Eli Steele's Blog, page 5
October 17, 2019
Author Interview, S. Kaeth
Today we visit with S. Kaeth, and discuss Windward.
Tell us a little about yourself: I’m drawn to creating things as a way to sort of push back the darkness, so my house is littered with various creative endeavors: journals of conlangs and worldbuilding sketches, strings and beads and jewelry making supplies, paints and books and various musical instruments that I can nominally play if your expectations are low. I train animals and adore reptiles, and I enjoy hiking and playing Capoeira when I’m not writing. Ever since I was little I’ve been a storyteller, telling awful passive-aggressive bedtime stories to my older sister, writing a historical fiction serial in the high school newspaper, writing terrible fan fiction, etc. I’ve been serious about my writing for about seven years now, and my writing has grown by leaps and bounds as I’ve averaged a bit over 100k in stories through those seven years while learning to embrace my own style and to succeed at self-editing and editing from critiques and other feedbacks. I’m part of several writing groups, and am also a Writer In Motion.
What authors do you draw inspiration from and why: Andre Norton, Orson Scott Card, and Ursula K LeGuin have inspired me since I was little and devoured their stories. I love stories of interactions between people of one planet/race/island/whatnot and those of another. More recently, I get inspiration from Robin Hobb, Brandon Sanderson, and NK Jemisin for their worldbuilding and the way they weave together their stories. I like to read stories that might be a little more leisurely paced in the beginning, while all the strands are being played and slowly woven together until the reader finally sees what’s emerging, and that has definitely affected my own work.
Tell us about your book: Windward is my debut novel, and at its heart, it’s a classic fantasy adventure. Palon’s bond with her partner Windward is something she cherishes, but when she is given responsibility for a newly bonded teen who tricked her dragon and was in turn tricked during the bonding process, she finds herself starting to think of those times when bonding can go wrong. Tebah, the newly bonded’s, rebelliousness causes friction among the dragons who are already upset, and the telepathic stresses reach a breaking point when Palon is framed for stealing from a dragon. It’s a story of strengths being turned to weaknesses and the power and fear of trust, as well as the friendship and bond between Palon and Windward.
How long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges: I started Windward as a break from working on my epic, and tried Camp Nano in April of 2018 with it, but didn’t get very far (28k or so) before I was distracted by other things to work on. So I made a commitment to it in November and re-wrote it from scratch for Nanowrimo. I worked on it hard, editing the two drafts together and smoothing things out, sending to beta readers and editing again, for most of this year, and then released it September 27th of this year.
One of the main issues with Windward was Palon. I wanted her to feel alien, as she is very dragon in her thinking and extremely emotive. Her values are not values a lot of people would identify with, and it causes a lot of clashes with Tebah and Palon’s mate Aturadin. I wanted to somehow balance that alien, other feeling while still making her relatable, and sometimes went a bit too far one way or the other during edits. Balancing Palon’s trust in the bond with Tebah’s rebellious anger at it was also tricky, but I wanted to show that a person can love something and still find flaws in it. Since Windward is my debut, I of course had a lot to learn about self-publishing, and I certainly could not be here without the help and advice so freely and graciously given to me. I was unaware of how long the cover would take, though I’m super happy we didn’t rush it, and had to push back the release date a couple times because my expectations were frankly unrealistic.
What is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your world: Well I mention that I wanted Palon to feel alien, and part of that is because she, and all the bonded, are aliens. There are precisely zero humans in Windward. The bonded are volunteers from a race of humanoids called Rinaryns, and my epic, which I’m working on, centers around those Rinaryns who do notleave behind the culture they’re born in to go live with dragons.
What do you enjoy developing the most – characters, plot, or your world – and why: I don’t really know how to answer this. I love them all, and I’m not sure I love any more than any other. I am definitely a gardener, though and once I find the character’s voice, I just let them speak and I take notes. I derive a ton of worldbuilding from what the character fears and wants and hates, etc, and it’s fun to tease out the differences in motivations and values from one character to another, even in a single POV novel like Windward. The plot just sort of flows naturally from what’s happening and what the character is doing and how they’re reacting. My world’s been set up for several years, and it was a lot of fun to think through that with various renditions of other stories, but since I tend to write in the one world/multi-verse, I don’t have an enormous amount of work to do on the worldbuilding with new works. For Windward the worldbuilding was largely limited to dragon culture and to what changes to the basic Rinaryn culture happen to create dragonbonded culture. What fallout is there from a telepathic connection that sends emotions, values, hopes, dreams, and fears back and forth through the bond between mammal and reptile, along with thoughts? This was a ton of fun to explore.
