E.G. Stone's Blog, page 19

Author Interview: Ben Green

Ben Green

We’ll skip the “tell us about yourself” because coming up with something on the spot is, truly, the bane of an author’s existence. So, let’s start with something a little easier! Tell me what you’re working on at the moment. My debut novel, Forged in the Fallout, comes out July 13th (print) and 27th (eBook). That’s book one. I’m working on a late draft of book two with the help of my amazing editors. And I’m writing the first draft of book three, hopefully sending out to beta-readers summer of 2021. That will be the last book in this series. The last two will be published sometime 2022.In as much detail as you would like, tell me about your book(s) that are already out/on the way. Forged in the Fallout is book one in my RIMDUUM series. It’s a YA sci-fantasy dystopia. It grew out of a “what if”. There are a lot of books that deal with fae and elves living in a contemporary world. I asked: “What if dwarves kinda evolved, kept their technological advantage over other races, and carved out cities under the Rocky Mountains. And there’s nuclear metal called mithrium. The main character’s family has a lot of secrets about this powerful metal and it can land him in a lot of hot water. So its action/adventure. Neon and underground cities, with a cool magic system based on craftsmanship and skill.As far as the writing process goes—including such things as conception of idea all the way through to money in the bank—what is the least favourite bit? (Everyone has one!) Draft one for sure. For me that’s the first time through. It takes me the longest, about 3-4 months solid if I’m working at it every day. Though most of the time I get stuck for days on end and it takes even longer. I’m a loose outliner. I have all the major plot points written out ahead of time, but I write and the story changes. That’s how it works for me. But If I could fall asleep after outlining and wake up with the first draft in my hands. That would be great.Conversely, what is the bit of the writing process that gets your writery brain grinning? Magnet ideas. At least that’s what I call them. It’s when I come up with a plot point, a choice that the character makes, or a piece of worldbuilding or backstory that just gathers steam, resolves six other things in one fell swoop, and leave me shook! I’d like to think my reader experiences the same thing when they come across these hinges in my book. They’re magical.If you could steal any author’s ability to improve your own work, who would you steal from and why? (e.g. Tolkien’s language skills, Douglas Adams’ humour, etc.) Brandon Sanderson’s world building. Maggie Stiefvater’s character creation. The Raven Boys is a study in making unique characters and tying them to the world with head-spinning plot reveals.Now for some fun! The main character of the book you’re working on (or have recently finished) has kidnapped you for ruining their life. How will you explain that what you’re doing is for the best? So Clayson Spangler doesn’t think things through sometimes and he has a capacity for ignorant decisions, because he’s as new to the world of RIMDUUM as the reader. If I kidnapped him, it would be to prevent him from breaking down the fabric of society and breaking all the rules I make.You, your main character(s), and the protagonist of the last book you read are playing poker. What are the stakes? Who will win and why? Okay so, that’s me, Clayson, and Alaric from JA Andrew’s Keeper Chronicles (no spoilers about him. I’ve only just started this series). Let’s say the stakes are like…I don’t know…the fate of typical weekend. Serious stuff. So if I lose, I will have to deal with something terrible like a day of car repair, or an unexpected trip to do something very boring. If I win, I reach all my goals early, get to spend the rest of the weekend chilling with my family, surrounded by delicious food and awesome games. And equally so for them, but with things they loath and love. I would say Alaric wins, because he has the deepest capacity for betrayal of principles.Let’s face it, writing is hard. What do you think are some traps to avoid in your particular area of expertise? (Whether that be your genre, your knowledge of plot, your character building, your world building, etc.) I’m an educator by day in an alternative setting with students who are credit deficient and just having a rough go at it. I think if you write YA you need to treat those characters with respect. Sometimes, I read YA that I 100% know was written by an adult with no teens living around them, nor have they made an effort to get to know that age group. Just get on TikTok folks, or whatever the next big thing is, and if you’re unwilling to try new things, stick to writing for adults. Be authentic.Anything else you’d like to add? Plots to take over the world, for example. Upcoming release dates, links and things, maybe even your favourite chocolate cake recipe. I currently have my “take over the world plot” on hold so maybe I can walk you through it when it’s active. Total side quest, but I love board games, and got into D&D in 2020 as a copping mechanism. Find the things that make you happy and surround yourself with like-minded people. You can watch me do that kinda thing. Just follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see what I’m up to. Or sign up for my newsletter. Thanks.

