Hi there Wottareaders! here is my interview with author Zach Adams, who just released his debult novel, Dead Man Walking:

What can you tell us about you?

It’s possible that I’m nothing more than a figment of a deranged imagination.

One book, one movie, one song, and one videogame?

Book: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Movie: The Princess Bride (though it was difficult not to say Office Space instead)

Song: D**k Around by Sparks, In Transition by Floater, or Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree

Game: This one is tough. Probably Kingdom Hearts 2, Final Fantasy X, or No Man’s Sky.

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your novels, which one would it be?

“’Everyone try to stay calm!’ He [Isaac Falcone] called out boldly (‘Calm, please, everyone, stay!’ He cried out in a mousy squeak.)”

Do you have any rituals for writing? Any kind of habit or goal to achieve every day?

When I’m actively working, it must be at the same time every morning, after the rest of my wake-up routine is over with. I need the room to be as dark as possible, or my eyes won’t stay on the computer screen. Headphones are necessary so that I can’t hear anyone trying to interrupt. Once I’m in place I just go until I hit the end of my attention span.

Do you take real people you know and put them in your stories?

Most of my cast have borrowed certain traits from my various friends and relatives. There are only two characters so far who are 100% based on a specific person with no other influences.

Let’s talk about procrastination, what is the most absurd thing you’ve been doing when you should be writing?

Chatting with birds, raging against the concept of matched socks, and watching paint un-dry. I’ve also spent entirely too much energy on my time-travelling hobby, but I still have only managed to travel forward one second at a time.

Tell us about your book, Dead Man Walking, what do you think is the most interesting aspect of it?

A lot of fantasy stories follow a protagonist who is at least somewhat prepared to be the hero or has some sort of guide to get him there. I thought it would be more fun and relatable for my lead to be an average person who grew up reading those same stories and just wants to go home and keep doing so until their panic attack subsides, often overlooking what is happening around them in the process until they figure out how to save themselves. It all started when I asked myself ‘What if Arthur Dent was in the Dresden Files?’

What are you writing right now?

I’m on a temporary book break while I work on an album with my songwriting partner Jon Valentine, which will serve as a soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. The plots for the next two entries in the Ivyverse are nearly worked out, but I have an unfortunate habit of operating on an ‘as I feel like it’ basis.

Here goes my interview with author Madison Wentworth, hope you enjoy it:

One book, one movie, one song, and one videogame?

Book: “Magic Kingdom for Sale” by Terry Brooks. Writers create their own magic kingdoms and get to leave the real world and visit them, just like the main character in this book.

Movie: “The Sixth Sense,” because… that twist!

Song: “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John because it captures the essence of the relationship between Cherie and Evan in NEED.

Videogame: Tomb Raider because I like the graphics. I’m not a gamer, though. I prefer working with a different kind of joystick. (Note to blog editor: If this last sentence is too risqué, feel free to delete it, but the book is an erotic romance, so I thought I’d have a little fun.)

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your novels, which one would be?

I don’t do too many social things, because most of the time, I either end up sitting around being bored or pretending to be someone I’m not.

Do you have any rituals for writing? Any kind of habit or goal to achieve every day?

I try to write every day. I don’t have specific word-count goals; I rely on the story to pull me along. Since I have a job outside of writing, that dictates how much time I can spend.

Do you take real people you know and put them in your stories?

Not directly, but real people serve as models for some of my characters. Several of the characters in NEED were based on loosely on amalgams of real people, and I put a lot of myself into the protagonists.

Let’s talk about procrastination, what is the most absurd thing you’ve been doing when you should be writing?

I don’t want to say I don’t have that problem, but I really don’t. I love to write, and I love to do research for my work. At any given moment, I’m either writing, doing chores, doing research for my writing, eating, sleeping, or often working my “other” job, which also involves happens to involve writing (I’m a freelance/contract copywriter and website editor).

Tell us about your book, what do you think is the most interesting aspect of it?

NEED is a classic love story, but with some unusual twists: He’s a ghost, there’s time travel involved, and both the main characters are vampires — although of an unconventional sort. There are some steamy scenes, too, and a strong element of adventure. But their romance and their desperation to be together undergird the entire story. I wanted the characters to share an intense sensuality that was the result of an even more intense emotional connection. Can the greatest of loves overcome the greatest of obstacles: death? That’s the question I wanted to ask.

