With a little more than two weeks before the official release of The Path From Regret, there are some exciting things happening. I've been fortunate enough to connect with a few book bloggers and podcasters who were willing to take a chance on an unknown debut fantasy author. My first podcast interview with Blaise over at Under the Radar SFF is now on-line, which you can find on his Spotify as well as on my Media page. I have a second with Ed from The Worldshapers that will be available in May shortly after the novel's release. There will be a few blog posts popping up as well, and I'll add those to the Media page as they go live.
Recording podcasts and answering author interview questions has been an interesting experience. I don't really like talking about myself, and I'm not a fan of the idea that an author has to be a brand. In both cases you're supposed to be selling yourself and less your work, which I don't think should be the case. This stance on marketing and promotion is pretty much the polar opposite of what current authors are told (at least by marketing and promotion experts), so I suppose I have only myself to blame when the novel sits unnoticed and unread. Regardless, a sincere thank you to all of the people who responded to my cold calls and gave me a chance to share The Path From Regret with a bigger audience.
It took a few tries to find my "interview voice," which really meant figuring out the talking points I wanted to share. I finally settled on the personal stakes for the characters and the unique aspects of the magic system, since both I would argue are things I haven't seen much in the science fiction and fantasy stories that I've read. My interview with Blaise does a decent job of explaining both, but I think a third more common trope that helps define the novel is camaraderie. You learn during the story that Thorne has few friends, but those he does are incredibly loyal. What I wanted to convey was the same feeling I had when I first watched a scene in the movie Tombstone when a very sick Doc Holiday is asked why he's helping hunt down some bandits.
Doc Holiday: "Wyatt Earp is my friend"
Jack Johnson: "Hell, I got lots of friends."
Doc Holiday: "I don't."
That level of loyalty goes beyond friendship, to a very personal connection that I would call camaraderie or being brothers-in-arms. In my novel the mercenary Trinity is that fierce of a friend. Thorne might have an aloof reputation at the Archive, but he learned a long time ago that it's impossible to survive by yourself in a unforgiving world, so the few friends he has he works hard to keep. It's dangerous to go it alone, so you best have your strongest allies at your back. In Thorne's case, he's certainly going to need them.
Thanks for stopping by.
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