George Kramer Interview

George, tell us a little bit about you....

I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., raised on Long Island, and moved to Indiana in 1989. I am a natural born triplet, and one of nine children. I was an introvert until I moved to Indiana.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books? 
The genre is YA fantasy. While kids eleven and up really enjoy my books, adults derive pleasure reading them too. All four (soon to be five) Arcadis books are based on a very powerful sorcerer who goes through a metamorphosis to attain god-like power. In the beginning of the sorcery world there existed three primary colored powers; Red, blue, and yellow. Before lord quill's ascension to head sorcerer, it was mandated you had to marry outside their respective color. When lord quill took control, he ruled no primary colored power may be allowed to marry another primary colored power. Hence a dilution occurred. When a blue powered sorcerer married a yellow powered sorcerer, the baby was green powered, and considered a secondary power, and so on.

When did you start writing? 
I started writing in the fifth grade when my teacher started to read Treasure Island in a pirate accent. My mind wandered, and I started doodling on paper.


Why do you write? 
I started to write for various reasons. I needed an outlet with my overactive creativity, and writing was a release mechanism. Then I wrote articles to get paid. But, by far the best reason I enjoy writing is because people seem to really like my books.

What would be your choice for a superpower?
Mind control. It used to be super strength like Superman, but after watching Jessica Jones on Netflix, I changed my mind. To have anyone doing anything you want would be fun, but ultimately scary!

Who is your favorite author? Jim Butcher of the Dresden Files and David B. Coe. (Spellblind and In His Father's Eyes).

What are you reading now? Right now I am reading how to write a screenplay. I will explain why with the project question.

Who is your favorite character to write?
Arcadis, of course!

Do you have a writing process? 
No. I don't pick a particular room, or time. When I have free time, I write. It doesn't matter where I am, if I have an idea, I have to write it down so I won't forget. (Because it's happened).

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? 
Never, ever, ever give up. Write what you know, and take your creativity to the next level.

What inspired you to pursue writing?
When I found out I was good enough to get paid to write articles. Then it elevated to book writing.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?
Blacklist, Supergirl, N.C.I.S., The Flash, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones.

What are your current projects?
Between having a full time job with a wife and ten year old daughter, I am, because my small but growing fan base asked me to, write a screenplay based on the first Arcadis book. I am consistently told that with colored magic, coupled with epic magical battles, would make a fantastic movie. Then I am writing the sixth Arcadis book, waiting for my editor to give me back the fifth Arcadis book to revise, promote my books by book signings, and interviews like this, started writing a new fantasy series based on one of the characters I introduce in the fifth installment of Arcadis, meeting with the owner of a comic book store to try to work out a board game (He designs them), I started to write a play that I am enjoying... I am sure there is more but I can't think of it right now.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?
Yes. If you enjoy my books, or any other books, writing a good review helps writers tremendously! It helps us get recognized more.

Quick Fire:

Cats or dogs?
Cats. We have a 20 year old cat.

Coffee or tea?
Coffee!

Favorite food?
My mom's Pot roast chicken.

Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream?
Chocolate, but vanilla is a close second.

What are 3 things you never leave home without?
Kissing my wife and daughter good bye, a positive attitude, and my coffee!

Laptop or desktop?
Laptop all the way. I've written when I am getting an oil change and various other places. You can't do that with a desktop.

Who are 3 famous people you would to hang out with?
Jim Butcher, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

TV or Movies?
I love both equally as they have their strong points.

Visit me on my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE to borrow any of my books for FREE!

Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.

Christian Kallias Interview

First off, tell us a little bit about you...

 I’m 40 years old, I was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Where I reside at the moment. I’ve always had a vivid imagination since childhood and I love making up stories. It took me a while to realize that writing is the best medium for me, but after trying illustration, manga, and even trying to create video games in the 90’s, I realized writing is the best way to express myself.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books?
First and foremost, Science Fiction (for now, I intend to write Fantasy books as well). Sub-genre would be Space Opera but it isn’t clear cut. It’s more of a crossover between SciFi and Fantasy.

When did you start writing? 
I think it was around 2001. I did it more as a hobby and I wasn’t writing much at all back then. It took a burnout in 2014 for me to just delve into it seriously and finish my first book (which was only 40% written at the time) in matter of weeks.

