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Rise Of The Alpha Huntress
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Interview with Neo Edmund!
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Neo Edmund
Tell us a little bit about your book.
Rise of the Werewolf Huntress is an action -packed YA novel with a supernatural twist on the classic fairytale. Red Riding will not only face dangerous wolves; she will have to face the wolf within herself. Gifted and cursed with the ability to transform into a powerful werewolf, she will rise to become a legendary warrior known as the Alpha Huntress. Accompanied by bad-boy heartthrob, Wolfgang Helheim, Red will lead a tribe of loyal followers armed with mystical powers of their own against a malevolent lunar deity who plans to thrust Wayward Woods into eternal night.
How long did it take to write your book?
For over a year, I had been writing kids graphic novels with a company called Silver Dragon Books. We did titles for Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, History Channel, and JumpStart, just to name a few. One day I got an email from my editor telling me that there was going to be a month gap between publishing cycles. I could have just enjoyed the time away from writing deadlines, but I instead decided that the time had come to write a novel. Twenty-one days later, I had knocked out a first draft of Red Riding. Over the following year, I revised and rewrote the story, all the while working on paid writing work. Finally, in October of 2012, I decided the time had come to send my book out into the world.
What was your favorite scene/character to write?
I especially like a scene where Red is lured off the path and ventures too far into the woods. She soon finds herself face-to-face with a creepy old man, who turns out to be a dangerous creature. It's one of those classic fairytale moments, but unlike the Red Riding stories we grew up reading where the big strong man dashes in to the save the girl in distress, in Rise of the Werewolf Huntress, Red must find her own way out of the perilous situation. She must rely on her own cunning to survive the ordeal.
- Hence, what was the hardest?
The very first chapter was by far the toughest. I must have written and rewrote it fifty times over. It was soooo hard capturing the right mood to immerse the reader into a fairy tale reality.
When you started writing your book, did you create a plan? If so how did you go about it?
Everything starts with free writing. I sit down and start writing everything that comes to mind. Who is this story about? What is the world s/he lives in? Who are the other characters that live there? How do these characters feel about one another? What are their problems? Their conflicts? How can these issues be resolved? I end up with pages and pages of scene concepts, rough dialogue, character descriptions, and lots of questions that I leave for myself. Before I can start writing, I need to know the characters strengths, weaknesses, and most important, their deep seeded emotional problems that I can exploit. If a character is afraid to face certain issues or situations, you can bet I’m going to drag them to those places, kicking and screaming if necessary.
What inspired you to become an author?
When I was a kid, I loved writing short stories. The tales were only a page or two and usually fell into the realm of fan fiction, usually followed the adventures of Luke and Han, Optimus Prime and Megatron, or whatever cartoons and movies I was into at the time. In high school, I got into theater and started writing short skits. Creating my own scenes was a lot more fun than picking scenes from existing plays to perform and direct. Things took a bad turn in10th grade when I ended up with a bitter old hag of an English teacher. She said a lot of mean stuff about my writing, and it really stifled my creative spirit. It wasn’t until after high school that I started writing again. It's just something I had to do and I simply refuse to ever give up on my dreams!
- If you hadn't became an author what would you have liked to do?
There was a time when I considered majoring in psychology. A lot of people have told me I’d make a great therapist. Whatever it might have been, it would be something in the creative arts. Acting. Filmmaking. Theatre. I think in the end it would always come back to creating stories. There is just nothing I enjoy more in this life and I am deeply grateful that I am able to earn a living telling my tales.
- What do you do when you’re not writing?
I love video games, movies, books and comics, but I also love getting outside, far, far away from things with screens. It seems in this age we spend far too much time glaring at screens and not looking at the world around us. Go out to a park or restaurant and you’ll see half the people are looking at their phones, checking Facebook, or texting away. I’m really making an effort to do other things and I could really use a new hobby.
- Do you have any books you enjoyed and would recommend?
I just finished The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. What a fantastic read. It really grabbed me right out of the gate and never let go. There is another book I just love called Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's a gem for anybody that is a fan of 80's pop culture or dystopia Sci-fi.
Any future writing plans you could share?
There are so many things on my writing plate, including a couple of graphic novels for Zenescope. Above all, I'm working on the second book in my Red Riding series. The reaction to the first has been so wonderful that I just have to write it, not to mentioned I've received a couple of dozen emails from readers who are asking when it's coming. I am also writing a feature film called Clan of the Vein budgeted at $25 million. It's a vampire action story set to go into production later this year.
- For aspiring authors what, what advise do you have?
Keep writing. Never give up on a story that you really believe in. Find a way to make it work and keep all avenues open. Above all, make lots and lots of friends in the area of writing you want to work in. Your friends will be your most important allies along the way, and a support network to help you endure the tough times as you're trying to break in. It's important to keep in mind that writing for a living can be difficult because you have to deal with a lot of business stuff. I spend more time than I would like doing stuff like writing and responding to emails, taking calls from editors, contacting perspective employers, and going out to networking events. When writing becomes a fulltime gig, you always have to be looking to the next thing, even before finishing the thing you're working on.
Bio:
NEO EDMUND has worked in the entertainment industry as a writer, story development exec, and a film producer. As an author, he has written for film, television, feature animation, and comics. He recently published his first novel titled A Tale of Red Riding, Rise of the Werewolf Huntress. He is currently writing and co-producing two films titled Clan of the Vein and of Light and Darkness. Neo has also written on projects for companies including Zenescope, Silver Dragon Books, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Spike TV, JumpStart Interactive, Branded Films, Platinum Studios, and Genetic Entertainment.
Links for A Tale of Red Riding, Rise of the Werewolf Huntress
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JOLQDI
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedRidingHoo...
Website: http://www.redridingseries.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedRidingNovel
Links for Neo Edmund
Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/neoedmund
IMDB Page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3776218/?r...
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/neoedmund
Twitter: http://twitter.com/neoEdmundx
Thanks so much for the interview!