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GB7YZP
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58304381-forged-in-the-fallout
I have a short story available for free with newsletter sign up
https://www.loamseedpress.com/short-stories
Also my book is available for preorder from most retailers. My website has all the buttons.
www.loamseedpress.com

Author Interview: Isra S Ravenheart

Name, Isra Sravenheart

1. We’ll skip the “tell us about yourself” because coming up with something on the spot is, truly, the bane of an author’s existence. So, let’s start with something a little easier! Tell me what you’re working on at the moment.

I am currently working on my 7th book in my Blackened Series, Touched by Darkness. This follows my most recently published book Kissing Darkness. This is the book I consider to be the funnest to write as there was so much going on. I actually feel like any book after this, almost in some way, falls short compared to Kissing Darkness because it’s a real vibrant fast paced world.

2. In as much detail as you would like, tell me about your book(s) that are already out/on the way.

I have five books so far out in the Blackened Series. The first is Her Blackened Soul. I then followed this with Blackened Heart and Blackened Rose. I then realized I mentioned a significant history between Isra and other characters that needed backstory so that’s where Her Blackened Love and Kissing Darkness come in as these are the books that go back in time.

3. As far as the writing process goes—including such things as conception of ideas all the way through to money in the bank—what is the least favourite bit? (Everyone has one!)

Least favourite bit for me is the bits in between all the action, I find those a bit mundane for my tastes but what I usually do to make it more interesting is work on the more exciting bits then go back to the bits I may not enjoy as much.

4. Conversely, what is the bit of the writing process that gets your writery brain grinning?

The moments where I can fully explore my character’s reasoning to fully understand why they are that way. I primarily focus on villains so I really love delving deep into all that. It’s a long, gradual process that I don’t rush.

5. If you could steal any author’s ability to improve your own work, who would you steal from and why? (e.g. Tolkien’s language skills, Douglas Adams’ humour, etc.)

Hmmm I am not sure if I’d steal from anyone in terms of writing ability but I do like the way Neil Gaiman puts together things and makes it so relatable but yet so dark at the same time.

6. Now for some fun! The main character of the book you’re working on (or have recently finished) has kidnapped you for ruining their life. How will you explain that what you’re doing is for the best?

Isra will probably hate me for this but she’s about to meet another man and get her heart broken yet again. She’s going to be very angry but she should be pleased as it will reintroduce her beau Astrid back into her life of whom has never truly left her side. So she may well be quite mad but I hope Astrid returning softens the blow. Otherwise that would be challenging to negotiate a ransom.

7. You, your main character(s), and the protagonist of the last book you read are playing poker. What are the stakes? Who will win and why?

Astrid would likely win. He’s very cunning and you can never know truly what he’s thinking. Isra is smart but I don’t think she’s any match for Astrid. The stakes would likely be the green glowing orb he presents to her in Kissing Darkness but he’d give it to her even if she loses!

8. Let’s face it, writing is hard. What do you think are some traps to avoid in your particular area of expertise? (Whether that be your genre, your knowledge of plot, your character building, your world building, etc.)

Traps to avoid are definitely creating elaborate plots that you can’t work with because you’ve created too much going on. I have to say I don’t feel writing is hard but for me personally if I’ve done too much, I may be burnt out and have to focus on something else for a little while.

9. Anything else you’d like to add? Plots to take over the world, for example. Upcoming release dates, links and things, maybe even your favourite chocolate cake recipe.

I finished book 6 in the Blackened Series a couple of weeks ago so I would hope to have both 6 & 7 out before the end of this year. After that I’m jumping into a new series that will also involve witches but something completely different to the Blackened Series. As it’s a relatively new project in the works, I shall be tight lipped on it for now. Book 6 also has a whopper of a storyline going on so there may be an 8th instalment. As there will be a lot going on!!! Think, “what you think you know you don’t and all of the players are lined up, not knowing where the hell they are ending up because they’ve just been smacked in the face.”

Book Review: The Whiskey Eternal by Michael Evan and JMD Reid

Some days, you just need a bit of existential ridiculousness to perfectly justify sitting on your couch reading a book. While the whole Cider and Ale series is good for this, The Whiskey Eternal by Michael Evan and JMD Reid is definitely worth the read.

1. Thoughts on the plot

This book follows Sandy Sam, the sidewinder who died then came back during the Cider Chronicles. He’s a little bitter about this whole side-character schtick, so has decided to write a book in which he is the hero on a quest to discover the Whiskey Eternal and thereby gain immortality. Only, it’s not so easy being a writer. There are things like plot holes to fill, the curse of writing without editing, and the pesky passage of time to deal with. 

