It’s a December Author Spotlight Flood! Clearing out my backlog and getting these authors into the spotlight.
An Author of Many Books, Worker of Minimum Wage, Avid Gamer, Thinker of things, and Wannabe Warrior
Readers, thanks for checking out another Author Spotlight Interview. Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Belart Wright has many titles, including: Author of Many Books, Worker of Minimum Wage, Avid Gamer, Thinker of things, and Wannabe Warrior. He is from Detroit Michigan, born and raised, and spends much of his time these days dodging the dreaded Michigan potholes on his way to make the scratch needed to fuel his dreams of being a full-time author.
You’ll find themes of transhumanism, duality within man, and character progression in most of what he writes.
Belart, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
I’m not really a pet sort of guy, but if something cool bonded with me, I wouldn’t mind a new companion. I do like animals and they typically like me as well.
I love that! Consent matters and I would want any pet to be one that chose me, too!
What do you write?And how did you get started?
I tend to write books with a lot of intense emotions and action scenes. I typically write genre benders but Action/Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Urban Fantasy are the genres I often find myself in. For the last few years, I’ve given much of my focus to LitRPG and Gamelit.
I got started with novel writing in 2008 when I completed the first draft of my very first novel. I technically started earlier. My 6th-grade teacher had us write a story that was a few pages in length but I decided to write a novel. I ended up with 5 chapters in total and never completed it, but I have a plan to do just that.
LitRPG is getting very popular!
What do you like to read?
I like novels and manga mostly, but comics used to be a big enjoyment for me too. I’ve been diving back into classic comic runs like Chris Claremont’s Dark Phoenix Saga and loving it.
As a recovering webcomic addict and graphic novel fan, I get it!
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
Show, don’t tell.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great advice, but I think it’s led to this view of exposition as a dirty word. Exposition exists for a reason and is quite useful for getting complex ideas across succinctly. Like with everything, what’s key is balance and moderation. Using exposition cleverly is typically applauded anyway.
So true! We don’t need six-page descriptions of every last meal.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice they can pry out of your cold, dead hands
Write every day!
I think this is the most important advice for all authors but especially new ones.
I don’t follow this one 100 percent, but when I’m drafting, it’s more true than not. Momentum helps, and waiting for the muse can be a trial of patience.
Twenty years into the future, an independent virtual reality developer named Fulton Milner creates a deeply immersive VR program that truly fools the mind. Milner’s newest industry-shattering creation is a dark fantasy adventure simulator known only as Project DH. With technology that dives so deeply into human dreams, Milner is granted unparalleled access into each tester’s mind and perhaps even their very souls.
Sam Nagai thought testing video games would be a dream job until he got saddled with a ton of barely playable mobile games with shoddy gimmicks. Due to poor product and pay, Sam is usually reluctant whenever he gets a call for a new gig, but customers for his art commissions have been scarce and Sam needs all the money he can get. The potential bonus pay for this new gig catches his attention as does the description of the game. Virtual reality, a dark atmosphere and gothic fantasy world, roleplaying game mechanics, and uber-hard difficulty? Sam’s all in for that. After all, there’s not really any danger, right?
Join Sam on a role-playing adventure where the main goal is survival at all costs, where power and horror commingle in ways that are equally terrifying and addictive. It’s a hair-raising adventure inspired by a dark masterpiece, at least that’s what Sam thinks.
Science fiction meets action in this explosive tale of two conquering brothers on a quest to rid the universe of a rogue golden warrior of enormous power.
The brothers, Masked Ones composed entirely of nanomachines, must band together along with the sentient robotic masks of their dead brothers in order to capture the mysterious rogue warrior or destroy him should he prove too powerful.
A short space exploration tale filled plenty of Sci-Fi action and epic fighting.
Join the brothers, Anar K and Nexus, as they do the bidding of their father, the almighty K’OS, and conquer in his name.
On a dark and balmy Floridian night, a strange and mysterious dark-haired woman stalks the shadows of the local college football stadium, on the prowl for secrets buried deep beneath the Earth. These secrets, she knows, may change everything including this small town.
