Author Interview with

Brand J Alexander

Author of The Tears of Hatsunae Series

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

 I am currently writing book 3 of my Tears of Hatsunae series, Tears of the Fallen. The story up to this point has revolved around Asahn’s efforts to protect his people, which for the most part, he has accomplished. But the larger threats outside of his homeland await. The Order of Light, which has hunted his tribe, is still out there, and the world of Elerea is still dying from a mysterious illness. To solve these problems, Asahn will have to leave his people and his homeland and venture out into the wider world. The danger and challenges will grow as he explores unfamiliar lands and cultures, all while traveling into the heart osf the enemy’s capital. 

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

 The series concept began while I was receiving chemo for stage 4 cancer. That life-altering event pushed me to finally achieve my goal of becoming an author. So while I sat there through infusion for eight months, I thought about the universe I would create when I recovered.

A large part of the series focuses on religion and the way it is used and manipulated by different people for different reasons, even when the gods themselves are dead. I focus a lot on different forms of faith and belief that people hold throughout life, even down to the images we hold of our parents as children.

Because one of the main debates among religions is the story of creation, I purposefully wrote the genesis of my universe into the beginning of the book. A factual account to stand against belief. That prologue was designed while I sat in the hospital hooked up to the chemo, though I didn’t write a word of it until a year after.

The story was meant as more than the prologue for this book, however. It was also designed to be the beginning of a larger story within which all my other stories exist. All of the worlds within my fantasy universe arise from the same moment of creation, and I wrote it into my first full-length novel.   

Do you write in more than one genre?

I mostly write epic fantasy. However, I do have a series that I consider dark fantasy, which exists outside of my literary universe. Every year, I design and build a Halloween yard haunt called Ravenfell Manor. Ravenfell Chronicles: Origins is a dark fantasy series that explores the origins of the family behind the haunt and how Ravenfell Manor came to be. It is more of a collection of spooky ghost stories with a dark fantasy twist, so it is a bit different than my normal material.   

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

I love the history and worldbuilding of fantasy novels. My early inspirations for

writing began with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. His depiction of cultures and history helped to solidify the kind of worlds and stories I wanted to create. I am not sure if that makes me unique, but it is a facet of my writing style.

Readers have told me that my writing draws them in and makes them feel like they are actually there, living through the experiences of my characters. A few have told me that I have a way of drawing emotions from the words that make them feel them viscerally. I have had multiple readers tell me that several parts of the Tears of Hatsunae series brought them to tears.

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

I was a country boy growing up. I absolutely love the natural world around me, and I think that passion makes its way into my descriptions of the worlds and environments in my stories. I was never very athletic. I was more of a book nerd. So I think that tends to make itself into my stories as well. Intellect and cunning tend to be the solution more than strength and brute force.

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

I am not sure if it is helpful, but perhaps it is a bit insightful. I became disabled in my mid-20s with a debilitating pain condition. I have adapted to be functional for the most part since, although with a lot of limitations. Due to that, a lot of my adventures nowadays take place within the stories and worlds I create. I make them as realistic as possible because I tend to live through them. 

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

I am not really sure if I read any underrated authors. The first one that comes to mind is Kristen Britain and the Greenrider series. Someone bought the first book for me, and I didn’t think much of it at first. But I fell in love with the story and her writing fairly quickly.

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

I recommend the entire Tears of Hatsunae series. Although, the second in the series, Fall of Tears, is definitely my favorite of the two currently available. The series is a slow build to reach the epic scale. But in Fall of Tears the epic feel reaches a climax.

Rise of Tears is more of Asahn’s preparation for what is to come. Whereas Fall of Tears is where the real focus of the series comes into play. The emotions and consequences are all higher.

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

As grim as it sounds, stage 4 cancer was a huge turning point in my dream to be an author. Robert Jordan’s passing left me with a big fear of dying before ever telling my stories. Then I was diagnosed with cancer, and I realized just how possible that fear was. As soon as I recovered enough to work, I sat down and wrote the first two books in the Tears of Hatsunae series in about a year. That slap of reality drove me to realize my dreams, and I am truly grateful for it.