This plot is almost entirely unlike the plots of the first books in this series, by which I mean that it follows the same structure, has the same search for something (in this case an immortal elixer in the form of whiskey), and characters who are just a little too aware of the world for the average writer’s comfort. The pacing in this book is very well done, with all the major events happening just when you start to worry for the characters. Of course, any time you bring up writing a book in the process of actually writing a book, then I’m pretty pleased.

2. Thoughts on the characters

I like Sandy Sam. Partly because he expounds on the weirdness of the English language (to answer all his questions, by the way, English is the way it is because it thieves and steals from other languages, lumping things together that have no business being together just because it sounds good). But also because it’s hard being a secondary character and discovering that you were just some plot point. This book is his chance to rectify those wrongs and he seizes it with, ah, open arms. Or fangs, since he’s a snake. His character development is perhaps a little tied up with the existential crisis near the end of the book, but there is enough depth throughout the novel to be entertaining. 

I do feel a little badly for Scotty in this one, though. He’s just along for the ride and doing his best not to go crazy.

3. Favourite part

Blip!

That’s all I have to say, because otherwise I would spoil things, and that would be sad.

Blip!

4. Critique

Frankly, I don’t really have a critique for this book. It takes all the ridiculousness of the first several books, throws it together, shakes it about and adds some questions about writers and language. Ridiculous and entertaining, just as I would expect.

Overall, this book is a fun, fast paced adventure about a side character getting his chance to shine. It’s fun, strange, and has enough philosophy to add just a touch of seriousness to the situation. But mostly, it’s a great conclusion to the series. 

Book Review: The Lightning Knight by Sean Valiente

Most epic fantasies that I have read have the main character as our hero. This makes perfect sense; after all, if we’re going to follow a character around for several hundred pages, we might as well follow the hero, right? But what if we weren’t following the hero? What if we were following the person meant to find and train the hero? Sean Valiente’s The Lightning Knight does just that, but in a way that was entirely unexpected.

1. Thoughts on the plot

Epic fantasies are typically done on a grand scale. This book is no exception, though the grand scale this time takes place with the number of plot points, as well as the effect on the world. Oliver Quartermain is a rich noble who has no worries in life. He is well versed in fighting and has very few worries in life. When he is tasked with finding and saving magic, focused on the boy Po, who is the key to it all, Oliver finally has something greater than himself to worry about. And he’s not entirely sure he’s prepared for it.

This book is very intricate in the number of details it goes through to move the story along. This is not at all bad. Most of this is very entertaining. Everything builds on itself, growing organically and becoming the larger story that we need. However, at around 80% of the way through the novel, the details falter a little bit. There are plot points that are left to fester, becoming holes that are not explained in favour of the larger story. Granted, these holes are really quite small, and—as far as I can tell—have no real bearing on the overall plot, but I did notice them. For a book that was so entertaining up to that point, I was a little disappointed.

2. Thoughts on the characters

At first, I didn’t like Oliver Quartermain. He was arrogant enough to be annoying, seemed to deal with affection in such a way that precluded the use of communication skills, and did not seem to have a care in the world. As it turns out, he gets much, much more entertaining. The introduction of some struggle into his life is just what this character needed to become a character with depth and intrigue, someone a reader could really root for. I really like Oliver (after about the first 7% of the book) and found him even more interesting as the story goes on. By the end, I think he was at just the right point to be absolutely fascinating. 

The other characters didn’t develop nearly as much as Oliver. Though they were side-characters, and this is understandable, we did see them a lot and I was hoping that they would show some of the same depth. However, it didn’t really detract from the story for me at all, and I did like Oliver.

3. Favourite part

The ending. I think that ending was the perfect solution to the story and it was a great twist on the premise. Can’t go into details because of spoilers, but I really liked the ending.

4. Critique

The biggest critique I have is the point mentioned above in section 1, regarding those plot points that just sort of fizzled out. Without going into detail, I would say that the Professor, Ridhan and Oliver’s relationship, and Roc and Iris’s situation at the end are the main ones. They either appear out of nowhere, or are never fully explained. These are fairly minor, but significant enough to be noticed. I didn’t miss any of the overarching plot, and nothing felt as though it was a glaring hole, but they did leave questions unanswered.

Overall, I think The Lightnight Knight was an interesting twist on the hero’s journey, with Oliver training the hero instead of featuring as one. I like the premise and I found the characters very interesting. A good book.

