Interview with Fantasy Author A. S. Warwick

I would like to share an interview with fantasy author A. S. Warwick, author of the novels Tears of the Mountain and Winter Wolves.

A. S., would you tell use when did you start writing? What did you first write?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, and probably earlier.  The first story I can remember writing was when I was 5, about a trip to visit Never Never Land.  It was during High School that I really became serious about writing, though the less said about those early, clichéd attempts the better.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

I have come up with many fantasy worlds over the years, though one in particular has been the main focus.  The origins of it began over twenty years ago.  It has morphed and changed a lot since then to an almost unrecognisable state from the original.  It did start out as fairly generic fantasy, with elves and dwarves and what-not, but at some stage I decided I wanted to do something different, and they were among the first to go.  Sharael is a world that is largely deserts in the interior, with civilisation existing along the fertile margins besides the seas and oceans.  It is also a low magic world mostly of humans.  One of the major differences is that it is a more technologically advanced world than most fantasy, having reached the age of gunpowder and big ships - the Napoleonic War era of technology.  As something of a history nerd, one thing that does bother me about a lot of fantasy is the technological stasis that it seems to exist in, with nothing changing over hundreds or thousands of years.  That is part of the reason I have written short fiction across the length of Sharael's history, from the stone age and bronze age all the way to the gunpowder age.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

My preference is for low magic settings - if magic is too powerful then it can quickly take over and remove all challenge.  Meet an obstacle?  Wave your hand and it is overcome.  That said I wanted magic to still be flavourful and have a meaningful role in the world.  With those guidelines in place, I did a lot of brainstorming over a number of iterations until I settled onto the current one, a system of magic that is fundamental to the nature of the world.  From there, knowing what it was capable of - mostly things like healing, control of animals and influencing emotions and perceptions - I tried to work out how it would affect the world, notably in matters such as wars.  Then there is the other type of magic, rare and unusable by humans...

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

For me it is avoiding all the clichéd elements of fantasy - grumpy, Scottish speaking dwarves, pointy-eared elves, big bad evil sorcerers, farm-boy heroes fulfilling prophecies - without making it seem like I am avoiding them and also replacing it with something that is not only unique but also enjoyable by the reader.  Fantasy is only limited by our imaginations.

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

The one who stole the limelight initially (though who is going into the background for a bit) would be Professor Halir Ashford, and would be fun to share a meal with.  A former Hussar turned explorer, adventurer, historian and professor, he would never be short of unusual and exciting tales to recount of things he has seen or heard.  The problem would be to stop him when he gets started.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

I try to avoid villains who are evil for the sake of being evil.  While the main characters run into opposition, those people have their own motivations that they believe are right.  In the most recent novel, Winter Wolves, the main characters are opposed to a man, Inkhumetekh, who went through a crisis of faith during a disastrous battle, further compounded by being on the side slowly loosing a war.  He simply seeks a means to reverse that, and the main characters are out to stop him.  As to meeting him in a dark alley, well, he is utterly driven, so if you got in his way you may have a problem.

What is your next project?

I've actually, like normal, got a number of projects in the air.  The first, set in Sharael, is a collection of short stories and novellas, each stand alone stories but go to tell an overall story of the progress of a war.  The second is a sword & sorcery collection of short fiction, the second such collection.  And once they are done it is time to delve into a large list of ideas and stories I've got floating around but haven't had the time to get to yet.

You can find A. S. Warwick's Tears of the Mountain and Winter Wolves on Amazon and Smashwords. Please check them out.

Interview with Fantasy Author Brendan Carroll

Today I'm pleased to have an interview with Brendan Carroll whose novel The Red Cross of Gold is part of the "Tax Day Free Fantasy" promotion on April 17!  Welcome, Brendan.

When did you start writing? What did you first write?

It seemes I have been writing forever, but I probably took up writing in the sixth grade when I was around eleven or twelve.  My friends and I thought it would be a goodidea to have a class newspaper, so we wrote up articles for a ‘newspaper’, printed them out in tiny letters and then cut them out with scissors.  We pasted them on another piece of paper as akind of messy jigsaw.  Of course, we didn’t get far because we had no way of printing more than the original copy, so we just passed it around.  I rememberit was a lot of work putting it together, but I did learn how to print very small, which helped me when I got into high school.  I made the best cheat sheets money could buy.  This sort of enterprise brought in a little spending money and by the time I printed out the sheets for my‘customers’, I never had to cheat on a single test.  In fact, I made very high scores.  Kids! What will they do next?