Why do you write? 
That’s a good question. For me it’s therapeutic as well as the call of my heart. I feel happy when I create characters and stories. When I don’t write or create (I’m also a digital artist, I make my own book covers) I quickly feel sad and empty. But when I’m writing, I forget all my worries, it transcends me.

What would be your choice for a superpower?
That’s a tough one to answer really. There are so many fun superpowers. Flying would rock, super speed would be fun as well. The force is cool as well. But I think the power to address the entire planet at once would be the most appealing to me. Why? I think we need to start being much better than we are with our environment and all the inhabitants of this world (that includes the animals that we treat badly for own comfort, hurting the entire planet in the process). So while I’d love being able to fly and kick the asses of bad guys like in a comic book (who wouldn’t?), I’d rather just have the ability to telepathically communicate with every living being on this Earth and discuss ways of making this world a better place for all of us.

Who is your favorite author? 
I don’t think I have one. I enjoy Timothy Zahn, Frank Herbert, Michael Moorcock and many more.

What are you reading now?
Re-reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Who is your favorite character to write? 
I like most of my characters so it’s difficult to answer, but I enjoy writing about Ryonna and Spiros. I do infuse some of my hopes, fears and flaws into most of my characters, so they are all interesting to write at one point in time or another.

Do you have a writing process? 
Nope. I fly off the seat of my pants really. I’ve read many books about structure, how to write better, but I still don’t use a method or a process. I’ve noticed that the most interesting things I’ve read in these books I tend to apply instinctively. So I just write on the fly.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? 
To just do it, now (even if that means not finishing reading this interview :) ). Aspiring to something will not make you happy, doing it will.

What inspired you to pursue writing?
I’ve brushed that earlier on a little but I can develop it more here. Back in 2014 (August), I made a burnout in my day job (IT, System Expert was my title though I hated it, as I didn’t recognize myself as an Expert). That was a very mind shattering and scary experience, but in the end it was a positive one. When it happened I felt lost, overwhelmed by emotions and it made me think a lot, re-evaluate my life really. I had abandoned Engineer School when I was 18 because I wanted to create art, but then I took day jobs in IT cause that’s where I had the most abilities, and two decade flew by and I was nowhere near where I wanted to be (an artist). That realization made me dust off my first book which only had about 40k words written over the course of 11 years. About 6-8 weeks later, the 89k first draft was finished. I then knew that writing was what I was meant to do, because I realized than when I’m writing, I don’t worry about everyday things, my fears subside, I can just be and I love losing myself in the worlds I create. It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?
There are too many to list. In fact I’m cutting down on TV & Movies as I’m easily distracted (ADD) and I then easily fall into procrastination loops if I’m not careful. My favorite TV Shows are Stargate SG-1 (& Atlantis), 24, Breaking Bad and many others. When I was younger I was hooked on anime like Dragonball Z and Saint Seiya. As for movies too many to list also but amongst my favorites are Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back being my favorite), Phenomenon, The Matrix (the first mostly), Days of Thunder & Wing Commander.

What are your current projects?
To continue and conclude my current series (Universe in Flames), start a Heroic Fantasy series (The Kyrian Chronicles) based on a manga I started and abandoned back in 2003, but as a book series. And I have a few other ideas for other books and subjects I’d like to develop as well. I’m also thinking about writing novellas in the Universe in Flames series at different time periods to flesh out the universe and some secondary characters more.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?
From the bottom of my heart: a big thank you for reading my books and for your support. I am a relatively new author with only three books under my belt but already having people reading my stories and getting back to me is very rewarding. I’d also encourage them to tell their friends about my books if they enjoyed them. At this time in my relatively new writing career, the word of mouth will be my most valuable promotion asset. I’d also like to tell them that they can write me anytime, I really enjoy getting their feedback and their thoughts about my books and interacting with them.


Quick Fire:Cats or dogs?
Cats

Coffee or tea?
Coffee

Favorite food?
Houmous (Used to be souvlaki with pita but I’m a vegetarian now)

Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream?
Chocolate, preferable dairy free.

What are 3 things you never leave home without?
My iPhone, my wallet & my keys.