Author Interview: Sidney Williams

Sidney WilliamsWe’ll skip the “tell us about yourself” because coming up with something on the spot is, truly, the bane of an author’s existence. So, let’s start with something a little easier! Tell me what you’re working on at the moment.

I’m working on a novel called Long Waltz, a mystery with a touch of the speculative. It’s the follow-up to my new novel Fool’s Run. In that book, my hero, Si Reardon, is a cop down on his luck who finds himself wrangling with powerful people. He’s in Florida in Long Waltz, and he becomes involved in a cold case related to a film being shot on the Florida coast. He has to weave his way into the world of A-list stars and Hollywood power players and deal with what may be the ghost of the girl lost long ago. Once again he has to rely on wits and guile to navigate the situation.

I’m also always working on short stories because I love the form. I have some new ones out, some making the rounds and more on the drawing board.

In as much detail as you would like, tell me about your book(s) that are already out/on the way.

I have quite a few. I began writing in the horror paperback era in the late 1980s. My backlist has been re-issued by Crossroad Press. In the last few years, I’ve written a dark fantasy high adventure called Disciples of the Serpent. That’s about Aileen O’Donnell, a member of Ireland’s Special Detective Unit. She’s used to pursuing potential terrorists, and she finds herself in a race through the ruins of Irish holy sites, seeking fragments of a lost language. Cultists want the language too to possibly unlock something long sleeping, something that could be devastating to the Emerald Isle and the world. It’s terrorism of a different type, and she works with the Orphic Crisis Logistical Task Force, The O.C.L.T., a group featured in a number of Crossroad novels by various authors. Aileen works with the O.C.L.T. operative Geoffrey Bulfinch, a folklorist with an adventurous spirit.
Fool’s Run was released in late fall and received a nice review in Publisher’s Weekly (https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-952979-82-8As far as the writing process goes—including such things as conception of idea all the way through to money in the bank—what is the least favourite bit? (Everyone has one!)

Feeling my way through the first draft. It’s a love-hate thing since I really love creating. I’m a reformed pantser, but no matter how much I plan and outline, I’m still on a journey of discovery with a work. It’s fun, but some days it’s inching my way forward in the dark. I wish it could always be a wonderful sprint, but it’s often a marathon with occasional bursts that propel me forward.

Conversely, what is the bit of the writing process that gets your writery brain grinning?

Generating ideas, researching and learning new things. I think plotting is probably the heavy lifting to switch to a different metaphor. There’s an exhilaration in the first stages of developing a new work or generating an idea. Reading is a way of priming as well, and I love taking the time to read a great short story or novel. Reading is really a part of my process.

5. If you could steal any author’s ability to improve your own work, who would you steal from and why? (e.g. Tolkien’s language skills, Douglas Adams’ humour, etc.)

Maybe John D. MacDonald’s ease in diving into characters and their back stories. I think it fuelled Stephen King, and it is evident in some of MacDonald’s non-Travis McGee books.

6. Now for some fun! The main character of the book you’re working on (or have recently finished) has kidnapped you for ruining their life. How will you explain that what you’re doing is for the best?

Aileen O’Donnell from Disciples of the Serpent lost her police officer father to really random chance. A bullet managed to get past his Kevlar vest and took his life. She’s impetuous because of that, maybe even reckless. She’d be the most likely to precipitate something like you’re suggesting. So, I have to tell her, sorry I plunged her into the action of the story and out of her normal life for the excitement of it.

“Look, Aileen, it’s like this. I thought it’d be really cool. But, beyond that, consider this, you were in kind of a rut ferreting out terrorists or wannabe terrorists. I showed you a whole new, strange world you never knew existed. You met new people. You got to see a bit of the countryside, visit historic places and put your skills and impetuous nature to work. Sure, you had to fight monsters, but personally, you seem to have grown a lot.”

7. You, your main character(s), and the protagonist of the last book you read are playing poker. What are the stakes? Who will win and why?

Hmm, that would be Noemí Taboada from Mexican Gothic. She and Aileen are both prone to forge ahead, I guess, face difficult situations head on. Noemí is warned off a lot but keeps going. If they both had their personal fortunes in the pot, it would make for an interesting game. I don’t think Noemí would be bluffed or dissuaded, but Aileen would keep pressing. She’d play each hand to the hilt, keep a true poker face and keep raising even though Noemí’s wealth would far exceed Aileen’s.

