Ten Questions with… Steve Thomas
I am very happy to welcome Steve Thomas to the blog today, author of Klondaeg the Monster Hunter — a very funny tale of a heroic (you could say) dwarf and his adventures!
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Author Bio: Steve Thomas is a fantasy writer with a degree in Physics, which is the polite way of saying that he’s a huge nerd. He lives in Central New York.
Author Website: http://www.kalhariaonline.com
You can find his book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords!
About the Writer
1. What five words describe you?
If a certain teambuilding exercise at work is to be trusted: Analytical, Deliberative, Learner, Input, and Intellection.
2. What was the first story you ever wrote? I mean the really bad one we all have that you’re trying to hide in the back of closet now that you’re published?
The first one I remember goes back to second grade or so. The teacher handed everyone some paper and a box of crayons and said, “Write a book.” Mine ended up being a second-person point of view tale of you beating up a dragon. When I read it to the class, people were asking me who the main character was, and I replied in a frustrated, yet manly, baritone (because my voice had already changed by then), “You are!”
Also, I’m pretty sure you killed the dragon by dropping a cauldron on its head. I’m not sure how that’s fatal, but that’s all I remember.
3. What inspires you?
Above all else, curiosity. If a question pops into my mind, I try to find the answer. If the question is something like, “What would the world be like if the rules were changed just so?” I make up my own answer. I love the process of learning and exploring ideas, which is something that spills into pretty much every aspect of my life.
4. What distracts you?
The internet is, of course, a major distraction. That’s why we have it. Just as big is my video game habit.
5. What’s your favorite story? This can be specific, as in a particular book or even story-driven movie, or general, like “I’m a sucker for a hero looking for redemption story.”
I have a soft spot for stories featuring Byronic heroes: proud, conflicted outsiders who ignore the rules and take fate into their own hands, but are also cynical and often self-destructive. Win or lose, watching a flawed person attempt to change, or just find a place in, the world always interests me.
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About the Writing
1. Tell us about your currently available titles.
My most recent is “Klondaeg the Monster Hunter.” The title says it all. It’s about a Dwarf named Klondaeg. He hunts monsters. It’s a novella heavily influenced by cartoons such as “The Venture Bros.” or “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.” “Klondaeg” is a firmly tongue-in-cheek fantasy adventure full of outlandish monsters, team-ups with other heroes, over-the-top action, and a lot of jokes. It takes place in the same world as “Smite Me, Oh Dark One,” a free short story showing how a particular Dark Lord wound up in his position.
In a more serious vein is my “Histories of Atreus” series, which currently consists of “An Exercise in Futility” and “Harbingers of Mortality.” Both of these take place in a world dominated by the first great empire in its history, the Kalharian Empire. The first novel focuses on a nomadic, technologically inferior civilization which is struggling to survive in the face of progress, and the second examines what happens when civilization meets unrestrained magic.
2. What’s your favorite part about writing these stories?
My favorite part is the world-building. It’s a fun challenge to come up with a cohesive world and a flexible, yet well-defined magic system. To me, it’s not enough to just write about an otherwise mundane world and add a few wizards. It’s much more satisfying to think about how magic would affect politics, the economy, and day-to-day life.
Of course, for the humorous stuff, it’s the opposite challenge. It’s a running gag that the world was very poorly designed due to negligent and incompetent gods.
3. What would your characters say about you? Be honest!
I’m sure a lot of them would consider me a sadistic SOB. They’d likely view me the same way a lab rat views a mad scientist. Poor guys.
4. Who would play your favorite character if they made a movie of their story?
Let’s go with Klondaeg for this one. If I had my way, a Klondaeg movie would be an animated feature produced by Bruce Timm, the fellow behind much of the DC Comics animation over the past 20 years, starting with Batman: The Animated Series. For a voice actor, I think Steve Blum would be perfect.
5. Do you have any projects currently in the works you want to talk about?
I’m currently working on two. “Curse of the Bellandir” will be the next entry in the Histories of Atreus. It features the prince of Kalharia’s main rival trying to prove his worth to his people after a terrible mistake. I expect that he’ll unearth some unpleasant history in the progress. I’m also writing the next volume of Klondaeg.
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Thank you for being with us today, Steve, and good luck with your stories!
