved the redemption arc of a man trying to be better than his past, to earn his emancipation from the world he built for himself. Orlan is filled with self-doubt, but he continues to strive forward. I think my writing has grown since I first started and my editing has improved. So, I would have to say that one.

Although if you like cosmic horror, I’m really pleased with my modern take on Lovecraft in The Other. It’s just not for everyone.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Trump being elected.  Seriously.  I was walking in Florida where my parents have a winter home and lamenting on the state of the world.  He’d been President for a year and I was concerned with the direction of things.  Jimmie Mayfield grew out of that, thinking how would a guy like him navigate the current world?  What would he do if he could make a difference?  The story grew out of that angst.  So as much as I hate to admit it, Trump helped me out.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Can you autograph your book for me?

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

Wow, that’s tough.  I’m going to go with one we always used to use in high school, and only because I just watched the Karate Kid tonight.  It is from Karate Kid II, when Daniel askes Mr. Miyagi if he could break a log, and Mr. Miyagi replies, “I don’t know, never been attacked by tree.”  That was our go-to in high school whenever we were asked something we didn’t know.

I’m sure I could come up with another one (like Eowyn’s “I am no man!”) but I’ll stick with Mr. Miyagi for now.

_______________________________

My thanks to Troy for participating. I would be interested in having a look at his "Space Western."

My writing time this week fell victim to the requirement that I spend time preparing for several court hearings, radio show practice, and research That latter item was directly related to getting the surrounding facts for an incident featured in Promise of Carnage and Flame. I also got sidetracked by a short story that has been in my head for a couple months. I decided to get it written down. I haven't written a short story since I started writing novels. When I missed an opportunity to submit one for a contest that I didn't learn about until the figurative last minute, I decided that I should prepare a stable of short stories from which I might choose a champion for any future race opportunities.

Until I have created a selection of short stories, I invite you to guzzle adventure fantasy from the cannon's mouth and the musket's muzzle, to taste the tip of the steel bayonet, and to bathe yourself in the dragon's engulfing flame. If that's a challenge you can accept, plunge into the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire trilogy with the first book: Threading the Rude Eye. For an autographed copy of the trilogy, contact me at flintlockfantasystanley with the "at" suffix for g mail for your opportunity.

 Author Interview with

A.A. Warne

Author of: Hidden Truths trilogy, The Reluctant Wizard, and more

 Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I’m currently finishing Hidden Truths Trilogy book three. This is the next book after Concealed Power. It has turned out to be one of those stories that get deeper and darker the further I go into it and the characters keep surprising me.

While I’m finishing that, I’m brainstorming and planning book two for The Reluctant Wizard. I’ve re-read the first book six times now and each time I find something new, something important, and Eli reminds me that the world is just too big to get into a couple of books. I think he wants me to write a never-ending number of books for him. Wouldn’t that be nice.

 

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

Concealed Power and The Reluctant Wizard, even though they are two very different books, tend to go hand-in-hand during the writing process. Concealed Power was my first co-written piece with Michelle and we were figuring out how to work with one another. So the process was much longer than normal, but the story was so fascinating and interesting that no matter how hard it got, the story drove us to continue. Meanwhile, I had a little character that kept jumping into my head. That was Eli. He was patient but kept giving me glimpses into his world. I was so tempted to push him away because I needed my concentration on Concealed Power, but he showed me a particular piece of his world and I nearly fell off my chair. Now I can’t tell you what that is because that’s a future book that I’m trying to get to. However, I will say that since that moment, I’ve been successfully writing more than one book at a time.

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

I write speculative fiction and this allows me to bend, shape, snap, and mold the genres that are perfect for my story. By remaining as an umbrella over the speculative genres, I don’t have a tendency to nose dive into one genre particularly, and that’s nothing to do with me as a writer, but more allowing the story to dictate where it needs to be. I find that if the story calls for romance, then it should have it. The same for sci-fi and technology, or pushing the plot into thriller. If I had to pick one genre, it would be fantasy. Fantasy for me is amazing, no two writers are alike, the genre feels like it has no boundaries, and writers are rewarded for their unique risks, vast imaginations, and we don’t often face regurgitated content like some other genres receive.

 

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I have a tendency to twist everything. It could be something small and irrelevant which then becomes life consuming. I didn’t realize this was unusual until a couple of years ago I went to the cinema with my neighbor and her friends. We were watching a movie and when it finished, my neighbor turned to me and said she wasn’t satisfied with the ending. She then asked, if I had written that movie, how would I have ended it. I answered her honestly and little did I know everyone around us – row in front, and the one behind, plus all of her friends, were listening.

