Interview with Nicholas Andrews

 

I am pleased to welcome Nicholas Andrews, author of The Law of Eight series! His books are available now on Amazon!

 

 

 

1. Welcome to my blog! So to start off, what inspired you to take the plunge into the world of publishing?

Thanks for having me. I've wanted to be a writer since I was about twelve years old, so I've been thinking about getting published for about twenty years. Of course, back then the goal was to sell my work to a publisher and get my books out in stores worldwide. Obviously in that time, the Internet, e-books, and the Kindle have changed the game completely.

I now look at traditional publishing as a brick wall. You can keep bashing your head against it in the hopes of breaking through, but by the time you succeed your brains will be scattered all over the floor. The more effective way of progressing is to go around it entirely, which is what self-publishing now affords.

2. Tell me about your novel.

My latest novel, Follow the Faery Footpath, was just released a month ago. It's Book 2 of 5 in my Law of Eight series. The Law of Eight is a fantasy saga about a mercenary who was once part of a famous adventuring group. He is now caught in a spiral of despair, looking for a place to die, but events happen which begin to bring him out of his funk. He meets back up with his old friends and a mysterious sorceress from the deep forest. They set out on one last treasure hunt, but of course, soon find themselves caught up in momentous events that will shape the fate of the world.

3. I see that you write fantasy. Do you have a favorite fantasy writer?

It's probably still George R. R. Martin. I first read A Game of Thrones in 1999, and have been obsessed with the series ever since. But with something about the show in front of my face every time I turn around these days, I do have to admit to suffering some burnout. I used to read through all the books once a year, but this year I probably won't make it. Before him, I enjoyed Piers Anthony and David Eddings during my teenage years. My Adventurers and Law of Eight series(es) were definitely inspired by their works in some ways.

4. What do you do when you're not writing?

Reading up on the industry, whether it's posts on KBoards, Passive Guy or JA Konrath's blog. For non-writing related things, I play video games, watch pro wrestling, TV, movies, etc.

5. What was your favorite part to write (not giving away any spoilers)?

I think climaxes tend to be the most fun for me. Just as they are cathartic moments for readers, who had to read through all the trials and tribulations of the characters up to that point, so to are they cathartic for me. It's where story threads often come together, and I'm at or near the end, and really feel as if I've accomplished something.

6. Was there ever anything you wanted to do besides be a writer?

I got into making pro wrestling music videos back in 2005 or so, just for fun. Within a couple of years I was working as a freelance producer of videos, trailers and commercials for three of the top indy wrestling companies in the world. I was getting work and getting paid a little bit, so writing kind of went on the backburner during that time. I had hoped to continue with that and become a more permanent part of that industry, but several things went wrong around the same time, and so I returned to writing and haven't looked back.

7. Are there any new projects your working on that we should be excited about?

The third installment of my novelette series The Thrillseekers: Cadets of Gauntlet is being written, and will probably be released in the next couple of months. It's a prequel to The Law of Eight, showing the main characters' adventures as teenagers as they attended a well-known fighting school. Book 3 of The Law of Eight will follow at some point... I want to shoot for early 2015.

Off-beat questions:

1. Since you're a fantasy writer, what fantastical being would you most want to be? This can be from any fantasy series.

I don't really have an answer to that. I've never considered myself being anything other than human. Some people might say a vampire or werewolf, and though it would be kind of cool to be able to transform into a wolf or something, those creatures come with a lot of baggage and inconvenience. It just doesn't seem like a very good life to have.

2. If you could jump in an alternate dimension where your characters and your book were real, but were unsure if you could come back to the real world, would you go?

Probably not. In a fantasy world, it's usually a struggle just to survive. And I'm a product of my environment, so I don't know how I would live in a world without air conditioning, dollar menus, Internet, or video games.

 

 

 

 Nicholas Andrews grew up in Dayton, Ohio. After graduating from Bellbrook High School in 2000, he went on to attend both Ohio University and Wright State University. He worked as a freelance video editor for various independent pro wrestling companies for three years, before returning to his first love of writing. He has been writing stories since he was ten years old. He is also the nephew of Ted Andrews (1952-2009), award winning new age author.