I'm pleased to welcome Robert Dahlen, author of "The Monkey Queen!"

1. Hello and welcome to my blog! To start off, what made you decide to take the plunge into the world of publishing?

It's a combination of two things: The desire to tell stories, and the realization that this may be my last and best chance to do so in front of any sort of audience. The trigger was a sequence of three events: Winning enough money so that I could afford a tablet to let me write on my commute, then discovering the existence of indie publishing, then finding a synopsis for a comic series I had come up with 15 years prior that I realized could make a good series of books.



2. Tell me about your book.

It's a fantasy adventure about a kidnapping and the two women who are out to solve it - Michiko, a young hero with a wisecracking streak, and Beth, a college student/geek girl who gets swept up in events when she discovers a secret about herself. It's about the beginning of their friendship. It's the start of a series, but it's a complete story, cliffhanger-free. I'm biased, but I think it's a fast, funny, satisfying read.

(And there's a snarky guinea pig. You'd be snarky too if you were a once-powerful but selfish sorcerer who was stuck in Limbo for a thousand years, and then reincarnated as something cute and furry.)


3. How long have you been writing?

Well, I was making up stories with stuffed animals and (God help me) Hot Wheels cars when I was eight, so let's just say that's a long time. I got serious about it for awhile in the eighties and nineties, dialed back (but never stopped completely) for a number of years, caught the fire again in March 2013, and haven't stopped since.



4. What authors do you derive inspiration from?

Just authors? I can point to Tolkien and Leiber and Gaiman and Pratchett, but I've also been inspired by Chuck Jones, Hayao Miyazaki, Charles Schulz, Stan Sakai (read Usagi Yojimbo!), the staff behind Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, five dozen musical artists on my iPod, and another 100-odd sources. Not to mention Wu Cheng'en and everyone who followed him. If I had to narrow it down, I'd point to webcomics artist Phil Foglio (with a nod to his talented wife Kaja); he's the only one out there I consciously tried to emulate at any point. And if we have to stick to prose, well, my favorite fantasy novel (heck, my favorite book period) is Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.





5. If you could achieve one goal with your writing, what would it be?

World Domination! Leveraging the Monkey Queen franchise until I am king of all entertainment, sitting proudly on my throne while all-girl K-Pop bands sing my praises!... Seriously, if I could get a core audience of fans that like what I write and want to read more, that would be enough, be it 500 fans or 50,000.




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

Well, I have a full-time job that I don't plan on quitting soon, with a long commute on public transit, so I don't have a lot of free time, and I've been using a lot of that to promote this book and write more. I do try to keep up with webcomics, the occasional novel or movie, and time with family. And one of these days I should see if the oven in the new apartment does a good job on chocolate chip cookies.




7. When can we expect your next books?

It depends on whether on not the cover artist - hey, that reminds me, I haven't talked about Willow yet! She did the wonderful cover art you see here, and you can see more of her work at http://willow-san.deviantart.com ! Anyway, I need to find out if she's free soon to do the cover for the second Monkey Queen book. If she is, I'm hoping to get it published in time for Thanksgiving weekend reading!


Off-beat questions


1. I see you write fantasy. If you could live in any fantastical universe, what would it be?

I actually gave this some thought a while back, and I realized that my life expectancy in most fantastical universes would be disturbingly short. As in, doesn't survive season one/first book in the trilogy short. I might consider the Discworld if we're sticking with prose, but my first actual choice would be...Duckburg. Really. All the comforts of home, advanced technology, and there's always the chance that Uncle Scrooge might drag you off on a treasure hunt. (I just don't want to live in Donald Duck's immediate neighborhood. He has to be rough on property values. And property.)



2. One of your main characters is asked, "How would you like to help me save the world?" If you were asked this by a random stranger, what would your response be?


Good question! What would I say? It depends. If I'm just walking down the street or waiting in line for something and someone approaches me with that question, my response would probably be "You may want to check your meds," or maybe "Um...security?"