They all reacted like my idea would have been a better movie. Their reaction shook me as a writer because before then, I doubted my ideas and I told myself that they were good enough. But that moment change me. I knew then that I think differently to others and their reactions to my ideas told me to keep going.

 

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

As early as I could remember, I wanted to be an artist. I love being creative, in fact, if I’m not creating then it effects my happiness. I grew up painting and making sculptures while the television was running a movie that I’d watched a million times over. Little did I know that while listening to the movie, I was learning story structure, and this has had a huge impact on me as an adult. Now when I help other writers, I sense an issue with the structure just naturally and can point out certain scenes or elements in the character that need to be moved around, twisted perhaps, or even fleshed out. And then in my own writing, I can’t start writing at all until I know the overall structure of where the major points sit.

 

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I’m a huge researcher. If I’m not writing or doing mom-things, then I’m reading translations of ancient texts, diving into the world of history, searching for the anomalies on our planet. If you find something in one of my books and this wow that is strange, changes are, it happened in real life and it was the perfect gem to drop into my book at that point in time. Our planet is like a smorgasbord of interesting stuff.

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

The entire indie world is underrated, underappreciated, and too often laughed at by so-called professionals. The honest truth is that indies are powerhouses. They write, source everything themselves and invest their own money into their writing, production and publishing, and yet they are laughed at and considered no-worthy of a lot of people’s time. This really is a sad reality for a lot of amazing authors. Time is changing and I’m seeing a lot of indie authors really make new ground in the publishing world, but there are so many amazing ones struggling out there too.

So I’m going to say three names to start with and I promise you that you’ll be blown away: Ross Kingston - Awakening; Beth Hodgson – Fragments of Light; and Philip Smith – The Brotherhood.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

The Reluctant Wizard is by far my best book to date. The world is so vast and the characters mean so much to Eli, that I believe book one, even though it’s massive, only skims the surface. One of the reasons I wrote it was because my own children haven’t read any of my other works, because of the adult content, and this book is accessible for them as well as adults. So I wanted a book where we would all read at different times but can discuss it at the dinner table. Given how many elements and sub-plots and twists and turns went into it, I believe we will be talking right up until the next book is out.

 

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Meeting other authors. Writing might look like a fascinating job, but in fact it can be isolating and you don’t have to meet a single person to make a career of it. It’s perfect for introverts or those who don’t leave the house. However, I call my office the den – like I’m locked in the den, unable to escape. Although to be fair, I do escape into my imagination. So I reached out to other writers and found that a lot of them were like me, writing each day, finding awesome things for our readers and yet forget to socialize ourselves. Meeting other people has ventured from the local to the global and now I consider people on the opposite side of the planet so close, that they’re now family. And my writing has made leaps and bounds ever since.

 

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I tend to say, nothing ever happens until it all happens at once. It’s like there will be a week where I’m trying to plan the next year’s events but then a kid will get sick, the husband has an accident at work, the dog got sick and passed, I forgot to buy groceries, and all of a sudden the house is a bomb, I’m behind in writing and on and on and on. It takes me a moment to go, wow, how did all this happen at once? Then I remember my saying. I think I need a new saying so that I’m not manifesting this madness. Perhaps, life is abundantly creative… obviously it’s a work in progress.

 

 

Here are all of my links:

 

Website: www.aawarne.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AAWarne

Twitter: www.twitter.com/AAWarne

Instagram: www.instagram.com/AAWarne

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/a-a-warne

Allauthor: https://allauthor.com/author/aawarne/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19055682.A_A_Warne

__________________

My thanks to A.A. Warne - she definitely submitted the most interesting author photo so far.

As for my own writing: I hit some milestones in the current book (Promise of Carnage and Flame) with 22 chapters done with a word count of about 75K, and some major character and story development issues exploding gobs of awesome all over the place. I'm jiggering with methods for transitioning into the last third of the story so that I can cover the things I had originally intended. A few of the stupendous and intriguing developments in the story struck during the writing process, making the tale better, but longer--the straight line from beginning to end hit some tangled territory that made for some extremely satisfying chapters. However, all good things must come to an end. While this book will not end the series, I have a definite ending for it which fits the time, place, and explosive yee-haw fantasy factor that I've incorporated into this alternative history/flintlock fantasy.

As for short stories, I haven't written any since I started writing full-length novels. I'm contemplating one featuring Quiet Earp and Doc Hollandaise, but can't decide whether it's a sing-off at the OK Chorale, or A bun fight at the OK Bakery. Time will tell--probably a third option I haven't hit upon yet.

