1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I have always told stories, even before I can remember. My Mom would write my stories I told her. At 13, I watched my cousin play Final Fantasy 7 in its entirety, and understood the importance of character building. During my teen years I designed characters and wrote short stories. I owe my desire to learn about the formats of writing to my Freshman English teacher Mrs. Porras-Wiley. Her challenges to tell the same short story as a poem, dialogue/no dialogue only, and a research essay, broadened my ability in a significant way.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
Distant Fanstasy has been in development from my age of 13, and become a planned series after my service in the U.S. Army. Psychological warfare became the central plot during the acceptance of my own PTS from injuries, physical and mental, from deployment.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I want readers to form their own message.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
Attending college, I studied many writing genres and formats. Screen writing was the most difficult for me to grasp, but also was the most rewarding experience. After the course I knew how I wanted to bridge the gap between book and film.
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5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
This is very tough as I draw inspiration from real people very close to me for the characters in my book. Also, every character resembles a portion of myself. Perhaps this will be a question once the series is complete.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
In honesty I am not much for social media. Every written sentence is scrutinized and there is an abundance of people that will present negative thoughts when not in person. Everything I put on social media I would say in person to whom ever or what ever I am writing about. I prefer in person communication.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Study and learn. You grow as a person with knowledge, and your writing grows with you.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
There are several new books in the horizon. This series will have 4 books. However, the world of Lunia is just beginning.
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About the Author
Anthony Wray’s writing began with stories about other worlds, but a high school writing exercise challenged him to tap into his emotions. He began writing emotional narratives that became psychological thrillers. He now dives into speculative fiction, combining it with psychological thrillers to blend reality and imagination into tales that balance the two worlds.
After military service, Anthony reintegrated into society using imagination to process deep emotion and believes it may present opportunities for those suffering from PTSD. Anthony has a BFA in Creative Writing and lives in Texas where he writes the Distant Fantasy series.
Stay up to date with Anthony at www.anthonycwray.net and on Facebook @AnthonyC.Wray and Twitter @Anthony_C_Wray.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A young man must fight to gain his father’s crown and give the kingdom back to the peasants who helped make it while an ancient evil seeks to take advantage of the infighting causing chaos amongst the realm in author Ryan Schuette’s “An End to Kings”, the second book in the A King Without a Crown series.
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The Synopsis
In the highly anticipated conclusion to A Seat for the Rabble, former NPR reporter Ryan Schuette returns to Odma, a richly detailed world not unlike our own. Riven by social injustice, wealth inequality, and ancient magic, the Kingdom of Loran stands on the brink of war . . . and the bastard prince, Jason Warchild, means to save it.
With an army of Cloudlanders at his back, Jason marches to the Kingstrials, where he must kill his rivals—including his zealot uncle, Shaddon—to claim his father’s crown and return peasants to power. But winning this deadly game will take more than martial skill and an army. If he fails to win all three Trials, he’ll need the fractious Worthy Assembly to crown him directly—or he’ll lose the kingdom, along with his head.
As class anger festers, Jason’s allies find themselves embattled. At the capital, Princess Lorana Eddenhold navigates her realm’s troubled politics to stamp out plots against her half-brother, even as she dreads Prieslenne Edenia’s return. In the west, Rathos Robswell risks his life to persuade the Loyal Company’s firebrands to cease their infighting and see the bastard prince—along with the dream of a just realm—through a crucible of swords, dragons, and griffons.
Only supernatural forces seem to see all ends. Accompanied by a sorcerer, Zuran races against time to confront the real evil . . . the one exploiting chaos in a kingless land.
The Review
Instantly, readers can see the chaos and conflict that stems from a monarchy without a clear line of succession, along with political moves and corruption at work, that made fantasy series like George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones so beloved in author Ryan Schuette’s incredible sequel. The world-building continues to expand and grow as the action infuses a sense of adrenaline and wonder into this realm. The author’s intense and heavy atmosphere makes the reader feel connected and engaged with the characters throughout this story.