But if I've just discovered that a good friend of mine actually looks like an elf straight out of Lord of the Rings, pointed ears and all, and then I get chased by a monster that shouldn't exist, and then I'm rescued by a hypercute teenage girl with a magic staff, I mean really magic as in grows fifty feet high, and then said teenage girl asks me that question, my response would probably be, "I'm listening."

And Beth has a different response from the ones above...and that's when things get interesting. In the "may you live in interesting times" sense of the word...

(Hope you don't mind that I reworded the last question to actually fit what Michiko says to Beth at one point.)







Author bio:
 Fantasy novelist, all-around wisecracker and penguin aficionado, Robert Dahlen lives in California with lots of penguins (no surprise), a tablet stuffed with e-books and works in progress, and a long-suffering wife. He is hopefully working on more Monkey Queen stories as you read this. And FYI, his last name is pronounced "duh-LANE", as in "The rain in Spain falls mainly on Dahlen," which really freaks out everyone at the Weather Channel.

 

 

 

Buy links:

Amazon -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NAKJUG2

iTunes -- http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id916078980

B&N / Nook -- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-introductions-and-abductions-robert-dahlen/1120314934?ean=2940046304756&itm=1&usri=2940046304756

Kobo -- http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/of-introductions-and-abductions-monkey-queen-book-one

I'm proud to introduce Michael La Ronn, author of "Eaten" and other fantasy novels!

1. Hello, and welcome to my blog! To start off, what made you decide to take the plunge into the world of publishing?

Thanks for having me, K.J.! I like to say that I was pushed into the world of publishing. In 2012, I ate some contaminated food and was hospitalized. I had a very serious illness, and it could have been fatal.

Until that point, I had written a few things, but I was aimless and didn’t know what I wanted from life. Lying on the hospital bed made me realize that I didn’t want to die without having pursued my true passion in life, and that passion was writing. The entire hospital experience was a low-point, but it was also a moment of clarity. When I got out of the hospital, I was a completely different person, and I was determined to publish and succeed as a writer, regardless of anything or anyone that stood in my way.

2. Tell me about your book.

My new book, Eaten, is a sci-fi fantasy series about a group of vegetable terrorists attempting to take down an empire of processed foods. It was inspired by my hospital visit, when I had to learn to start eating healthy.

The world of Eaten isn’t that different from our own, except that all the characters are foods, and they’re locked in a political struggle. There are the vegetables, who are second-class citizens, and the processed foods, who are the ruling class, hell-bent on world domination. Each is fighting for their right to live in this strange world, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Eaten is quirky, funny, serious, and dramatic—sometimes all at once. It’s definitely the most fun I’ve ever had writing a novel. There were many times I would fall over laughing because the plot and characters were so utterly ridiculous. For example, one of the main characters is a milk shake scientist trying to reconcile science with reality. My main villain is an evil cloud of salt, and his right-hand man is a mercenary hot dog with a penchant for ruthlessness. A novel like this shouldn’t work, but I believe I’ve created a memorable cast of characters. I love taking unusual things and giving them human characteristics—it makes for good storytelling.

3. I see you write Decision Select novels (or as I remember them, Choose Your Own Adventure Novels!). That's very unique! What made you decide to pursue this idea?

I loved Choose Your Own Adventures as a kid. A few years ago, I decided to reread one. They were just as fun as I remember, but I found myself wanting a similar type experience for grown-ups, with grown-up characters and stories. I couldn’t find anything quite like this on the market, so I decided to create Decision Select Novels. Instead of formatting them for paperbacks, I formatted them instead for ereaders and tablets, which opened up all kinds of new possibilities for the genre.

4. Who/what inspired you to write?

The fear of death inspires me to write. My hospital visit taught me that nothing is promised. I want to leave behind a body of work and characters that people remember fondly. Most importantly, I want to make people feel when they read, just like my favorite authors did for me.

