Abigail Linhardt

 

Interview with Abigail Linhardt

Author of

Season of the Runner and Goddess Among Us

 

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

I have two currently. One is the third instalment to my Witcher-esque dark fantasy series Season of the Runer. This series is my primary love interest right now and I get excited to work on it every day. The series follows two main characters from the middle-eastern-inspired country of Al’Myrah as they hunt monsters for a living and accidently incur the wrath of a necromancer and a sorcerer, leading to larger conflicts that they’d rather not be a part of. 

My second WIP, called Prince of MidWest, is a dip into YA and I haven’t quite placed the genre. It’s wild west-ish, steampunk, alternate history, and there’s also a vampire. So I’m not sure where it belongs. It’s inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo so there’s lots of revenge, plotting, and it all starts with a good old fashioned jailbreak. It’s low magic as well, so there’s lot going on!

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

For Season of the Runer, I actually got inspired from these Saudi ghost hunters I watch on youtune. They were far braver than their western counterparts when it came to chasing down haunts and shadows they believed to be djinn. I thought, “Dang! If these guys were ghost hunters in a fantasy world, they’d be bad ass!” So then, I wrote that story. It just happened to turn out like The Witcher, which I am ok with.
For Prince of MidWest, it was a NaNoWriMo project back in 2015. It was an exercise in writing a certain kind of main character, which I ended up changing all these years later. The book has gone through MANY drafts and I think it’s finally starting to look like something I can be proud of. I LOVE Alexander Dumas and have read most of his books. I studied France and French in mu undergrad and don’t get to show those loves often in my writing so I took this opportunity to dive into them.

Do you write in more than one genre?

Sadly, yes. Marketing for more than one genre has been a struggle, but I love so many genres! I write dark fantasy, paranormal horror, YA fantasy, romance, sci-fi, and even dipped into space opera for a whole trilogy (not published). I think what makes my stories uniform is my characters. I love sympathetic, emotional, raw characters and they are consistent through my writing. If you like my style, you’ll like my sci-fi as much as my fantasy!

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

I like to think I do pacing well, and have ever story focus on the characters more than the world and the plot. I like people that populate my stories and focus on them. I think that makes my stories very unique and very raw. Someone once told me that my writing reminded them of Russian literature in that it was all very dark and depressing. I’m not sure if that was a compliment, but I took it that way! The famous English teacher and writer Anna Leonowens (someone who has inspired me a lot) once said, “People do not see the world as it is: they see it as they are.” As someone who deals with mental illness every day, I do indeed see the world as I am and I not sorry about that. My viewpoint is unique and dark, and—as the literary agent Donald Maas says, the fire in fiction is you, the writer. You are what makes your writing good.    

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

For sure. I take a lot of my life experiences and mostly the feelings and revelations of those experiences and put them in my writing. Other times I don’t, and my writing has very little to do with me. I am currently writing a YA paranormal horror trilogy (called The DarkFront Witness, not due out until 2023) that is helping me process the guilt and sadness I have been hording about my brother’s death. Other than that, my main character in Season of the Runer—Tzarik—is really helping me process my depression. I make him figure out the solution to his problems and it inspires me. He wasn’t going to make it out of book one alive, but I took pity on him and had a great revelation for my own life when I showed him mercy and allowed him to overcome his desire to end his own life. It’s been hard and I’ve been told the characters I write like that are not appealing as not many can identify with them. But I do. And I know at least one other person will. If characters like Tzarik and the upcoming Huck (DarkFront Witness) can inspire someone to just give life just one more chance, I’ve done my job as a writer.  

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

I am a ferret mom! It’s like being a crazy cat lady but so much worse. For other people. For me, it’s great! Also, despite all the sad things I’ve talked about, I’m generally happy and often hilarious. At least, I think so.
I have a group of guys who play video games online with me and they help keep me funny!

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

I read this divine little book called The Landlord of Hummingbird House by a beautiful soul named Jane Harvey. It reminded me of Jane Austen and cozy mystery and chick lit and just felt so good to read. It’s cute. Romantic. Emotional. I think any woman my age should read it.

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

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. It’s about books. It’s about fantasy and the responsibility storytellers have to tell good stories. If there was a bible for fantasy writers, that’d be it.

