An Author Interviews Stanley Wheeler

  After I interviewed Adam G. Fleming, he interviewed me and included the interview in his newsletter. I present it as it appeared in his newsletter -- with the addition of a picture:

AGF: Where are you located, and how long have you lived there? If you like to travel, what are 2-3 places you enjoyed visiting and what's tops on your bucket list? 

SW: I live in Idaho and have spent most of my life here with short intervals in Utah, Nevada, and France. My wife and I got back to France in 2017 and we would love to go again to spend more time in Normandy. Our visit to the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach was extremely moving. In fact, I wrote about it on the blog. Dead Horse Point near Moab, Utah is another favorite place. The views are spectacular, changing dramatically as you hike around the rim. There are a number of places I would like to visit if I had unlimited time and funds: Egypt, India, Europe, Australia--but my reach exceeds my grasp.

AGF: I never heard of this genre mashup before -- was it your idea or is this a fairly common thing, fantasy with flintlock era weapons? What would you call the genre? 

SW: I call the genre flintlock fantasy. Some call it historical fantasy or gunpowder fantasy. I think Brian McClellan may be the most popular writer in the genre with his Powder Mage trilogy. The authors that I've seen doing flintlock fantasy have taken the weapons and technology of the flintlock era and inserted them into fantasy settings. I made a list of some of these authors and books on my blog sometime back. I wanted to incorporate real history with fantasy elements--two great tastes that go great together.

AGF: I never heard of this genre mashup before -- was it your idea or is this a fairly common thing, fantasy with flintlock era weapons? What would you call the genre?

SW: I have written 10 books so far, or maybe 11. I'm working on number 11 or 12 now. My 1940's detective novel Smoke is among my favorites. My wife is after me to write a sequel. I absolutely love books 3, 4, and 5 of the flintlock fantasy series Tomahawks and Dragon Fire. The American War for Independence is a dear subject to me, and the fantasy elements inject additional excitement and tension to the story. Book 3, Clamorous Harbingers, wraps up the first block of the story--the payoff for the cliffhanger endings in the first two books. Book 4, Promise of Carnage and Flame, ramps up the action with a stunning development, and Book 5, Truth in Flames, is the absolute heart of the series with deep history and fantasy elements. Sorry, I know you asked for one or two--but you know how authors are about their books.

AGF: What's coming out next? Anything planned?

SW: Book 6, which will finish off 1776, in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series is in progress and should come out in June this year. I did take a break from it to write another short story to meet a submission deadline. I hope to finish the short story today or tomorrow and spring back into the realm of magic, dragons, and revolution. I do have a young fan who loves my books and wants me to do a sequel to The Shrinking Zone, and I've also got a new stand-alone novel set in ancient America that I have to get out of my head and onto paper sometime soon. In fact, I had started the latter project, but got so excited about doing Book 6 in the series that I set it aside to battle dragons for liberty.