5. Do you find Decision Select novels easier or harder than other pieces of fiction?

They’re not easier or harder—just different.

The hardest (and most fun) part of writing Decision Select Novels is creating the decisions. In addition to writing an engaging novel, you also have to create an underlying logic behind the decisions. For example, in my novel, How to Be Bad, I replicated an actual game show. The entire experience is engineered to make the reader feel like they’re really participating. There are rival contestants, and their choices change depending on what the reader decides. You can win or lose. There are even prizes. This takes a lot of planning and work to pull off.

My readers love the decision elements, but story always comes first. There’s always a context. The novels are character-driven, so every decision has to reveal character and escalate tension. In some ways, Decision Select Novels are easier to plot because I don’t have to cut the ideas that don’t work. A regular novel can only begin and end in one way. A Decision Select Novel can develop in different and conflicting ways, which is liberating for me as a writer.

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

I have a full-time job, and my wife and I are expecting a daughter next month, so I’m a busy guy. But when I’m not at work and NOT writing, I’m usually doing something writing-related, such as listening to writing podcasts, reading, or studying the craft.

I gave up television, video games, and anything that would resemble a social life several years ago. I spend every day writing until I fall asleep at the keyboard. This is my dream and my true passion, so I focus all of my energy on things that will help me become a faster and more effective storyteller. Sacrificing all those other things was worth it.

7. Can we expect more quirky works from you?

Absolutely! I’m currently working on the next entry in the Eaten series, as well as plotting a new series that re-envisions characters from classic literature.

Off-beat questions

1. Did you have a favorite choose your own adventure series as a child?

I loved the Give Yourself Goosebumps series. Out of all the Choose Your Own Adventure-esque books I read, those were the most memorable (and scary).

2. You're latest work follows a broccoli terrorist fighting the empire of processed foods. If you were a vegetable, would you fight for his cause?

Absolutely. Brocc is a cool guy, and he’s not as bad as he seems! 

Michael La Ronn writes fearless fantasy. His novels feature unlikely heroes such as teddy bears and vegetables, and his writings are filled with quirky and imaginative humor.

He writes novels, short stories, and poetry. His signature works are Decision Select Novels, which are a new twist on Choose Your Own Adventures, but for grown-ups and formatted specifically for ereaders.

He lives with his wife in Des Moines, Iowa. He reads an inordinate amount of books every year and also co-hosts the To Be Read Podcast, where he talks about the books he reads. He also blogs about his life as a part-time writer.

Interview with Cesar Gonzalez, author of Element Wielder!

I'm pleased to welcome Cesar Gonzalez, author of the Element Wielder! Reviews indicate that fans of Harry Potter will enjoy this new fantasy series...


1. Hello, and welcome to my blog! To start off, what made you decide to take the plunge into the world of publishing?
 

 

Thank you for having me. It is an honor. 

 

My love for stories beckoned me to get into the publishing world. Ever since I was a kid I would lose myself in stories. Books like Goosebumbs, The Darkside of Nowhere, Where The Red Fern Grows, and Chronicles Of Narnia would consume my days.

However, I wasn't limited to stories told through books. I would also spend many days immersed in the world of video games like Final Fantasy VII, VIII, VI, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, Mass Effect, Resident Evil, and Valis. It was this love for stories that drove me to want to share my story with the world as well.

 

2. Tell me about your book.

 

The idea of Element Wielder came to me when I was in eight grade. I wanted to tell a story that reflected what the things I enjoy. Those things are a mix of action, adventure, drama, character development, and romance.

It is the story of inner turmoil as well as outer turmoil. In his quest he has to question himself, where his loyalties lie, and his own character. Is he really a good person, or the greatest menace the world has ever seen? It is the story of faith, love, and a young man’s struggle to continue on his quest, when surrendering to his emotions is so much easier.

