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Dreamers Like Me
Christopher Clark Author Interview
Wyatt is an average kid with aspirations of serving in the Imperial Army when a strange dream leads him down a harrowing path that changes his life forever. What was the inspiration for the original and fascinating idea at the center of The Humming Blade?
The story is, in all honesty, the story I would’ve wanted to read in my youth. The Campbellian hero is relateable for a lot of reasons, and that blueprint is, in many ways, the blueprint for Wyatt’s journey. A dream or a prophesy are often found in those stories, and this is no different. Wyatt has to discover not only what it means to be a hero, but also what it means to truly have no say in the major life events that define the book.
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from and how did it change as you were writing?
All of my ideas start out very small – a place, a specific thing, a person, etc. The Humming Blade was born of the idea of a world where the things everyday people see are built upon the bones of of something much older, greater, and harder to understand. It became necessary to make this setting familiar, because it had to feel easy to understand and subsequently easy to subvert. The idea that the familiar and the normal can be built upon the foundation of something completely alien is something that I love to think about our own world all the time. I think that dreamers like me will really find an easy home in this setting.
Wyatt is a well developed and intriguing character. What was the inspiration for his character traits and dialogue?
Wyatt is a little bit of every late-teens kid – smart, fast-learning, driven, and well-meaning. He’s bored of the only hand he feels is available to him and desperately wants to find a way out, which is certainly a feeling that I know a lot about. He’s something we’ve all been or all will be at some point in our lives. But he has a few bad traits of teenagers, too – he’s a bit mouthy, selfish, and stubborn. His motivation for most of this story is not to save the world or avert catastrophe; he just wants his mom back home where she belongs. He’s forced into making choices that he never wanted to make, and realizes that maybe the old and familiar life he lost wasn’t so bad after all.
I enjoyed the ending of the novel, although it left some things unanswered. What will book two cover and when will that be available?
The ending was definitely a deliberate choice on my part. Wyatt will begin the next book struggling with the ramifications of what happened, as well as a greater question: what place is there in the world for the “Chosen One” once he has fulfilled his destiny? What does he do now that he’s served his purpose? All throughout the first novel, the reader sees glimpses of things happening behind closed doors. Those scenes are like seeds – in book two, those seeds will grow and bear fruit. As far as when the book will be available, I hope to have it written soon. The first thirty-thousand or so words are already written, and the rest will come easily. I’m working on another project (some stories just have to be written!), but once that draft is complete and I’m off editing it, writing will resume on The Humming Blade’s sequel.
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Wyatt Arden thinks he leads a pretty normal life. He lives on a boring, everyday farm outside of a sleepy little town called Ven, doing boring chores for his mom when he’s not in school. He yearns for a chance to enlist in the Imperial Army and bring some excitement to his life, but he’s sure that will never happen. Wyatt soon learns that it only takes one strange dream for everything normal about his life to change. In that dream, he envisions a beautiful, powerful sword, a blade linked to deep magic and even deeper mysteries. The dream precedes an unexpected series of events that lead Wyatt into a harrowing, life-altering struggle for the lives of his friends, his family, and the world as he knows it. Wyatt must face vicious killers, dark schemers, and beings of such great power that their existence was erased from history. His only weapon? The Humming Blade.
Countless Nights of Terror
Turhan Halil Author Interview
Silverblood Demons follows Kylar as he is plagued by demonic dreams that have turned sexual and led him to father three children. What was the inspiration for this interesting and provocative idea?
Thank you so much for asking that question. Since I was Kylar’s age I have been having ‘exactly’ those experiences. Sometimes they would happen day after day, and at other times it would stop for a year or so. After countless nights of terror I began to realise (I’m British, hence the ‘s’ in realise) that despite the supernatural element to the sexual advances upon my body, I would find myself in a weird and wacky way not entirely ‘unhappy’. Part two of the answer is that after talking about this to a close friend that teaches acting classes at her college, (The character Kat in my novel was inspired by this friend) she suggested that I write a book about my experiences and that led to Silverblood Demons being born 🙂
In a whirlwind fashion Kylar is plunged into an unexpected quest to rescue the daughters he never knew he had. What were some influences for the relationship between Kylar and his daughters?
Wow, I never even asked myself that question. Hmm, I guess if I dig really deep, in a flashback kinda way, I’d have to say that the daughter’s my first wife and I lost during her miscarriages may have led to me bringing them back to life in a way that I could reconnect with them again…
There is a lot of well developed characters in Silverblood Demons. Which character was your favorite to write for and why?
Lol, I really can’t select just one without upsetting the rest of my novel’s sister’s and daughter’s etc. They are in many ways, different aspects of who I am in my imagination, or would like to be when faced with real life’s challenges. Sometimes when I’m dreaming I think they visit me (Yeah I know it sound like I’m really ‘out there’ and then again, maybe I am?) they seem to give me clues about which direction I should take in my life.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will that be published?
It’s going to be the 2nd book of the trilogy Daughters of Darkness and is going to be called
Silverblood Sister’s (Yup, that’s a Hungry Monster exclusive title reveal!!!)