Laptop or desktop?
Both. But desktop for long writing sessions.

Who are 3 famous people you would to hang out with?
Only 3? Steve Jobs (if he was still alive), Richard Dean Anderson (or Michael Shanks) & Michael Bay.

TV or Movies?
Both really. If I really had to chose then Movies.

Visit me on my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE to borrow any of my books for FREE!

Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.

R.K. Gold Interview

First off, tell us a little bit about you...

My name is R.K. Gold; I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. I went to the University of Maryland where I earned a Bachelors Degree in English. I have two book releases planned for 2016 with my publisher Weasel Press and am planning on attending Grad School for Economics.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books?
I mostly write magical realism. I like to think how ordinary life would react to extraordinary events. Just sort of drop something fantastic in the real world and see if people embrace it, freak out, ignore it, etc. Though I sometimes write crime, and satire.

When did you start writing?
I have been writing my entire life, but to be honest, growing up it was more talking about writing than actually doing it. You know what I mean, when you write that one story in 3rd grade and it’s all you can talk about until you’re 13. Yeah that was me sadly. The funny thing is back then I hated reading. The first book I ever read for fun was Ender’s Game. I read that freshman year of high school.

I only started writing legitimately in January/February 2014. I published my first work that year in various journals, and wrote my first book in March that year.

Why do you write? 
It’s just what I love to do. It makes me happy. My day doesn’t feel complete unless I hit my minimum reading and writing goals.

What would be your choice for a superpower?
Either super speed, because I would abuse it and set sprinting world records, but like only by a second and half or something like that so I could live the life of a super athlete. Or I would want the power to master any ability just by thinking about it.

Who is your favorite author? 
Where to begin? I mean I try to base my career on Stephen King’s success. The last book I read was Skin Cage by indie author Nico Laeser. If I’m in the mood for a fun quick read I’ll pick up Grisham. I love Vonnegut. If I’m going the comic book route I favor Alan Moore. And if I want to give the sexy answer to impress people I’ll probably recite Langston Hughes’ Dream Deffered:
“What happens to a dream deferred? 

Does it dry up 

Like a raisin in the sun?”

What are you reading now? 

I am currently reading Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich and Going Under by Silas Payton

Who is your favorite character to write?
I like writing characters who were once successful, then completely fell off the deep end and have gone a little crazy. They usually have a lot of bizarre quirks.

Do you have a writing process? 
I usually am able to sit down anywhere and knock out at least a thousand words, but if I’m having trouble focusing I like sitting at my kitchen table with the shades pulled back. A lot of natural light.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? Read every day and write every day. Also, Google is the best mentor you can find. Whenever I have had a question I have literally just Googled it.

What inspired you to pursue writing?
I just realized that it’s possible to turn into a career if you’re willing to treat it like a job. It can’t be something you just do every once in a while when you’re feeling inspired. The more you treat it like an actual 9-5 the more of a career it becomes.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?
My favorite movie is a toss up; if I need a serious action packed flick I will watch V for Vendetta; if I need something a little more relaxing and funny I will watch Midnight in Paris. As for television shows, I go through bouts of loving Anime like Attack on Titan and Full Metal Alchemist, but then I also am all for binging sitcoms when I need to just sink into a couch and disappear for a day.

What are your current projects?
I have two books coming out in 2016 (so far). The first is titled Brinwood and it’s a novella about a fictional town called Brinwood, which was taken over by a religious cult. The second is titled God Hates You Too, and it’s about a med school drop out, turned author, who is obsessed with killing God. That is due to come out summer 2016

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?
It is pretty easy for me to trust a dog lover.

Quick Fire:
Cats or dogs?
Dogs- though to be honest I love all animals.

Coffee or tea?
Coffee- but I do drink a fair amount of tea as well.

Favorite food?
Pizza with pineapples and jalapeños

Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream?
Vanila

What are 3 things you never leave home without?
Travel size Listerine, a beanie, my wallet.

Laptop or desktop?
Laptop

Who are 3 famous people you would like to hang out with?
Stephen King, Robert Reich, and Obama

TV or Movies?
Yes… Final answer.

Visit me on my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE to borrow any of my books for FREE!

Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.