Book price and where it can be found: Windward is available on Amazon, with paperbacks for $12.99, ebooks for $2.99, and it’s free on Kindle Unlimited.
What’s your next project: I’m back to my epic, finishing drafting out Book Four of the five book series, and I’m on track to draft Book Five for Nano. Then I just need to finish putting the final polishes on the first book and release it into the world.
Contact information: You can find me at skaeth.com and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kaeth_s
Tell us a little about yourself: I’m drawn to creating things as a way to sort of push back the darkness, so my house is littered with various creative endeavors: journals of conlangs and worldbuilding sketches, strings and beads and jewelry making supplies, paints and books and various musical instruments that I can nominally play if your expectations are low. I train animals and adore reptiles, and I enjoy hiking and playing Capoeira when I’m not writing. Ever since I was little I’ve been a storyteller, telling awful passive-aggressive bedtime stories to my older sister, writing a historical fiction serial in the high school newspaper, writing terrible fan fiction, etc. I’ve been serious about my writing for about seven years now, and my writing has grown by leaps and bounds as I’ve averaged a bit over 100k in stories through those seven years while learning to embrace my own style and to succeed at self-editing and editing from critiques and other feedbacks. I’m part of several writing groups, and am also a Writer In Motion.
What authors do you draw inspiration from and why: Andre Norton, Orson Scott Card, and Ursula K LeGuin have inspired me since I was little and devoured their stories. I love stories of interactions between people of one planet/race/island/whatnot and those of another. More recently, I get inspiration from Robin Hobb, Brandon Sanderson, and NK Jemisin for their worldbuilding and the way they weave together their stories. I like to read stories that might be a little more leisurely paced in the beginning, while all the strands are being played and slowly woven together until the reader finally sees what’s emerging, and that has definitely affected my own work.
Tell us about your book: Windward is my debut novel, and at its heart, it’s a classic fantasy adventure. Palon’s bond with her partner Windward is something she cherishes, but when she is given responsibility for a newly bonded teen who tricked her dragon and was in turn tricked during the bonding process, she finds herself starting to think of those times when bonding can go wrong. Tebah, the newly bonded’s, rebelliousness causes friction among the dragons who are already upset, and the telepathic stresses reach a breaking point when Palon is framed for stealing from a dragon. It’s a story of strengths being turned to weaknesses and the power and fear of trust, as well as the friendship and bond between Palon and Windward.
How long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges: I started Windward as a break from working on my epic, and tried Camp Nano in April of 2018 with it, but didn’t get very far (28k or so) before I was distracted by other things to work on. So I made a commitment to it in November and re-wrote it from scratch for Nanowrimo. I worked on it hard, editing the two drafts together and smoothing things out, sending to beta readers and editing again, for most of this year, and then released it September 27th of this year.
One of the main issues with Windward was Palon. I wanted her to feel alien, as she is very dragon in her thinking and extremely emotive. Her values are not values a lot of people would identify with, and it causes a lot of clashes with Tebah and Palon’s mate Aturadin. I wanted to somehow balance that alien, other feeling while still making her relatable, and sometimes went a bit too far one way or the other during edits. Balancing Palon’s trust in the bond with Tebah’s rebellious anger at it was also tricky, but I wanted to show that a person can love something and still find flaws in it. Since Windward is my debut, I of course had a lot to learn about self-publishing, and I certainly could not be here without the help and advice so freely and graciously given to me. I was unaware of how long the cover would take, though I’m super happy we didn’t rush it, and had to push back the release date a couple times because my expectations were frankly unrealistic.
What is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your world: Well I mention that I wanted Palon to feel alien, and part of that is because she, and all the bonded, are aliens. There are precisely zero humans in Windward. The bonded are volunteers from a race of humanoids called Rinaryns, and my epic, which I’m working on, centers around those Rinaryns who do notleave behind the culture they’re born in to go live with dragons.