What are you writing right now?

At the moment, I’m focused on promoting NEED, because I’m extremely excited about this story. I’m not sure what I’ll write next. Whether I continue in the same vein will largely depend on the response to this story.

Hope you enjoyed this interview, also, don’t miss our latest post, in which you will find a list with Sister Souljah’s books in order, you’ll love her novels.

Hey there Wottareaders! this is my interview with Drew Myers, author of The Tacos and Chocolate Diet, let’s get to know him better!

What can you tell us about you?

I had 11 jobs in the 11 years after graduating from college. My dad told me when I was growing up, “If you’re not happy with what you’re doing, go do something else.” I embraced that advice with both arms and squeezed tight.

One book, one movie, one song, and one videogame?

• Book: Into the Wild by Jon Kraukher
• Movie: Remember the Titans
• Song: Rose of Jericho by Drew Kennedy
• Videogame: Tetris

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your novels, which one would be?

Life is short. Life is precious. We need to act accordingly.

Do you have any rituals for writing? Any kind of habit or goal to achieve every day?

While I was working on my debut book – The Tacos and Chocolate Diet – I constantly asked myself this poignant question: “How do you eat an elephant?” The obvious and powerful answer: “One bite at a time.” I stopped looking at my goal of 65,000 words.

I simply got up every day at 5:15 a.m. and wrote for 45 minutes. It didn’t matter if I wrote 1,000 words or 100 words – but I kept going for 45 minutes. Eventually the book was done.

Let’s talk about procrastination, what is the most absurd thing you’ve been doing when you should be writing?

The list is long … where to start? Instead of writing, I’ve found myself clipping my fingernails, washing the dog, sharpening all the pencils in the house, sorting the unmatched socks, cleaning out the junk drawer, re-reading old blog posts, weeding the garden, unsubscribing from all the junk emails in my Inbox….

Tell us about your book, what do you think is the most interesting aspect of it?

We’re all blessed, and we need to recognize that. We might be going through a tough stretch; we might be in a rut, but because we have so many blessings – so much to be grateful for – we only need to make small tweaks here and there to get back to living the lives that we want.

What are you writing right now?

It’s called Stop Eating Sh*t Sandwiches. It’s all about how we talk to ourselves, which is usually mean, disrespectful and rude.

Thank you to author Drew Myers for answering my questions.

If you enjoyed this then take a look at this interview with Garon Whited.

Hi there wottareaders! here is my interview with Garon Whited, he’s the author of the Nightlord series (a must read for LITRPG fans), author of the Luna, Dragonhunters, and over twenty short stories. Let’s get to know him better:

😀 The Man

What can you tell us about you? 

Nothing.  I’m an enigma.  I’m a single, white guy, lives alone, keeps mostly to himself, owns a chainsaw and a basement.  Nothing to see here.  These are not the droids you’re looking for.

Aside from that, I’m a stereotype.  I literally didn’t notice the quarantine until I left the house to go grocery shopping.  I’m up at any hour because I’m awake and have stories to write.  I’m really not that interesting.  It’s the inside of my head where I keep all the good stuff.

Where are you from? Has your country influenced your stories somehow? 

I’m from the United States.  Yes, I’d say my country has influenced my stories.  When they take place on Earth, they are most commonly placed in the USA because it’s more familiar.  It’s easier for me to shape a story in a cultural the geographic pattern with which I am already familiar.

Writers are such for different reasons, which was your thing that made you decide you wanted to become a professional writer?

I started as a reader.  Then I started noticing some of the absolute garbage that makes it to bookstores.  This?  This got published?   Traditionally published, I mean.  With an agent and editor and a publishing house?

Nope, I wasn’t going to let that go.  So I started writing just because the low quality of some published books irritated me.

One book, one movie, one song, and one videogame? 

First off: One book?  That’s not fair.  But if I have to pick one, I’ll take Children of the Lens, by E.E. Smith.

One song?  “Under Pressure.”

Videogame?  Does online chess count?

Pineapple pizza, Yes or no?

No.  I do not care for food that is trying to eat me while eat it.

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your novels, which one would be?

