Michael R. Baker's Blog, page 22
February 18, 2018
Author Interview: Christian Terry
Back again, with another author interview!
This time, join me in the age of GameLit and LitRPG with an awesome guy and a very good friend of mine, Christian Terry. I love what this guy does and he has incredible talent. Check out his novel down below:
First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?
I’m Christian Terry, a huge gamer and author of GameLit series The Respawn Saga: Ten Lives with the next entry Seven Lives currently on the way.
How do you develop your plots and characters?
I write an outline for my characters and the plot and find how each character can benefit from it. Once I get an idea where the plot is headed, I go from there.
Tell us about your current project.
Seven Lives, it has been a ton of work but I hope to be able to share it with readers soon. The tone will be a little darker than the first one but I hope that it keeps folks at the edge of their seats.
Who would you say is the main character of your novels? And tell me a little bit about them!
Mike Wesley is the main character of the Respawn saga. He’s tough and talks a lot of trash which is something that I don’t read a lot of. Like I don’t get to read about too man main characters out there who talk a lot of trash and also can back it up. He’s also from where I’m from: the west side of Atlanta.
What advice would you give new writers on how to delve into creative fiction?
Three things that they should do. Number one read. Number two: Read and read often. You have to read in order to be able to be any kind of writer I don’t care who you are. And finally number three: Didn’t you read the first two, I said read damn it!
What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the worldbuilding within your book?
The ancient Mayans and how they mysteriously vanished always fascinated me. For a civilization that was really advanced to just up and disappear, to me that’s story fuel. Telling a great story is like telling a great joke. You get a persons undivided attention and they read your every word awaiting a payoff. I love it.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Finding the free time to do so with a heavy schedule. I don’t know what I would do without my handy notebook.
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
When the gang finds the fire emerald that they were searching for. I still laugh at it to myself sometimes.
Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?
I learned that it may be hard when you start but it really is how you finish is when it counts…if that makes sense.
It’s sometimes difficult to get into understanding the characters we write. How do you go about it?
I don’t want to say this too loud for fear of being medicated but I talk with them…We’ll keep that between us. Okay?
What are your future project(s)?
Seven Lives will be coming in soon and the book after is already in it’s birthing phase. I’ve also began outlining a LitRpg novel which I think is a very unique take on the genre. I will speak more on that in the near future.
If you couldn’t be an author, what ideal job would you like to do?
I’d love to be a videogame tester and if I couldn’t do that then I’d love to be a food taster. If there were a real life genie that granted wishes then the answer would be both at the same time…with a collection of snow leopards in the background cheering me on. Don’t judge me.
What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?
I’m just about everywhere.
Twitter: https: https://twitter.com/christerry4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChristianTerry/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_christian_terry/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15242302.Christian_Terry
Amazon: https://t.co/jFphPK741l
Thanks for joining the table, Christian! I will return soon with another spotlight. Feel free to check out the rest of my works!
February 15, 2018
Book In : February 2018
Good morning! It is pretty cold out there. This is a new segment by me (And hopefully I will stick to it. I have not been good with that lately).
*Looks to all my other abandoned projects and sits in the corner*
I have been really struggling lately.
I am feeling a little better today after a couple of blips last night. Anxiety and Depression is a constant battle and I have great respect for all those who struggle with it like I do. It hasn’t hit me as hard this month as it usually does, but exhaustion does bring it up more. Fatigue with The Aegis Mora contributed and while the rewrite of it has been doing okay lately, I hit a bit of a block, but hopefully, I am back into it. I admit I have also been struggling with my passion for writing. Counterbalance’s launch did not exactly go to plan, and lately I cannot even look at The Thousand Scars without hating it. However, I am back to The Aegis Mora, with a pledge to complete the first draft by April. With a new book structure in place, it is something I can at last look forward to again.
Speaking of The Aegis Mora. It is amazing how one change switches the focus of half the book! As a result, I need to fix that, as it involves a lot of shifts in POV, when certain characters arrive, and so on. I still have plenty of time for book two, however, and I am confident that the final product will be much better for it.
This is more of a bullet point chat when I talk about what I plan to read.
Books. They are such wonderful creations aren’t they? A thing that contains an entire world in your hand, and a world created with an authors love and care. It’s something I get behind every single day!
Ruin by John Gwynne
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It took me an incredibly long time to get back into this. I finished Ruin late in 2017, and its ending is gut wrenching. You made me care about the characters, John. *sniffles.* It took me a while to finally pick it up, but I now have it on my Kindle. Why is this important? Well, one, because I want to start A Time of Dread, and I refuse to start sequels until I have finished the prior series. Two, I’m enjoying this series a lot even though it carries a lot of tropes that irritate me on principle. Three, Veradis and Corban I’m starting to really like, and I really feel for Nathair now.