As with the first book of this series, I loved the rich themes of politics, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the impact chaos has on a society being infused into the narrative in such a natural way. The way this supernatural evil infuses itself into the fighting and uses it to fuel its own needs speaks to the power behind many political movements today that similarly use chaos. The breathtaking character development kept the reader engaged with the narrative, overwhelming the reader with incredible emotional connections and creating complex and thought-provoking characters.
The Verdict
Memorable, heartfelt, and compelling author Ryan Schuette’s “An End to Kings” is a must-read epic fantasy novel that will set this summer ablaze. The story’s shocking twists, the harrowing dangers the cast of characters face, and the open ending that leaves readers satisfied yet wanting more from this growing series will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The wealth of world-building the author crafts, including historical events of the realm and the decisive moments showcasing the need for inclusion and representation amongst those in power, make this a fantastic novel to get lost in. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today.
Before returning to fantasy fiction and art, Ryan wore a few hats. He’s both illustrated and reported for National Public Radio and various trade publications, including DS News and MReport. He’s also freelanced for Al Jazeera America. He lived and worked in Uganda as a 2008-2009 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and holds a master’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C.
Somewhere along the way, he also started a nonprofit and fair-trade lingerie company that operated in West and Central Africa, respectively. Many of his friends still wear safari-print boxers.
Ryan lives in Texas, where he looks after his cat, Rusty.
To learn more about Ryan or his epic fantasy series, A King Without a Crown, visit RyanSchuette.com.
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Interview with Ryan Schuette
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I fell in love with fantasy and sci-fi fiction when I began reading the Dragonlance series and, soon after, the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Star Wars Legacy) series. The vastness and immersiveness of these fictional worlds staggered me and made me want to replicate them in a world of my own. I authored a few books before A Seat for the Rabble, but this one is the culmination of a lifelong quest. in A Seat for the Rabble, I hope readers will find many of the same things that we saw in Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings: honor, betrayal, lore, forbidden love, moral grayness, and lessons we should all heed about those who pursue power.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
I’ve always wanted to write and publish a work of epic fantasy, but it wasn’t until the Game of Thrones television series that I awakened to something that, to me, was novel: political fantasy. I’ve always had an interest in politics — in how people worked together for society, or didn’t — and had worked in Washington, D.C. I enrolled in a master’s program at American University at the same time my ideas for this novel began to solidify. Reporting from outside the White House, inside the halls of Congress, and on the sidelines of protests, I began to realize that the United States stood on the precipice of a full-fledged constitutional crisis. Wealth inequality, racism, perceptions of corruption in our government, and rancorous partisanship were leading this country down the path to hell. A Seat for the Rabble sprang from a desire to write about a society on the edge of falling apart, one populated by merpeople, elves, gryphons, and dragons.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
That society is a fragile thing, and it shatters if we push people to the margins and overlook inequality. Worse, tyrants often climb to power on the backs of angry, miserable people, especially those misled by conspiracy theories. It’s far better for a society’s leaders to do everything in their power to provide a debt-free, wealthy, and healthy existence for everyone. In A Seat for the Rabble, peasants lack representation in the Worthy Assembly, a congress of classes comparable to pre-revolutionary France’s Estates-General. The protagonists want to restore their seats in this parliament, not only to deliver justice but also to prevent a violent reckoning. Ultimately, the series asks a bigger question: Is man capable of ruling himself without destroying everyone else — and his own planet?
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I’ve always loved the transportive nature of fantasy. I credit Dragonlance, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Tigana, and the Kingkiller Chronicle with feeding my ambition to create a world of my own.
