Interview of author Adam Dreece

I am blessed to have gotten to know Adam from my interactions with him on Twitter.  Not only is he a talented writer, he is also a wonderful mentor.  Adam has helped me more than he realizes and I truly appreciate his time and advice.  I recently finished reading book 1 in his The Yellow Hoods series, Along came a Wolf.   Words can't express how talented he is.  I love the way his mind works.   As soon as my daughter catches up on the books she's reading I would love for her to read Adam's series.   Before reading his book I didn't really know the term SteamPunk and Along came the Wolf made me long for the simpler times.  Book 2 Breadcrumb Trail is on my list of books to read next.

1. Many authors develop an interest in writing at a young age. What first sparked you interest in writing?

I loved being able to pull something out of my mind and put it into someone else's. I could share an experience, an idea, a feeling with them and I was hooked.

2. What difficulties and challenges (if any)  have you faced as a writer?

Time and energy management is the biggest one. I have a full time job that is very demanding, I have my family with three kids, and I've got a couple of permanent conditions that zap my energy on a regular basis (chronic pain, severe asthma, rib-cage tissue inflammation). Now, with the launch of book 2, I have a company managing a lot of the promotion for my books, which requires a significant amount of my time (in a good way) but it means further dividing my time.

3. Would you please tell us about the premise of your Yellow Hood series? How did you come up with the idea?

The idea really stems from a story I'd made up for my daughter one night, and combined with an idea I had from when I sing The Muffin Man to my son when he's going to bed. 

The Yellow Hoods takes place in a world that is in an equivalent to our late 1750s-1800s. The steam engine plans have just been drafted, and it, along with other inventions, will take that world on a different course than our world went on. The inventors responsible for this, as well as the steam engine plans themselves are incorporated into the tale. It also incorporates some elements of fairy-tale but from the perspective that Ring-around-the-rosy was about the real world black plague, and therefore I've incorporated other rhymes and tales from the perspective of 'what real world events could they have been based on?'

Ultimately, it's a team adventure series with three teens at the heart of it, and two other generations of characters involved (20s-mid thirties, 50+).

4. How many books do you have planned for the series?

I have planned for The Yellow Hoods to be a five book series (watch me reading this when I'm writing the REAL finale, in book 7), and then I plan to jump 10 years and write about the Steampunk world that's been created.

I also have several side-books sketched out, one about the Cochon brothers that would take place between books 1 and 2, and another that would take place later on. I'm not sure if I'm going to write those, but they're there in the background.

5. Do you have a favorite character (of your own) that tugs at your heart and why?

I get asked this question on a regular basis, and from book 1 I'd say no. As soon as I'd start to answer one, I'd realize I'd want to change my answer. From the new characters I introduced in book 2, Marcus Pieman edges o

6.  Many authors share their ideas with friends, family and other authors. With whom do you share your ideas?

My daughter and my wife are the ones that I share things with. Of the two of them, my daughter is really the one that I discuss the most with.

7.  What are you currently working on?

Book 3 - All the King's Men. It's due to the editor January 2nd and planned to be released mid-April at CalgaryExpo'15.

8. What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

Great conversation, a good movie or thinking. I also really enjoy answering emails from people with questions about writing or who are stuck, and keeping up with my tweeps on Twitter.

9. Would you ever branch out a write about a different genre?

Yes, absolutely. I actually have a personal memoir I need to finish editing and get out, as well as a series of non-fiction books related to what I do in my full-time life. From a fiction perspective, I'd broaden to other forms of science fiction but I'm not really interested in writing romance or mystery at this time.

10. How do you deal with procrastination?

Can I get to this question later?

In all seriousness, I think of it as procrastinating later. If there something that I really don't want to deal with, I usually make myself knuckle down and get it off my plate and out of my mind.

11. Who or what inspired you to write this series?My daughter inspired me to write Along Came a Wolf, and my son inspired me with the world of the Muffin Men. As of yet, fans of The Yellow Hoods won't know who the Muffin Men are, but they will. There's a reason why I whistle the Muffin Man tune regularly.

12. What are you currently reading?

I recently finished Flashboys, and am now listening to the audiobook of Zero to One by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel. It's about startups and making things that are different. As an author-preneur, I don't want to just make SOME MORE books and be like everyone else. I want to introduce great ideas from other knowledge domains to push my thinking.

Adam Dreece

Author of emergent Steampunk series  The Yellow Hoods

Young Adult written for everyone

Book 1 - Along Came a Wolf at Amazon, Amazon.ca, Kobo, Smashwords, The Yellow Hoods Store

Book 2 - Breadcrumb Trail at Amazon, Amazon,.ca,  Kobo, Smashwords, The Yellow Hoods Store

3 Chapter free samples available

Blog: AdamDreece.com

Twitter: @AdamDreece

Interview of author Jason Cantrell

I have met some awesome as well as talented people on Twitter and one of those creative people is fellow author Jason Cantrell.  Jason has written a short story called Radiance (Arcana Revived) as well as Manifestation: Arcana Revived Volume One.  Both of these books are available on Amazon.  His imagination takes you on a wonderful and intense journey.   I am excited to introduce to all of you Jason Cantrell.

1. Many authors develop an interest in writing at a young age. What first sparked you interest in writing?

When I was in fifth grade, our teacher gave my class a creative writing assignment. We were given the first page of a haunted house-style horror story, which set the scene and introduced elements that we could play off of in our writing. Each student then had to continue the story from there, coming up with their own twists and turns. Most of the other students wrote about a page. I immersed myself in the project and wrote a gripping 7-page story with action, excitement, secret passages, and a twist ending. I had so much fun that I asked the teacher for another assignment.