I’m just about to begin the final leg of the Fallen, and I’m excited. Genuinely.
The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson
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I have been rereading Mistborn a lot, lately. Something about it keeps drawing me back to the first Era of the series by Brandon, even though I am finding Era 2 a better conducted experience. As it is later in time, I understand why, as writers improve dramatically over time. I feel this will be the case with me too with The Thousand Scars, and already I am taking advice on board into The Aegis Mora.
Onto book two, The Well of Ascension is a bit polarising, and I understand why. It’s slow, drags on through a heavy siege scenario, continues to explain Allomancy like its a damn science lecture, and brings in terrible attempts at a love triangle. I say this even when I like Elend and Vin, although I do feel their relationship at this point is oddly stunted for the time scale, with conversations that should have taken place much earlier, a “As you Know, Bob” syndrome I feel. This book is a bit of a slog, but the final quarter is excellent and when you realise just how dangerous Ruin is, its a blow to the gut.
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
I have been looking forward to this book for so long, and Mark very kindly sent me a signed paperback copy for this blog. I cannot wait to get into this one.
I don’t have much to say on it, because I haven’t started it. But I plan to very soon, and i’m sure I’m going to enjoy it.
Oh, enjoy a terrible selfie of me while you’re at it. I’m still testing the selfie camera of my new phone.
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That’s all for now. I just wanted to put something up again, for I have neglected my blog a bit much lately.
February 6, 2018
Book Review: The Prince of Thorns
It feels great to get back into this! Welcome to the series where you get a great insight into one of the most messed up teenage protagonists you will ever meet. A psychopathic, murdering bastard.
And I love him.
All hail Jorg Ancrath, King of the Broken Empire!
First, I will say I am only halfway through the first series by the awesome Mark Lawrence. I’m about a third through King of Thorns. So many books on my backlog!
However, I did finish Prince of Thorns late last year. And I quite liked it. You can certainly tell it was the first novel and it is rough around the edges, but it has a rugged, dirty charm that drew me in the more I read it.
Mark absolutely nails his protagonists, and what I read was one of the best examples of world-building and characterisation I have ever read. Jorg is a complete psychopath, and I adore him. Sure, his childhood trauma goes some way to explaining how much of a mess he is, and while I cannot relate with the protagonist much, having a refreshing insight into what could well be the villain was enjoyable to go into, even if a lot of his scenes were uncomfortable. This book also pulls no punches from the get-go. Torture from the first page? You got it. Piss off Jorg? You’re liable to losing a few balls. Murder, rape and watching villages get torn apart by war? Yep.
It is gritty, violent and brutal from beginning to end, and I love it.
A lot of people have criticised the book for the violence, especially early on. And some people will be turned off by the constant in-your-face aggression. There is a heavily implied rape scene within the opening few pages, so that might serve as a warning. It’s certainly not for everyone.
There are far worse out there. While Prince of Thorns does do the grim-dark tone in a rather heavy style, it was done in a way I never found outright offensive. Unlike stuff like The Sword of Truth (Goodkind…looking at you here), I never felt the need to just put the book down out of protest. I’ve always had a strong stomach for fiction though and I can tell that it is not real, though I completely get why this level of violence in books can turn people off. This book is controversial for a good reason.
The setting in a post apocalyptic medieval Europe is nice to read through, and I enjoyed the fighting scenes as well. There were some things I did stop to think about however. As much as I love Jorg as a character (He grows on you throughout the series), his rampage with his band of outlaw knights almost feels insert fan favourite character. How he got this band of stronger and deadly men to obey him, I have no idea. While Jorg is extremely well done as a character, some of the others are just there for page numbers, which is a bit of a shame. The Nuban and the priest Mentor could have been a lot more interesting in hindsight, but they tended to be overlooked. I forgive this because of everything else melding together like peanut butter and jelly, and Mark really improves on this in the following book, King of Thorns.
The narrative is also oddly blunt in places, and flops around quite a bit. It took me some time to adjust. This didn’t really bother me either, but it might put some readers off.
In my Goodreads review, I gave Prince of Thorns an 8 out of 10, and I stand by that. It’s not for everyone and deserves its controversy, does suffer from some development flaws and teething troubles from an opening book, but I genuinely enjoyed the read, and I am continuing to enjoy my journey through the Broken Empire.