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

Where can I buy your next book?

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

Not that I can think of. I do say “Ouch!” a lot thanks to my pain condition. Does that count?

As a favorite quote, I do like the beginning lines of the Wheel of Time books. I almost had it stenciled along the walls in my office.

“The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.” -Robert Jordan

I followed the series for a large part of my life. I would anxiously wait for each new book. So each time I opened a new piece of the story and found those welcoming words, it was like coming home. 

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Thanks to Brand for participating.

An update on the Leipzig battle: After one and half turns, the allies, pursuing a fiercely aggressive strategy, lost two brigades of Prussian infantry while inflicting some damage on the French with infantry attacks and artillery fire. The allies also lost a battery of horse artillery when a squadron of French light cavalry swooped in immediately after the battery had fired, and destroyed it.

 

I haven't done a book review in a while. I keep forgetting. I recently read Bitter Glory by David Swatton.

I came across this one unexpectedly while doing some research for a series I have in mind. I saw that it involved the battle of Marengo 1800 and I had to read it. The Napoleonic wars have been an area of personal interest since I was in jr. high school. I probably have more books related to that subject than any other single topic, excepting only religious topics. I see that the book only has five ratings, so maybe there aren't many of us with in interest in the subject.

The book follows Captain Chauvelle who is an officer in the chasseurs-a-cheval, the light cavalry of the French army. It's a bit like Sharpe's Rifles but with a French light cavalry protagonist instead of British light infantry hero. The protagonist goes over the Alps, gets inside the siege at Genoa, and participates in the battle of Marengo, hitting the high points in the campaign.

There were a few things that annoyed me. This included occasional profanity (at least it was few and far between), the repetitive and disconcerting use of the word "slither," and the over use of the word "clamber." Every time a horse stopped quickly, sliding to a halt, the author described it as "slithering to a stop" or "slithering in the mud." The horses could never just come to a stop, slide, or slip, they could only slither.

More importantly, I liked many things about the book. The characters and backstories were interesting and important to the motivations and plot complications in the novel. The author had studied or researched the era and the particular campaign. The depiction of the historical persons reflected what seems to be know about their personas. The main character had mostly good motivations and I was persuaded to root for him. The book did not lack for action and the author described it in an exciting and easy to follow manner.

I probably expected more than the book meant to give, but I mostly liked what I got. I would read a sequel if there were one.

***

Finally, having finished a couple replays of the battle of Marengo last month, I have started the battle of Wachau, from day one of the larges battle of the Napoleonic era-- Leipzig 1813 has begun. This is the largest part of the battle. I don't have enough tables, space, or miniatures to recreate the whole battle of Leipzig, but can I do this significant part.

Here's the view from the Allies perspective. Almost half of the Allied forces have yet to enter.

Here's the view from the French perspective. All of the French forces are on the map, including a couple brigades of Old Guard, and 6 or 8 brigades of Young Guard.

I expect the French troops to fare poorly in the face of the overwhelming numbers of the Allied artillery, but I may be surprised.

 

Interview with Kevin Buckner

Author of

The Cudomerie Series

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

I have two works in progress. One is the second book in my series, The Cudomerie. Its title is The Descent of Rogen and it picks up where the first book, The Advent of Zon, leaves off. The series is about a group of necromancers trying to gather their legendary relics while their enemies try to stop them. All the while, a rogue demon prince causes chaos every chance he gets.

The second work in progress is called The Tenth Floor. It’s a near-future dystopian sci-fi about people living in underground totalitarian communities after a nuclear holocaust made life above ground impossible.

(Note that I have inserted additional questions or comments in italics, as I sometimes do. Kevin can reply to them in the comments if he is so inclined.)

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

The series is based on a D&D game I ran about fifteen years ago. The second work is based on a dream I had.

As long as the dream one doesn't include sparkling vampires, I support that. Did you include in the book the same character from the game?