Aside from my foray into petty crime, I wrote my first novel whenI was about 32 years old and laid up from work with a medical condition. Iwrote a fan fiction Sci-Fi novel based on the original Star Trek television series.  It was really very good (or soI’m told) at the time and for a first effort, but of course, the market for Star Trek novels was closed to outsiders. I had no idea how the publishing industry worked back then or else I may never have put pen to paper again. Fortunately, ignorance is truly bliss and I kept writing in spite of the almost zero probability of ever being published.  I am also told that this is the mark of a true writer.  One who cannot help but write.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) youmake up. What are they like?

I have made up a few fantasy worlds in mynovels over the years.  It is easier to borrow from mythology, I believe than try to make up an entire world with new names for old ideas, places and characters. If I want to write about dragons, for example, there are plenty of historical references to dragons and what they might look like or how they might behave.  I don’t really have to make up a new world for dragons when the world we live in is already a fantastical place full of marvels and miracles. So I tend to call an oak an oak and a faery a faery.  No need to put the reader through a lot of trouble trying to learn impossible to pronounce names for ‘common’fictions.  I do like using names that mean something to the reader without the reader having to add new words to his/hervocabulary.  Most of the proper names formy characters (both human and otherwise) are taken from history, mythology,astrology and actual reference books about the meanings and origins of names
.
As for my fantasy worlds, I use theunderworld from faery lore and expand upon known or accepted ideas with my ownversions as seen from my own perspective. I think a lot of people can relate to the underworld as a dark andforeboding place, but in my estimation, that would be the Abyss, or Hell, orHades, depending on your personal bent. The underworld I write about is equivalent to what the Pagans might call‘Summerland’ or the realm of the Fae. The alchemists might call it the Ether.

How do you work out a magic system foryour world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

In the early books of the Assassin Chronicles series, I use a lot of imagery and description of Pagancircle-working.  Simple magick using crystals, candles, swords and stones. That sort of thing.  I also use the Solomonic Magick found in theKeys of Solomon, hence Solomon’s Wisdom. King Solomon apparently knew a great deal of magick.  Hey, it’s in the Bible… or used to be.  I also use stuff from the Necronomicon of HP Lovecraft fame and Eastern Magick, Djinnis, Genies (whatever you want to callthem).  Most of the main characters workwith either simple Pagan rituals or Angelic Magick.  Sometimes I change it up a bit so thatreaders don’t actual get themselves into trouble using magickal incantationswithout the proper training.  I don’tconsider myself a magickal expert, but tis better to err on the side of caution I always say.

I try to keep the magick believable, if you can believe that, pardon any puns intended or unintended. I like to think that my readers might actually raise an eyebrow and maybe look in the closet o runder the bed from time to time.  I like to make people think or question what they believe or see or hear.

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

I have never found anything hard aboutmaking up fantasies because it is much harder to stick to the facts and figuresof the mainstream realm of thought as to what is normal and what is not, what is real and what is unreal.  Who can saythat my fantasy is not the Real World and everything else is simply imaginationor fiction?  This question has been askedby much greater minds than mine.

Tell us about your most recent maincharacter. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

Oh, yes, my most recent main character outside of Mark Ramsay, the Right Honorable Chevalier du Morte of the Assassin Chronicles, is a sort of partnership of characters in the form of Clint Evansand Marshall Dillon.  The former is based on a friend of mine from my former occupation and the latter is a fictional fellow, loosely based on a close personal friend. Clint is a semi-successful writer who is just trying to live a simple,but comfortable life in a small town. Marshall Dillon (named after his father’s favorite TV personality) is a misplaced Lakota-Sioux, and friend of Clint Evans, who happens to be the local constable.  They are both rather colorful characters with good senses of humor and personable constitutions.  I think anyone might enjoy sharing a meal with either or both of them.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How didyou make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

In the same novel (The Hounds of Oblivion), the villain or villains are inhuman and inhumane for the most part.  You would definitely not want to meet up withone of them anywhere, dark or light.  AsI said before, I didn’t really simply make them up from scratch, but ratherborrowed them from mythology.  Of course,I had to make up their personalities and their purpose and their methods.  The book is actually leaning more towardhorror than fiction, so I had to think of some horrible things for them todo.  In order to do that, I drew on booksI’ve read, movies I’ve seen and my own vivid imagination.

What is your next project?

My next projects or my current works in progress are thesecond book in the Apprentice Diaries:.Le Nome de Plume and the 26thbook in the Assassin Chronicles series called All That is Fallen.

Thanks, Brendan!

Brendan Carroll's The Hounds of Oblivion, The Red Cross of Gold I and The Knights of Christ are available on Amazon and also on Smashwords.

Be sure and watch for The Red Cross of Gold I and a dozen other great fantasy freebies on April 17 in the coming Tax Day Free Fantasy!

Interview with Brian Healey, Author of Shattered Wings

Question: Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book?