If I knew what I was doing, would I be here?

✍️ The writer

I’d like to know about your first steps, the very first day you decided to become a professional writer, what made you do it?

Spite and hatred.  I sat down to read a latest “best-selling” novel and thought to myself, “This is crap.  I could eat a pen and produce a better story than this tomorrow morning!”

I skipped eating the pen and decided to just write one.

Do you have any rituals for writing? Any kind of habit or goal to achieve every day?

Nope.  I wake up when I’m done sleeping, make the grueling commute to work—ten, twelve steps, something like that—plunk down in the chair, and get going.  I take a few breaks for food, drink, laundry, and so on.  Eventually, I’m tired, so I go to bed.  The process repeats.

Do you take real people you know and put them in your stories? 

Only if I’m planning to kill them off in a particularly bloody and unpleasant fashion.  It’s therapeutic and keeps me out of prison.

What advice would you give new writers on how to delve into creative fiction? 

Don’t sweat the first draft.  You’re telling yourself the story in the first draft.  No one will ever see it but you.  You’ll hate it.  You’re supposed to hate it.  But until you tell yourself the story, you don’t know what the story is about, not really.  So write a lousy first draft and hate it.  You can then use it as a perfect example of what you did wrong so you can write the story you tell to others!

Which would you say was your best and your worst moments as a writer? 

Best moment?  Finishing a really good scene.

Worst moment?  Waking up and wondering if any of this crap is worth reading.

Let’s talk about procrastination, what is the most absurd thing you’ve been doing when you should be writing?

I’m lousy at procrastinating.  But I’m in a bit of a rush, so I’ll get to this question later…

📚 The Books

Here you have some books by Garon Whited in case you want to start reading his amazing stories:

Sunset

Dragonhunters

Luna

Dragonhunters

The Nightlord series is a LitRPG that centers on Eric, a vampire, but this is not the usual take on a vampire story, it has also a lot of high fantasy elements, but this is not the usual fantasy story either, how would you define your series?

“I couldn’t decide on a genre, so I went with all of them.”

Seriously, how do you limit a story to a single genre?  It feels artificial and forced, sometimes, at least to me.  If your story has a romantic element, does that make it a romance?  If it takes place on a starship, does that make it science fiction?  If your starship crashes on a fantasy world with magic and dragons and so forth, is it still science fiction, or is it now a fantasy?  What about the romance plot?  Is it still a romance?

Eric goes where Eric goes, does what he does, and if that’s in some genre or another, hooray!  It’s not like Eric is going to notice he’s not sticking to his “supposed” genre, now is he?

Book seven of the Nightlord series was released in late 2020, what kind of adventures will Eric be living in this installment?

Let’s see… being a vampire wizard from another universe, he’s got some issues with being a good father to his adopted daughter, especially since she was abandoned as an infant for being “soulless.”  (The locals have this superstition about copper-colored eyes…)

So, teenage daughter issues.  People who want to burn them as witches.  The Sherriff, a local preacher, a Mysterious Figure who is using psychic powers to manipulate people, a world full of political intrigue (which he’s been avoiding while he raises the daughter), a quasi-divine Altar Ego (spelling deliberate!) who needs his help in getting ready for a major miraculous display, a small war…

I know there’s more, but I don’t have my notes in front of me.

Will there be more volumes in this series? 

There better be.  My fans will hunt me down if I leave things there!

There is a review of Dragonhunters that says the following: “If you could combine the movie Topper with a good solid RPG group, you might get something like this”, do you think it’s a good definition? Also, will there be a sequel of this book?

Sadly, I haven’t seen “Topper.”  I’ve been busy writing.  But I can see most of “Dragonhunters” as a D&D game.  I wrote it while thinking about some of my D&D groups and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Yes, there should be a sequel, or a series.  I know there’s more to that story, but it’s waiting while “Nightlord” gets out of the way.  I’m writing as fast as I can!

What are you writing right now?

A couple of things.  Eric’s adopted daughter, Phoebe, will have a couple of side-novels to explain what she’s been doing while Eric is off studying angels in his Evil Overlord Lair.  It won’t be vital to the “Nightlord” story, but it will be useful for anyone who is wondering, “Who did that?  Why did that happen?  What’s the motivation of that character for this?”