If you're in the mood for a good western that is not based upon bad puns, let me recommend: Justice in Season and Justice Resurgent which are set in 1864 & 65 in the Idaho Territory.

 

Interview with Jonathon Lively

Author of

The Oreniah Codex

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I am working on the sequel of my first book, The Last Soul. I am working on the sequel following book two as well. In fact, I am writing them as one book, a continuous story, and then finding a good breaking point to split it into two novels. Also, I am writing a side story to my trilogy and I am considering turning it into a podcast. We’ll see. It’s still in the works and not my main focus at the moment. 

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

Oof. I spent three months combing through a multitude of documents collected since I was in middle school. Most of the documents were character designs because I originally wanted to be a graphic designer. I parsed literally hundreds of pages down to an outline that was about thirty-three pages long. From all the inspiration, I ended up with my story. It wasn’t a story that I planned, but one that just sort of, happened. Which, I am perfectly okay with!

Do you write in more than one genre?

Not yet. However, my current WIP, has a horror subtheme. Which has been really fun to combine with fantasy aspects. I have been listening to a lot of horror podcasts of late to get inspired.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

My story is definitely unique. Every person that I have spoken with about my book or who has read my book, has commented that my premise is different. A lot of magical systems that I have read or learned about, are really cool. My story takes place in the afterlife. So, to have an interesting magical system, I decided to base it around a reincarnation system, souls that decided to imbue their spirit into relics, and abilities related to Pillars that make up the universe. The Pillars of my universe are similar to Infinity Stones from Marvel. If you draw a cube on a piece of paper, its two squares that are connected by four lines. If you count every single line that makes up a cube, you’ll end up with twelve lines. Each line of said cube is a Pillar in my story. The cube itself is the universe. So, twelves Pillars, each representing some aspect that makes up the universe, are holding up the universe. When they are out of balance or break, the universe ceases to function properly. That is the basic premise of my story, the twelve Pillars that make up my universe are distorting, cracking, breaking, and falling apart.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Absolutely. I have lived in several states and many towns and cities in between. I was also homeless, literally on the street, for the better part of a year as well. I have experienced and learned things that a lot of people never consider. I lived a life with no purpose for a long time, just aimlessly wandering. I didn’t know what I wanted to do most of the time but because of that, I was always chasing a new way to live. This has helped my writing a lot because I am more easily able to put myself into a different character’s shoes. What manifests the most prevalently, is probably characters coming up from bad situations when they were younger. Which to be fair, I didn’t have a bad life when I was young. Sure, there were things that weren’t good but compared to a lot of others, it could have been a lot worse. What put me in the situations I lived through as a young adult were my own decisions, very poor decisions.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

Helpful? I don’t know about helpful… But here is an interesting fact, I love woodworking. I recently built our families home. A lot of help was forthcoming from my in-laws but I picked up a lot of skills and hobbies in the process. So now, I do some amateur woodworking. It’s a nice break from typing to go and work with my hands. I am even considering trying to make crafts or small furniture to help fund my book expenses!

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Hmm, I would probably say either Brian Staveley and/or Alan Campbell. I don’t think that Brian Staveley will remain an underrated author for long though.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

I only have one so, The Last Soul! I am really excited to release more books though and I have three in the works. All sequels of some sort.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Meeting and speaking with Dakota Krout. I expressed a very mild interest in writing help when I was living in Grand Forks. I was part of the 701 Coworking Space there and the Executive Director at the time, Collin Hanson, put me in touch with Dakota. He was a mentor for me in writing my first book. Dakota helped me push past barriers as or before I got to them. I’ll be grateful for his help and guidance for years to come.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

I wish people would ask me about my characters and their abilities more. Those are the bread and butter of my writing. I’ve spent most of my outlining on character descriptions and abilities and how they relate to the story. Some of the abilities in my published book seem simple on the surface but I promise you, there is significant relation to the story as a whole and the depth of their skills. I am heavily inspired by manga and anime, that should tell you how I view my character powers.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

My phrase for the book, The Last Soul, isn’t well known. Its something I decided on but never pushed in marketing. I plan to do more with it in future installments but for now, it’s generally unknown. The phrase, “Live Soulfully” is meant to imply that people should live according to their soul’s purpose. In the afterlife that I wrote, souls merge with their physical bodies and live eternal lives on Oreniah, the heaven of my universe. These souls merging with their bodies cause a balance that manifests physical abilities in their reality. To reach Oreniah, you must climb your way up a cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. The more you live your life according to your soul’s purpose, the higher you’ll climb. Until eventually, you arrive on Oreniah and bond with your soul in a physical way.