However, I know there’s a lot of stories that deal with element control. So I knew that I also had to do something to make it different. This is how I came up with the idea of advanced and basic elements. There’s not only basic elements like water, fire, wind, and earth, there’s also elements like space, holy, mind, darkness, and poison.

 

 

3. Do you have a favorite character from your book?

 

I have favorite aspects of each character, but if I had to choose one it would be the holy wielder, Faith Hemstath.

I enjoy her ability to see the best of every person. Even in the worst situations imaginable, she will find that small ray of light and let it shine.

It is an admirable trait that I wish I could emulate. It’s easy to be dealt a bad hand in life and become pessimistic. But it’s extremely difficult to remain optimistic and kind when the world beats down on you. I think she speaks to that person inside of u that we all wish we could be.

 

 

4. Many of your reviews compare this to Harry Potter. Did the Harry Potter series have any influence on this story?

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see that many people have found Element Wielder to Harry Potter. I’m a big fan of Harry Potter series; however, Harry Potter did not influence the writing of Element Wielder. But I can see how people find similarities in both works.

People want to be immersed in a different world. They want to get to know interesting characters and share in their experiences. I believe this is what both stories do. They take people on an adventure with intriguing personalities, immersive plot, and magical worlds.

People who enjoyed Harry Potter will find Element Wielder an enjoyable read.

 

 

5. Without giving any spoilers, what was your favorite scene to write?

 

That’s a hard one, but I would have to say the romantic scenes. Romance is laced throughout the story, but does not play a huge part in the overall plot. That is why I found it enjoyable to write the few scenes where it is in the book.

I also really liked the fight scenes. They were some of the hardest, but most enjoyable to write. It’s always so easy to picture in my head what you want to write, but putting that image down on paper is always a challenge.

 

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

 

Usually I’m spending time with my son. I also go out running quite a bit. I’m something of a nut about keeping my body and mind healthy.

My son and me are also big anime. I think that is why Element Wielder appeals to fans of anime and manga.

7. Can we expect a sequel?

Oh, yes. This series is a trilogy. The sequel, Legacy of Chaos, has been finished and is currently going heavy revision. I think readers will really like the sequel because we get to delve more into this strange world. It also breaks the mold and strays away from events that some people may consider to be cliché.

I’m aiming for a release date of November 2014.

 

Off-Beat Questions

1. Your story deals with wielding the elements. If you could wield only one element, what would it be?

 

Space wielding is cool. Who wouldn’t want to summon black holes and stardust from the cosmos. However, I would have to go with void wielding.

Sure, void wielders can only do weak attacks, but the trade off is that they can wield all the basic elements. That means I would be able to wield fire, water, air, earth, and mind. Camping wouldn’t be a problem because I could always make a fire and to heat up some s’mores.

I also would never go thirty. 

 

2. It seems now-a-days that fantasy and the supernatural are pretty prominent, especially in YA and Middle Grade fiction. Why do you think this is?

 

This is actually very simple. Money. It’s hot right now so it’s selling. As long as this continues to happen this will continue.

Thank you so much for featuring me in your blog.

So Many Genres, So Little Time

I know I'm not the only author who feels inspired to write in multiple genres.

I suppose it's because I like to read so many genres that I'm this way. My favorites are fantasy, supernatural and horror, but I have also enjoyed sci-fi, romance, dystopian, inspirational, and even non-fiction. I've been trying to start out with the dual genre, different pen name thing, like J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith. But even that's hard! I have a fantasy romance that has been eating at me. Seriously, it won't shut up in my head.

I'm curious as to how many other authors have this problem, and how they handle it. Authors are often encouraged to stick to one genre, two at the most. You don't see Stephen King complaining that he wants to write children's adventure stories. But I wonder, does he ever get that non-horror story pop in his head? What does he do when it nags at him relentlessly? Just ignore it, I suppose. But as an artist, that just seems depressing to me. When a story wants to be told, it lets you know. Like, in flashing, neon colors.