What do you enjoy developing the most – characters, plot, or your world – and why: I don’t really know how to answer this. I love them all, and I’m not sure I love any more than any other. I am definitely a gardener, though and once I find the character’s voice, I just let them speak and I take notes. I derive a ton of worldbuilding from what the character fears and wants and hates, etc, and it’s fun to tease out the differences in motivations and values from one character to another, even in a single POV novel like Windward. The plot just sort of flows naturally from what’s happening and what the character is doing and how they’re reacting. My world’s been set up for several years, and it was a lot of fun to think through that with various renditions of other stories, but since I tend to write in the one world/multi-verse, I don’t have an enormous amount of work to do on the worldbuilding with new works. For Windward the worldbuilding was largely limited to dragon culture and to what changes to the basic Rinaryn culture happen to create dragonbonded culture. What fallout is there from a telepathic connection that sends emotions, values, hopes, dreams, and fears back and forth through the bond between mammal and reptile, along with thoughts? This was a ton of fun to explore.
Book price and where it can be found: Windward is available on Amazon, with paperbacks for $12.99, ebooks for $2.99, and it’s free on Kindle Unlimited.
What’s your next project: I’m back to my epic, finishing drafting out Book Four of the five book series, and I’m on track to draft Book Five for Nano. Then I just need to finish putting the final polishes on the first book and release it into the world.
Contact information: You can find me at skaeth.com and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kaeth_s
October 16, 2019
October 15, 2019
Blood & Iron, Parts I-III are now available in paperb...
Blood & Iron, Parts I-III are now available in paperback! Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1697850839
October 13, 2019
October 10, 2019
Author Interview - Peter Hartog, Bloodlines
Please Welcome Peter Hartog, author of the sci-fi fantasy crime thriller Bloodlines.
Tell us a little about yourself:I’m a damn Yankee living in the Deep South for the last 25 years. However, I grew up in the small town of Ashland, MA which is about a 45-minute drive west of Boston. I graduated Brandeis University in 1992, then moved down to Georgia two years later with my then wife. My One-And-Only Wife (tm) likes to call that other one my “practice wife.” To maintain domestic tranquility (as well as continue breathing), I’m content to agree with her. By day, I’m a commercial property underwriter for an insurance company, which sounds incredibly boring, but actually isn’t. At night, I spin tall tales of mystery, excitement and adventure, one word at a time.
I owe my love of science fiction and fantasy - reading, shows, movies, all of it - to my mother. She introduced me to Star Trek at a very young age, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Besides Tolkien, I feasted upon the likes of Piers Anthony, David Eddings, Julian May, Fred Saberhagen, Raymond Feist, Terry Brooks, Jack Chalker, Michael Moorcock, pretty much every fantasy author from the late 70s through the 80s.
My two boys share my love of reading. Whenever we travel in the car, a book accompanies them. Their passion for stories surpasses my own. Their creativity is incredible and ever-evolving. The things they make up on a whim, that spontaneity, entire worlds and characters spun out of thin air, I see that spark in them, and I’m reminded of myself when I was their age. It keeps me young and motivated, quite honestly.
What authors do you draw inspiration from and why:Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. Considered to be the first ever detective novel, it drew me in and spat me out. The story completely fascinated me. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies for its brutal allegorical depictions of individuality, morality and civilization. Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine for its simple and beautiful rendering of his childhood mixed with fantasy elements. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, both novel and film, because of Atticus Finch’s integrity, the racial injustice that, unfortunately, remains VERY prevalent today, and the challenges both Scout and Jem faced growing up in Maycomb. Terry Brooks’ Elfstones of Shannara for the power of the Elfstones, the Demons and the Forbidding, the sacrifice made by Amberle, the Reaper and the battle at the bridge…so many scenes in that one. There are far too many books to list here, but I think you get the picture.
Tell us about your book:Bloodlines is a multi-genre story that follows former hotshot homicide detective Tom “Doc” Holliday and his eclectic crew as they hunt a killer in the dystopian setting of Empire City. Holliday possesses a fickle clairvoyance that he calls the Insight, which allows him to see the dark and terrible things living within his world. Accompanying his investigation is Deacon Kole, a former Protector from the Confederate States of Birmingham, Leyla, a talented hacker who is also a witch, and Besim Saranda, a Vellan from a parallel dimension. Together, they hunt an elusive killer who just might be a vampire, if the unreliable eyewitnesses stoned on the designer drug goldjoy are to be believed. Their investigation eventually pits them against mercenaries, drug dealers and other, more sinister foes, and reveals a magical conspiracy that spans the ages.