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes

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

The characters in my books tend to be more morally ambiguous than you would find in a lot of popular literature. While it is clear who the protagonists and antagonists are, the characters themselves do some questionable things in order to achieve their goals. One of my beta readers said she likes that about the characters because it makes them more realistic. Just like in real life, most of my characters are neither all bad nor all good, but are complex people with unique motivations.

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

I tend to slip a lot of my personal philosophies and beliefs into dialogue, character actions, and character interactions. I have arrived at these philosophies and beliefs because of my personal history. I also occasionally draw upon my history to influence scenes in my books. For example, there’s a scene in The Advent of Zon where the reader sees the main protagonist’s youth. A bully is asked what his problem with the main character is, to which the bully responds by asking whether they want the list in alphabetic or chronologic order. When asked how you would list things chronologically, the bully begins with the fact that the main character was born and that his mother didn’t drown him as an infant. That exchange was a slightly altered conversation from my past.

 

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

I graduated high school with a diploma of merit in English and Science. I got A’s in my creative writing class and I passed the AP English Language examination. I also got good grades in the English and writing classes I took in college. This is all to say that I have a personal history of educators telling me that I write well. I think this is important for readers to know because there’s always the fear when deciding whether to give an unknown, self-published author a chance that it won’t be any good. Those who have read my book know how well-written it is. I can assure potential readers that it is every bit as well-written as a lot of traditionally-published books, and more well-written than some traditionally-published books I have read.

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

I don’t know if it’s underrated, but I know that Contest by Matthew Reilly is one that most people I know have never heard of. It is a fantastic action/thriller sci-fi book. A coworker had me borrow it on Friday and told me he would get it back from me on Tuesday. I told him that I’d return it when I finished reading it, to which he replied that he was aware and that he would get it back from me on Tuesday, because that would be the next time we worked together. I was dubious, but I did return the book to him on Tuesday. It’s one of the few books that I had a hard time putting down because I absolutely had to know what happened next.

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

The Advent of Zon, mostly because it’s the only book I have published.

I think this may be my favorite answer to this question.

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

The job I had at a large reference laboratory near my home. I was working in a department that had a lot of down-time. After I had finished all my work-related tasks, I spent time writing the first draft. The job was also a 7 on/7 off schedule, so I spent a lot of time during my week off writing, as well.

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

First, I’d like people to ask where they can buy my book more frequently, and second, I’d like those same people to ask when the second book is coming out.

So when is the second book going to be available? I see the first one, but not the second on Amazon.

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

One of the things I always say is “If you never work on a project, you’ll never complete it.” I like this because it is absolutely true, but also because it keeps me going on things. Even if I can’t devote a lot of time to a project, it helps because it means to me that even incremental progress is progress and will ultimately help me achieve my goal of completing the project.

 So are you working that second book? I've heard a peculiar rumor which says that books in a series sell better when several books in the series are available.

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Thanks to Kevin for participating in the interview.

And speaking of books in a series, a reader of book 4 in my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series, Promise of Carnage and Flame, let me know today that he has read the book twice already--he doesn't post reviews and he only reads hard copies; he has no Amazon or goodreads accounts. He particularly liked Iago's adventure. That did surprise me because although I really like Iago's adventure, I expected this particular reader wold be enthralled with two of the other adventure threads as more exciting from his point of view. I should've realized that everyone likes Iago.

I lent a paperback of book 1, Threading the Rude Eye, to another friend who completed it and demanded the next two books in the series because she is a fast reader. So she's has books 2 and 3 now.

In other news, I submitted another short story this week. I've also put up six episodes of a Vella story. I haven't "published" them yet, as I don't know when the Vella stuff is going to go live. Everything I see simply says "within the next few months." I think the payment scale will not be great, but it might be great for readers who like episodic tales. I figure that I can get more exposure to readers if I have at least story there, and I do like writing episodic tales.

Interview with

S E Anderson

Author of Inalienable, Starstruck, and Aix Marks the Spot

 

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

I tend to have a few projects running at the same time… right now, I’m focusing on writing Starstruck 8, but I’ve also been working on a Wizard of Oz retelling for the past four years whose ending I just can’t seem to get right. More on that to come!

