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| CLICK ON THE ABOVE PICTURE FOR OTHER STOPS ON DAVID'S BLOG TOUR. |
I'm super excited about my guest on Vintage Vonnie today -- Fantasy Author, David Brown. David has a love of creating worlds. In fact, he's spent the last 10 years developing a 47,000-year history for his fictional world of Elenchera.
David is on a whirlwind blog tour promoting his book, Fezariu's Epiphany. To ONE lucky commenter on this tour, he's giving away a $25. Amazon gift card. So make sure you comment here AND the other stops on his blog tour that runs until June 1st.
What
is your life like away from the computer? Tell us something about your
household.
It’s a busy household. I live with my wife, Donna, and our six rescue
cats – Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo. When not writing I’ll be
keeping the house in order, watching films, reading or sneaking out for a nice
coffee with Donna.
What
authors and genres do you like to read?
I read fantasy as I’m continually
learning from my peers with the like of Tolkien, Pratchett, Goodkind and
Donaldson being among the best teachers. I also enjoy the work of Murakami,
Orwell, Hemingway, Marquez and Irving. When not reading fiction I can’t resist
a good history book or biography. Fiction is always a joy but it’s good to
learn more about the world and those that inhabit it.
What
is your writing schedule like?
I prefer to clear chores and
things in the house before I sit down to write. If I have blog posts to do they
usually get cleared first. Once I’ve freed up some time for my novels I’ll soon
drift away into the world of Elenchera and be lost for many hours at a time.
They’re the best moments as a writer, when you’re in so deep you can hardly
hear anything that is going on around you.
What
is the story behind your book title?
When building the world of
Elenchera I was drawn to the Merelax Mercenaries – a renowned force of hired
hands. My initial thoughts were having a character join them believing the life
of a mercenary to be illustrious only to discover it is brutal and life
changing. The revelation of this gave me the title Fezariu’s Epiphany. However, the novel storyline would change
completely before I started writing it but the title remained and thankfully
tied in with the new plot. The main character, Fezariu, experiences a life
changing epiphany at the end of the book, a reflection on all that has come
before in his life.
Do
you ever dream of writing in a different genre?
It’s certainly crossed my mind and
I would never rule it out. I just feel comfortable in the fantasy genre and
with the world of Elenchera I’m trying to do something a little different. I
want to write novels where the characters have more life than the world they
inhabit and the stories could effectively occur in any world, including our
own, they just happen to be in Elenchera.
How
do you research your storylines or locations?
History is my primary area of
research especially if it’s medieval history.
Oh, I love medieval history. It's probably one of my favorite eras to read about. There were some fabulous things happening. What about researching locations?
Location-wise my world is
fictitious but I still consider aspects of our own world in shaping the lands
and cities of Elenchera. World history has taught me a lot about how nations
are founded, built up, how some fall and others endure. When building the world
of Elenchera my best friend was Cassell’s
World History which covered all the key events in human history. I learned
so much from that and was inspired by so many events that building Elenchera
wasn’t as difficult as I had feared, although it did take around a decade!
What
part of the writing process brings you the most pleasure? The most angst?
It’s undoubtedly the first draft.
Getting ideas down on paper and putting the basic outline is always fun and
there’s no real pressure. When it comes to the editing the real challenge
begins. I do like editing but I do find it difficult at times as well. I
believe you can edit a manuscript too much so finding the right balance is
always the hardest for me.
I so agree. When I first started writing full-time, I often edited the life right out of my chapters.
What
is one of your most embarrassing or laughable moments?
I’m not a heavy drinker, I know my
limits and I stick to them. However, one night many years ago I was drinking
with friends and late at night I walked them both home before proceeding to
make my own way home. In my inebriated state, I began talking to myself and
started a debate about how drunk I was. This discussion went on to the point
where I had to prove to myself that I was sober. I pictured a straight line in
front of me and was confident I could walk it. Although I kept the line in
sight it veered left, then right, then left, then right and so on as my
staggering took over. I made it home safely that night but it was embarrassing
waking the following day and remembering it!
Good thing it was never made into a YouTube video...
What
are you currently working on?
I’m finishing final edits on my second novel, A World Apart, which is due for release
in May 2012. It tells the story of three childhood friends – Demetrius, Eleyna
and Halcyon – that find themselves in a love triangle in their teens. Demetrius
leaves when Eleyna marries Halcyon but the three friends are reunited a decade
later only to find they are no longer friends but enemies. The novel is on a
much larger scale than Fezariu’s Epiphany
and I believe it is a better novel which is what I will always aim for with
every book I write, to grow and develop as a writer, and never be content with
maintaining one standard.
Tell
us about your current release…or soon to be release.
