What
inspired you to write this book?
Immortal's
Discord is the second book in the Chaos Rising trilogy, so in the truest
since, I wrote this book because I already wrote the first, Tarinel's Song. LOL In
all seriousness though, I have always felt there was a great deal lacking in
fantasy fiction when it came to the interaction of the actual Gods with their
mortal followers. If you look to the
classic myths – which essentially is what modern fantasy is supposed to be
inspired from – the heroes are always either matching wits with or in some way
seeking to overcome the whims of the Gods.
This is a critical element missing from modern fantasy, and both of my
epic fantasy series seek to explore the foundation, origin and relationships
that must exist between deities and those who they compel to worship them.
Can you
give us an interesting fact about your book that isn't in the blurb?
The whole point of this series is to
demonstrate the evolution of religion in a fantasy setting – in this instance,
the Trinity – who were the original three Gods of the Eastern Realms' pantheon
– have been splintered: one is dead, one is bound captive, and the other has
taken absolute control of the remaining Gods.
Millennia later, they are all once again coming towards a grand
confrontation, and it is inevitable that the mortal realm is going to get drawn
into the conflict.
How did
you choose your title?
I wanted to theme the series around sound
– Tarinel's Song, Immortal's Discord, and Stranger's Silence (the as-yet
unreleased conclusion to the series) represent the progression of sound – a
song escalating to discord then falling to silence.
Tell us
about the cover and how it came to be.
I have been working with Eda Christianson
on creating a theme for the series covers, as well. We did an original cover for Tarinel's Song that was not well
received, and Eda had the idea of using symbology instead of a picture to
improve it. She then used Celtic designs
to characterize how the Hand, a critical relic in the story, might have been
depicted in holy scripture. I loved it
so much, I came back to her to do the same for this book, and her Celtic
conception of Tumolth, the dragon tyrant of this story, was just perfect.
Did you
self-publish or publish traditionally and why?
I self-published, primarily because
traditional publishing is just so hard to break into anymore. When anyone can throw ten thousand words
together in a word processor and call it a book, it is incredibly hard to have
genuine works of fiction stand out.
After years of rejections, I eventually found out how to self-publish,
and this has been my primary method of releasing my books since.
What do
you consider the most important part of a good story?
I was once told that if you could not
relate to the characters of a story, there was no purpose in writing it. So I have always held to the ideal that the
characters of my story must not only exist and move between scenes, but their
motivations must be clear and relatable.
Even if the reader does not like the character, they should always be
able to understand their reasons for doing things.
What is
your writing process?
Complicated. I spend months thinking of where I want the
characters to go, how they will progress there and the motivations needed to
get them from where they are to where I want them. As I mentioned above, my stories are largely
character driven so the movements of the characters must be mapped out fully in
my mind before I ever write anything down.
Once I feel I have a good idea of where and how the characters will
progress, I create a rough outline before I begin actually writing the chapters
– I do not do anything solid in preliminary stage, since I have learned from
hard experience that a story is always fluid until it is finalized in
text. Only when the chapters are written
can I consider the story set in stone.
How
long have you been writing?
I
first started writing as a teenager, when I first started getting the dream of
creating my own stories. Of course,
those stories met with the same rejection I spoke of earlier, so it was never a
solid, committed practice. I would write
stories, seek to have them published, and then abandon them when no one would
accept them (incidentally, those early stories have pretty much been lost
through the years). I began to publish
my own books through Amazon back in 2011, and have been publishing consistently
since.
How did
you get started writing?
To me, writing just seemed a natural
extension of reading. As I read, I would
get new ideas, and committing my ideas to paper just seemed a proper evolution
of the material I was absorbing through reading.
Are you
a plotter or a pantser?
I would probably fall somewhere in the
middle, though I would definitely lean more towards plotter than panster. As I mentioned before, ideas evolve as I
write, and I have found that trying to create a concrete diagram of where I
want my story to go is counterproductive to my creative process. But I most certainly spend a considerable
amount of time and energy planning where I want my story to go and what the
ultimate objectives of the story are.
What
part of the writing process is the hardest for you?
Fact checking and referencing. Especially when working with sequels, it is
incredibly important to maintain a consistent story web and not create
conflicting elements. So there is a
constant need to go back to what has already been written and make certain
there are no contradictions as I move forward with the story. In the case of my Oz-Wonderland series, I am
having to check against sixteen previously published stories (fourteen original
Oz books and two Alice stories), so that is even more daunting.
What
tips can you give on how to get through writers block?
I do not believe I have approached writer's
block in the same way twice. Sometimes
it is a matter of walking away from the work for a period while the story ideas
stew, and other times it is just a matter of sitting down and forcing myself to
write and let my own doubts about where the story is going fall away through
the creative process.
What
kind of music do you like to listen to while you write?
I love music – as a consequence, I cannot
listen to music while I write, or all I want to do is sing along...
Who is
your favorite author?
I have shifted between favorites through
the years, but right now I would have to say my most consistent favorite is
Terry Brooks, though I have had Sara Douglass, Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan,
George R.R. Martin and others take the top spot in the past.
Who is
your favorite character from a book?
To be honest, I cannot say I have had a
favorite character since George R.R. Martin killed off Rb Stark...
What is
your favorite book?
Hard call, but I would have to say it's a
toss-up between Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass and Sword of Shanara by
Terry Brooks.
Read
anything good lately?
Lately I seem bogged down in books that
have great reviews but are disappointing when actually read. Just finishing up Stephen King's Dark Tower
series, for instance, and I was sorely disappointed...
What do
you like to do when you're not writing?
I am having a lot of fun working on
resurrecting Golden Age comics through my Golden Age Preservation Project. I have been converting public domain comic
books to Kindle Format for a modern generation.
What
advice would you give an author just starting out?
Three things: First, write. Do not worry about whether the story falls
well into chapters or structure, just get the idea written down. You may have the greatest idea in the world,
but if you do not commit the idea to paper (or in modern sense to a word
processor), you will never have a story to share. Second, do not be afraid to ask for help. If you try to do it on your own, you lose the
opportunity to share in the wisdom and experiences of others. Finally, if everyone who have read your work
loves it, not enough people have read it – don't fear the negative review. Listen, absorb and learn from it. How else can you improve your talent if you
are not challenged?
Have
you had anything else published?
Immortal's
Discord is my sixth novel. I have two books each published in my
Godslayer Cycle and Oz-Wonderland series, and of course Tarinel's Song from this series.
I also publish an ongoing comic book trivia series (Ron El's Comic Book Trivia series), which presently has ten volumes
(Volume 11 will be published in July, 2014).
What's
your next project?
Back to the Oz-Wonderland series for the
third book, The Wonderful Alice of Oz.
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