Interview with Dave Dobson

 Interview with Dave Dobson

Author of:

The Inquisitor's Guild Series

 

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

I’m just finishing up The Woeling Lass, the fourth book in my Inquisitors’ Guild series. These stories follow different members of the Inquisitors’ Guild, a set of investigators in a medieval city. In this story, Gueran Declais, an inspector of noble birth, suffers a brutal attack at a festival. Left for dead, he is spirited away and hidden by his allies, and he has to work under an assumed name far from home. Meanwhile, back in the city, it is clear that the attack on Gueran was part of a systematic campaign of assassination directed at four noble houses. All of them have been completely exterminated save one, House Declais. An apprentice inspector Urret Milton, becomes involved in the investigation of these crimes and embroiled in uncovering the secret plot behind them. As the two characters, Urret and Gueran, separately piece together what’s going on, the situation becomes far more dangerous for both of them.

 

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

The series always revolves around the Inquisitors’ Guild and the city of Frosthelm, a medieval city-state, but each book follows different main characters in a separate mystery. In the series, I wanted to try to bring together a bunch of elements I love, some from epic fantasy, like magic and swordfights and scheming nobles, and some from detective fiction, like investigations, clues, criminals, and conspirators. I also try to add a lot of humor to the books - a bit like Princess Bride meets CSI.

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

I’ve published a space opera style science fiction novel, Daros, which is making its way through the SPSFC (a competition for indie sci fi). I’ve also just completed a thriller set in modern-day North Carolina which has some light sci fi elements. I like changing around my genres, because it gives me a lot of opportunities to explore different topics, technologies, and settings. I also published a children’s book on endangered species back in 1996 via Charlesbridge Publishing.

 

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

Well, I think that’s a call best made by readers, but what I’m trying for in each book is a fun, exciting story with plenty of action, but also with smart and brave characters who are trying their best to do the right thing in challenging situations, even when things get really hard and the world seems set against them. That’s the kind of book I love to read, so that’s what I try to write.

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

I’m a geologist by training (I was a professor for 24 years before stepping away to write more), so I often think about natural settings and scientific realism when I write. I also do improv comedy at my local club, The Idiot Box, which I think helps with the humor and also with coming up with characters and plot ideas. Improv is all about developing a realistic and relatable scene with interesting characters very quickly, so it’s great practice for writing.

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

I’m not sure what’s helpful, but here’s some interesting trivia: I also wrote the computer game Snood, which was pretty popular in the late 1990’s and 2000’s, and some other games, and I’ve published a couple of boardgames and card games as well. I love Taco Bell, barbarian movies, and pinball to a fault, and I’ve played the largest tuba in the world in concert.

 

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

Barry Hughart is one of my favorite authors. His Bridge Of Birds is just the kind of book I want to write - funny, exciting, epic, and with wonderful characters.

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

That’s hard - I love them all, particularly as I’m writing them and am really into building the story. Flames Over Frosthelm is a great introduction to what I do, and it’s probably the best starting point for the Inquisitors’ Guild series.

 

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

Well, the one that has gotten me most focused on writing was the end of my teaching career, which happened as my college ran into financial trouble a couple years ago. I wouldn’t have chosen to leave that job that way, but that major shift has given me a great opportunity to focus on writing and other creative pursuits, and it’s turning out maybe to be a blessing in disguise. I’m really loving what I’m doing now, and although I miss my colleagues and my students and my teaching, I’m having a ball writing more stories.

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

“What time is the improv show tonight?” The more audience we have, the more fun it is.

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

I’ve always had a silly love for “Two snakes, coming together,” which is an obscure quote from the original Conan the Barbarian movie, which gave Arnold Schwarzenegger an excuse to flex his enormous arms in the shape of Thulsa Doom’s snake cult symbol. A fellow Conan-fan professor and I got our students to do that all the time when we taught a month-long field course out in the American West, and it just tickled me to see the students two-snaking all over Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Some of them still greet me that way. Pretty much any quote from that movie gives me a happy feeling, especially when said in a coarse Austrian accent.

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Thanks to Dave for participating.