The novel’s flavor and setting is largely informed by the movie Blade Runner, hardboiled detective novels such as Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, and Jim Butcher’s very famous Wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden. I wrote it in first person point-of-view because it just felt right. The story itself is the novelization of a table-top role-playing game I ran for my long-standing gaming group. I wanted to do something different from the high fantasy games I’d been known for running over nearly thirty years of gaming. I went with an altered New York City as the backdrop, translated several of my players’ characters into the story, then developed Doc Holliday to round it all out.
The story has everything crime, urban fantasy and sci-fi lovers enjoy: magic blended with not-so-far-fetched technology, a meaty plot full of tangled conspiracies, witty dialogue (I hope!), characters you can really sink your teeth into, and a few Easter eggs for those who like that kind of thing.
How long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges:I hit the “publish” button two years after I started writing it. The story went through 8 full edits (by me, prompted by suggestions from my awesome beta readers). I’m one of those rare writers who enjoys editing. To me, getting the story down the first time is the hardest part of all. After that, I tinker with the story and polish it to a fine sheen.
However, the greatest challenge was finding the time and energy to write it. My job keeps me very busy, and for seven months out of the year, my work stress level is incredibly high. After a long day at the office (or even working into the evening at home), I’m exhausted. While I love the story and characters, sometimes that’s not enough to pull me back in front of the monitor for another round of writing. My creativity dims during those seven months. I force myself to write sometimes, and I know it’s about putting in the numbers because I can always edit the story later, but I prefer to write with a clear mind.
The other challenge is making certain I spend time with my family. My boys are currently 9 and 11, so they’re still at the age where they actually want me to hang out with them. When it came to a choice between writing that critical fight scene or watching Gravity Falls with my guys, I’d pick the latter 110% of the time. Besides, Gravity Falls is a fantastic cartoon, so it really wasn’t that tough of a decision...
What is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your world:Because Bloodlines combines sci-fi, crime and fantasy, I wanted to create a world that could be an alternate window to our future…as long as you throw in magic and parallel dimensions. The setting includes an established history when multiple nuclear detonations shattered the world (long before the start of Bloodlines) in more ways than just environmental disaster. The sheer power from the detonations weakened the fabric of reality, creating one-way portals FROM other Earths TO our own. Thus, aliens don’t come from space, but could appear in your own backyard. In addition, magic returned in the form of phased nexus nodes (think central hubs connected by ley lines) whereby anyone “attuned” or “sensitive” to them can draw from the nodes’ energy like a battery and wield the power.
What do you enjoy developing the most – characters, plot, or your world – and why:The characters are my favorite, hands down. I love writing their dialogue. They’re funny, charming, challenging and endearing, even the bad guys. What’s the one thing you remember most from a movie, tv show or book? The one-liners. The quotables. Tom Holliday has plenty of quips. And his support cast - Deacon Kole, Besim Saranda, and Leyla - they’re no slouches either.
Book price and where it can be found:Find the ebook ($2.99) here - https://books2read.com/u/3L0LwNFind the paperback ($13.99) here - amazon.com/author/peterhartog
What’s your next project:Busy working on the sequel, currently entitled Pieces of Eight. The SCU’s case load has only just begun!
Contact information:Twitter - @althazyrWebsite - peterhartog.comLinkedIn - Peter Hartog
Tell us a little about yourself:I’m a damn Yankee living in the Deep South for the last 25 years. However, I grew up in the small town of Ashland, MA which is about a 45-minute drive west of Boston. I graduated Brandeis University in 1992, then moved down to Georgia two years later with my then wife. My One-And-Only Wife (tm) likes to call that other one my “practice wife.” To maintain domestic tranquility (as well as continue breathing), I’m content to agree with her. By day, I’m a commercial property underwriter for an insurance company, which sounds incredibly boring, but actually isn’t. At night, I spin tall tales of mystery, excitement and adventure, one word at a time.
I owe my love of science fiction and fantasy - reading, shows, movies, all of it - to my mother. She introduced me to Star Trek at a very young age, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Besides Tolkien, I feasted upon the likes of Piers Anthony, David Eddings, Julian May, Fred Saberhagen, Raymond Feist, Terry Brooks, Jack Chalker, Michael Moorcock, pretty much every fantasy author from the late 70s through the 80s.