Fezariu’s Epiphany was published in May 2011 and was the first in a
series of self-contained novels collectively known as The Elencheran Chronicles. Fezariu suffers many setbacks in his
childhood including the abandonment of his mother and the murder of his
stepfather. Believing these tragedies are because of him, Fezariu flees what
little family he has left and joins the Merelax Mercenaries. He rises through
the ranks to become one of the best mercenaries and with each success he
believes his past will gradually be buried. However, Fezariu soon learns that
the past will never let go and to be free of it he must go back to his
childhood and learn some painful truths.
Did you bring us an excerpt?
I did, yes. But, first, I want to share some reviews the book has garnered.
** There are many plot twists and turns in this masterfully
written book chronicling the life of a mercenary named Fezariu. Fezariu's
Epiphany is a fantasy work on a grand scale in which you enter an imaginatively
drawn world filled with many lands and spanning great periods of time.
Jason Sullivan - Different Outcomes and author
of The Dark Yergall
** When a reader that normally does not like fantasy novels set
in world with unknown names falls in love with a book from that genre, then you
know the author did a spectacular job of bringing their story to life for all
to enjoy.
Talina Perkins - Bookin' It Reviews/Night
Owl Reviews
Night Owl Reviews "Top pick"
** You can almost smell the filth and corruption that permeates
Clarendon, a true cesspool of a city. This is a story of how a boy grows into
being a man and accepting his faults and redeeming his failures. I recommend
it.
William Bentrim - Azure Dwarf and author of
The Adventures of Hardy Belch
Jessamine’s
arrival at the White Oak was the subject of conflicting rumours. Some said that
Vincent had found her on the streets and offered to take her in, others
professed that Jessamine was a prostitute from a rival brothel and that Vincent
had persuaded her to join the White Oak. The worst of the sceptics claimed that
Jessamine was payment from one of the local merchants who was heavily in debt
from his frequent visits to Vincent’s inn and had been forced to sacrifice his
own daughter. Whatever the truth, Vincent arrived at the White Oak one day with
eighteen-year-old Jessamine by his side.
The atmosphere at
the White Oak changed completely. Vincent quickly found himself overwhelmed by
love for Jessamine and his hostile demeanour descended into a rare placidity
that was welcomed by all that frequented the inn. It seemed that Vincent’s days
of sexual promiscuity were at end and with Jessamine he had found the
reassuring comfort of monogamy. However, Vincent’s new found and tender
devotion did not last long.
Within months,
Vincent’s love submitted to the lure of opportunity. During the long nights
sitting with Jessamine by the bar, Vincent hadn’t failed to notice the lustful
gazes of the patrons. Their eyes, wide with desire, followed Jessamine’s every
move. Rather than feeling the insecurity of a jealous lover, Vincent was struck
by a glorious epiphany, one that could increase his already vast wealth.
Vincent took his
time in laying the foundations of his treacherous scheme. He enticed Jessamine
with sweet words, flowers, rich trinkets and promises of impending marriage and
children. Once Jessamine was at his mercy, Vincent introduced her to the wealthiest
and most impatient of his patrons. His assurances to Jessamine spoke of
monogamy and sacrifice that would bind them together for all time. If this had
been the beginning of their relationship then Jessamine would have refused
Vincent’s proposal and walked away; however, by this point her heart beat to
the same rhythm as Vincent’s and to leave now was simply unthinkable. So
Jessamine submitted body but not soul to the eager patrons, all the time
thinking of Vincent’s reassurances that they would one day be married.
Jessamine’s new
life as a prostitute of the White Oak brought fame and wealth. The mysterious
and shy girl Vincent had first brought to the inn became spellbound by the
power of her own intoxicating femininity. As her confidence grew Jessamine
learned to dominate the room, giving equal attention to each patron before
choosing to share her bed with the highest bidder. Vincent remained in the
background and watched the patrons – old and young – offer money and fabulous
gifts for just one night with Jessamine. The partnership was perfect. Jessamine
would earn a fortune by day but at the end of the night would sleep in
Vincent’s richly adorned arms.
When Jessamine
passed her first year at the White Oak she saw a sudden change in Vincent. His
greed, seldom constrained, was now unleashed in all its ferocity. Jessamine
began entertaining patrons day and night to line Vincent’s already bulging
pockets. Their nights of tender lovemaking and untarnished promises of marriage
were forgotten. Jessamine, believing it to just be a phase Vincent was going
through, worked even harder to please the patrons and win back the adoration of
the one man she loved.
LINKS:
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Crazy good! A total fan of the first book, the second did not disappoint at all. I swear I could smell leather while reading this book I was sooooo into it. 5 Stars on Amazon