In the limited time I had this week, I managed to get out my newsletter (which you can check out here and it includes links to free books), forge some exciting stuff in Book 6 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series (including a short philosophical discussion--but no gryphons were involved), and hammer out part of a chapter in my Warrior-King book. If you're not familiar with my books, check t my Amazon page here.

Additionally, you can get the free prequel to the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series here.

 

Author Interview 

with Frederick Key 

Author of: McMann & Duck: Private Investigators, 

Larry and the Mascots, Cobalt Agonistes, and more

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

Last year I completed a mystery novel entitled McMann & Duck: Private Investigators. It takes place in 1951 in a small Texas town. As I write this I am polishing up the outline for a sequel that takes place eight years later. I became so interested in the main character, a World War II army vet, that I envisioned a series of mystery novels about him because I enjoyed his company so much, and much about him remains secret. We don’t have much in common, however, although we are both usually polite.

As to whether he will survive these books, well, that remains to be seen.

 

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

A boring meeting. I am an inveterate doodler. I doodled my way through school. I had college notebooks that looked like the walls of pyramid chamber. One day I was in a dull meeting and I started to sketch, and a man in a suit and fedora looked back at me, smoking a cigarette. By his side was a duck. I wondered who they were, and off I went. C. S. Lewis famously started Narnia with a vision of the lamppost and a faun under it in the snow, and this kind of struck me the same way.

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes. I’ve written mostly mysteries, but also contemporary fantasy novels. Larry and the Mascots, where a college student meets a crew of living advertising mascots, and I’ve Got This, a middle-grade book about a boy with an unusual superpower, fall into that category.  Cobalt Agonistes, which is half-drama, half-comic book story, runs along those lines as well.

My two MacFinster books are comedies, but they have elements of crime fiction because crime is a great plot driver. It’s why so many of Wodehouse’s stories have (usually comical) felons about.

 

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

To my personal credit and professional detriment, I have never been able to go along with the zeitgeist. Often it’s just my own orneriness; the music I hated in college, for example, I like now, because now it is painted it over with nostalgia. On the other hand, it has saved me from following more people off intellectual and artistic cliffs. A thousand people doing a stupid thing doesn’t make it a smart thing. Doing something of worth (as I hope readers will find in my work) means I didn’t go off a cliff following the fads and formulas I see elsewhere.

 

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

I struggled with a lot of things in my early adulthood that had to be discarded down the line—paganism, atheism, alcohol abuse. I can’t say I was born again in the common sense, only because to me that always meant a lightning-bolt like experience—if only! I still struggle with faith, because I was not raised in a religious home and it’s always a second language to me. I also think that like all Christians, the faith itself is like a second language—who wants to be humble, who wants to forgive those who hate you? I hope that my actions and thoughts are informed by my faith today.

Of course my personal experience features in one way or another in all my writing, but in a practical sense, I think my attempts at humility get me to try to be more concise. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all, and I never want to be a dull writer. The reader’s interest is paramount.

You wouldn’t know concision was important to me based on my answers to your questions, however.

 

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

Like most writers, I became a dedicated reader from childhood—big fan of comic books and the Hardy Boys mysteries, later classic pulp fiction characters like the Shadow and the Avenger—and my entire professional career came from that. I’ve worked behind the scenes for decades at book and magazine publishers. I grew up in the friendly confines of New York City—from my bedroom window I could see cars go by on the highway all day and all night. I have two enormously hairy dogs who have confounded the best vacuum cleaners money can buy. And I blog daily at vitaminfred.blogspot.com.

While I hope readers will visit my blog, I mention it here because it began as a discipline, to make sure I wrote or drew something creative every day. As they say, writers write; they don’t sit around talking about writing. Putting the onus on myself to produce something I hope people will enjoy every day, be it writing or a cartoon, is a great motivator.

 

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

In high school I discovered a huge book of the short stories of Henry Kuttner, a science fiction writer in the 1950s who died much too young. Kuttner was incredibly inventive and prolific. There are few books I have ever enjoyed as much as that one. Science fiction dates terribly, and its stars fade quickly, which is a shame.