My two boys share my love of reading. Whenever we travel in the car, a book accompanies them. Their passion for stories surpasses my own. Their creativity is incredible and ever-evolving. The things they make up on a whim, that spontaneity, entire worlds and characters spun out of thin air, I see that spark in them, and I’m reminded of myself when I was their age. It keeps me young and motivated, quite honestly.
What authors do you draw inspiration from and why:Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. Considered to be the first ever detective novel, it drew me in and spat me out. The story completely fascinated me. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies for its brutal allegorical depictions of individuality, morality and civilization. Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine for its simple and beautiful rendering of his childhood mixed with fantasy elements. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, both novel and film, because of Atticus Finch’s integrity, the racial injustice that, unfortunately, remains VERY prevalent today, and the challenges both Scout and Jem faced growing up in Maycomb. Terry Brooks’ Elfstones of Shannara for the power of the Elfstones, the Demons and the Forbidding, the sacrifice made by Amberle, the Reaper and the battle at the bridge…so many scenes in that one. There are far too many books to list here, but I think you get the picture.
Tell us about your book:Bloodlines is a multi-genre story that follows former hotshot homicide detective Tom “Doc” Holliday and his eclectic crew as they hunt a killer in the dystopian setting of Empire City. Holliday possesses a fickle clairvoyance that he calls the Insight, which allows him to see the dark and terrible things living within his world. Accompanying his investigation is Deacon Kole, a former Protector from the Confederate States of Birmingham, Leyla, a talented hacker who is also a witch, and Besim Saranda, a Vellan from a parallel dimension. Together, they hunt an elusive killer who just might be a vampire, if the unreliable eyewitnesses stoned on the designer drug goldjoy are to be believed. Their investigation eventually pits them against mercenaries, drug dealers and other, more sinister foes, and reveals a magical conspiracy that spans the ages.
The novel’s flavor and setting is largely informed by the movie Blade Runner, hardboiled detective novels such as Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, and Jim Butcher’s very famous Wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden. I wrote it in first person point-of-view because it just felt right. The story itself is the novelization of a table-top role-playing game I ran for my long-standing gaming group. I wanted to do something different from the high fantasy games I’d been known for running over nearly thirty years of gaming. I went with an altered New York City as the backdrop, translated several of my players’ characters into the story, then developed Doc Holliday to round it all out.
The story has everything crime, urban fantasy and sci-fi lovers enjoy: magic blended with not-so-far-fetched technology, a meaty plot full of tangled conspiracies, witty dialogue (I hope!), characters you can really sink your teeth into, and a few Easter eggs for those who like that kind of thing.
How long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges:I hit the “publish” button two years after I started writing it. The story went through 8 full edits (by me, prompted by suggestions from my awesome beta readers). I’m one of those rare writers who enjoys editing. To me, getting the story down the first time is the hardest part of all. After that, I tinker with the story and polish it to a fine sheen.
However, the greatest challenge was finding the time and energy to write it. My job keeps me very busy, and for seven months out of the year, my work stress level is incredibly high. After a long day at the office (or even working into the evening at home), I’m exhausted. While I love the story and characters, sometimes that’s not enough to pull me back in front of the monitor for another round of writing. My creativity dims during those seven months. I force myself to write sometimes, and I know it’s about putting in the numbers because I can always edit the story later, but I prefer to write with a clear mind.
The other challenge is making certain I spend time with my family. My boys are currently 9 and 11, so they’re still at the age where they actually want me to hang out with them. When it came to a choice between writing that critical fight scene or watching Gravity Falls with my guys, I’d pick the latter 110% of the time. Besides, Gravity Falls is a fantastic cartoon, so it really wasn’t that tough of a decision...
What is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your world:Because Bloodlines combines sci-fi, crime and fantasy, I wanted to create a world that could be an alternate window to our future…as long as you throw in magic and parallel dimensions. The setting includes an established history when multiple nuclear detonations shattered the world (long before the start of Bloodlines) in more ways than just environmental disaster. The sheer power from the detonations weakened the fabric of reality, creating one-way portals FROM other Earths TO our own. Thus, aliens don’t come from space, but could appear in your own backyard. In addition, magic returned in the form of phased nexus nodes (think central hubs connected by ley lines) whereby anyone “attuned” or “sensitive” to them can draw from the nodes’ energy like a battery and wield the power.
What do you enjoy developing the most – characters, plot, or your world – and why:The characters are my favorite, hands down. I love writing their dialogue. They’re funny, charming, challenging and endearing, even the bad guys. What’s the one thing you remember most from a movie, tv show or book? The one-liners. The quotables. Tom Holliday has plenty of quips. And his support cast - Deacon Kole, Besim Saranda, and Leyla - they’re no slouches either.
