StanleyWheeler

 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.

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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.