I don't think there's any real answer to this question; only perspective. Sticking with one or two genres makes it easier to maintain a readership and bring in more money. But to ignore the other stories is to stifle one's creativity. Poverty, or restricting one's artistry. Depressing any way you slice it.

Granted, I'm being a little over dramatic here. I know of at least one person who makes a decent living off of writing multiple genres. Then again, they publish a book every month (seriously, they're a beast). I hope to publish every two to three months, but a book a month while working full time at a day job? I think my head would explode.

So, ignore the story and stick to two genres? Or release my creativity and explore multiple genres? An endless dilemma. I don't know. What do you guys think?

Interview with C.E. Martin, author of the Stone Soldiers series!

 



1. Hello, and welcome to my blog! To start off, what inspired you to take the plunge into the world of publishing?

Finding out I didn't have to sacrifice any more of my creations to the slushpiles of the gatekeepers. I could self-publish and let readers have a choice to read or not read.

 

2. Tell me about your book.

Well, it's more of a series... I'm up to nine books in it now, two years in, and ramping up production. Baically, "Stone Soldiers" is set in a world like ours, but with (more?) magic and psychics and whatnot. Supersoldiers in a small military unit respond to supernatural threats and take on monsters to keep America, and the free world, safe.

The first book in the series is "Mythical" about a prehistoric shapeshifter who tears out and eats the hearts of victims to steal their identity, memories and power.

The latest book in the series is #9, "Pale Horseman" is about a serial-killing centaur loose in Los Angeles, beheading victims and reaping their souls.

 

 

3. What inspired you to write this book?

I was binge-watching Supernatural on Netflix and was reminded how most scifi depicts the military as badguys, incompetant or last minute deus ex machinas that ride in to save the day when writers can think of nothing else. Being a vet, I wanted a book series that portrayed the military as the monster-smashing heroes they would be.

 

 

4. Are there any books/authors that have had a profound impact on your life?

Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir's The Destroyer series made me want to write. Piers Anthony, Roger Zelazny and Keith Laumer made me love science fiction and fantasy. Jack London captured my attention--"Call of the Wild" was the first novel I read as a child, and I was hooked on reading. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lester Dent and Robert E. Howard made me a bookaholic in my teens with all their awesome pulp tales.

 

 

5. What was your favorite part to write (without spoilers, of course)?

I like the over-the-top, super-buttkicking fights in my novels. Where good guys put a serious smackdown on monsters that in most fiction are unstoppable until they're outwitted. I love beating evil to death on the written page.

 6. What do you most hope to achieve with this novel?

I hope to help bring back the alpha male, he-man swashbucklers and bare knuckle bruisers of yesteryear. Huge, Viking-like heroes of old who are literally larger-than-life. And I hope to offer military heroes who serve as fictional role models rather than the hated baby-killers so many works of fiction like to create lately.

 

 

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

I recently retired from a 17 year career as a criminal investigator. It was simply too stressful and depressing. I now work part-time for a law firm as a paralegal and devote more free time to writing and my family.

  

 

 

Off-Beat Questions

1. I see you write thrillers. What is the most thrilling thing that you have ever done?

Good-thrilling, or oh-crap-thrilling? Good thrilling would have to be attending the birth of my daughters. Exciting and a little scary. Bad thrilling? I'd have to say it was the time when I was stationed at McClellan AFB in California, back in 1993 and did a high-speed vehicle chase down a taxiway at night. Totally against regulation. Terrified I was going to hit an airplane, but more terrified the drunk driver who'd crashed through a fence and was driving on our runway was going to hit an airplane. My maniac driving got me to the scene first, and with help fom the local Sheriff's helicopter, I bagged the badguy and no one ever found out I'd broken regs racing along a taxiway. Best of all, the only damage done was to a section of fence, bad guy's truck, and a pair of my boots--but that's a whole nuther story.