Book price and where it can be found:Find the ebook ($2.99) here - https://books2read.com/u/3L0LwNFind the paperback ($13.99) here - amazon.com/author/peterhartog
What’s your next project:Busy working on the sequel, currently entitled Pieces of Eight. The SCU’s case load has only just begun!
Contact information:Twitter - @althazyrWebsite - peterhartog.comLinkedIn - Peter Hartog
October 9, 2019
October 4, 2019
Blood & Iron Part 3 Releases 10/13/19!
Blood & Iron Part 3 will hit Amazon on 10/13/19! Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y6XKHV7/
October 3, 2019
Author Interview, Francis Williams
Francis Williams, author of Honor , stopped by for a spell. Here's what he had to say:
Francis, tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Sacramento, CA to parents who encouraged me to read from the moment I could recognize letters. I loved reading these old books my grandparents owned, and later figured out I wanted to write one of my own. I wrote a few short stories I submitted into random competitions I'd come across, but never took it very seriously until about fairly recently. I grew up playing baseball, also from a very young age. That was probably the thing that shaped my life the most. A lot of the people I know, I met them playing the sport, and I went to college because of it as well. Writing has become extremely important to me, but I would still say baseball has my heart.
What authors do you draw inspiration from? Bernard Cornwell. I first read his Saxon Stories series before I chose to actually try and pursue a writing career. I'd noticed while watching The Last Kingdom on Netflix that the show was based on a book series, and figured I'd give them a read. I thought the first book was so good I ordered the whole series and rad them all back to back. I then ordered his Warlord Chronicles as well as his Grail Quest series so I could have something to read while I waited for his next book. I just thought the way he gives his characters such a rich backstory was unbelievable. I firmly believe if more people knew about him, he'd have more than just two TV series made from his books.
Tell us about your book. Honor is set in the fifth century, about the time the Roman Empire really starts spiraling downward. The story begins in what's now Bordeaux, France, and moves to various places in Britain and the Netherlands. I chose this setting because I thought it would be easiest to create a story in a place and time where I could take a fair amount of liberties if I needed to. There's a decent amount of characters with varying motivations. I wrote it with multiple POV characters, as every single story I loved growing up did the same. I knew if I wanted to write a 160k word novel, I would need to make sure I wouldn't get burned out by writing for the same person the whole way through. That being said, there's one main-ish character and three main perspectives which hold a majority of the book.
How long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges? From day one in the process to the moment it was completed, I'd say about two years. Researching took about six months while writing and waiting for feedback from beta-readers took up the rest.
One huge challenge I ran across was the use of different names for the same city. It seemed like I would run across a different name for a place integral to the story every few days before I found one I could settle on. One other challenge I've run across is marketing the book. I'm keeping my ears open and have received quite a bit of advice recently, so I'm not all that worried just yet.
What is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your world? In Britain especially, the fifth century is very hard for historians to pin down. It seems there's no written accounts of what happened after 410 CE until the Anglo-Saxons took control over a majority of the island. This led to a bunch of interesting legends and rumors about the times I could use for inspiration. The range of things I could have thrown in is much more impressive than I originally anticipated.
What do you enjoy developing the most, characters, plot, world? My characters for sure. I like to try and create an interesting backstory, which isn't any different than anyone else. Working with a mix of people who definitely existed and another group that may have existed makes building the puzzles of their past so interesting to me. I try to be believable, but interesting as well.
Where can we find your books? My book can be found in both paperback and ebook formats on Amazon! The ebook is 3.99, while the paperback is 14.99.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WFBC4ZY
What’s your next project? The sequel to my first book. It's going to be much darker than the first, with a different take on a legendary person most people have probably heard of. I'm roughly halfway done!
Francis' Contact Links:https://twitter.com/IamFrancisW
https://www.instagram.com/iamfranciswilliams/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07X7JBQ1S
October 2, 2019
September 26, 2019
Blood & Iron Part 1 is now FREE on Amazon!
Blood & Iron Part 1 is now free: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XCTWXLH/
Spread the news!
Preview here: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07XCTWXLH&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_eEpJDb6Q709J6
Spread the news!
Preview here: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07XCTWXLH&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_eEpJDb6Q709J6
