StanleyWheeler

 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.