While knocking back illegal drinks with his friends at the hallowed Orangetown Pickers’ college football stadium, average kid Joe Black finds himself desperately trying to save the life of a beautiful dark-haired woman after a deadly explosion violently interrupts his fun and games. While trying to fathom why he would even do something so reckless he soon finds himself entangled in a dangerous game of terrorist plots, mistaken identities, hard-boiled detectives, the criminal underworld, and of all things magic as he tries to escape with his life and make sense of it all.
Joe faces many challenges from all new enemies, assassins, and even his own friends.
Can Joe navigate all this danger, escape with his life, and handle his biggest challenge to date, finding something about himself that is truly extraordinary?
Liandra, a young girl from Lebanon, has suffered from vicious nightmares since she was a child. Her parents have sought every medicine and method under the sun to cure their daughter of her unhealthy mental affliction.
When Liandra comes across a terrifying dream creature and strains herself too far, her parents seek methods outside the realm of normal medicine. In their desperation, they turn to a strange man known as a Dream Reader to help cure Liandra of her terrible nightmares.
Can this gaudy, jewel-loving man and his methods really free her from nightly torture or is there something more to him and these dreams, something unnatural?
Liandra, in her determination to finally rid herself of her nightmares, is prepared to do whatever it takes even if it kills her.
Troy Warwick has a fairly good life thanks to the support of his family and his closest friend, Dana. He lives with no regrets, except one. Why did he treat his ex-girlfriend so poorly?As Troy delves into a fun new game with his nephews, a mystery unfolds in the virtual realm, a mystery, that involves his ex.
Join Troy in the virtual game, Psy-Hunters, a game world where the power of the mind trumps all.
Ueden-Ter is a world on the brink of extinction. A powerful race of mechanized behemoths, known only as Overlords, have forever changed the future of the human race. A new race of genetically altered humans have joined together, led by the powerful Psychics. Psychics, Beasts, Cyborgs, Androids, and Human alike all band together under the banner of the Psychic Hunters’ Association or the Military Police Faction to protect Ueden-Ter from the tyranny of the Overlords.
Will their combined might be enough to push back the threat of extinction? Join the battle in the virtual roleplaying game Psy-Hunters. (Ages 10 and up.)
While this blog is about writing-related stuff, today I’ve got a bit of a tangent. But, hey, libraries are writing-related… and I’m celebrating.
My twin sister graduated Wednesday with her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science!
She was accepted into the master’s program and started in the fall of 2020, entirely virtually. She’s been working in libraries since college when she was given a work-study job there. Halfway through school, she picked English as her major and ended up working in libraries, off and on since graduation. However, without a degree in library science, she could never be a full librarian.
My sister managed to graduate in the program’s standard two and a half years, through a pandemic, while raising a tween, and a baby. In fact, she was attending class the night my baby niece was born, timing contractions while taking notes!
Once in school, she found herself pulled toward data sciences, though, more than the books and the educational programs. I have to admit, I was amused when she told me.
For those of you who don’t know, I’m a software engineer by day and writer by night. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was old enough to know it was a job people did. I also knew most authors had day jobs, though. So, despite our separate paths, we both ended up in a similar direction.
Then again, maybe my sister’s career was inevitable: our mother was a librarian and retired after something like 30 years as a high school librarian. Books have always been with us.
Did I mention that she’s looking at accepting a job in Data Curation?
I’m so proud of her.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Library and information sciences are a lot more complicated than most people think. Do you know any good librarians? Please, help me flood my sister with congratulations!
It’s a December Author Spotlight Flood! Clearing out my backlog and getting these authors into the spotlight.
a young fantasy author, ready to share her worlds with the world
Readers, thanks for checking out another Author Spotlight Interview. Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Elizabeth Morris is a young, spirited author who is bright, caring and light-hearted. She is a young author looking to put her books out into the world. She’s loved writing since middle school. She writes for herself and what she thinks she would read. She loves fantasy and world-building.
She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University in 2020. Her first book Tiger’s Blood she self-published in 2016 when she was 17 years old.
Elizabeth, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
I would have a pet Tiger for sure. Tigers are my favorite animal and it would be so cool to have one. I was born in the year of the tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, and it’s the year of the tiger now in 2022! Tigers have always been my spirit animal.
