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Injected with Lots of Humor
Kyle Spencer Author Interview
A Monk’s Tail follows a monster hunting fox that must protect his friend from a fiendish warlord. What was your inspiration for the setup to this thrilling novel?
There really was no ‘inspiration’, per se. Writing for me started out (and still is) something I do to center myself after a long or stressful day. I would have a bunch of what-if situations and flesh them out a bit. The characters in the what-if that eventually became A Monk’s Tail really stuck with me, so I rolled with it.
The characters are all anthropomorphic animals that are multilayered characters. What choices went into what character would be which animal?
Basically the decision-making process was, “What animals do I like?” Red Pandas are my favorite so I just went with them for the main character. Although I did want Susi to be more diminutive to showcase her spunky, firecracker personality, so having her be a mouse was a more intentional decision.
I loved the dialogue throughout the story. What were some themes you wanted to capture in their conversations and relationships?
The main theme for my book is “fun”; if you’re entertained, I did my job. So the dialogue is injected with lots of humor that gives each character their own quirks. I also love languages (although I’m not the best at learning them), so I wanted to incorporate different languages and accents to give my world more depth.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’ve got a few irons in the fire, but the most immediate work is a direct sequel to A Monk’s Tail. It’s a love letter to Japan that introduces a lot of folklore, monsters, and historical figures. Anyone who’s interested in the Sengoku period of Japan, yokai, or the culture in general will enjoy this book, which will be available during the second quarter of 2019.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website
![A Monk's Tail by [Spencer, Kyle]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51bgrdgwPnL._SY346_.jpg)
For Bow, a gun-toting, hard-drinking, foul-mouthed firefox monk, life as a monster-hunter is pretty straightforward. Until, that is, he runs afoul of a power-hungry warlord and gets himself imprisoned. There he helps a young maus named Susi escape, but in doing so unleashed nightmarish forces hellbent on capturing his new ward. Now, with the help of a giant bear alchemist and a violent nun, Bow must stay one step ahead of his perusers and certain death. But Susi is harboring a dark secret, one that could spell doom for them all.
A Monk’s Tail
![A Monk's Tail by [Spencer, Kyle]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51baxNexhgL.jpg)
The reader is promised a whole exiting and action-packed adventure with the interesting characters in the book. I totally loved how the book started. What better way to grip the reader’s interest than to start off with a literary stylistic device? I found the author’s use of a quote at the beginning of the book, which also happens to be a simile, to be very creative of him. “The world is like a house; it can be as comforting or as cold as you make it and everyone who passes through leaves their mark.” reads the simile.
The writer is not shy to express himself as he uses curse words in some parts of the book. This may be too much for young readers, but the story stayed entertaining regardless. The main character, the monk, narrates the story in a phenomenal manner that I would pay to have him narrate his stories to me. I found Bow to be an interesting character. His mind was a little complex and he sometimes did things I did not like, but I still loved him. I can say I had a love-hate relationship with the character. I liked the part where our very interesting monk was captured by the leopard warlord. Not that I enjoy reading misery, but I knew what would follow would be fun to read.
Can we talk about the conversations in the book? I fancied how each character communicated. Leena and Bow’s dialogue when they were introducing themselves to each other was one of my favorite parts. I love how Leena tried to pronounce Bow’s name, and Bow chuckling a little bit as she did that. I pictured how she was saying the name and even tried to practically do it.
Readers of mystery novels will immensely enjoy reading about these adventures in the forest. The feeling when reading about this town is thrilling and I wished the writer could have added a few more chapters. Bow’s escape was also exciting to read. The fear, adventure, suspense and ambiguity of some scenes made the reading exhilarating. Unlike other animal stories which are sometimes monotonous to read because characters are given the same traits, A Monk’s Tail was far from that. The plot starts off in a stirring manner, and the story line keeps getting enthralling as one reads on.
The nun, the alchemist, Talia, the leopards, and every character made the plot worth reading. The author’s way of creating characters was genius, as one could see how each of them played their role. This is a thrilling book bursting at the seams with adventure and carried along by intriguing characters.
Pages: 311 | ASIN: B07D174GS3
LITERARY TITAN 