Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Andalaya is my debut novel, the first in a planned series of at least seven. Before writing, I was a practicing attorney, and I received my bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
After I fell in love with fantasy novels, I started writing as a way to put in all the story elements I wished I could find in other books, but I quickly learned that creative writing was far more difficult than the technical writing I studied in college and law school. Eager to learn, I joined workshops and writing groups, read articles and watched videos, anything I could get my hands on. Once I finally developed those writing skills, I wrote the novel originally thinking it would be something just for me, a fun project that afterward I could say I had finished a book. But when I shared it with a few people, I was surprised by their overwhelmingly positive feedback and decided to pursue publishing it.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is entitled “Andalaya”, and it gets its name from a lost city in the mountains that once belonged to a magical society.
I drew from a lot of different sources for inspiration, especially East Asian and Hindu mythologies and the TV show Avatar, the Last Airbender. I also found myself unintentionally writing elements similar to the original star wars trilogy, so there’s some of that mixed in as well.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Most of the first draft of my novel was written on my cell phone. Ideas occurred to me at the most inconvenient of times, and if I didn’t immediately write them down, I would usually forget them by the time I got to my computer. So I often ended up writing whole scenes on my phone while stopped at a stoplight, waiting for the trailers to start in a movie theater, or waiting for my case to be called in court.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The biggest influence has been Brandon Sanderson; I’ve read and reread everything set in the Cosmere. I’ve also tried to emulate “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss and “The Son of the Black Sword” by Larry Correia. And it goes without saying that Tolkien was a big influence as well.
What are you working on now?
The sequel! It’s entitled “Terendor”, and I’m hoping fans won’t have to wait too long between books. (I’m looking at you, Rothfuss).
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I guess I’d have to say either Amazon or Goodreads, but I confess that promotion really isn’t my forte. I’m definitely relying on word of mouth.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The best advice I can give is to spend as much time as you can in the world of your novel. This is true even if your story is set in the real world, but is doubly true for speculative fiction. If your world and your characters are going to seem real to your readers, they first need to be real to you, and in order for them to be real to you, you need to spend a lot of time in your mind with your characters and in your world. Whenever I had spare time, in my mind I would go to Iria (the fictional world that Andalaya takes place in) to visit different locations and talk to different characters. You end up imagining all these subtle details about your world and your characters, details so minute that they’ll probably never make it into the actual book, but in your mind they’ve become real. And once they’re real to you, you can make them come alive on the page.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Write without fear, edit without mercy.”
I know, I know, it’s a super common phrase, almost bordering on cliche now, but it remains sound advice all the same.
What are you reading now?
“The Shadow of What Was Lost”, by James Islington, and I’m loving it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I keep a list of potential book ideas I might pursue in the future, but for now, I’m too invested in telling the story of Kailem, Emerald, and Osmund to do anything else.
What is your favorite book of all time?
“The Way of Kings”, by Brandon Sanderson.
I’m a huge Sanderson fan, I don’t even try to hide it.
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