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5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Great question, Anthony! One of the characters I relished writing, Evan Sinclair, is a noble lord who’s bent on reform for the sake of a united, peaceful realm. A man of peace for the longest time, Evan takes a Machiavellian turn when he realizes that a corrupt system of government won’t make concessions, even for its own self-preservation. While other characters, like his nephew, consider themselves men of honor, Evan isn’t above deceit, bribery, or even murder in the name of justice. He’s an ends-justifies-the-means kinda guy. If I sat down with him, I’d probably argue with him! I’d want to know why he thinks empowering peasants will lead to peace, when his kingdom’s complicated history suggests otherwise.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I’d say Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Facebook helped me update fans and friends about the progress on A Seat for the Rabble for years, while Instagram provided me with a platform to share Ted Nasmith’s exquisite cover art and the chapter illustrations I created. More recently, I partnered with Storygram Tours’ micro-influencers to create videos and posts across Instagram and TikTok. I’m also planning to advertise A Seat for the Rabble and its sequel, An End to Kings, through Facebook’s paid advertising program.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Know your genre, read widely in that genre, and familiarize yourself with the publishing industry and what agents want. I benefited enormously from online workshops through Writer’s Digest University, which gave me the chance to ask questions of agents and submit my work to them for review. I’d also encourage aspiring writers to practice their craft and read The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell. Last but certainly not least, anyone trying to write a book should start with the idea, then develop a chapter-by-chapter plot synopsis. I rewrote A Seat for the Rabble three times over six years, and I owed a large part of that to the plot I revisited endlessly.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I’m a fantasy illustrator as well as an author, and I was thrilled to learn that A Seat for the Rabble’s chapter illustrations recently placed in the Honorable Mention category of the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest, a global competition open to aspiring fantasy and sci-fi artists. I plan to continue creating fantasy art as I embark on another fantasy novel — one that, like A Seat for the Rabble, will touch on pressing contemporary issues with a heavy sprinkling of magic and mythical creatures. And, of course, I plan to release A Seat for the Rabble’s sequel, An End to Kings, this coming year, with more chapter illustrations and another glorious cover by Ted Nasmith. I invite anyone interested in following me to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?What inspired you to write your book?
I first got into writing when I wrote a couple of memoirs regarding my life growing up with ADD. Those books were quick reads of only about 80 pages. I was testing the waters of the Amazon market to see how the books fared, and to see if anyone cared about the topic. They were not well received, nor were they properly advertised, but at least I could say that I had put a couple of books out there.
What really got me back into writing were two things: I had a friend that was released from prison for manufacturing, and using, methamphetamine and I my wife and I had him on our podcast to tell his story. Well, I couldn’t stop there; I needed to know the full story, so I pushed him to talk-to-text his story out from childhood, to adolescence, to blowing himself up producing meth, to his prison time, to life after. I motivated him by using the other part that inspired me to get back into writing. Another high school friend and just come out with his memoirs of growing up gay, and coming out “officially” with this book, and he snubbed me for an interview to promote his book. I told my recently paroled friend that “If this asshole could write a book, then people would leap over the shelves to read your story!” I would be his ghost writer on the project.
We made it to near completion of his book before his life was taken in a robbery. While waiting for him to complete his story for me to write for him, I wrote about my life as a personal trainer. I filled my book with all of my personal experiences, both good and bad, sexy and non-sexy, and it has worked out. I was motivated by anger and jealousy mainly, I believe, but it worked out well.
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2) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
What I hope that readers take away from my writing is that life isn’t as glamorous as we perceive it to be, or how people lead us to believe it to be. In the Personal Training industry specifically, when you see someone who takes care of themselves well, you tend to think that they have it all together. The discipline, the money, the motivation, etc., but this is not always the case. I highlighted in my book several classes of people that trade either health for wealth, or vice versa. If you have ever heard the expression, “Be kind to everyone you meet, because you never know what they might be going through.” That was, and still is me and my life. I struggled, and while I am still struggling, I have a more positive outlook on things than I did after leaving my career as a personal trainer.
3) What drew you into this particular genre?
I was drawn to this genre, personally, because I could recollect the memories very well that made for a good story. There isn’t much imagination and storytelling involved if you live the tale that you are explaining. Plus, I like the idea of shocking people with events and situations that I have taken part in. I have a desire to write fiction one day, but this book required no fiction, as it I made sure to include every aspect that people would enjoy. Recounting a few sexual partners, explaining my attitude(s) on certain types of classes of people, and people in general is a writing style that I enjoy; the human psyche if you will. I didn’t hold anything back…except for actual names and locations- I don’t feel the real names were necessary.
4) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Instagram is where all the eyeballs seem to be these days, although I have put my name and book on Facebook, and YouTube as well. Posting and sharing is tough for me, as I don’t like to talk about myself in casual conversation. I prefer to be asked questions on how I feel about topics and/or situations. So, I am not that guy fretting about daily posts and trying like hell to get attention. I am of the idea that if your stuff is good, then people will seek you out- you shouldn’t have to be jumping and waving in their face every minute of the day. (Although the attention of people these days is just pathetic. This was discussed in the book as well)
5) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
My advice to writers, who are in my genre that is, is write what you know to be true, and what you think should be true. Everyone hides behind fantasy and fiction because they’re afraid to offend everyone with their own, true thoughts. Those people that are so easily offended believe their opinions to be the only truth that people should believe, so why not stake your claim? If you feel as though you need to hide in another genre just so you can say what you truly feel, I guess that you can do that, but who knows, maybe you will get that “negative publicity” from the haters first, but then come out on top because you spoke your mind. David Goggins and Jordan Peterson come to mind. Goggins swears like the sailor he is and says whatever the hell he wants, but he’s just a man; a person who is entitled to their opinion. Peterson was hated when he first arrived on the scene, but now is regarded as a respected intellectual. Stay true to your thoughts and beliefs, but also hear out others who have different views than yours.
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6) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Right now, as for the last 5 years, I will continue to tread water and push projects to completion in the hopes for a safe, and stable, financial future. All my worries and problems stem from lack of money at this moment, but that can’t last forever. I believe that I am never out of the fight, so it will be interesting.
Future projects for me will be to finish my friend’s book about his crazy life. It’s more a collection of stories along a timeline. I thoroughly enjoyed/enjoy writing for him, even after he is gone. When he would send me snip-its of what he would transcribe to a Word document for me, I would decipher his thoughts and attitudes so well that he would compliment me on numerous occasions by saying, “Man, it’s like you are in my head and know exactly how I think.” I know that I’m onto to something there, so I will pursue it, both for him, and his family.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I spent over thirty years in high-tech in California’s Silicon Valley. Prior to that I wrote two unpublished novels and several short stories. I was first published in a horror-genre magazine in the 1980s, so writing has always been in my blood. After graduation from college I worked as a copy editor for a newspaper in Las Vegas. That led me to a career as a technical writer/editor at Stanford, which eventually led me to a career in high-tech sales.
My career in high-tech blossomed and ended up taking so much of my time that I put writing aside. I resumed to writing after a hiatus from corporate America in 2001, at which point I wrote the first chapter of “Redneck Riviera,” based on my wife’s and my decision to move to a remote island off the coast of North Carolina.
I returned to corporate America for another twelve years, and finally stepped out permanently in 2018. At my wife’s suggestion, I completed “Redneck Riviera,” and it has led me to develop outlines for several more books, the latest of which will be released at the end of June 2004.
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What inspired you to write your book?
I was fascinated by the down-home culture of the island on which we lived and its unique characters. I also struggled to fit in with the locals, who never failed to amuse me. Writing a book about my experiences was the perfect way to explore my relationship with the island.
What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
That life is a journey and should always be appreciated for what you find on life’s path.
What drew you into this particular genre?
More than anything, life is a journey to be enjoyed. There is humor and life all around us. Open your eyes and heart to appreciate them.
If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
I would want to sit down with Blackbeard the Pirate and ask him where he hid his treasure on the island. 😉
What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Linkedin and Facebook have both been very helpful channels for me to advertise my book and connect with new readers and fans.
What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Start with a concept that really interests you and that you know about. Then generate an outline for your book. The content of your outline will tell you whether your concept has legs.
What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I consider myself a commercial writer, and I’ll continue to write for the rest of my life. At the end of June I’ll release “Righteous Rebellion,” a novel about a small southern state that secedes from the union. After that, I have another novel which will be complete by the summer of 2025. I’ll then work on a trilogy of fictional novels on the life of Blackbeard the Pirate. After that, I have outlines written for five more humorous and historical fiction novels.