Noemí would be worried about what her father thought, and if they had a bargain going in like a graduate degree she wanted, she’d be cautious and work to counter Aileen’s moves. She’d watch carefully for bluffs, but Aileen would be so all in with a good hand or bad, a tell would be hard to spot.

8. Let’s face it, writing is hard. What do you think are some traps to avoid in your particular area of expertise? (Whether that be your genre, your knowledge of plot, your character building, your world building, etc.)

I’d say work carefully. Don’t hesitate to put words on the page, but work to pay attention to craft as well as speed. Polish in the second draft. In plotting, you might have to take some turns you didn’t expect, but it helps if you know the destination. Get that in mind and then set off and discover the course that takes you there.

9. Anything else you’d like to add? Plots to take over the world, for example. Upcoming release dates, links and things, maybe even your favourite chocolate cake recipe.

I’m a bit laid back, kind of like Si Reardon, so I’ll keep world conquest on the back burner. I want to get good things into the stream. I want to keep striving for greatness. I re-read an old interview with Harlan Ellison the other day. He said there would always be a professional standard to his work, but now and then something exceptional like a “Jefty is Five” would crop up. I want to tell the best stories I can right now while putting forth the effort to discover greatness along the way. I tell friends I haven’t quite knocked one out of the park like I’d like to, so I keep swinging. Another metaphor, oh well.

Book Review: The Knight’s Secret by Jeffrey Bardwell

Given how much I read, it is rare for a book to truly surprise me. This is not bad; I love stories of all sorts, even if I know what form it will take and what will happen. But being truly surprised? There’s something spectacular in that. So when I read Jeffrey Bardwell’s The Knight’s Secret, I was thrilled to be truly surprised.

1. Thoughts on the plot

This book follows Kelsa as she disguises herself as her recently dead grandfather so that she can  go to the capital and collect his pension, thereby allowing her family enough funds to escape the persecution of mages. Her mother, a mage, disguises Kelsa with magic so that she takes the body of Sir Corbin, and Kelsa does her best to mimic his personality and bluster. But she finds herself in over her head when she comes across old lovers and finds the politics far more complex than before.

The general structure of this book is a fairly standard epic fantasy beginning/hero’s journey type story. The hero (in this case Kelsa rather than Sir Corbin) has to enter into a difficult situation in order to enact some sort of task (saving her family), but gets drawn into a situation far more complex than originally intended. The events from then on have a large-scale effect on the world. This is all familiar and much-enjoyed, so I had no problems there. The interesting part is how the plot was carried out. 

Body switching is also not an uncommon trope, but I have never seen a young girl take the place of an old man, and oh my goodness, was it fascinating. This went beyond mere disguise, and I was enthralled through the entire story.

2. Thoughts on the characters

Kelsa is a great main character. She has enough intelligence and spunk to pull off this particular plot, with enough hero-worship of her grandfather to complete her mimicry well. However, we don’t see a whole lot of Kelsa throughout the story. She appears at the beginning, when we are first introduced to the situation, but after that up until the end, the character that appears is mostly Kelsa-as-Sir-Corbin. It is almost an entirely different character and the true Kelsa shows up only rarely in his thoughts. I would have liked to see a little more of Kelsa as she was before, but I did find the intersection of the two characters very interesting.

3. Favourite part

The mix of Kelsa and Sir Corbin was definitely my favourite. While I know that it was the same character, just pretending to be another, the switch was so complete as to be entirely deceiving. Until the end, that is, but I shan’t spoil it, even though it was a great ending.

4. Critique

My only real critique for this book is what I mentioned above; I would have liked to see more of Kelsa as she was so that I could understand the contrast between her and who she pretended to be just a tad more. However, I don’t think this was a major thing at all and definitely did not diminish from the story.

Overall, The Knight’s Secret was a great first book in a series and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the premise of the plot. The idea took something that was familiar and made it surprising, which is not something I see very often at all. An excellent book.

Author Interview: Glen Dahlgren

Glen Dahlgren

1. We’ll skip the “tell us about yourself” because coming up with something on the spot is, truly, the bane of an author’s existence. So, let’s start with something a little easier! Tell me what you’re working on at the moment.

The first book in the my YA fantasy series the Chronicles of Chaos is out. The prequel, the Game of War (which focuses on one of the fan-favorite characters, Dantess) is complete and being edited. And I’m currently writing book two in the series tentatively titled, the Curse of Chaos.