 

2. As a writer, it can be easy to get lost in other worlds. If you could visit any fictional world, what would it be?

 

1930s Earth, as depicted in the Doc Savage pulp novels. I would share advanced (future) technology with Doc and ask for gold to take back with me to my own era/world to improve my family's life. I'd be getting to meet some of my favorite characters, improve their lives and score a nice payday doing it.

Mythical, free on kindle, http://amzn.com/B008913B3U

Pale Horseman, http://amzn.com/B00LLEN6QY

I'm Pleased to Welcome Ceinwen Langley, author of "Edge of the Woods"

I am pleased to welcome Ceinwen Langley to my blog! She is a fantasy author with feminist ideals, and I'm very excited to have her here.

1. Hello, and welcome to my blog! So to start off, what made you decide to take the plunge into the world of publishing?

 

 Thanks! I've always wanted to write novels, starting with a few attempts in high school (which will, thankfully, never reach human eyes), but at University I decided to take my interest in writing on a different track and followed it into a film degree. I went on to work in television as a scriptwriter, but although I loved the work, as I was writing new characters and stories would pop into my head. I tried writing them as films and TV concepts, but it never quite fit, so I filed them away and got on with my work. But then after three straight years working on a show that airs five times a week for most of the year, I took some time off and read my first new novel in what must have been years. The love came flooding back, and suddenly the ideas I hadn't been able to make work made perfect sense as novels. I started The Edge of the Woods in July last year and, absolutely relishing the fact that for once I was completely in charge of the creative process self published in May. It's been a really rewarding experience! 

 

 

 

2. Tell me about your book.

 

Emma is a young woman caught between what she's supposed to do and what she wants to do. What she wants is independence, to be able to work in a role she enjoys and earn enough money to support herself and her widowed mother. However, the society she lives in doesn't allow women to provide for themselves without a great amount of shame attached. Emma, like the other girls in her isolated village, is expected to marry before her eighteenth birthday - her only hope of a respectable income. Women who are passed over or whose husbands die without leaving them enough money to live on are ostracised, able to work only as cleaners and cooks for men without wives - like Emma's mother - or forced to beg. 

Meanwhile, there are horror stories about the woods surrounding the village. The local superstition is that they're home to demons waiting to tempt away the unfaithful. Young women have been going missing for decades, giving weight to the rumour, and allowing the village Mayor to enforce his unfair laws. While Emma struggles to secure a future for herself and her mother according to the expectations of the village, she starts to dream of a boy in the woods who promises her freedom. 

But as we all know, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Emma has a lot of tough choices to make. It's a coming of age story, with a little bit of romance, some action and some twists thrown in for good measure. 

 

 

 

3. I see your book is a fantasy. Could you tell me what fantasy elements readers should expect (without spoilers, of course)?

 

The fantasy elements in The Edge of the Woods are fairly subtle. I don't have swords, or dragons, or commonplace magic. But the world Emma lives in isn't the same as ours, and she meets some creatures who resemble the treacherous fairies from celtic folklore. 

 

 

 

4. Was there a particular part that was your favorite to write?

 

Yes, but it's a bit of spoiler! I'll just say it's when Emma finally gets Very Fed Up. But Emma in general was a character I really enjoyed getting inside the head of. I also really enjoyed writing Mama and Mona. They have some really fun dialogue and character traits. 

 

 

 

5. What, if anything, inspired you to write this book?

 

I've been wanting to write a book featuring celtic-style fairies for as long as I can remember wanting to write. So when I started writing this book, all I knew was that it was going to have some dangerous fairies in it - and they were going to be a much bigger focus. So I was very surprised when Emma put her foot down and redirected my attention to the village and her real struggle. The fairies still play a big part in the novel, but not in the way I expected. But what I've ended up with is a much more interesting story, so I couldn't be happier about the change. 