Check out the book down below:
February 4, 2018
A Tale of Rengar: My fantasy World in Short
Good morning all. I awoke yesterday to find something terrifying.
I turned 28.
I’m nearly 30. *Internal screaming*
Ahem. So, I’m 28 now. It was a nice birthday at least. I had a meal out with my girlfriend and my parents, where Vicky took a lot of pleasure in trying to steal her boyfriend’s food. That does happen.
Anyway, today’s article I’ll admit is a bit of a cheat. This is already posted on a great blog done by the fantasy author M.L.Spencer, which is called Our Epic Worlds. Go check out the link here:
However, I thought it would be nice to repost it here, in its full. In it, I explore a little bit of the magic and parts of the world, and just a bit to wet your appetites. I am in the middle of sharing the lore of my world on Patreon.
My debut novel is The Thousand Scars, the first chapter in my Counterbalance series. What is Counterbalance?
“Counterbalance tells the brutal story of a land in turmoil, as two desperate superpowers battle for survival in a war of terror and clashes of morality.”
A complex series, it involves bloody battles and sieges, vengeful necromancers, rampant mercenary companies, a young man desperately searching for a new home, and powerful conspiracies.
For good or evil, The Thousand Scars shall bleed the world…and they will save it. Or will they? The first book of the series released on December 9th, the opening book of this epic fantasy series.
What is the name of your world?
The two main continents in which the series takes place in are Harloph and Klassos, but the overall world itself is known as Rengar. I will be honest, getting the name of the planet took a very long time, and it was not until late 2016 in which I finally found a name for it. Here are two maps below, which document Klassos, part of Harloph, and the western landmass of Uldur.
Is there a system of magic?
There is, in a manner of speaking. Counterbalance will not go heavily into the magic system because it can be performed by so few in that part of the world. I will, however, provide an excerpt from a WIP novel I am working on in the same universe that goes into the system in a bit more depth.
Maura felt her fingers and palms, slightly shiny with old scabs and burns. The thought of that particular regime made her shudder. “Naked flame, four hours a day for a month,” she replied, trembling a little. They were lonely days locked up in the stuffy rooms, day after day spending hours with hands above a naked flame, trying to ignore the increasing pain in her flesh as the fire scorched her. It was only way of course. If you wanted to summon flame from your body without a source, you had to channel it through Memory; accustoming the body to its blistering heat until it assimilated its form. If she wanted to summon ice, she would have had to endure freezing conditions until her body ingested its form. And healing…I had to poison myself daily until I could reverse it. It was a dangerous game. Every choice had a consequence, but if mastered in time, one could accomplish anything. The experience was rather unpleasant, and it discouraged her from trying out another Memory.
Turning The Page, WIP fantasy series.
I prefer a natural magic system to a mechanical one. Everything has a cost, and everything has consequences. In order to access the magical energy of the world, you must first embark on a psychological journey into the underworld where death, life and magic itself are intertwined. This is the same for all humans, while the more magically-aligned Valian race does not have this requirement. Again, I will use two excerpts from my WIP novel to explore it further.
Interesting Fact! Tyir of Irene in The Thousand Scars used the same method for his necromancy, but with more primitive ingredients.
Maura laughed, but it was a forced thing. The memory of the Journey had been a harrowing experience. Thenin’s words came back to her again.
After the initial hell of the concoction to open your body to the allures of sorcery, you then awaken in pitch darkness, the breath of the walls pulsing like the touch of deathly ice. then from there it is up to your senses. Groping through the dark. Every second scorches your very imprint. Not many get back whole. I will ask you once more, Maura Velide. Do you want me to continue? There is no shame in turning back. There are other things we can teach you that does not involve poisoning your mind.
“We were both lucky you know, Maura. You didn’t hear it, but it takes great strength for a man to return from the Mora in one piece. Not many do. It was worse in the early days of man, I read. Before they discovered the Her concoction to induce the effects more safely, you had to resort to more dangerous methods of inducing the toxic state on your soul. They used anything from snake venom to nightshade. The death toll for man was even higher. It almost made me wish I was born Valian, during the darkest days. They were never born with that handicap, they could access the Mora’s veins without resorting to all of this poison.”
Map of Harloph, which is inside The Thousand Scars.
What are the people who inhabit your world like? Are they based on real-world cultures? What systems of government are in place?