Having seen what you write about, I have to admit, I’m not 100 percent shocked.
What do you write?And how did you get started?
I am currently working on a book series called Blood of the Beast which consists of two novels that have been published so far.
My first book is called Tiger’s Blood and the second book is called Rise of the Rebels. I’m writing the third book of the series which will be titled Return of the Ambush. I started writing when I was 13 and in middle school. My teacher told me that I would be a great writer and that’s when I decided to write a book. I wrote my book and published it at 17 years old.
You’re definitely ahead of the game, publishing at 17!
What do you like to read?
I like to mostly read fantasy. My favorite series that I’ve read is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. I love the plot and how well-developed his characters are. I recently read my friend’s book The Wandering Order: Autumn Light and I love it.
There’s a reason George R.R. Martin’s work is so popular! And thanks for sharing your friend’s book with us.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
Write every single day.
As a writer there’s a lot of pressure to write at least every day and I don’t believe that applies to me. I like to write once or twice a week and even then I have a busy schedule. I don’t have time to wrap my head around my book every day. If I think about it too often then it starts to lose it’s magic in my opinion.
I’m right there with you! I can sustain it for NaNoWriMo, but not every day, every month. Some ideas need time to percolate.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice they can pry out of your cold, dead hands
Have an emotional connection to your writing.
If you want to write, you can write anything you want. I believe you should write what you love and you’ll enjoy it more. A lot of authors say that you should have a good knowledge of what you write, and I think that can be true to an extent. You don’t have to be an expert on everything to write something. I’m not an expert on Tigers or shapeshifters, I just have a love for the animal and I wanted to write a story where a Tiger shapeshifter is the main character. If you don’t enjoy what you write then you’re doing it wrong.
Research gets most of us close enough, but it’s true! If you don’t care about your characters or setting or world, your story is often poorer for it.
In the world of Bitotem, there are animal shifters called Bloods who roam the lands.
Andrew Kingsley, the ruler of the Lion Blood Kingdom, wiped out all of the rival tribes of Tigers, except one. After the death of her young sister and the disappearance of her father, Kira sets off on a journey of revenge. She befriends Noah, Ethan, and Chase from different Bloods to join her expedition.
Will her unlikely new friends be able to face King Andrew?
Rise of the Rebels (#2)
A year after a tragic event, a new king takes over the Lion’s Kingdom and is seeking revenge against the group of rebels; Chase, Ethan, Noah and Kira as the leader. The rebels have been on their own, when they meet a pair of mysterious Bloods. When one of the rebels gets kidnapped, it’s up to the rest of the Bloods to save them. Will these new Bloods be friends or enemies?
Check out Elizabeth Abigail Morris across the web!
It’s a December Author Spotlight Flood! Clearing out my backlog and getting these authors into the spotlight.
a tech and defense lobbyist by day, but by night transforms into the Chronicler of the Realm of Warminster
Readers, thanks for checking out another Author Spotlight Interview. Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Born of steel, fire, and black wind, J.V. Hilliard was raised as a highlander in the foothills of a once-great mountain chain on the confluence of the three mighty rivers that forged his realm’s wealth and power for generations.
His father, a peasant twerg, toiled away in industries of honest labor and instilled in him a work ethic that would shape his destiny. His mother, a local healer, cared for his elders and his warrior uncle, who helped to raise him during his formative years. His genius brother, whose wizardly prowess allowed him to master the art of the abacus and his own quill, trained with him for battles on fields of green and sheets of ice.
Hilliard’s earliest education took place in his warrior uncle’s tower, where he learned his first words. HIs uncle helped him to learn the basics of life—and, most importantly, creative writing.
Hilliard’s training and education readied him to lift a quill that would scribe the tale of the realm of Warminster, filled with brave knights, harrowing adventure, and legendary struggles. He lives in the city of silver cups, hypocycloids, and golden triangles with his wife, a ranger of the diamond. They built their castle not far into the countryside, guarded by his own two horsehounds, Thor and MacLeod, and resides there to this day.