2. In as much detail as you would like, tell me about your book(s) that are already out/on the way. 

As much as I love my characters, everyone connects with the world in this series. It drives a lot of what happens. In book one, Chaos was locked away by the gods of Order thousands of years ago—but even they knew that someday, someone would release it. And that terrified them. The Child of Chaos tells the story of the culmination of that conflict that changed the world forever. 

That said, I still loved the world before I blew it up, and fans were asking to know more about a certain priest of War named Dantess, so I wrote his story as a prequel. And it’s a good thing I did. Dantess proved even more interesting than I imagined, but the world-building that happened in Game of War directly affected my approach to book two.

And that’s where I am now, writing the Curse of Chaos. Here find out that the Child of Chaos isn’t done affecting the world, and we learn more about the nature of the Dreaming.

Also, I took the chance to narrate my audiobook for the Child of Chaos. I had a lot to learn, but the end result was a great experience and people seem to enjoy my performance. I’ll never launch a book without an audiobook companion from now on.

3. As far as the writing process goes—including such things as conception of idea all the way through to money in the bank—what is the least favourite bit? (Everyone has one!)

I sincerely love most of the steps that involve creating (although I will agree with Asimov that I like ‘having written’ better than ‘writing’). That said, I know I’m not alone when I say that marketing is a bear. Every time I learn something, I realize how much I don’t know. I suspect that marketing will continue to be my arch-enemy throughout my writing career.

4. Conversely, what is the bit of the writing process that gets your writery brain grinning?

I’m a game designer by trade, so I love noodling through problems and fixing them. When you come up with a great solution—something that you know makes everything work and is going to hit the reader just right—there’s nothing like it. When I have scenes like that in my head, I can’t wait to get it on paper so I can read it. At that point, it’s like looking forward to a movie you’re excited to see.

5. If you could steal any author’s ability to improve your own work, who would you steal from and why? (e.g. Tolkien’s language skills, Douglas Adams’ humour, etc.)

That’s tough. Ursula Le Guin’s mastery of prose? Terry Pratchett’s humor? Neil Gaimen’s grasp of mythology? I’d love to have more tools in my belt, but honestly, I think I’m writing the stories I need to tell already. 

6. Now for some fun! The main character of the book you’re working on (or have recently finished) has kidnapped you for ruining their life. How will you explain that what you’re doing is for the best? 

Oh, man. I am hard on my main characters. Dantess, from Game of War, goes through hell in his story. Not only that, I stripped away all of his illusions about the temple of War and his heroes. I would tell him that he has to go through all of this to become the person who can protect everyone, not just the people he’s been told to value.

7. You, your main character(s), and the protagonist of the last book you read are playing poker. What are the stakes? Who will win and why? 

So that would be me, Galen (from the Child of Chaos), and Geralt (the Witcher). I think Galen and I would throw our coins to the Witcher and get out of there while we could.

8. Let’s face it, writing is hard. What do you think are some traps to avoid in your particular area of expertise? (Whether that be your genre, your knowledge of plot, your character building, your world building, etc.)

World-building: Don’t get too in the weeds of your world. People really enjoy my setting, because I’ve identified what’s important to the story and characters. I never overwhelm the reader with backstory or proper nouns. Those passages will become shelf-moments for you.

Characters: Do the work. Understand who they are, what they want, why they want it, and what will happen if they fail. In my first draft, my villain was one-note. He was horrible because he needed to be horrible. But now people have called Horace one of their favorite villains of all time, and enjoyed peeling away his layers. Giving him his needed depth was critical for that story to succeed.

9. Anything else you’d like to add? Plots to take over the world, for example. Upcoming release dates, links and things, maybe even your favourite chocolate cake recipe.

I’m really looking forward to the Wheel of Time TV show coming out soon. I’ve spoken to the producers, and everything I’ve heard about it makes me think they’re doing it right. Keep an eye out for that!

Book Review: The Rules of Supervillainy by CT Phipps

Disregarding the weirdness of reality, how far can ridiculousness go before it’s just absurd? Given that I love Douglas Adams, write my own brand of ridiculous books, and have a penchant for snark, I’m probably the wrong person to ask. C.T. Phipps, with his Rules of Supervillainy, is also probably the wrong person to ask, but by George, the book was entertaining!