I based the human cultures in Counterbalance using a lot of ancient and medieval history. For example, Imperial Bawsor (The Balian Empire) I created using a combination of Roman military hardware and medieval feudalism. Its rival nemesis the Selpvian Dominion I took aspects from Macedon, Carthage, Parthia and ancient Achaemenid Persia as inspiration for its massive but ungainly territory, mixed with fantasy and magical elements. There are some incredible ancient weapons and tactics I incorporated into the Counterbalance series, and like ancient history I pit different styles together. The disciplined infantry might of the Balian Legion battles the vast mobility and diversity of the Selpvian Army.
The Pharos Order is a sect I took elements from the Pope, as well as the Papal States. I took a lot of influences from real-world history into developing the land of Harloph, which is where the bulk of Counterbalance takes place. The Order I will be the first to admit get a lot of hate from other factions in the world because of their history and ideals, and are not the first ones to get poorly treated.
Bawsor is built around an Imperial government, ruled by the Emperor who is joined by an elite council of high-born nobles. Each province of the Empire is ruled by a family, who in turn command lesser families under their banner. Each major family has members inside the elite council, who all have a say in ruling the Empire, but the majority of power still comes from the Emperor or Empress itself. The capital city of Bawsor contains the wealth and power of the Empire as well as training its elite army of legionaries, supported by the House armies of locally raised levies and “lesser” soldiers.
Are there any magical creatures?
There are a few, although I use Earth-like creatures quite often, or at the very least, utilize pre-historic history to build on. I have the giant boars that exist in the Kahal, and I invented a new race that developed a powerful relationship with them called “Gaols.”
Named after the mighty Palveran boars of Harloph, Gaol became known as “Boarmen”, because they depended upon the massive boars for everything. Gaol was the Valian name for “Boarspawn.”, coined after decades of violent warfare against them.
Covered in light blue hair, the Gaols were my take on “what could Smurfs do if they were actually effective?” That, and I wondered how Smurfs would be if they were six to eight feet tall. Then it just snowballed from there.
Powerful with an aspect on small clusters of family life, they lived in freezing conditions, but they struggled to adapt to change. While Gaols still live on in current Harloph in tiny numbers, many events such as the Great Cooling, the Moment and the devastating War of Chaos drove them to near extinction.
Valians are seen to me as the “perfect being”, created by the gods themselves to serve in their image. I will admit I used elves as inspiration! After the death of the First Gods, Valians had to figure out life on their own, and their control over mankind broke immediately after their gods death (Who taught them that mankind were created as inferior slaves for Valian blood. This is the theory of several human empires.) A large company of Valian’s found Harloph during a decade of exploration to discover the unknown world, and conquered much of it before their eventual downfall. Despite their extinction, their influence on current day Harloph is still considerable.
What are the two most interesting facts or features of your world?
One would be the Keidan Spire itself, which is set inside the Kahal region in Harloph. Said to be the final remains of the last Valian race in Harloph, they maintain a peaceful, meditative nature, and remain isolated from the rest of the world. The main citadel itself is only the surface of a vast underground kingdom, created from a living stone called Nekocthr, as Valians grew their cities rather than build them out of stone and wood.
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Existing for thousands of years in isolation, the Keidan focuses mainly on its own self-study and harvesting of knowledge, and “trips” into the Mora are practiced and heavily sanctioned. They do take in acolytes for training and expertise from around its lands, many of whom are “converted” to the Empty Goddess. They are certainly the most “exotic” faction in Counterbalance and present a vital part of the series. They are also my favourite faction in the series, and you will see a lot of them in the tales to come!
Another fact of the world I would like to share is that I have always envisioned Rengar to be seen almost as an alternative – Pre-Earth. I have not finalized all the details yet (Gardening the world takes a long time), but I have always imagined long after all of the races of Rengar have died out, life would start again and mankind will evolve once more, but without magic.
What is one last thing you would like readers to know all about your world?
The main one is that it’s still in development. I’ve probably got about 80,000 words worth of lore alone, and I’m probably 5% done if that. It will be a lifelong process, but hopefully, I can share it with the world!
Here is the link to my book on Amazon:
Connect with me here:
Website: http://bit.ly/1RMNPho
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2knxeHY
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2knzZsz
FaceBook: http://bit.ly/2kiNHSk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anduril38/
I hope you enjoy the read in full. I’ll be back in a few days with another article. A book review? An interview? Who knows? Stay tuned for more!
January 29, 2018
Three Books I am reading: January 2018
A new segment! This will not be a large article, it is just me talking a little bit about the books I am currently reading during the months ahead. Adds more content anyway!
This gives you guys an idea of what I am currently reading as well. All are awesome reads, and I recommend you all come and give them a go!
The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie
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Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.