 

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

Like most authors, the book I think is my best is whatever I just finished. So as of today it would be McMann & Duck.

 

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

I mentioned earlier that I was a fan of the Hardy Boys books when I was a child. The first one I got was in a Christmas grab bag event, and I was hugely disappointed. Tried to swap it with something else, anything else—a Slinky, a pack of gum, whatever—but there were no takers. So one day I just sat down and read the damn thing.

It sounds stupid, but my whole love of reading, and thus wanting to write, came from that incident—that some parent was boring enough to put a book in a school gift grab bag. Go figure.

 

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

“May I pay you fifty million dollars for the rights to make your book into a movie?” would be a pretty good one. Failing that, I would like to be asked, “How much of what you write comes from reality?” because I would like to say “None of it, and all of it,” because it sounds pithy and Wildean. So no one ever asks me that.

 

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

Today it is “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” C. S. Lewis again.

It reminds me that pride is the king of the sins, and most to be avoided. All the other sins come from telling myself that I Know Best and I Deserve More.

If you ask me that question tomorrow, I would probably have a different quote. This is why I can never get a tattoo.

Thank you for asking me to participate in your authors’ profile series! 

_______________________

You're Welcome Fred.

I can't let this pass without mention: As I write this I am polishing up the outline for a sequel that takes place eight years later. I became so interested in the main character, a World War II army vet, that I envisioned a series of mystery novels about him because I enjoyed his company so much, and much about him remains secret.

Bizarre coincidence, the protagonist in my noir detective novel SMOKE is a WWII veteran. I enjoyed writing the book because I enjoyed the character. My wife and other readers want another book featuring him and his assistant Pip. In the last few weeks I came up with scraps of his backstory about what he was doing in the war. Naturally, the character and I have some common interests, so I'll include at least one in his story -- I included this about the matter in my most recent newsletter: If the path I'm following works out, I should be able to do a series of stories about his war experiences. I'll try to outline a few different stories before I step into that harness and begin plowing lines of text.

In other writing news, I've completed In Death Bedrenched, the prequel to the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series. A free ecopy is available here simply for signing up for my newsletter.

And also here if you prefer to checkout BookCave.

I should have the paperback available on Amazon by the end of the week.

My advance readers gave me great feedback. They really contributed to making it a better novella, and have taken it upon themselves to read on in the series. Here's what they've shared with me:

"I'm currently reading 'Threading the Rude Eye' and thoroughly enjoying it...I'm glad you chose to write 'In Death Bedrenched' as I now see how it sets the scene for the rest of your series by introducing and providing background for certain characters... I'm so loving Threading the Rude Eye that I'll have to get straight into the next one as soon as this is finished ! (How quickly can you write as once I latch on to a series I will read it all..."

"Love the Gryphon Jousting in "Power To Hurt" - fantastic!"

_________________

I had been getting the run-around on a new clutch cable for the f650. The cable was supposed to be here 2 weeks ago, allegedly coming out of California. Fortunately, the local motorcycle repair guy knew another local guy with a couple f650s who was willing to let me borrow a cable until the new one arrives. I did the temporary replacement yesterday and made a quick test drive. SWEET!

Happy Father's Day!

 

I recently came into possession of something unusual. At least I've never seen anything like it before.

I note that it says "Survival Cracker" not "...Crackers" -- At 18 pounds, I'm wondering if I can get the cracker out of the can. I don't see a "best used by" date, but it was sealed in mid 1964. The contents are older than most of the people with whom I associate. I should work this object and the mystery contents into a story.

Until I feel inclined to create such a story, enjoy the excerpt below from the rough draft of In Death Bedrenched, the prequel to Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series. The prequel shows how Lucette obtained the map, how the commander obtained his dragon stone, and how they both got to the opening of Threading the Rude Eye.

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“Tell me about this cache,” Gavrel broke in. “We don’t need a lesson in geography, war, or troop strengths. We need a weapon. If we cannot stand against this mysterious commander the English have sent, we will be destroyed, sooner rather than later. Does the cache exist?”

Another man echoed, “Does it exist?”

Amid a ripple of murmurs, all eyes turned to Dampierre.