After that, I spent my teenage years writing short stories based on my Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Eventually this led to me taking creative writing classes in college. Today, I have a bachelor's degree in Writing Arts from Rowan University, and I'll be earning my Master's in Writing in the spring of 2015.

2. What difficulties and challenges (if any)  have you faced as a writer?

Probably my biggest challenge is overcoming my issues with self-esteem and doubt. Like most writers I know, I tend to be plagued by worries about whether my work will ever be successful. On the other hand, there's also times that I'm a raging narcissist who is convinced that I've written solid gold. So, it swings to both extremes.

3. Would you please tell us about the premise of

​Radiance​

​ and Manifestation​

? How did you come up with the idea?

Manifestation introduces a world where magic has not existed for centuries. The story begins with the rebirth of magic, but with unpredictable consequences. The people manifesting these arcane powers have no idea where they came from, how to control them, or how to protect against them. Gabby Palladino, the main protagonist, finds herself trapped in a city that suffers an unexplained catastrophe, and she has to struggle to survive while trying to figure out why these supernatural events are occurring and why she's been caught in the middle.

Radiance is an independent short story set in the same world, taking place just after the climax of Manifestation. It provides a more up-close-and-personal look at one of the people who has been altered by these magical forces. Maria Vasquez finds herself transformed when she is touched by mystical light and she manifests an arcane power of her own.

I developed the idea for this series after seeing a number of post-apocalyptic fantasy stories that introduce a world years or centuries after a supernatural change. What all of these stories usually have in common is that the changes to the world and the rebirth of magical abilities are always part of the history and back story. I wanted to write a series that shows the initial changes that come to the world and guides the reader through the entire transformation.

4. How many books do you have planned for the

​Manifestation: Arcana Revived ​

series?

The series will consist of a number of sub-series, as well as short stories, poems, and a novella. Manifestation is the first book of Series One, which will be a six-volume series that shows the rebirth of magic, the conflicts that erupt as a result of these arcane powers, and the changes that take place in the world. The second series will then focus on the world after the change as people adapt to the new world and the supernatural forces that have altered it. Each future series after that will focus on a new, self-contained story arc that explores different aspects of the setting.

The short stories, starting with Radiance, are being released one at a time as eBooks. Eventually they will be compiled into a short story collection that will be available in paperback and eBook. A poetry collection, with poems inspired by the lives of the characters and the struggles they go through, will also be released in the future. At least one independent novella is planned with its own individual plot, separate from the main story arcs but still fitting within the world of the Arcana Revived series.

5. Do you have a favorite character (of your own) that tugs at your heart and why?

It's hard to pick favorites, but the one who "tugs at my heart" most of all is Gabby Palladino. She's a gentle soul, a poet, and a girl who bears an impossible burden. Throughout the series she grows and changes, starting off as a frightened high school student caught in circumstances beyond her control or understanding, and eventually becoming something much more. But that's a story for the sequels.

6.  Many authors share their ideas with friends, family and other authors. With whom do you share your ideas?

I'll talk to anyone and everyone about my ideas, but my fellow grad students in Rowan University's Master's in Writing program are the ones I go to most often. Many of them have read various versions of my works-in-progress, especially since many of them were written as part of my class assignments.

7.  What are you currently working on?

I'm in the middle of revising Volume Two, Contamination, which will be released in 2015. I'm also prepping to begin Volume Six, currently untitled, which will be written for the 2014 NaNoWriMo.

8. When do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

Reading, video games, Star Trek, Doctor Who, webcomics, and a variety of other aspects of geek culture. I'm also a big fan of steampunk in all of its forms.

9. Would you ever branch out a write about a different genre?

I frequently write in other genres for either school assignments or freelance ghostwriting jobs. I've dabbled in romance, mystery, sci fi, and contemporary fiction. Though if I were ever to write a serious project of my own, such as a contemporary novel with no supernatural elements, I'd still be able to fit it in with the Arcana Revived world by making it a prequel. For example, three of the short stories I mentioned that will be included in the collection are "origin stories" that show the backgrounds of some of the major characters, before the rebirth of magic. Those stories deal with psychology, family drama, and romance, each addressed using very different genre conventions than the rest of the urban fantasy series.

10. How do you deal with procrastination?

I put it off until I can't help it anymore, then I procrastinate as much as I want.

11. Who or what inspired you to write th

​ese stories​

?

The stories themselves were mostly inspired by the two main characters, Gabby Palladino and Tock Zipporah. I had originally written both of them in separate, independent short stories on collaborative writing sites. I felt like they had a lot more potential for growth and development than they ever achieved in those stories, so I decided to put them together in a novel and see what happened.

12. What are you currently reading?

At the moment, New Life and New Civilizations, Exploring Star Trek Comics. It's a collection of analytical essays that explore the often-ignored world of Star Trek comic books, newspaper comics, and even coloring books, all of which are fascinating contributions to the Star Trek franchise. The book contains essays from a variety of authors with experience with the Star Trek franchise, and it was edited by Joseph F. Berenato.

Manifestation is available in paperback on CreateSpace and Amazon. You can also get eBook versions of both Manifestation and Radiance on Amazon Kindle. You can also checkout ArcanaRevived.com for updates on the latest book releases.

You can find Jason on his blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or on Twitter @CantrellJason.