That already signed me up, and I have heard amazing things about the series. I got the first trilogy in paperback for Christmas, and I cannot wait to get stuck into the series. I’m barely a tenth into the Blade Itself so far, and I’m enjoying it. The worldbuilding is solid, the writing makes me want to know more, and Logen Ninefingers seems like the kind of guy I would go out for drinks with.
What else is there to love?
Wrath, by John Gwynne
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The final part of the Faithful and the Fallen series, this is a book I actually still need to buy. It is at the top of my purchase list, because I have to know how it ends!
Ruin’s ending was brutal in the similar fashion of the Red Wedding from A Song of Ice and Fire, to the point I looked up from my Kindle and just went: “Really? You do that after giving me so much hope!”
It’s probably bad I care more for animals in fantasy then I do actual humans. I’m such a nice writer and reader, aren’t I?
I seriously recommend this series, and I cannot wait to get started on the final book in this series. I have A Time of Dread on my shelf just begging to be read, but I cannot start until I finish Wrath. Let’s do this!
The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith-Spark
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With some of the most incredible prose I have ever read in a book, this is one hell of a debut! I’m about 20% through this so far and while at times I am struggling with the strange way the prose comes out of the page, the imagery is so vivid it feels like I am watching a movie, not reading a book. Anna, you have got something incredible here (and I still do not have whiskey while reading your book. I know, It is a travesty!)
Come and have a look! I’m enjoying my reading so far this year. Tune in during the week for another article on worldbuilding!
January 16, 2018
Getting to know your Characters: Interview them!
Hey everybody, and welcome to another article. This time, I’m going to talk a bit about character interviews, and give you a sample to look at, based on my own fantasy world.
Getting to know your creations is essential to making good characters I find. After all, if you don’t know your characters back to front, how will you expect those to read about them to learn? I really admire people who can rattle off everything about their characters to the point that they are living things because it proves they’ve studied their creations and honed them so much they’re real to them. That is how it should be done! That takes dedication, and it shows in the written piece. Characters on the written page should be as developed as you are. How well do you know your friends? Pretty well I bet? You should know your characters even better. Why? Because you created them. You control them. You call the shots. Do all you can on this.
How best to do this? I find the immersive way is the best. By that I mean, get into your world, sit your character down, and talk to them! Learn things about them through questions, do their hobbies and have a conversation with them, or even use it for a job interview. Say your character is a sorcerer, but wants the job to the High Temple of Drekor. (This is something I just made up.)
Then take the role of the boss, and interview them, find out more about them. Doing this allows you to find out more about your world (Worldbuilding is great!) and you get to research your characters more intimately. This is vital because it gives them flesh. Nothing kills a novel more than cardboard, bland characters. The more you know about your characters, the better your story will be. Trust me on this. And do not just save this for your special main characters. Every character in your story should be as well crafted as each other. Give them the same amount of love!
Example:
To give you an idea of this, here is an interview I conducted with a character from my Counterbalance series, with Lazarus Oltor, the ruler of the Free City of Valare. To check the book out, the link is down below!
Welcome. Tell me your name?
Certainly. You have the honor of speaking to Lazarus Oltor. I come from the Sepulcher of the Pharos Order, but I am the standing ruler of Valare. The free city of Valare. (He scowls at mentioning the Order.)
You do not approve of them?
Hinari is growing old, and bitter. He is a good man, I will not deny him that. but he is losing sight of what he wants. Pharos is the legacy of the Order, but too much of it is based on aged ideas. The way forward is exploring the past, but he refuses to see it.
I see. That is understandable. What is your profession?
I’m an archeologist. When I was ten, my father took me to the Sepulcher library, where I read for four days straight learning about the Chaos age, and the sites within Harloph. When he came for me, he found me asleep with my nose buried in the tomb. (laughs). You could say I had found my future in those tombs. I wanted to see it for myself.
What brought you to this city?
Well, that’s one of the high points in my life, I guess (He laughs, and pauses.) I fled to Valare with my friend Tyir twenty years ago. It became our refuge. When Valare came under attack from that bastard Mercer Duston, I took it on myself to help defend the city It was an independent trading capital, head of the Barta League and covered lucrative trade in the Forbidden Lands. We had…been seeking refuge, you see. Tyir did me a great…service, and I freed him from his prison, where he was due to be executed by the Order. You could say it was the catalyst to me leaving the Order. It opened my eyes, so to speak. I became a new man.
I hear it was a bloody siege.
