Pastime With Books: Author Interview

Have you developed a specific writing style? I believe I have. My writing is fantasy, but I believe I bring something to the genre that has not been there before. When people think about how glorious magic would be if it was real, they rarely think of what it would do; the unintended consequences of giving the power of creation to a creature such as man.

In my book, I try to show what would occur if magic was reality, if the world was shaped not by things like physics and math, but instead was shaped by perception and will. I show the effect of our deep seated prejudices and jealousies.

An example: One of my more controversial characters in my books, who keeps getting away from me and trashing the joint by the way, is Chelsea. This tortured spirit is a young college girl who lost her mother when she was five, had her father pull away from her, leaving her with only a friend barely older than she was to show her the way. In order to escape her life, and to find some measure of comfort and love, she grew up seeking love from anyone who would offer it.

Everyone saw Chelsea as being a slut because of her actions, even her closest friends, and this perception of her resulted in her becoming a nymph, driven solely by emotion and lust. In essence, her friends raped her by proxy, by seeing only one side of her, by not learning who she truly was; they made her into the creature she became.

My writing style is simple, I try to hold up a mirror to society and show its flaws, so we can try to solve them.

Have you ever had writers block? If so, what do you do to resolve it? YES!! All the time, my means of resolving writers block is not healthy, though it is certainly better than some (Yes we are talking about you Mr. Hemmingway!). I drink caffeinated beverages like they are water; the caffeine gets me going, and gets me past my writers block.

How did you come up with the title? Be Careful What You Wish For? Well, the title seemed appropriate given the concept of the book, and the series.

The main concept of the series is, we make a lot of wishes in life, from petty, to grandiose. But how many of those wishes would you be proud to admit to? Not just the wishes you make aloud, but the little ones in the back of your mind.

“I wish this guy would just drop dead” “I wish she liked me” “I wish I had what she had” I wish he could experience what I have, and then he would understand” “I wish, I wish, I wish”

Everyone makes wishes they would not be proud to admit, more than they would in fact, so what would happen if these wishes started to become reality?

So, “Be Careful What You Wish For,” just seemed right.

Can you tell us about your main character? As with a lot of fantasy these days, I have a number of main characters, as well as side mains. In book one of my series there are six people who I would call main characters, and another two who I would have to term side mains.

The one I would like to discuss here is Blake Ingersoll.

Blake is a college athlete who feels a powerful drive to prove himself. He enjoys role-playing games, and this saps his ego as he considers himself more of a jock than anything else, but he still enjoys gaming as much as he does sports, and this dichotomy is what drives him to constantly try to improve himself.

Blake is Chelsea’s current flavor of the month. This has a direct effect on him because of something that comes out in book one; magic is directed based upon emotional intensity. Chelsea’s rampant emotions cause Blake to undergo massive physical changes, as well as emotional changes, which eventually results in catastrophe.

Who designed your cover? Renee Barratt of “The Cover Counts.” My original cover, which was just a picture of red leather with words drawn on it in black and gold ink, was nothing beside the cover she eventually came up with. Her work was excellent, and I recommend her to any writer who is starting out and needs a cover artist.

Will you write others in this same genre? Most emphatically yes. I am currently working on book two, which will be titled “The Death of Magic.” My eventual goal for this series is to write three trilogies in this world, and then open it up to other writers who are interested in writing in an already established fantasy world; or possibly after I have finished the first of the three trilogies.