He said, “To come to a point, I don’t know. Both Chevalier Lagardere and I have ancestors who sailed with Cartier. It was rumored that he had a map to this cache of treasure, of power, of—dare I say—magic. He left something with my ancestor. I have found it among my ancestor’s prized possessions which have been handed down for the generations which separate us. I hold it here.”

Dampierre held up a small oval object. It was flat, black, and pointed on both ends. “I find nothing written upon it. His papers made reference to it only as something which Cartier felt significant. What, precisely, warranted this significance, I have been unable to determine. You may examine it for yourselves.”

Dampierre passed the stone to the gentleman at his right. Each man took the object, examining it and passing it on as Dampierre continued.

“Although my ancestor neglected to elaborate upon the significance of this small stone, he did leave a writing with regard to the cache.”

_________

The complete first chapter is available to my newsletter subscribers in the next letter. Click the newsletter tab at the top of the page to signup.

 Author Interview with Matthew Davenport

Author of

Andrew Doran and the Scroll of Nightmares, and more

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

            Andrew Doran is an Archaeologist who studies the occult and tries to keep the monsters behind the veil from coming into our world. Unfortunately for him, it would seem that everyone else in the world is trying to do the opposite. This most recent work, Andrew Doran and the Scroll of Nightmares, pits him against a new enemy, a nightmare god from an alien world. In the first several books, Andrew has fought destiny, the horrors of war, and just about anything Lovecraft has dreamed of. This time around, he’s beginning to see that his actions have consequences and that not everything can be solved with a spell and some luck. We will also test how far he is willing to go, where his line on “too far” is, when it comes to protecting the world.

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

            The series was a natural evolution from my love of Lovecraft and my own past as an Archaeologist. After reading so many great adventure stories by other authors, I just wanted one that tackled the mythos my way. That’s where this amalgam of Indiana Jones and Randolph Carter came into being. After that, I was just a kid in a sandbox with his toys. Andrew Doran is the most fun I have writing and his influences are infinite. From books, you get Lovecraft, Gaiman, Lumley, Hambling, Asimov, King, and Clines. From television, you get Indiana Jones, The Librarians, Supernatural, Warehouse 13, and more. Andrew Doran is just the culmination of everything I enjoy and twisted into my own stories.

Do you write in more than one genre?

            I write in several genres. Andrew Doran is pulp/adventure. Then there’s Satan’s Salesman and The Trials of Obed Marsh, which are both horror. My Broken Nights series is part of the superhero genre. I have even written a fantasy/young adult novel called The Sons of Merlin. I write what I enjoy, and my interests tend to fluctuate daily.

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

            I write to entertain myself and tend to believe that the things that entertain me probably entertain others as well. If I’m not enjoying what I’m writing, then no one else will. That being said, my stories tend to take a likeable person and thrust them into impossible scenarios with the end goal being that person doing something incredibly normal, or incredibly human to get past the climax. And sometimes not.

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

            I have been an archaeologist and I have been a salesman. A lot of Satan’s Salesman, the anecdotes within, and the characters, were built out of people that I have known at some point in my life and exaggerated into the characters you see in the story.

            Aside from that, I use a lot of my personal relationships and how I feel in moments from my memory to build believable relationships between my characters. I detail a lot of the background of scenes based on places I have been or lived and a handful of my characters have at least a basic template of someone I know that I can build off of and turn into the character that I need.

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

            I write at my own pace and I love feedback and interaction. If you enjoy reading one of my stories, let me know in a review or through my website or Twitter. I love talking about stories in general and seeing people excited about the same stuff that excites me is the fuel to my creative furnace.

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

            I don’t know about underrated, but David Hambling is the coolest guy out there. He writes Mythos stories with a pulpy feel, much as I do, but his are just better. His characters are thoroughly enjoyable and his adventures are just plain fun. On top of that, he’s just a great guy to talk to and shoot ideas off of. There is a lot of complex plot that wouldn’t exist from me if I hadn’t first felt out the ideas over long conversations with him. Go download Elder Ice by Hambling now. Or War of the God Queen. Before you get my books, go read that.