 

 

www.facebook.com/theoreniahcodex/

www.instagram.com/oreniahcodex

www.theoreniahcodex.com

https://amzn.to/2GR9EBx 

 

Movie Review

Algiers (1938)

 

Hypnotic.

Not so much a roller coaster as a merry-go-round.

Algiers, directed by John Cromwell and starring Charles Boyer as Pepe le Moko, Sigrid Gurie as Ines, and Hedy Lamarr as Gaby, is a hypnotic merry-go-round of a movie. A jewel thief, Pepe, is wanted by the French police. He remains untouchable in the confines of the Casbah—that maze of attached buildings, alleys, terraces, and dead-ends. He lives like a king in the Casbah, but he longs for Paris. Ines, whose eyes smolder with desire and hate, longs only for Pepe. She’s his girl—until he meets Gaby. The beautiful, high-class, jewel-flaunting Gaby is affianced to a wealthy man she doesn’t love. The marriage is strictly a business arrangement. She reminds Pepe of Paris and all his favorite places there. To Pepe, Gaby is Paris.

A detective has come from Paris to put the bag on Pepe for his thefts. He soon learns that the Casbah is nothing like Paris. However, the law has a man in the Casbah in the form of Slimane (played by Joseph Calleia). He is in the Casbah every day. He and Pepe know each other well. Slimane tells Pepe that he will take him eventually. When Pepe and Gaby fall for each other, Slimane sees his opportunity to lure Pepe from the safety of the Casbah and capture him.

The movie drifts along without a lot of action and it is fairly predictable. The elements in this picture from 1938 coalesce to create a hypnotic trance of fascination. The complete absence of color paints the ideal atmosphere for the film—a sea of .black and white swirled in shades of gray. Pepe almost always wears black, and Boyer’s deep voice demands attention. Gaby’s beautiful face also seizes the eye.

Ines and Slimane are the most interesting characters. Slimane slithers back and forth between the Casbah and the outside. The fez with its hanging tassel emphasizes that his head is almost always held at an angle rather than straight up and down, hinting that he is one of whom to be wary. His danger is the cunning kind. However, Pepe’s infatuation for Gaby, in combination with his ill treatment of Ines, the woman scorned, creates the height from which Pepe will fall. Pepe treats Ines with contempt, ignoring her warnings and pleadings. Finally, when she has saved him from the police trap, and it looks as if he will return to her arms, he runs instead to his doom. Ines possesses an entire hypnotic aura all her own which centers on her smoldering eyes. She is Esmeralda the gypsy girl grown into a woman, and there is almost nothing she will not do to prevent Pepe from leaving her for another woman.

There are several other characters in smaller roles. The blowhard thief Carlos (played by Stanley Fields), the jeweler (played by Alan Hale), and some smarmy coward whose name I don’t remember—but he played it well, and got what we all knew was coming to him.

It’s a slow, pleasant ride—a merry-go-round with soothing music and enchanting sights. Watch it if you get the chance. It's available on the Hollywood Classics app for Roku.

If Algiers puts you in the mood to read a work of romance and mystery set in a simpler time, let me recommend Smoke, my noir detective novel set in 1948.

Smoke is available here.

 Author Interview

with John Rosenman

Author of Inspector of the Cross, The Merry-Go-Round Man, Alien Dreams, and A Senseless Act of Beauty

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I’ve just finished going over the galley for Dreamfarer, a novel about a future when people can choose to be put to sleep in dream boxes or Cerebral Interface Units when they reach the age of 32 so they can have wonderful, exciting dreams for the rest of their lives that are much more fulfilling than real life. Go East, Young Man, my WIP, is the sequel and like Dreamfarer, it focuses on Sam Adams. Sam has joined the movement to overthrow the dream industry and he is traveling east from San Francisco to Denver. There he will meet fellow members of the Resistance for his next mission.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

The word “Dreamfarer” came to mind and I was off to the races. Since we have words like “wayfarer,” “seafarer,” and “starfarer,” then why not “dreamfarer,” which refers to a person who travels in dreams? Almost immediately, I began to create a world with technology that created wonderful dreams for the rest of a person’s life. I also explored the consequences--moral, national, international, and extraterrestrial--of such technology. What would happen to a person who woke up and for medical reasons, could not go back to the divine, seductive pleasure of these dreams?

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes. Besides science fiction and speculative fiction, I write fantasy, paranormal romance, horror, humorous metafiction, and one young adult  / coming-of-age novel, The Merry-Go-Round Man.

