Coffee Chat with Author Dan O'Brien

The coffee pot is on!

I have my Starbucks/Cameron vanilla hazelnut blend and am eager for another chat. We have Dan O'Brien with us today. How do you take your coffee, Dan?

DAN: I love a White Mocha with soy and no whip.

Ally: Coming right up. So, tell us about yourself.

Bio: A psychologist, author, philosopher, freelance editor, and skeptic, Dan O’Brien has published several novels and currently has many in print, including: The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, The Journey, The Ocean and the Hourglass, The Portent, The Path of the Fallen, Book of Seth, and Cerulean Dreams. Follow him on Twitter (@AuthorDanOBrien) or visit his blog at http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com. He also works as an editor at Empirical, a national magazine with a strong West Coast vibe. Find out more about the magazine at http://empiricalmag.blogspot.com/ .

Ally: Now we've seen the official bio, what other facts didn't make the public version?

DAN: I am an avid health and exercise enthusiast and am currently training for an Ironman triathlon. I love the movie Lonesome Dove, and even though I now live in California, I sometimes miss the Big Horn Mountains and Shell Canyon in northern Wyoming.

Ally: Now that you've made me feel guilty for ignoring my treadmill :) , I'd like  to talk about your writing. What genre or genre do you write, and why did you make that choice?

DAN: I began writing fantasy/science fiction when I was very young. Truly, my first experience with writing was when I was six or seven and I created a play (complete with characters on Popsicle sticks and a set design) for my cousin's birthday. I have always had a love of science fiction and fantasy, so there was a natural appeal to transition into writing it. I love the sense of escapism, but also the incredible ability to talk about important issues from just enough of a distance that no one gets their feathers ruffled.

Ally: Where do you get the ideas for your characters? Are any of them named or modeled on real people?

DAN: Most of the characters in my books are archetypes or personality types drawn from my graduate work in psychology. One of my novellas, The End of the World Playlist, has characters from real life in them. In point of fact, everyone in that novel (with some obvious notable exceptions) are people who are quite near and dear to me.

Ally: Now that we know a little more about you and how you write, tell us about the book you brought today.
Book blurb:

Set against the backdrop of the tundra and a world desperate for hope, the journey of a young man, E'Malkai, will come to define a realm that has been broken by an evil that does not sleep. A bitter betrayal, and the inception of a war that will consume the world, forces E'Malkai to confront the past and undertake a pilgrimage that is his by birthright. Follow him on his journey and be transformed.

Amazon customer: "The story takes place way in the future on a desolate planet that is filled with scary creatures and people who have obtained magical powers...and the final 100 pages are about the most exciting Sci fi pages that you'll ever read!!"

Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Path-Fallen-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B009D2PNIU

YouTube Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAeHmk22wZc

Author contact links:

Blog: http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/authordanobrien
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorDanOBrien


Ally: Thanks, Dan, for being here today. We hope to hear great things about your career.

Thanks to everyone who joined our chat. Please feel free to look around my blog and the attached website. Come back soon!