(Laughs bitterly). Not as bad as you would expect. We had the ports, and the rebels couldn’t breach the walls, which I took the liberty to reinforce and train with masonries, organizing the defenses. Tai Cassel, he was working as my bodyguard at the time, he took command of the garrison, and we managed to hold out until the Empire and the Order marched upon the rebels and routed them.
The last time Hinari ever set field in battle. Mercer was broken, but not defeated. He was banished from the Empire, and fled east. I hear he has rebuilt links with the League. I will not trust him again, but the whims of the League I have no control over. We had survived, but the people, my people, paid a heavy price.
You saved the city.
I did what I had to do. Empress Adriena decreed that the city become mine for my defense, which Yurin and Haewin insisted upon. Hinari was happy for me, and immediately I took the liberty to turn this world into the greatest archeology academy this world has ever seen.
What made you decide to follow the one they call the Paladin, the Necromancer? The Black hell of this world? Or rather, what made you tolerate Tyir’s art? I hear it is legendary.
Well….(Lazarus hesitates, but my question of Tyir has not gone down well.) Do you know the history of the Pact of Chaos?
I know of it. Please go on.
The Pharos Order, fearing the consequences and the terrible price Harloph paid for the Mora; or rather the source of the afterlife, if you aren’t educated in the term, began its purge. Anybody found learning the ways of the Mora, any attempt were executed, or sentenced to Limbo. Who granted them that right? The Mora is an unlimited wealth of knowledge. Dangerous, costly, but a wealth beyond the real boundaries of this world. (Laughs). It’s funny. They had it in them to dominate Harloph, but their own fear cost them that. They weakened themselves, and a brutal civil war between the three main families and the Sepulcher ended in a massacre. Then, House Nephyos foolishly decided to attack the Undine Kindgom, nearly six hundred years ago. That was a disaster. The fools.
What are you most proud of about your life?
Being able to create this (Gestures out of the window of Valare, where we are seated on his personal balcony, overlooking the city.). I’d like to think I am a good leader and a skilled teacher. Tyir and Cassel help me keep the peace, and we bring in the trade and fish and the harvest from outside the walls to feed our students. We train our own private army, the riches are always protected by wolves and the damned. A standing army of five thousand protect the city from any possible attack and prepare to take our students to excavate the follies of the past. It is an endless sand which will never be destroyed, not permanently. We’ve revolutionized the city, making the freest and peaceful in its history. That is my greatest achievement, I feel. I made my own path.
What are you most ashamed of in your life?
Only that I served the Order for so long…..it is a devolution, fragmented and corrupt. As what will become them all, if they stay in their ways. History has shown them it’s no longer possible. I do still love them. Some of them, for what they are. I pity the others for the boys they once were. Not the men they turned out to be.
Tell me about your family.
I had no other siblings. My father served as first Sate to Hinar when he first came into his position fifty years ago, but he grew disillusioned with the amount of work. Counting coppers was not part of his enjoyment, nor was it serving the religious quota to Pharos. My father was not much of a religious man, you see. Sure, he believed in Pharos as my old kin, but he wasn’t a fanatic at all. I liked that about him. My mother…despised his lack of faith. I remember them arguing about it, most days.
Your mother was a religious woman I take it?
(Laughs loudly) Who in the Order wasn’t religious, besides oddballs like me and my father? Oh, there wasn’t a single ceremony for the great Pharos that she didn’t attend. Even when her body was ravished by the shakes, she still attended while our matron straddled her in cloth to prevent her biting her tongue off….she never recovered from that. (He pauses)
You can stop.
No, it’s alright. She had been getting weaker since giving birth to my youngest brother for years, but slowly her faith overtook her condition, and she paid the price. It destroyed my father when she died. He resigned as Sate, and turned to drinking and the forbidden practices. That too overwhelmed him, and he died a rich, but destroyed man.
You haven’t answered my question about Tyir.
And will not, if that’s alright. Tyir is a dangerous man, yes. He has killed and tortured, in his experiments. But he is a good man, and saved my life, and I his. Is it okay if we move on?
Certainly. What’s your belief on the sex and ways of the profession? I hear Valare is rather liberal in that freedom.
(That brings a laugh from him).
Interesting question, friend. It doesn’t care who you are, anybody who has the ability can rise to where they want to be. Valare has freely appointed women into lines of duty. Even now, it is one of the few cities which appoints women to consider positions of power. Not unheard of, as the leader of the Empire is a woman, and one of the greatest women I have ever known. Means little, as long as you have the strength of character and the talent.
Very well. To finish up for now, if you could pick a spend the day with somebody you admire, can be anybody you want, who would it be, and what would you do?