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

            If I had to recommend only one of my books to an audience who’s tastes may vary, it would have to be The Statement of Andrew Doran, the first of my Andrew Doran novels. It’s fun and episodic and has a little bit of something for everyone. Adventure, history, scenery, fight scenes, romance, betrayal, zombies, I mean everything. If you end up enjoying it, there are two more novels and a ton of short stories in crossover novels with other Mythos writers. Something like 10 (ish) total Andrew Doran stories are out there and he’s far from done.

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

            NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. About 12 years ago, I saw that it was happening and thought it might be fun to try. My first novel, Random Stranger, was born as a result of that. I’m a huge fan of it and refer to it as my “month-long holiday.” The event is a global phenomenon and aspiring writers, or even veterans, can find all sorts of community and tools available to assist the entire process.

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

            “Excuse me, sir, but is this your hundred dollar bill?”

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

            “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” - Samuel Johnson.

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Thanks to Matthew for participating.

In my own writing this week, I've knocked out a couple more chapters in the prequel to the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series. The prequel features the commander, Lucette, and at least one other character from the series--so far--and is likely to include a couple of other important characters before it concludes.

Threading the Rude Eye, the first book in the series, remains at 99 cents on Amazon. Also, the stand-alone novel of the dystopian future of next week The Shrinking Zone is also only 99 cents. Links are in the bar at the top of the page.

 

The play testing continues with the Wreck at the Ruins scenario. This is a great scenario. It's fun and doesn't take too long to play. It's the third scenario, and changes the flavor from musketeerian to Barsoomian. I won't give the complete details here because I've given an AAR of the scenario before using a previous iteration of the rules. I think the rules are even better with the latest changes. Here are the high points of the rumble between red and green warriors searching for the prize.

The green warrior at the top of the picture, Bak Badja, shoots Mardos Tors in the foreground (or maybe it was in the leg or the side) for a serious with a radium gun. Mardos Tors dashes for cover.

During his search for the Melihum Princess, Bak Badja disturbs the white simian  - it attacks

The combat dice for this combat –they each wound the other, and Bak Badja, in desperation, races for the exit before the simian can grab or whack him again.

Meanwhile, Han Tadron finds some healing balm which he got to Mardos Tors to reduce his serious wound to a minor one.

Bak Badja leaves the white simian behind and moves to attack Nantos Nan.

However, the white simian has been enraged. It bounds after the green warrior even as Bak Badja tries to engage Nantos Nan.

The pale ape closes and attacks before Bak Badja can deal with Nantos Nan.

The simian raises his club and bashes Bak Badja who tries to get away from the fury of the beast. Nantos Nan sees an opportunity. He skewers the green warrior before the enemy can escape. Of course, that leaves the great ape all for him.

Vak Voka, the other green warrior at the ruins, has searched a room, only to have the wounded Mardos Tors blast him with a radium pistol. The green warrior falls dead.

Dav Ravos of the red warriors finally finds the princess, and begins carrying her to safety.

The pale simian leaps over the dead Zarhoon to get at Nantos Nan.

Instead of the picture of Nantos Nan being clubbed by the ape, and backing away to empty his pistol into the big pale target, I have a picture of dice--don't ask me why. Anyway with both green warriors face-down in the sward, and the corpse of the big white brute providing some ambiance in the street, there are no enemies left to hinder the warriors in getting the princess to safety.

I played this scenario three times through the week. The red men were victorious every time. The green men had the misfortune to find the simian every time. They did find the princess in two of the three matches, but the red men managed to rescue her both times. The green men did fare better each time--as I remembered to give them the benefit of using two weapons. On the last outing, but for Nantos Nan's special, but limited, skill in avoiding unfavorable combat results, the green men would have been triumphant as they killed two red warriors and wounded a third before being driven from the ruins.

Overall, it was highly playable, fun, and fast-paced. I think the K-man and RC would enjoy it.

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On the writing front, the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire prequel is making progress. The story of how the commander acquired his stone is complete. The matter of Lucette and the acquisition of Cartier's map is still underway. Outrageous fortune is hitting Lucette without mercy, and leaving her world forever changed.