1. Thoughts on the plot

This book is sort of the hero’s journey, only our hero is a villain. No, not just labelled by the readers as a Bad Guy, but actually, honestly, a supervillain. Gary Karkofsky inherited, somehow, the cape of the now-deceased superhero Nightwalker. With the sentience therein, and the powers granted to him, he decides to follow his childhood dream and become a supervillain, namely Merciless: The Villain Without Mercy. From there, he embarks on a quest to become the biggest bad in Falconcrest, only there are a bunch of other villains that get in his way. With his wife, an ex-girlfriend-slash-henchperson, and a former villain turned mentor, he has a ways to go before he reaches that goal. And it’s not only the superheros he has to worry about.

The plot was fascinating, because it read exactly as I would expect if a hero (not an MC, a hero) received some powers, discovered how to use them and went about doing noble things to save the world. Only, Gary’s not acting from noble intentions. It was intentionally twisting the bits of the hero’s journey story into something more suiting a less noble character, and it was done in such a way that you knew precisely how the plot was meant to turn out, but weren’t entirely sure if we would get there. Also, it was just plain entertaining.

2. Thoughts on the characters

As villains go, Gary isn’t particularly scary. Okay, yes, he cares more about money than noble intentions. And, yes, he doesn’t actually feel remorse for taking his villainous rivals down. But he’s otherwise perfectly normal. That’s the part that makes him a great character to read. He just has this sort of…eager, dog-like quality about him that is endearing and a little frightening. Just thrown him a bone and he’ll run with it, no matter if it’s the smart thing to do. One has to wonder, just a little, how he gets as far as he does. I’ll chalk it up to the magical cloak and the rational mind of his wife, Mandy. Who is, definitely, a favourite character of mine.

3. Favourite part

Out of all the slightly ridiculous, but somehow still logical scenarios in this book, I think the unabashed snark and sarcasm put forth by the cloak is definitely my favourite. It takes these absurd situations and makes them merely ridiculous and entertaining. That could be because I have a fondness for snark, but I think there’s probably a bit more to it than that.

4. Critique

I don’t really have a critique for this book. The prose was great, the characters entertaining, the situations perfectly ridiculous, and the ending trending just enough towards a cliff hanger to grab attention without leaving important questions unanswered. 

Overall, The Rules of Supervillainy is definitely a book worth reading. If you’re into the absurd, with a bit of logic, a whole lot of snark, and some magical powers thrown in, this is worth a read. An excellent book.

Author Interview: John Coon

John Coon

We’ll skip the “tell us about yourself” because coming up with something on the spot is, truly, the bane of an author’s existence. So, let’s start with something a little easier! Tell me what you’re working on at the moment.

I’m preparing my novel, Dark Metamorphosis, for publication this summer. It is the second book in the Alien People Chronicles. I published the first book in the series, Alien People, in September, 2020.

2. In as much detail as you would like, tell me about your book(s) that are already out/on the way.

Creating Alien People was a labor of love for me. The story centers on aliens making first contact with Earth after discovering an Earth probe on the outskirts of their home solar system. I wrote the original rough draft for Alien People over the summer following my high school graduation. It is a fun fictional world filled with compelling characters close to my heart. Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan are probably my favorite characters among all the ones I’ve created. Dark Metamorphosis continues their story, picking up 1 ½ years after the events of Alien People.

3. As far as the writing process goes—including such things as conception of idea all the way through to money in the bank—what is the least favourite bit? (Everyone has one!)

I’m not a big fan of the beta reading process. It serves a valuable purpose and I have a couple of reliable beta readers now. But I’ve had multiple beta readers in the past who flaked out on me and either gave limited feedback or didn’t bother to read the book at all. That can be frustrating for an author when they’re looking at where they need to focus in terms of story development before publishing a final draft.

4. Conversely, what is the bit of the writing process that gets your writery brain grinning?

I love creating backstory for my characters and settings. World building is so much fun. It opens a door for me to dive in and learn more about my characters and discover what shapes them into what readers eventually see on the page. With Alien People, for example, I’ve written dozens and dozens of pages on a range of topics ranging from planetary histories to alien animal species that inform my fictional world. These backstory elements have helped me to give my stories a lived-in realistic feel even with action taking place in out-of-this-world settings.

5. If you could steal any author’s ability to improve your own work, who would you steal from and why? (e.g. Tolkien’s language skills, Douglas Adams’ humour, etc.)

I’ve always admired the ability of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis to take mythology and history and use it as a springboard for epic stories. That’s something I try to emulate in a subtle way with my own stories. My horror novel, Pandora Reborn, draws some inspiration from Pandora’s Box and Cassandra in Greek mythology in setting up the central conflict that moves the plot forward.