But my major emphasis is on science fiction and speculative fiction.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

Two of my major themes are the endless, mind-stretching wonders of the universe and the limitless possibilities of transformation—sexual, cosmic, and otherwise, as portrayed for example in my short story “Dark Angel”.  Also, I present a different view of religion. For one thing, though I’m not a Christian, I sometimes present my heroes as Christ-like figures. Elsewhere, God is a female spirit without substance that pervades the multiverse. (See Inspector of the Cross).

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

When I was a kid, a family friend gave me a subscription to Amazing Stories and fired up my imagination. Later I was infected by EC comics, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and terrifying SF movies like The War of the Worlds, Them!, and The Thing. To this day, I love to write science-fiction horror short stories and novels. Alien invasion, monsters, that sort of scary stuff. Also, growing up, I loved sports. I would have loved to have been a major league baseball player or a champion boxer. Well, I couldn’t, but martial arts and boxing appear in my fiction. In The Merry-Go-Round Man, for example, Johnny is an unbeatable boxer as well as an expressionistic painter.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I have a Ph.D. in English and retired nine years ago at Norfolk State University, an HBCU. I happen to be a tennis nut and play it often. When it comes to politics, I’m a liberal. I support the Me Too movement, Black Lives Matter, and equal rights for everybody, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation and so on.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

I think Marina Julie Neary is an outstanding writer and her novels deserve more readers.  Here’s what I wrote about Saved by the Bang:

You might not think someone could write a successful comedy with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster as a major plot element, but Neary’s novel does that and more. The satirical humor is sharp, edgy, and wicked, and the depiction of characters excellent. The author pulls no punches, and I laughed repeatedly while reading it.

 Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

 Wow, this is a tough one.  I recommend A Senseless Act of Beauty because it’s the longest and most ambitious.  It’s the only frame narrative I’ve ever written, containing short stories within the larger story.  I’d choose Inspector of the Cross because it’s the first in a series and introduces the reader to Turtan, one of my favorite characters.  And, I’d recommend The Merry-Go-Round Man because it’s a young adult coming-of-age story based on my childhood.

 

 Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

For my writing career, having my father dissuade me from joining the Navy at 17 or 18 and paying my way to Hiram College, a nearby institution. The academic life refined and broadened me, and I took rewarding literature and creative writing courses. Eventually I became a professor and taught creative writing courses myself, even designed one in how to write science fiction and fantasy.  And of course, I wrote and published a lot of fiction, largely as a result of my education. I sometimes wonder though what life in the Navy would have been like and how my life would have been different.

A few years ago, I came close to dying.  Fortunately, my problem was diagnosed in the nick of time. I have Celiac disease and must avoid gluten at all costs. Thanks to the proper treatment, I live a normal life and can continue to write.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Why do you write?  Also, does being a writer make you different from other people, and if so, in what ways?

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

Some come to mind. “Well, that didn’t turn out too bad.”  I say this humorously when anything bad happens in a TV program or sports event. Let’s say somebody tries to do a difficult leap and falls into a dumpster, breaking his leg. “Well, that didn’t turn out too bad.” I say this because it’s so outrageous and improper. Also, I often laugh and get my family to laugh, too.

Another one I use is “And that’s not altogether a bad thing.” Also humorous. If I’m watching a game involving my favorite team, anything good or bad that helps us is “not altogether a bad thing.” My family laughs, which is why I say it.

Ah, here’s another, also humorous. I used to have a mixed-breed mutt for a pet. I referred to her as “a non-quality pooch.” The phrase, however, embodied my love for Yo-Yo.

The title of my longest, most ambitious novel came from a sticker on a car bumper: A Senseless Act of Beauty. It’s so deliciously insane or improper. C’mon, think of that. How can an act of beauty be senseless? Well, I’ve heard that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

Sometimes, when someone relieves me from work or strenuous activity, I quote Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “For this relief much thanks.”

I sometimes quote Walt Whitman. Here’s one passage I like because it suggests that logic and reason have their limits:

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

John's Amazon Author Page

John's Web Page

__________________________________

Thanks to John for participating in the interview.

John's title, Dreamfarers, reminded me of a book I read many, many years ago by Brian Daley, The Doomfarers of Coramonde - which also reminds me lawyers are professional doomsayers, but that's beside my point. The copy of The Doomfarers I read was actually my cousin's book. 

I only read it once and remember very little about it. The only character I remember is Prince Springbuck. I believe there was a sequel, but I don't recall that my cousin ever lent it to me. That cousin, by the way, is the one mentioned here, on the dedication page to Clamorous Harbingers, and anniversary of his death is this month.