It’s currently in progress and I’d like for my cast to hurry up and get their collective acts together by midsummer 2017 so that we can all find out what happened to…
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Twenty three year old Kylar has finally had enough of the demonic nightmares that have been plaguing him since childhood. Deciding to learn why some of them have turned so sexual, he seeks answers at a close friend’s occult bookstore where she reveals to him that he has been used by demons to father three girls while in a semi-state of sleeping. Soon after, he also learns that he has two estranged sisters that have incredible powers and together they set out on a journey that takes them to literal Hell and back in an effort to rescue his daughters. While embarking on this quest, he struggles internally with an existing relationship with his current girlfriend. It becomes further complicated when an ex-girlfriend, Sin-dy, that has never given up on the idea that one day they would be together again, also joins him as they face off several times with the demon Ophelexa and her sidekicks. One of his daughters, a natural born warrior, fifteen year old Amber, becomes an integral part of the battle to take back home not just her siblings, but millions of other teenaged virgin girls held in a ‘Paradise’ in Hell that are destined to be used in a fiendish plot to give birth to more demons and ultimately control all of Earth’s inhabitants. Risking everything for everyone comes along with a heavy price that is paid by all that set out on this epic battle that has more beginnings than endings.
Lady Athina
Things have gotten worse for our protagonist since we saw them last in Lord Athina. Danny C. Estes outdoes himself in the second installment of his trilogy: Lady Athina. Our protagonist, Jim, who was whisked away from the world as we know it and plunged into the body of a sixteen-year-old high-born woman who has just given birth is not out of the woods yet. Lady Athina follows Jim’s trial in the body of Athina as he tries to make sense of what happened to him at the end of the previous book. Feeling more isolated than before, Jim finds himself meeting both of Athina’s parents and realizes that he is now an eligible female whose parents want her wed. Still struggling to accept the fact that he is no longer a man in his late thirties but a woman in her prime, Jim rejects everything and everyone with the entirety of his being. Assassination attempts have him learning how to use a knife but he’ll be damned before he lets himself be married off.
Lady Athina is much more of an emotional ride than the previous tale. Even though he is in a woman’s body, Jim’s male mind is still infatuated with breasts and women so the very thought of marrying, and consummating said relationship, with a man makes the very heterosexual Jim balk. In fact, we learn that Jim would rather get naked with Renault, a female guard who is staying with Athina’s family since she saved Athina’s life, than with Wendell; the young man Athina was apparently smitten with many years before she was married off.
Jim struggles in this tale with the fact that he is not used to the frail female body he’s trapped in, but he also struggles in dealing with trauma from his former life. Dealing with flashbacks of his youth growing up in a household ruled by domestic violence, it is clear to see that his distaste for how Athina’s father treats her is founded in personal experience. There are some things that will translate no matter what sex you are.
In an attempt to flee marriage to Wendell, Jim/Athina finds himself/herself running from the safety of Athina’s father’s walls and out into the unknown world. Jim receives kindness from strangers who basically keep him alive long enough to be sucked into an enchanted forest and into the hands of the wizard who rules there. It is here that Jim reunites with Renault and discovers parts of himself he thought were long buried. With his newfound understanding of himself and his relationship to the body he now inhabits, Jim forges forth to write a new tale for Athina.
This installment in the Athina series is a refreshing change from the obsession with the female-form that the first had. Estes has a clearer grip on Jim as a person as he guides the story over more realistic emotional hurdles that the first book lacked. Picking up smoothly from where the first book ended, Lady Athina is a welcome tale of adventure and defiance that leaves readers begging for more.
Pages: 224 | ASIN: B00JSQ5XHW
The Six and the Crystals if Ialana
The Six and the Crystals if Ialana is the first book of the Ialana series. The author, Katlynn Brooke, brings this coming-of-age fantasy to life with rich details, a large cast of characters, and a world rife with magic.
Jarah is the son of a baker but isn’t happy in the village. Night after night, he dreams of an island nestled in the sea. When the King’s army comes through demanding young men for conscription Jarah, Aiden, and the local bully Blaidd are caught up by the press gang. Jarah and Aiden discover that they are having identical dreams, but Blaidd is not. Tristan, an older soldier, overhears them and contrives to help them all escape. In the mountains, Kex fights with her family over marriage, so she packs her things and leaves her clan. Tegan, a budding healer, flees her burning village. Djana is smuggled out of the city of Rhiannon when her parents are captured and sold into slavery. They are all driven to find the places and the people from their dreams.
One by one, they find each other in the woods and are rescued by a mysterious shape-shifter named Irusan. The enigmatic creature becomes their first teacher, revealing secrets about their past and hope for their future. They discover the first glimmers of their unique gifts, and Irusan prepares them to take up a quest they failed in another life, five hundred years in the past.
I was delighted by the world of Ialana. The landscape is richly described, and the history of the people and their legendary ancestors provides a foundation for the wonders that the Six will encounter. The origin of humans is complex, steeped in mystery and deeply connected to the crystals. The Dherog, descendants of dragons, make terrifying antagonists. Lord Amrafalus’ rule over half the continent bringing slavery, mutated creatures, and fear. The goal of the Six is to heal the damage of the Dherog, free the world from slavery and oppression, and return it to harmony.
Be prepared for a large cast of characters. The author does a fine job of showing how each of the six healers learns and grows throughout their journey, and that was my favorite aspect of the story. I was grateful for the chapter and section headings that identified the character or setting. This was helpful because the point of view changes so often that it can be confusing. Some key scenes felt rushed, summed up in just a few sentences, and I wish the author had taken more time to show the scene unfolding instead of just telling readers what happened. There’s a lot of information to remember, and a lot of it is “told” in conversations where people discuss what they already know. However, some of the best parts of the novel are when the characters discover their history for themselves. While some scenes are genuinely terrifying, there’s very little graphic violence, but a lot of nail-biting suspense that will keep the pages turning.
The Six and the Crystals of Ialana is a solid YA fantasy that calls to mind classics like the Shanarra Chronicles. The plot is refreshingly original, complete with surprising plot twists and interesting, engaging characters. It ends on a note of suspense that leads to the next book in the series.
Pages: 254 | ISBN: 0692573771
LITERARY TITAN 