Hilliard, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
I have two dogs now, Thor (a Siberian Husky) and MacLeod (a red-fox Labrador Retriever), but if I could have any pet, I would choose Storm, a war falcon that is magically linked to one of my main characters in The Last Keeper, Sir Ritter of Valkeneer. Presuming I could see through Storm’s eyes and command him like Ritter does, I am certain Storm would watch over the family and chase away any unwanted visitors.
In truth though, he’d be a valued hunting partner for small game and a cool parlor trick for parties.
I actually got to take a falconry class this past year and they are fascinating creatures. What a great option!
What do you write?And how did you get started?
I write epic fantasy, so think sword and sorcery that is found in books like the Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or even games like Dungeons and Dragons.
I started writing when I was very young. My uncle was paralyzed in the Vietnam War and when he returned home, my mother was his nurse. I practically grew up by his side and the kind of activities he could engage in were limited. But writing was something he could do, and so I started into creative writing and playing Dungeons & Dragons with him as a form of escapism from real life.
How great to get to share your stories with him!
What do you like to read?
I read primarily sci-fi and fantasy so Tolkien, R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, to name a few on the fantasy side. I am a big fan of Asimov, Piers Anthony, and Terry Brooks as well.
I think my friends are surprised I don’t read more historical memoirs, especially military or political memoirs, but I really don’t. I live that stuff for my day job (which is government affairs) and I don’t find it appealing to read during my personal hours.
I totally understand the need for a healthy work-to-life balance.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
Describe and explain everything.
I struggle to simplify. I rarely think small, so it is hard for me to write small. I’ve learned though, that readers are smart, and they can piece inferences, hints, and characters together without me diving deeply into explanations of each. And I think it is great that separate readers have the freedom to visualize characters differently, allowing their own imaginations to conjure images of places and people in The Last Keeper for them—and them alone. It’s as if they own part of Warminster with me.
An inability to think small seems to be chronic problem for many who are epic fantasy writers by nature.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice they can pry out of your cold, dead hands
Outline.
Less advice and more of a curse, but I am plotter/planner. Thus, I literally have a wall-long whiteboard in my den that has notes, outlines, character arcs and intersections, etc., scrawled upon it. I never start a story or even a chapter without knowing the end and direction it is going, so I tend to write backward, reverse engineering the story to ensure every detail is considered.
Warminster, the realm in which my epic fantasy series is set, was built over two decades before coming to life in The Last Keeper. I stitched together various Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, short stories, and character memories to weave the tapestry that became the realm of Warminster for Daemus, Addilyn, and Ritter.
Oh wow! I usually know what direction I’m going, but I never know the full shape of it until I get there.
A young boy’s prophetic visions. Blind at birth, Daemus Alaric is blessed with the gift of prophetic Sight. Now, as a Keeper of the Forbidden, he must use his powers of the Sight to foil the plans of a fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad.
An elven Princess with a horrifying secret. Princess Addilyn Elspeth travels from Eldwal, the magically hidden home of the Vermilion elves, to begin her life as a diplomat to the human capital of Castleshire. During her journey, she stumbles upon a mystical creature foretelling ill tidings.
A terrifying force of evil. Daemus’ recurring nightmare vision threatens to catapult him into a terrifying struggle that will leave the fate of the Keepers—and the realm—hanging in the balance. Daemus and Princess Addilyn must set out to face the menace that threatens their very existence.
Ominous OmensElven princess, Addilyn Elspeth, must discover why she’s receiving visitations from a mysterious creature that shouldn’t exist. She combines forces with Daemus on their harrowing journey to the scholar city of Abacus, where Vorodin’s Lair awaits.
Daemus, a low Keeper of the Cathedral of the Watchful Eye, isn’t the only one having visions. His nightmares speak of the ageless sorcerer, Vorodin, who may be able to help. But the answers he seeks may bring him—and the realm—to the brink of war.
A Plot of RevengeTheir powerful adversary and fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad, continues to chase the young Keeper throughout the realm, seeking vengeance against his order while trying to find a cure for his own affliction.
It’s a December Author Spotlight Flood! Clearing out my backlog and getting these authors into the spotlight.
an epic fantasy author who’s really into stuff that’s old and weird.