I’m also working on Book 8 of the Nightlord series.  I’m not sure I can kill him off in book eight, but I figure I’ll have him by book nine.  I started the series with the idea it would be a trilogy, but he’s just so darn hard to kill!  I’ll get him yet, though!

Thanks to author Garon Whited for answering my questions! hope you all wottareaders enjoyed this interview, if so, you can take a look at this interview with D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series.

Hi there wottareaders, it’s time for another author interview! this is my interview with Anna Kashina, let’s het to know her and her books a bit better shall we? let’s go:

😀 The woman

What can you tell us about you?

A writer. A scientist. A mother. A chronic worrier and self-doubter. An amateur jewelry designer. When I write novels, I also enjoy assuming different identities and personalities. I tend to think of myself as a jack-of-all trades, with far too little time to do everything I want.

Where are you from? Has your country influenced your stories somehow?

I was born and raised in Russia and came to the US as an adult. One obvious influence this had on my writing is the language. I used to read, think, and write in Russian, and changed to English after I finished my first novel. I think the experience, and my foreign language background, have a huge influence on everything I write.

On a more tangible scale, I love Russian mythology and its cross-cultural nature. The Russia I grew up in had both European and Asian parts, and ran from far north to the Middle East. This blend of cultures creates unique folklore that combines elements from all these places, and directly or indirectly these influences are always present in my writing. This may be why I chose fantasy as my genre.

Writers are such for different reasons, which was your thing that made you decide you wanted to become a professional writer?

I believe a writer is someone who can’t help writing. In a way, this occupation chooses you, not the other way around. I wrote my first “novel” when I was six, and continued writing all my life until, in my twenties, I finally created something I was comfortable sharing with others. After that, publishing my work seemed like an obvious next step. In itself, publishing has been a very long and difficult process that definitely doesn’t help motivation or confidence.

By now, I have published 8 novels, but I still don’t think of myself as a professional writer. Professionals write for money, but authors, even super successful ones, usually write because of an inner drive. Money or not, it is still something you can’t live without, if you are an author. So, you can probably think of it as destiny rather than a choice.

One book, one movie, one song, and one videogame?

Book: “Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov. There is a particular translation that is better than the rest. If anyone feels tempted after this post, please contact me about it.

Movie: “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” Not a serious movie, but I think it is absolutely perfect in its genre. I enjoy it a lot.

Song: “Scarborough Fair”. Purely for musical reasons.

Game: “Might and Magic VI”. I also like its sequels, but this was the game that once kept me at a computer for an entire month. This game is way too old, and I really hope for a remake, and more in the series.

Pineapple pizza, Yes or no?

No. Ugh. Nothing sweet in my main courses, thank you very much.

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your novels, which one would be?

If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was being stubborn” (from Blades of the Old Empire). This is my paraphrase of my motto: “Never give up.

✍️ The writer

I’d like to know about your first steps, the very first day you decided to become a professional writer, what made you do it?

I might have inadvertently answered this question above. I never consciously made this decision. I was just writing, because I couldn’t imagine life without it. Of course, once you start writing, publishing your work also becomes a big part of the game.

Do you have any rituals for writing? Any kind of habit or goal to achieve every day?

I don’t. I believe in inspiration. When I am inspired, I just write in every available moment of the day. When I am not, I give myself a break. To me, working on a novel feels exactly like being in love. Once you achieve that state, keeping away from the object of your love becomes hard, so rituals or schedules simply don’t work.

Once I had children, finding time to write became much more difficult, so I sometimes set this time aside, but still my writing is more like binging than a measured activity.

Do you take real people you know and put them in your stories?

Sometimes. For one of my novels, I actually asked friends if they wanted to have characters based on them and what kind of characters, and I had a lot of fun working them into the story. I also sometimes do it subconsciously. One of my favorite Majat Code characters just came out perfect, with a name, a face, and a very distinct personality. I felt as if he was a real person all the time, and writing his dialogues felt like putting him into a situation and watching what he was going to say. It was as if I already knew him from somewhere. It took me years to realize that both his appearance and name closely matched a person I once knew, who passed away about 20 years ago. It was such an odd discovery.

I usually don’t purposely use a real person as a character in my books, but I do watch and learn from different personality traits and actions when I create characters.