A good question, and many choices. I would go with my childhood friend, Samwell Irian. We were close during our early days, but kind of grew apart. By the time we were thirty, he spent much of his time in the deep teachings of Pharos. I…chose a better path in the end.
It is pretty easy, right? Hopefully this helps a bit!
Links:
Blog: http://bit.ly/1RMNPho
Facebook Author page: http://bit.ly/2kiNHSk
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2kZ4wix
Worldbuilding Services: http://bit.ly/2kBMiCB
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2knzZsz
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2knxeHY
Patreon: http://bit.ly/2laP311
January 7, 2018
Author Interview with Paul Lavender
Welcome to my first author interview of the year! Let us make this a great 2018 for us all. If you would like one, get in touch! Simple as that.
Today’s interview is the one and only Paul Lavender, a fellow Geordie, and author of The Eighth God. We took the time to chat last week. Here is his replies.
First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?
I’m a fifty year old self-exiled Geordie who lives in Worcester, UK. I am married and have a little boy of eight who has Asperger’s Syndrome and sensory processing disorder. I support Gateshead F.C football club and indie authors.
I am a stay at home dad, but before that I was a manager at a logistics company that delivered vehicles all over the UK.
How do you develop your plots and characters?
I tend to see where my writing takes me rather than plot anything. The characters in my books are a mix of old roleplaying game characters and new characters (some of which I know in real life and have had features / traits mixed with other people I know).
Tell us about your current project.
I am currently writing the sequel to Tales from Ashen Falls which is Return to Ashen Falls (More and longer stories).
Who would you say is the main character of your novels? And tell me a little bit about them!
The Eighth God is written from several viewpoints but if I had to pick one, I would say Saethryth is the main catalyst. He is one of two Orcslayers, who are a group of seven powerful warriors that the elves believe protect them from the orcs that live over the mountains. He has just returned from fighting the orcs single handedly and is looking to rest and recharge. As the book is titled The Eighth God we learn things aren’t always as they seem in relation to the Orcslayers and more revelations take place in The Sect of Seven.
I’ve also found that different readers have taken a liking to different characters in The Eighth God as well.
What advice would you give new writers on how to delve into creative fiction?
Read, read and read some more. Then join groups on Facebook. There are a lot of nice, friendly folk who will offer great advice if you ask.
What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the worldbuilding within your book?
There isn’t a lot of worldbuilding in The Eighth God as it only has about seven locations in it. It’s supposed to read like a 1980’s movie, with fast paced action and one of those really naff horror movie endings. The other thing I wanted to do was expand on the world as our heroes went through it. So in The Sect of Seven we will see more locations as the main character is more travelled.
When I was younger I did a lot of hill / fell walking around the borders and the lake district so I do tend to try for that vibe. In Return to Ashen Falls I bring in the concept of the bastle, which is a fortified barn that was popular in the border region.
What inspires you to write?
The voices in my head told me to do it!
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
My son. He was going to a mainstream school and he couldn’t take all the noise. This would make him run and within half an hour I would get a phone call to collect him. He is now in a school which only has eight pupils in but only goes for five hours a day.
I also think that as I’m at home I should do all the ironing, hoovering, polishing, cooking etc., so they get done first before any writing gets done.
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
The second short story from Tales from Ashen Falls is called The Dove’s Head Inn and stars two bouncers called Pock & Cock, who are a lot more than they seem. It reads a like a Terry Pratchett story but with a Viz (British comic for adults) twist.
Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?
I need to get an editor! You have to bear in mind it’s been a long time since I went to school and the brain is getting a little rusty.
It’s sometimes difficult to get into understanding the characters we write. How do you go about it?
I understand most of the main characters pretty well because a roleplayed a lot of them for years, but I have little character index cards that I can refer to if I need to.
What are your future project(s)?
I have The Sect of Seven which is the follow up to The Eight God, Helekose (which will finish the trilogy), Last Orders at The Dove’s Head Inn (which will finish THAT trilogy), and Lastly I have a tentatively titled Assassin (which is set in a magical 19th century).
If you couldn’t be an author, what ideal job would you like to do?
Games designer. I try and dabble with this every now and again.
What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?
My website is https://pslavender.wixsite.com/the-orcslayers where you can find my Facebook and Twitter details!
A pleasure to have you here Paul! He is quite the awesome character, check out his stuff!
January 3, 2018
Samorlian Inquisition – Michael R. Baker
My interview with J.P. Ashman! Some rather entertaining questions!