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

Haven’t had it yet. However, I have learned to work very hard for my books in the last two years. That doesn’t just mean I have a passion for writing. You have to turn that passion into actions. I am an introvert so it’s very difficult. But I have to step out there for my stories! I spend months writing them, editing, getting betas. Then I spend thousands on producing them (covers, narrators, editors, etc). I have two fulltime jobs to support my books so realizing I needed to get myself out there came as a harsh reality. I cannot sustain working like this and writing so I have been turning that love into actions by reaching out to bloggers, podcasters, cons, fairs, libraries, and other places to get out there. In person is best and most profitable. But so hard right now. I haven’t had much success yet, but I think my books are good enough to make it if I can just be brave and put myself out there!

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

I wish people would ask me about my books. It’s happened maybe once in the last five years. They are my life, and no one cares. I think most indie authors can relate to this. I’d love to sit and discuss my books like a book club with just one person in my lifetime. Have them ask questions, have them point out how they caught my symbolism and saw how I used literary devices to frame this dramatic scene. Tell me their favorite character and why. Tell me a detail about the book they loved. Something that really shows they liked it and read it. I do have some support for my work, don’t get me wrong. But not that. I’d love that.

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

Yup! And this is all I will say on the subject because I get heated (hahah) as do the people on the other side of the opinion. I always say, “The only thing an outline stops you from doing is having writer’s block.”

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Thanks to Abigail for participating.

In my own writing, Book 6 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series has moved into chapter 19. The adventure has not suffered from any lack of excitement so far, but the exhilaration factor will be ramping up as we enter the last third of the book. The thrilling exploits will mar English ruins, devastate armies in America, and wreak havoc among strange new creatures with life and liberty on the line.

You'll want to get in on the action with books 1-5 in the series. Did I mention that there are dragons? Well, there are--and so much more.

 

No Lie

 

 "I liked that. I'm not gonna lie. That was pretty fun."

That was the verdict of one of Les Freres Corses after we played the Rescue from the Hangman's Noose scenario from my skirmish game. Of course he had a great time. What's not fun about King's Musketeers and Cardinal's Guards exchanging shots with flintlock pistols, rushing through the clouds of acrid smoke to trade cross words, cross swords, and wound, wound, wound, and slay the enemy? He fired pistols, threw knives, stabbed, slashed, and swashbuckled his team to victory. Two of his musketeers made running leaps to the scaffold just in time to stop the hangman from completing the execution. They overcame superior numbers by superior ability to slay four guardsmen and send the wounded fifth running with his bloody tabard between his legs.

For the record, it looked nothing like the picture above, or this picture below:

 I'm going to label the venture a success, even though I was running the losing side. It was proof that the system is simple and fun. The next step is to include the role-play aspect and do a tavern fight and rescue. Although, he did express an interest in the King George's Bust scenario set during the Revolutionary War. I'll see which he decides to try.

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In the battle that rages (or ebbs and flows) in getting book 6 completed, I've crossed the midpoint, and the path to completion is becoming clear. I had an epiphany regarding a couple characters who need to make an appearance soon for maximum impact at the conclusion of the book. Book 6 will not complete the series, but it does get us closer than we've ever been before.

I finished Jeff Wheeler's Doomsday Match yesterday--in between mowing, trimming, spraying, and motorcycle riding. It's a fun read. I may say more about it later if I remember.

I was up late watching a Star Trek movie marathon. I caught part of The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home. Of course, Wrath is the best of all the ST movies and Galaxy Quest takes second place. Search for Spock may get third, and Voyage is a flawed beauty whose fun factor almost makes one forget the flaws. 

What makes Wrath the best? Mostly it's Khan. I've said it before, Ricardo Montalban is the best Khan. He is Khan. Sure, Dr. Marcus and David are annoying, but it's a small price to pay for the poignant reunion of the main cast after the snooze-fest that was ST The Motion Picture. Wrath begins the trilogy that is pretty decent overall. I should go into greater detail on my thoughts on Wrath, but that will have to wait for another time when I've made an effort to organize my thoughts--perhaps in the the 6 point pattern as set forth in The Tyranny of Public Discourse, which I recently finished. However, (let me ramble a bit) I will mention that the plethora of quotable lines, especially from Khan help. Also, the battle in the Mutara is fantastic. It's the sea battle (and TOS was in many ways a Hornblower adventure in space) from of Hornblower v. El Supremo combined with Ahab's obsession with the whale. The crippled ships fighting it out in low visibility conditions with no shields is the piece de resistance in this magnificent tour de force (and I'm not just stacking foreign phrases for the fun of it). Tension and suspense are key ingredients for a great story and they are plastered all over this baby. The battle, the trading of hits, the maneuvers, crippled Defiant hobbling away with the mere stub of a leg, and Spock's self sacrifice to save the Enterprise and crew in the nick of time as the Genesis wave threatens to engulf them all--and don't forget Khan's venomous invective with a little help from Melville--combine to provide fans with the rich payoff they had waited more than a decade to receive. My three required elements for a great story: the trauma, the drama, and the dream are all there. (I should write about that sometime using Wrath as an example). Don't forget the cost. Spock dies. He's dead, dead, dead--but we who watched it when it was brand new knew about the Genesis thingy--and we hoped.