 

 

 

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

 

At the moment I work as a freelance writer, so I spend a lot of time in and around my house. I'm horrible at cooking, but I really enjoy baking (mostly decorating… and mostly eating the icing), and I've recently taken up gardening. My dog keeps me company in all of these activities and if you follow me on instagram (@feedthewriter) you'll find a wonderful collection of him looking very tolerant while I put things on his head. 

 

 

 

7. Should we be expecting any more books anytime soon?

 

I hope so! I'm working on a fantasy novella at the moment, and I've just started playing around with an idea for a sci-fi trilogy. I'm aiming to have one of these books out by the end of the year. 

 

 

 

Off-beat questions

 

 

 

1. From the description, it seems like your book has a strong woman theme. Would you consider yourself a feminist? If so, what do you think is the biggest problem facing women today?

 

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's important for young people to see women represented as interesting, complex and diverse characters in our media. We've come a long way in the last few years on this front, but we've got much further to go - in terms of representing anyone who isn't a (usually rich) straight white man. And whether you identify as a feminist or not, or support feminism or not, I don't see how someone wouldn't agree that introducing more diverse characters of different genders, races, sexualities and so on wouldn't at least make our stories more varied and interesting. I think every child deserves to see themselves represented as a hero, which is what feminism means to me. 

As for what I think is the biggest problem facing women, it's a tough call. There are so many factors and not every woman faces all of them - racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and so on. But I think the issue I feel most passionately about addressing (and the issue that really encompasses these other factors) is violence against women - particularly in a domestic situation. One woman is murdered every week in Australia by her partner. One in every six women in America has been or will be the victim of attempted or completed rape in her lifetime - and roughly two thirds of rapes are attempted or committed by someone known to the victim. I think it speaks to a need, as I said before, to reconsider how we represent women in the media (as three-dimensional humans, rather than schemers, sex objects and murder victims), how we raise our children to respect each other as equals and how we teach our young adults - and adults - about consent, respect, and healthy expression of emotion, particularly anger. I don't believe men are uncontrollable animals, and I don't believe rape and violence is an inherent human trait. So something else has gone very wrong, and we need to look very seriously at how we can fix it.

 

 

2. I see your short stories come in a variety of genres. Can we expect any non-fantasy books in your future?

 

Absolutely! I've really been enjoying writing (very) short stories (which you can find on my website) as a way of experimenting with concepts and genres, and I've enjoyed dabbling in sci-fi and dystopia so much that I'll definitely be releasing some books in those areas down the track. I've also written some humourous contemporary stories for an online magazine for young women, which is a style I find really fun, though as I use novel writing as a break from my scriptwriting work (which is very much set in the present day) I'll probably keep my focus on writing speculative fiction books. 

Amazon link: http://bit.ly/TheEdgeOfTheWoods

 

 

 

 

The Edge of the Woods

 

For as long as anyone can remember, young women have vanished into the woods. Believing them to be weak willed and lured by demons, the zealous Mayor enforces rules to protect them: rules that render the village women submissive and silent, or face being ostracised. 

Emma’s only hope of a decent life is to be married by her eighteenth birthday, but her quick mouth and low social standing make her a poor prospect. Lonely and afraid, she finds herself dreaming of the woods, and of a mysterious boy who promises freedom and acceptance if she’ll only step across the border into the trees. 
With her birthday fast approaching, she has a decision to make: run away from her future, or fight for it.

 

 

 

 

 AUTHOR BIO

 

 Ceinwen Langley (pronounced Kine-Wen) is an Australian television writer and author. 

Born in a desert town with less than 300 people, one TV channel and nothing to do, Ceinwen learned to entertain herself by reading and making up her own stories. The habit stuck, and she's been trying to make a living out of it ever since. 

Ceinwen has worked in development on several local children's shows, taught and spoken at schools and universities and worked as a storyliner and scriptwriter for long-running soap Neighbours. The Edge of the Woods is her debut novel.

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.