Readers, thanks for checking out another Author Spotlight Interview. Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Nathan Tudor has researched ancient religion at Oxford, traveled the seven continents, and mastered the art of speaking in the third person. His debut novel The Empire’s Lion tells an epic story filled with action, identity, and the struggle to do what is right in an upside-down world.
Allegations that he hired an alchemist to give him the tread of a cat and the ears of a fox are categorically false.
Nathan, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
To paint a picture, I’ve been hunched over my laptop with fingers bridged thinking this over for about ten minutes. It’s a deeply serious matter, of course.
I’m feeling something winged—but I’m not sure whether to go the scaled or feathered route. How about some sort of great Raven, on the scale of Tolkien’s Eagles, but without the sentience that makes having one as a pet ethically problematic. Ravens are one of my favorite animals—they’ve got this mischievous wisdom to them that I’ve always admired.
A giant raven sounds like a great choice! So clever, and very social.
What do you write?And how did you get started?
I write epic fantasy.
I first got started when I was maybe seven or eight; I wrote a little story based on a video game I’d been playing. Pretty much my whole life since, I’ve known I wanted to be a storyteller, and I’d say about 95% of the fiction I’ve written has been fantasy. I love epic fantasy because it has this mythological heritage to it, the sense that these stories are cosmically important in all the magic and mystical trappings.
Ah, fanfic, the gateway drug of many-a-writer. Creating new mythologies is one of my favorite parts, as well!
What do you like to read?
I can answer this in super vague or super specific ways! At the broadest level, I just want a good story. It can be action-packed or slice-of-life, mind-bending or straightforward—I just want something that tells a memorable tale, something that will make me feel for the characters. Fantasy is a great genre is that regard because you get all different sorts of stories—from brilliant literary works like Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun to more pulpy action like Will Wight’s Cradle. I’ll bounce all over the place from one read to the next!
Aside from fantasy, I like reading old stuff. Mythology, religious texts—something that pulls me out of modernity and helps me see through ancient eyes and think with an ancient mind. Oh, and Dostoevsky. No one compares to Dostoevsky!
Thanks for answering both ways! You know, my to-read bookcase was already full. *scribbles down a few more suggestions*
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
No tears for the writer means no tears for the reader.
I understand the sentiment, but it just isn’t true for me. I’ve written scenes that have made people cry, but for me, that was just a day of work—maybe even a bland one! Emotions in the reader are produced by craftsmanship, and if you have the skill to write the scene as it must be written, then who you were at the time of writing doesn’t particularly factor into it. I do have emotional moments while writing sometimes, but it isn’t required.
Same here! I’m not that easily moved to tears, except by frustration or a great song. With my own stories, where I’ve been sorting out how to make this tragedy work in the back of my head for weeks? It’s probably not going to actually make me cry, I’ll be more worried about trying to get the right emotive feel for the scene.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice they can pry out of your cold, dead hands
Something needs to change.
This is sort of the Golden Rule for me—has something changed in this scene? I’m a diehard outliner, and every scene I plan usually is based around some short of shift. If something isn’t happening, why are you including that scene? For the record, that doesn’t mean I think quiet scenes are a bad thing! Quiet, reflective scenes often give the more dramatic, bombastic scenes their significance. But something should probably happen during those downtime scenes as well
So true! It can be hard when you need transition scenes to get them to actually do stuff, but all scenes need to either move the plot forward, show character development, or world-build, preferably at least two, the best do all three.
As an Adept, Reiva blasts fire from her hands and leaps over walls. But when her first solo mission leaves her half-dead amidst a heap of massacred allies, she gets just one chance at redemption.
The Empire orders her to crush the one kingdom she thought she would never see again: Talynis, the land of her birth, the land she left in chains.
Standing in her way is the Wolf, a vicious assassin hell-bent on killing Adepts—and a single cut from his cursed blade will destroy Reiva’s magic forever.
Even if she can survive, victory may come at a price too high to pay…
Betrayed and sold into slavery, Rebbaelah fears her life is over—but when the Empire discovers sorcery in her soul, she gets another chance at freedom.
She has seven years to learn the art of war. To master her flame magic. To conquer the fear of death.
To become an Imperial Adept.
Most who go through the training will lose their minds—or their lives.