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About the Author
James Hooker spent over thirty years in research and technology in California’s Silcon Valley. He is a former senior executive in global sales and has travelled extensively throughout North America, Asia Pacific, Japan and Europe. He and his wife have been married for 21 years and make their home in Rhode Island.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
Hi, my name’s Adam Wilson and I’m a comic writer as well as the co-publisher and Director of Production for Read Furiously – a press my partner S. Atzeni and I have been running for almost ten years now.
Initially though, I got into writing at a very young age. I was always making up stories in one way or another. In fact, I remember I made my first movie when I was about seven or eight years old. I spent most of the summer working on it with my friends and family. As I grew up I experimented with different types of writing, from plays to song-writing, short stories. It wasn’t till I was almost out of college that I ended up trying to write comics. I was having one of those “We’re gonna graduate soon, what are we going to do with our lives” conversations with a friend. He was an art major, I was a burnt out pre-law major. We came up with the idea to do something together – I’d write it, he’d draw it – and before long we were printing out mini-comics in the college’s computer lab, stapling them together on our dorm room floor. It was something I really enjoyed, and even though nothing ever really came of that project, I kept going with it, getting short stories published in different anthologies, building up larger and larger projects over time till eventually I had my first graphic novel published.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
The inspiration for Last of the Pops actually came from the title itself. It’s a play on the British music program Top of the Pops. And when it popped into my head one day I just really liked the sound of it. Top of the Pops was a show all about celebrating the most popular music of the week. Last of the Pops kind of has this feel of the end of pop music. That seemed like a fun idea to play with, even though I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I created a blank word document on my computer and just labeled it “Last of the Pops.”
For a while it was just this place where I’d jot down ideas, phrases I really liked, concepts I thought would be cool to explore. They all revolved around music in some way, and I just threw everything on there. Eventually amidst all the spattering of ideas characters started to take shape from all of the bits and pieces I had. All the different areas of inspiration started to develop into a story and over about five years I was able to craft it all into a narrative.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
When I first started writing Last of the Pops my intention was really to look at people’s relationship to music, but as I dove deeper into writing the book it ended up evolving a lot and really became a book about loneliness. Particularly the loneliness that comes from change and growth and how people come to terms with it.
The book is still very music centric, the entire plot revolves around the final radio broadcast and a musician who vanished before getting to record his first album. But in writing it I realized there are a lot of parallels between music and loneliness that I really wanted to explore.
Music is very much something that brings us together. Musicians form bands to play, people bond over their favorite songs. Music connects us. But the way we consume music over the past few decades has changed so much. I’m a millennial, so I’ve lived through the tail end of vinyl, eight tracks, the entire lifespan of cassettes and CDs. I was starting college right when peer to peer music sharing became a thing, and as I’m writing this I’m streaming a playlist on Spotify.
That’s a lot of change in a very short time. And as a result our relationship to music has changed as a result of that. It’s changed how we consume it, how we connect with it, and how it connects us to each other. In some ways it’s left us disconnected from each other, but in others it’s actually connected us more. So really music kinda became the perfect lens from which to explore this kind of loneliness.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I think one of the things I love about comics and graphic novels is the play between the narrative storytelling and the visual storytelling. You’re almost telling two different stories at a time, and how you structure the two relative to each other can create some really amazing moments. Getting to go back and forth between harmony and dissonance of what are you choosing to tell the reader vs what are you letting them see. These are all extra layers that you don’t really get in a lot of other mediums.
I’ve also found, and maybe this is just me, but sequential storytelling can actually give you the truest vision of the story you want to tell. In prose you’re limited in your ability to connect to the imagination of your reader, how thoroughly you can paint a mental image for them. With a medium like film, you get the visual and the narrative storytelling, but you’re limited with things like budget, locations, what computer or editing effects can accomplish, you sometimes have to make compromises to bring something to life.