"Shattered Wings" is the chronicle of a man named John, the primary breadwinner in a household consisting of his husband Charlie and their adoptive daughter Cassie. When faced with an unexpected unemployment that he is financially unprepared for, John finds himself desperate for new work before his savings is depleted, reminiscing on a past of addiction, discrimination and family struggle as he slowly descends into alcoholism.

Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers, or did you jump right into self-publication?

I jumped right into self-publication. While I wish I had the distribution capacity of a major publishing house, I prefer to self-publish because of the ultimate creative control and feedback immediacy it offers. I am currently querying distribution companies to see if that is an option, but I restrict my options to groups that allow authors to retain all rights.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish to Amazon?

I find that I enjoy having full control over the creative process, from interior and cover design to deployment and marketing. By self-publishing, I am the writer, publisher, designer and distributor, and it gives me a sense of total understanding of the project and it's scope.

Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing? And if not, what method did you use for proofing?

I did not hire an editor, although I will in the future. For now, I have relied on careful reading, feedback from close friends (who also happen to be voracious readers), and then more careful reading. I typically go through several revisions before deciding a work is complete.

What have you've learned during your self-publishing journey? Any advice you can give to burgeoning writers?

Publishing is a major challenge. Writing has a unique set of challenges and certainly has a stiff requirement for patience, but the "other" stuff (cover and interior design, proofing, editing, marketing and promotion) have their own difficulties and require just as much, if not more, patience. And unlike writing, which always has a satisfying conclusion (the end of a story written), self-publication can "end" in any number of different ways, and not all of them are universally positive.

Where have you put your work on sale? Is it available in only digital formats, or is there a physical edition available?

My books are available in paperback and hardcover in addition to eBook, and are for sale on the websites of Amazon and Barnes and Noble (and a few local booksellers). The eBook versions of my books are available on Amazon.com for the Kindle,BarnesandNoble.com for the nook, and Smashwords (which distributes to Apple, Kobo and Diesel). All of these editions are also for sale directly from me on the books website (www.shatteredwingsbook.com).

What kinds of marketing are you involved with for promoting your book? Any promotional recommendations to new writers?

By day, I am a professional web engineer, so I do a lot of digital work myself. I have designed marketing websites for each of my books and do heavy promotion on most major social networking services. I am also doing limited paid advertising. Offline, I do local book readings and signings at independent bookstores that will carry my work.

If I had any recommendations to new writers it would be: (1) Don't turn down any free offer of publicity, and (2) Be patient. Sales take time, and your first book is likely to sell only modestly. Work to build your brand and gain awareness, and eventually the sales will come.

Do you find it difficult to manage your time, shifting focus between marketing your current book and writing your next book, as well as any day-to-day responsibilities?

Very difficult! Without a schedule, I would be utterly lost. I am currently working full-time as a senior web engineer, going to school full-time for a degree in English, marketing my latest book and writing my third and forth manuscripts... I could easily lose track of myself if I don't pick specific times for each task. And inevitably sometimes one must dominate when specific activities have deadlines or become overwhelming. It's a delicate process that is easy to unbalance.

What's next for you? Any new books in the works?

My next novel is titled "Void," and will tell the story of a man trapped inside his own body, suffering from a coma for several years. Despite his condition, he can hear and he can think, and we follow his thoughts as he reminisces on his past and endures the debate between his family and his doctors over whether to end his life. I hope to have this novel released by early fall.

After that, for late winter, my fourth novel is titled "No Where." It will follow a determined man as he tries to flee from an unknown adversary that is after his biological son. With the help of his brother, he sets off across the country for solace in a secluded family residence while trying to end the pursuit. But as his brother probes into the man's son and his estranged family, he finds some troubling information that threatens their ultimate safety.

Thanks, Brian.

You can find Shattered Wings on Kindle, Smashwords, and Nook.

Bryan Healey is a featured author in this week’s “E”ndependent Publishers $2.99 ebook Club enewsletter.

The Scoop on Amazon Tagging

If you have a book for sale on Amazon or other vendor sites, you know that getting it up there is merely the first hurdle. Once your book is listed how do people find it? Even if it’s the greatest novel since Moby Dick or has the potential sales of Gone with the Wind, potential readers still have to see it first.

Tagging is one way that Amazon has ensured that will happen. It is also one form of promotion for authors which is relatively invisible, simple and free.

Now tagging isn't just for authors. Readers can and should use them as well. If you read a novel and want to let other readers know they would enjoy it because it's an adventure or science fiction story or has Robert Bruce in it, you can add adventure or science fiction or Robert Bruce as a tag.

When another reader searches on that term, Amazon uses the tags to give them results. Amazon has thousands of books they bring up when someone searches on phrase. The frequency with which a book has been tagged with that phrase is an important determiner in where a novel is on Amazon's list when the results come up.