What advice would you give new writers on how to delve into creative fiction?

First advice is, have fun. If you don’t approach writing as enjoyment, there is really no reason to write. Second advice is, never give up. Writing can be enjoyable, but it can also be frustrating at times, and when it gets down to publishing it can become brutal. You should not let this affect you.

For new writers, it is great – even though very time consuming – to join a critique group. For years, I belonged to the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, and its alums who are now successful authors feel like a family. I learned a lot from that workshop.

Which would you say was your best and your worst moments as a writer?

My best moments are when I am in love with my book and have time to just keep writing it. I remember one of my highest points was writing “The Guild of Assassins”, I finished the first draft in 3 weeks and I just loved every moment of it. My very first novel, “The Princess of Dhagabad” felt this way too, even though it is a very different book and it took quite a bit longer to finish the first draft.

My worst moments? Rejections. When you wait months for a response from a publisher to receive a one-line form letter about a work you put your soul into. Bad reviews. When my first professionally published novel came out, every bad review made me physically sick. There were good reviews too, but somehow I tended to focus on the bad all the time. It took me years to get past this feeling.

Let’s talk about procrastination, what is the most absurd thing you’ve been doing when you should be writing?

Playing my kids’ games on an iPad. A completely unproductive way to kill a lot of time. It started happening during the pandemics, and I really hope it doesn’t become a long-term habit.

📚 The Books

The Majat Code is a trilogy with lots of action, some romance, and intrigue, what makes this series special?

This trilogy was an absolute fun to write. I just let myself go and created an adventure that I could immerse myself into. Everything about it was so enjoyable, starting with creation of a new world from scratch: geography, languages, customs, food, clothing, and different styles of swordplay. It was a nice place to spend my time in. I also fell absolutely in love with several characters. Especially one of the main characters, who started off as a plot tool and quickly grew to overshadow everyone else, at least in my mind. My fans had mixed reactions about that, and that was fun too – to watch others talk about my characters as real people. This enjoyment will always make me feel very special about the Majat Code.

 Your latest novel, Shadowblade, tells the story of Naia, a girl who dreams of becoming a Jaihar Blademaster, and yet this don’t seem to work as well as she would like at first. Tell us a bit about Naia and her arduous task of facing the imperial family.

Naia was inspired by my love for the Majat Code too. I wanted to write something different, yet in the same style. In this book, I stepped back to show what it takes to train a top warrior that could be then sent into action at the highest levels in the Empire. As a young girl in a male-dominated profession, Naia faces challenges I can relate to very well, and having her take control and overcome these challenges without sinking into stereotypes felt special too. In the end, she surprised me many times, and the plot took twists I didn’t expect.

In my dreams, I think of this novel as a distant prequel to the Majat Code, the Empire that later disintegrated into kingdoms, with the Jaihar warriors morphing into an independent guild with its own code that doesn’t obey any authority at all. Naia, as a warrior and a challenger to the Emperor, paves way for the Majat warriors of the future. I am having fun dreaming about these things.

Of all your books, which one is your favorite?

The one that gave me the most enjoyment to write is The Guild of Assassins. Incidentally, this is also the book that won the most awards, from people who read it as a standalone. My guilty pleasure is to listen to the audiobook, beautifully narrated by Genevieve Swallow.

At the same time, books are a bit like children. You love all of them in different ways. You also see some things you’d want to change, even though it is too late. And, I think most authors feel that their latest book is their best, which makes sense, given that we learn and become better all our lives. From that standpoint, I should probably be naming Shadowblade.

What are you writing right now?

I recently finished a science fantasy, The Serpent’s Code, which is based on my background as a biomedical scientist and connects some information about the genetic code with the Book of Genesis in the Bible. It is totally different from everything I ever wrote, and I am still deciding on where to go with it.

For guilty pleasure, I somehow started writing a novel that weaves around the events of the Majat Code – not a good idea from the commercial standpoint, but lots of fund to work on.

And, I am toying with the idea of a fantasy based on Russian folklore, which hasn’t quite shaped up yet, but will probably become my next serious project.

Hope you enjoyed this interview! also, do you happen to have kids? then check out this post with the best reusable sticker books for toddlers! they are amazing.