Search is nestled in between the two that get all the attention--Wrath, because it's outstanding, and Voyage because some people are completely and unreasonably enamored with it--and is thus overlooked or underrated. Search is a celebration of friendship and more. If Wrath brought Kirk's old sins to the surface, Kirk and crew go the extra mile, kellicam, solar system, or galaxy to do the right thing and do the darn near impossible to help redeem Kirk all on the mere chance that it will help bring back their friend. McCoy, addled by Spock's consciousness banging away inside his head, gets some great moments and funny scenes. The way the team pulls together to do the right thing in the face of official resistance and imbecility is inspiring. Sure, the movie makes every other Star Fleet captain look like a supercilious cliche or cowardly idiot in uniform, but Dr. Emmett Brown as the cunning Klingon villain adds another dimension to a simple search and possible rescue story that makes us overlook the problem with the other captains. He is merciless, motivated, and has revenge on his mind when Kirk kills most of his crew. The fight between Kirk and his Klingon adversary in the ships and then on the ground mirrors the Kirk-Khan conflict of Wrath. So what if there's some heavy-handed writing and bothersome statements, mostly from Saavik, which usually begin with, "So like your father..." to make obvious points that should've been left to the viewers to realize on their own or mentioned once and never harped on again. The Klingon's 2nd hand murder of David, and the fabulous sacrifice of the Enterprise (and remember, this was the first time that the true star of the old series had been destroyed--not to be confused with the seemingly mandatory multiple and less impactful destructions of later iterations), all while a planet goes into self-destruct mode, promising to take the resurrected Spock with it, carries us to the payoff confrontation on the wreck and ruin of a surface in the process of internal demolition (again mirroring the clash with Khan but on the ground instead of in space behind the masks of stars ships). That is some good action/adventure--and Kirk can only save Spock by defeating his adversary and tricking Maltz to beam them both to safety. The completion of the Spock's resurrection is the final touch on this hearty and satisfying meal.

I've rambled too long. I'm out of time, so I can't discuss Voyage, but I'm sure there is no shortage of discussion and opinions on the topic. Perhaps another time.

 

Fun Times at Fort Stanwyx - Oriskany

 Fun Fact: Fun Times at Fort Stanwyx--Oriskany

The British plan for the invasion of 1777 included not only Burgoyne's thrust from the north down to the Hudson River and to Albany--which ended badly at Saratoga--and an advance by Howe from New York to Albany, but also a conquest of the Mohawk Valley by troops under Barry St. Leger. Controlling the Mohawk Valley and the Hudson River Valley would deny the patriot armies necessary both food and transportation routes.

Burgoyne had Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger temporarily promoted to the rank of brigadier general to lead the attack from the west. 

Although St. Leger had experience in the French and Indian wars, he had never commanded Indian auxiliaries--which made up a sizeable portion of his invasion force--about a thousand Indians. Mohawk leader Thayendanegea, Joseph Brant, had already refused overtures from a former friend and patriot leader, General Nicholas Herkimer, to join the patriots. In fact, Herkimer tried to have Brant killed at the conclusion of the tete-a-tete. In addition to the British regulars, German auxiliaries, and Indians, St. Leger's force also included Canadian militia, and irregulars under John Johnson (Johnson's Greens) and John Butler (Butler's Rangers).

The first objective in the Mohawk Valley was Fort Stanwyx. The fort stood in the portage between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River. Colonel Peter Gansevoort had been sent to Fort Stanwyx to strengthen the fort and protect against any British advance up the valley. Fortunately for Gansevoort, he had a spy among St. Leger's Indians who kept him informed of St. Leger's progress. General Herkimer was also gathering volunteers thirty miles east of Fort Stanwyx at Fort Dayton. 