So how does tagging work? First, you must have an Amazon account with which you have made an Amazon purchase; otherwise, no one else can see your tags. Then you can tag a book with up to 15 tags.

Here authors can exert at least some control. Pick out about ten tags that you think will be used by readers who would want to read your novel. For my historical novel, Freedom's Sword, I used terms like "historical novel", "Scotland", "Scottish independence" and "knights". Readers will add tags which they feel are appropriate. Someone added the tag "medieval" which was a good addition and will help people who like medieval fiction find it.

I strongly advise against using tags that have nothing to do with your novel even if you think they're popular. It just annoys readers and they may decide to "vote down" the relevant tags. They may also add negative tags, so care is a good idea.

To add tags, you can hit "tt" and it gives you a tagging pop-up window where you can type in tags. If you want to simply agree with existing tags, you can click on the button next to the tags.

By the way, there is a text line "Agree with these tags?" Clicking it does not agree with the existing tags!

If you look at a novel and think the tags are not appropriate to it you can "vote down" the inappropriate. That is when you click "Agree with these tags?" That gives you a list of the tags and if you hover your cursor over the number of clicks that tag has received, you can vote against it. If enough "down votes" are received, the tag is removed.

The explanation sounds complicated, but it's really a simple process. It helps both authors and readers. We should all take advantage of it.

Reviews--why they are important

Someone asked why in a comment to a previous post. This is such a vital discussion rather than respond to the comment, I wanted to make it an entire post.

There are different types of reviews, of course. There are professional ones in PW and Library Journal. There are (mostly amateur) reviews on blogs. There are Amazon, B&N and Smashwords reviews, theoretically done by regular readers. There is some overlap of course.

I'm going to ignore the first. They're simply out of our control. But the second two, especially for indie published authors and their readers are vitally important.

Now I am going to speak as a reader. Keep in mind that most authors start out as and to a large extent remain exactly that. I'm a reader. Every year there is more content out there for me to choose. Now the second GRR Martin's Dances with Dragons is out I'll pick it up. The same with Elizabeth Moon's new novel. I won't bother with reviews.

But that is two novels. I usually read between 50 and 100 novels a year. How am I going to decide on what to read? Family recommendations? Sometimes, but my family doesn't necessarily like the same genres I do.

So instead I'll go to blog sites like indiereader.com or DailyCheapReads.com and read the reviews. They will probably point me toward a few novels I'm interested in. But once I'm on Amazon, you can bet I will take a look not only at the five-star reviews. I will also read a few of the one and two-star reviews. I'll read the blurb. Then I'll pick out some of those novels to read.

So the reviews are essential to my decision of what to read out of the many thousands of novels which are published every year. I depend on other people sharing their experience with me.

As a writer, well... you simply reverse the thinking, I suppose. I want readers who like the sorts of thing I write to find their way to my stories and enjoy them. How will they do that with all the "noise" in publishing? By other people saying, "Hey, I enjoyed this." Or if you didn't enjoy it, tell people why. What you hated actually might be something they're looking for or else you'll save them a bad experience.

But on either side, many of us depend on readers to take the time and extra effort to share their reaction to novels. I admit it's a lot to ask, but the reviews don't have to be elaborate. Just a simple statement of what you liked or didn't. I liked the characters. The plot was too slow. *ahem* Vampires shouldn't sparkle! If you make a mistake or two in the grammar, don't worry about it. Authors are supposed to be the experts on that, not readers. Perfect grammar is nice but not a requirement.

So I strongly encourage people to take a few minutes after they read a novel they purchased on Amazon or B&N to post a review. Help us all out!

Traditional Publishing and EBook Royalties

There is considerable buzz about Joe Konrath's recent post in which he told the bare truth about what the Big 6 are doing to traditionally published authors on royalties. After repeating a recent conversation with a NYT selling author he commented on the royalties:

The 25% the publisher is offering is actually based on net. So you're getting 17.5% of the list price. (Amazon gets 30%, they get 52.5%--which is obscene)

When your agent gets her cut, you're earning 14.9% of list price on ebooks.

Read the whole blog post. It is a must read for all authors, traditional or not. Joe does some great number crunching for a wordsmith. But let me repeat what I think is the salient bit of that comment.

It Is Obscene.

Let me revisit the thinking behind the DTB royalties. The 15% was originally devised so that after allowing for the substantial costs that publishers had in editing, cover art, promotion, blurb writers, shipping, storing, etc. that the profit would be split about evenly. The publisher got about half. The person who produced the thing--the author--also got about half.

Under the Big 6 eBook set up the big hog at the trough, the publisher, gets almost all and the one who produced it--the author--gets a pittance.

Do we have a serious problem here? Let me answer my opinion on that. Yes.

My question, frankly, is why are so many authors putting up with it?

The times, my friend, they are a-changing. I suggest that we change with them.