(As I sometimes do, I'm including comments and questions for Sarah in italics, and I invite her to respond in the comments to this post.)

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

Starstruck grew from a need I had as a teen to see more girl-driven science fiction stories. I wanted to see myself in Doctor Who style adventures, and many of my friends agreed. Starstruck started as a project between me and one of my closest friends, just two teen girls trying to imagine a crazy adventure in space. After a decade of work, that seed grew into a wilder idea, full of chaos and joy.

I would imagine that you're a fan of the new Dr. Who with Jodie Whittaker then? I've never been a fan of that franchise, so I have no intelligent comment on the new Dr. (although that limitation rarely stops me).

Do you write in more than one genre?

I recently released a YA contemporary novel, Aix Marks the Spot, based on my childhood in Provence. Polar opposite of the Starstruck space adventures!

 

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

It’s honest. The best way to combat existential nihilism is to meet the world with unbridled enthusiasm and sincerity, and that’s what Sally does in the Starstruck books. She also struggles with anxiety and depression, something we talked about less openly when Starstruck first came out. Which makes the book sound like a bit of a downer, but no – we’re facing the chaos of the universe head on, fighting despair with humor, and having a good laugh through it all.

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

I’m sure there’s more than I can even point to right now! I am a terribly anxious person who’s been through my own experience with depression, which is part of the reason I wanted to write about the subject. But also my obsession with space, which cannot be cured until I can actually go there. I desperately wanted to be an astronaut but I miss the cutoff by two whole inches. So I’m a tiny ground-bound gal with her head in the clouds and my eyes on the skies.

Is there a valid reason for the height requirement? It sounds a lot like the old "You must be this tall to go on this ride" sign that I remember as a kid at the carnival. Isn't it time to eliminate height privilege?Shouldn't space be open to all otherwise qualified persons, without regard to the number of inches or centimeters in their vertical description? -- Well, unless they're too tall. I mean, space is precious in space.

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

I’m currently working on my doctorate in Astrophysics, which occasionally seeps into my books. Come for the space jokes, stay for the science I suppose?

Astrophysics -- is that more difficult than brain science and rocket surgery? Is the science fiction you write heavy on the science?

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

I don’t know about underrated, but I recently read To be Taught, if Fortunate by Becky Chambers and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Would someone who is not competent an astrophysics or even algebra still enjoy the novel?

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

I recommend Starstruck to anyone who needs a good dose of laughter today, and Aix Marks the Spot if you need to get out of your lockdown.

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

Meeting R.R. Virdi. Before then, my writing was a hobby. But after meeting this brilliant author and working with him in a design capacity, his overwhelming enthusiasm and encouragement pushed me to just for for it. He also introduced me to my editor, Michelle Dunbar. I am forever grateful to him!

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

What my favorite planet is, or something of the like. I know it’s not related to my books but honest, I feel like I’ve gotten so many great questions over the years I can’t pick one I wish I got more often. I love getting to tell people real space facts so I sorta wish I got more of them.

Do you have a favorite planet? What is it? I have a fondness for the earth, but perhaps the other members of the solar system suffer from poor publicity. 

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

There’s a simple throwaway line in the third book of the Saga, Stardust for your thoughts, which got my readers way more than I expected it to. I love hearing it quoted back to me, or on fanart and such. It just makes me really happy that something I wrote actually made someone else happy, in a small way. 

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Thanks to Sarah for participating in the interview.

As for my own writing, I finished a short story this week. During the coming days I'll review, edit, and send it off to see how quickly it will be rejected. It's a sword and sorcery piece in a flintlock fantasy setting. It was another fun one to write. I have yet to title it. Throw some blind suggestions my way. Maybe one of them will stick.

Once I send it off for consideration for rejection, I can finally get started writing my dystopian thriller. I have started outlining it, and I know the setting rather well, at least rather well as I remember it.

I recently gave away free ebooks to my newsletter subscribers. You can sign up for my newsletter here.

I may eventually move the blog to the new site as well after a couple of my posts here were temporarily erased.