While St. Leger had word of over 600 defenders at Fort Stanwyx, he was unaware of Herkimer's activities. Hostilities arrived at Fort Stanwyx when girl picking berries were ambushed. Two of them were tomahawked and scalped while the third escaped with a musket ball in her shoulder.

When the siege began the defenders numbered about 850 and the attackers numbered around 3,000. Herkimer was still assembling his force of about 800 men, which consisted mostly of irregulars with little discipline. While Herkimer marched, the siege at Stanwyx went on with artillery fire and snipers on both sides. At one point, the patriots were able to slay a particularly deadly sniper by inducing him to fire at a dummy. They then destroyed the sniper and the tree he was in with a cannon blast of grapeshot.

Molly Brant, Joseph's sister, sent word to him that Herkimer was leading a column to Stanwyx. St. Leger sent Brant and 800 Indians with a few of Johnson's Greens and Butler's Rangers to prepare an ambush about six miles from Stanwyx where the road passed through a deep ravine thick with trees and brush near Oriskany. Loyalists, British and German troops, and Canadians brought Brant's force to a thousand.

Herkimer's Indian scouts passed through the ravine without detecting the ambush but once they reached the bridge at the far end they turned back, sensing something amiss. Attackers rose from concealment to slay them with arrows and tomahawks. None of the scouts escaped. Herkimer's column fell into the trap. 

Brant shouted the war cry and musket fire filled the ravine. Herkimer's horse went down and he was hit below the left knee. Ignoring the wound, Herkimer retained command, ordering all his forces to charge up the ravine to where a few of his men had already taken cover in a defensible position. He arrived there with the help of his subordinates. A Colonel Cox came up to assume command only to be shot in the head by an enemy and collapse onto Herkimer. The general calmly filled his pipe with tobacco, lit up, and began issuing orders with his sword across his lap.

The battle became a vicious struggle, largely fought with tomahawk and knife. On the side of the patriots, Oneida chief Honyery and his wife Two Kettles Together fought in defense of Colonel Campbell, and Nat Foster and his veterans of Trenton and Princeton worked among the trees to inflict heavy casualties on the attackers. Herkimer was holding out and inflicting significant losses on Brant's Indians.

Meanwhile Colonel Willet inside Fort Stanwyx prepared to sally from the fort. When St. Leger sent more men to the fight at Brant's request, Willet made a sortie and captured several wagon loads of supplies from St. Leger's camp. Some of those sent to the fight were the rest of Johnson's Greens. The first ranks of the Greens turned their coats inside out to resemble some of the Americans from Fort Stanwyx. They thus got very close to some of Herkimer's men before the ruse was discovered.

St. Leger called for his reinforcements to return when Willet raided his camp. Brant couldn't carry on the battle and send back the reinforcements. He had to break off the battle and retreat. 

Herkimer had lost a significant portion of his force and could not continue to Fort Stanwyx. He had suffered casualties of killed, captured, and wounded of 50%. He withdrew to Fort Dayton with all his wounded. 

Butler's Rangers and Johnson's Green's suffered badly at Oriskany, but the Indian losses were the greatest. 

Although Herkimer's relief force had not relieved the siege, it had caused significant losses to the besiegers and seriously weakened the will of the Indian auxiliaries to remain. Herkimer's leg became infected and had to be amputated. The operation did not go well, and Herkimer died as a result on August 16, 1777.

--The foregoing was summarized from chapters 1-12 of Michael O. Logusz's With Musket and Tomahawk, Volume II, The Mohawk Valley Campaign in the Wilderness War of 1777. I highly recommend it. I liked it even better than the fine Volume I on the Saratoga Campaign.

Next Time: Fun at Fort Stanwyx--Psychological Warfare

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I had some great time writing this week in Book 6 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. You might notice that I haven't settled on a title yet. In fact, I don't have a clue what it's going to be called. I usually have a few title ideas before I even start writing--and may change it during the process. At some point the title will manifest itself like a vision on the road or a bright Bat- Signal in the sky--or it won't, and I'll be forced to decree a title by creator's fiat. So let it be written. So let it be done.

New beasties are on the verge of making an appearance. They've already left sign--it says, "Caution, Danger Ahead."

Check out these Summer Book Bash Deals.

And these books about Troubled Times are currently discounted.