This one was hard to find. It took long enough, but Inquisitor Makhell’s witchunters eventually found the man in question hovering above Drapnor in a balloon, drawing maps, of all things. Aye, not only is this history buff a writer of tall tales, but he’s a drawer of exquisite maps, too. I give you the author of The Thousand Scars, folks. I give you: Michael. R. Baker.
If I gave you an elk, where would you hide it?
“Inside the phone so I can spring it upon people who think it’s amusing to try and sell me scams across the phone where I cannot punch them in the face.”
Why would you be hiding it? Weird.
“The alternative option is more illegal.”
Tell us something about your work in progress?
“Working on a new fantasy series. After the death of the White King…
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January 2, 2018
Michael R.Baker’s Epic World of Rengar
This was lovely to do for a great blog, where you get to know a bit more about my world!
![The Thousand Scars (The Counterbalance Book 1) by [Baker, Michael R.]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1514996382i/24823637.jpg)
My debut novel is The Thousand Scars, the first chapter in my Counterbalance series. What is Counterbalance
Counterbalance tells the brutal story of a land in turmoil, as two desperate superpowers battle for survival in a war of terror and clashes of morality.
A complex series, it involves bloody battles and sieges, vengeful necromancers, rampant mercenary companies, a young man desperately searching for a new home, and powerful conspiracies.
For good or evil, The Thousand Scars shall bleed the world…and they will save it. Or will they? The first book of the series released on December 9th, the opening book of this epic fantasy series.
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December 31, 2017
2017: A year of Retrospective
Healthwise, I’d love to say it got better…but it hasn’t. However, it has not gotten worse either. It is the same story, but for the first time since my diagnosis, it has not regressed further in 2017. I’ve even been able to return for light exercise at the gym which I will be continuing throughout 2018/9.
Ever since my diagnosis in 2014, Chronic fatigue hasn’t gone away no matter what I’ve attempted to try and improve it, and it’s affected every part of my life in ways I didn’t expect. However, I am confident going into 2018 that I can at least contain it, if not recover slightly. I’ve made a good start this year!
But that is only the bad things of the year. Writing-wise, I have only good to say. It took me five years. But it’s not going to stop there. I have a fantasy realm to share with the world.
I’ve had several eye-openers in writing this year, and during periods of writer’s block during the earlier months of 2017 and the more severe fatigue I’ve also been putting pen to paper and coming up with countless other ideas for stories, so that is another good thing for further down the line. I have built up a pretty cool platform and met some amazing people through it.
Going into 2017, I feel I have made such progress on my writing ability over the past year, and I feel that shows in my own works. Indeed, I’m working on an entirely new fantasy series alongside Counterbalance, and with my map making/fantasy world-building commissions, hopefully, I can take that through into 2017.
When I started my journey of writing, I will admit I had no idea what I was doing. (Let’s be fair, I still don’t, but I know more now then I did back then!) Counterbalance is my first novel, and before June 2015, it was one terrible, bloated mess. I was writing, with no plan.
Then by complete chance, I talked to who is now my publisher, Michael Kobernus of Nordland Publishing. We talked a great deal, I took advice from a great friend and split the novel from one book into three. It involved stripping the whole book and rewriting pretty much everything. It was the hardest lesson, but I cannot enjoy it more. The book turned from something which was a fragmented mess, into a (still in my eyes) fragmented mess, but one which is far superior to what it was. I was rewarded with the offer, and I couldn’t be happier.
Yes. 2017 was the first time ever I can actually answer people’s questions. “Michael, when is your book going to come out?” And I can reply:
It is out!
The blog has done well this year, but it could be so much more. As of 2018, I will be keeping the doors open 24/7 to authors. Want an interview? I’ll only be too happy to accommodate?
Want your stuff shared out? Again, I’ll only be too happy to help!
Want your book reviewed? Get in contact!
2018 needs to be the return of myself. 2017 was a year of healing. I’m not quite there yet, but seeing how close things were in previous years, I think I am doing okay. And that is all I need.
Links to other articles I made this year! (I’ll keep updating this when I have time!)
The Big One: My Top 5 books of 2017
Games of 2017 – The Other Awards!
The Thousand Scars by Michael R. Baker
A Thousand Scars – The Turnaround
A Thousand Scars – Years of Backpacking across Thickets of Nothing
A Thousand Scars – The Beginning
Book Reviews
Book Review: The Heart of Stone
Book Review: Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Book Review: Eliesmore and the Green Stone, by Angela.J.Ford
Book Review – Sowing by Angie Grigaliunas
Book Review: Reborn by Linn Tesli Lønaas