6. Now for some fun! The main character of the book you’re working on (or have recently finished) has kidnapped you for ruining their life. How will you explain that what you’re doing is for the best?

Yeah, I don’t think Calandra or Xttra would feel thrilled about any explanation I offered up. I’d do my best to explain what they’ve endured brought them closer together and gave them the strength and courage to be leaders in battling a tyrant. I’m pretty sure they would want nothing to do with me, regardless of how I framed their struggles.

7. You, your main character(s), and the protagonist of the last book you read are playing poker. What are the stakes? Who will win and why?

Calandra wins without question. She’s clever and knows how to read the room. She has a knack for getting her own way in the end. Xttra is a bit prone to taking unnecessary risks. I’m good at poker, but I’d probably fall for Calandra’s bluffing one too many times to win enough hands.

8. Let’s face it, writing is hard. What do you think are some traps to avoid in your particular area of expertise? (Whether that be your genre, your knowledge of plot, your character building, your world building, etc.)

With science fiction and horror, the most important thing an author can do is to create realistic characters who make believe decisions based on the information available to them. When I read a sci-fi story or a horror story filled with stock one-dimensional characters, it drives me nuts. I don’t want to see characters do things because the plot forces them to do that particular thing. I want to see a story grow out what characters do when they are placed in a specific situation. Their personalities and behavior should drive where the plot goes. That’s what makes a story fun and exciting.

Anything else you’d like to add? Plots to take over the world, for example. Upcoming release dates, links and things, maybe even your favourite chocolate cake recipe.

Look for Dark Metamorphosis to be released in July. It will be available to pre-order soon on Amazon and other retailers. You can order the first book in the series, Alien People, at all major booksellers worldwide. It is available as an ebook and in paperback.

Anyone who wants to connect with me on social media can follow me on Twitter (@johncoonsports), Instagram (@jcoon312), and on Facebook (@jcoon). I have an Amazon author page and author pages on BookBub and Goodreads.

I also have an author website (johncoon.net) where you can get news and updates about my stories.

Book Review: Fatal Extraction by Evangeline Rain

Competent main characters are something I absolutely love in books. Yes, the MCs who need to learn and grow into their abilities are thrilling to read, but stumbling across an MC who already knows what they’re doing, who just grows further into themselves throughout the book? That’s definitely worth a read. And Evangeline Rain’s Fatal Extraction definitely has a competent main character.

1. Thoughts on the plot

This book follows Nirvana, a space pirate who is hired/blackmailed into staging a reconnaissance mission on a hostile and dictator-ruled planet in order to prevent an interplanetary war. She gets assistance from Zane, a defector. Whether the bookish genius will be of help to her is an entirely different question, though.

The plot of this book is more politic and intricate than I had anticipated. I thought there would be a fair amount of gunslinging, with Nirvana pulling Zane out of danger at various points, sort of like an action movie. Instead, I got something that was thoughtful, with characters who actually considered their moves before making them, and far more oriented towards the planning and relationship-building. I was fairly impressed that this book managed to defy my expectations almost completely and still maintain good plot structure. Very interesting.

2. Thoughts on the characters

As I said before, Nirvana is an extremely competent main character. When we meet her, she is already a captain of the most successful pirate gang this side of the Andromeda galaxy. She can fight, but more importantly, she can think. As far as characters go, I really appreciated the fact that Nirvana knew herself well enough to be able to handle just about any task. The part that was really interesting was that she faltered when meeting with Zane. She didn’t quite know how to handle him, and that led to much of the conflict and interest throughout the book. I like her quite a bit. And I especially like her relationship with Zane.

As for Zane himself, he is a very likeable character. His background gives him a sad-eyed quality that garners immediate sympathy. And the reactions he has to situations and people provokes amusement or frustration. Put all those reactions together and I think that he is probably one of my favourites.

3. Favourite part

There wasn’t really one part of this book that struck me as a favourite, standing above the rest. I enjoyed it all fairly equally.

4. Critique

I think the ending was a bit rushed. There was quite a bit of detail in the build up, but once the ending happened, the aftermath leading into the next book took a matter of a few pages. Decisions were made that felt like they could have made sense, but there was little thought that went into them. And events happened so quickly that they were a little hard to follow. I liked the ending, and I think it made general sense given what came before, but it was definitely a little rushed.

Overall, I think Fatal Extractions was a book that managed to defy expectations and still please. I liked the characters and the plot was interesting enough for me to be curious about book two. A solidly good book.