But with sequential storytelling, if you’re willing to put in the work, the artwork can be an exact representation of what you envision. Characters can look exactly as you picture them in your head. The emotional beats can play out at the exact pacing you feel them rising and falling. And the fantastical elements can be as fantastical as you’d ever hope them to be, there are really no restrictions. It’s the only medium I’ve ever experienced where that’s possible.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
In an alternate dimension somewhere, I never switched majors after my freshman year in college, and I ended up pursuing a career in radio like the 18 year old version of myself wanted to. In a way, the character of Caroline from Last of the Pops is how I saw that story eventually playing out. So as I was writing her arc I pulled a lot from my own personal experience for her character, memories from my childhood and teen years even. So I think it would be nice to talk with her. Reminisce a bit about the life that could have been.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
This is a tough one, because I’m awful at most social media. But I think the one that I’ve at least been able to keep up with the longest is probably Instagram. I think particularly for someone working in comics, it’s a great tool because it’s got such a visual focus.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
So having worked on both sides of the industry at this point, both as an author and as a publisher, I think the best advice I can give is that you really have to care about the stories you are telling. There are so many avenues out there available for folks to get their work in front of readers, but your audience will always connect the most with the stories you’re passionate about. That’s why it’s so important that you have to be writing the things that really mean something to you. Cause when it’s an important story, you’ll go to any extreme to make sure it’s the best possible version of itself. And sometimes that even means being willing to tear it all apart and start anew if it means making your work better. But that kind of commitment and effort shows in the final product, and the readers you want to appreciate your book will see that.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Well, Last of the Pops is going to be hitting shelves in October, so I’m gearing up for the release of that. In the meantime though, my co-publisher at Read Furiously, S. Atzeni, and I have also just started work on the third volume of the award winning anthology series Life in the Garden State – which is all about exploring the sides of New Jersey that often get overlooked. It’s our chance to show how amazing a place it is. So we’re both really excited to get going on that.
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About the Author
A former comic editor, Adam Wilson is one of the co-publishers of Read Furiously and an award winning comic writer, His works includes Brian & Bobbi, In the Fallout, Helium, and the upcoming graphic novel Last of the Pops. He co-writes the graphic novel series The MOTHER Principle and edits the anthology series Life in the Garden State with his partner S. Atzeni. Together they live in West Trenton with their son and cat.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
My introduction to writing started when I left my job back in 2014. I received a decent severance package but was a little on the picky side when it came to finding another job (lesson to folks—don’t be picky, get a new job quickly, and pocket the severance to savings!). I was following Guy Kawasaki for investments and got his book, APE – Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur where he discusses the self-publishing process. I always loved dreaming up stories and he made it sound pretty easy to write and self-publish a book. So, I was a little naive back then.
I was out of work for about eight months and took that time to write my first book. Back then, most self-publishing marketing advice was to talk about your book on social media sites. Which worked out well for a top-line influencer like Guy but not so well for a no-name like me. I wasn’t really into spamming my friends and didn’t really do a good job. That is when I thought about trying to turn the book into a movie, figuring as long as it wasn’t truly horrendous, it should help sell some books. So, I learned how to write a movie script then. I had to modify the original story to work in a movie and really liked the changes I came up with. This helped me create The Doom of the Gods series.
In 2019, I wanted to write children’s books for my grandchildren, so I created a publishing company for these books. I even lined up artists and translators to work with me to produce each book in 12 languages. We produced one book, and I was able to put it out in seven languages, with another two books near completion. The problem was I was doing all the backend work and my day job was really killing me with work. I would get home and not want to do anything.
To make a long story short, it wasn’t until losing that job, with another nice severance package, in 2023 that I discovered all of the self-publishing advice on YouTube and decided to get back into the writing game more seriously. If your readers are interested, I have put together a little history on my website: https://www.author-jgrimm.com/writing-history
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
In 2014, I finished reading Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods when I picked up Guy Kawasaki’s APE book. I have always enjoyed the alternative history field and thought, why not tell a story about the downfall of Atlantis? I am a firm believer that most of the folks living in the modern world could not live off the land without significant help – myself included.
My thinking was an advanced society, if damaged enough, would not recover and most of the people would not survive the downfall. Things like the lack of medicine, food, power, and lack of knowledge of living off the land would doom most. Civility would take a back seat to the survival of your immediate group. Civilizational knowledge would be considered a luxury that was not needed. You can’t fill a belly with writing, and books might be more prized for their help in starting a fire than the knowledge they contain.
The rise in sea levels and the propensity to build cities near water sources would have been an additional nail in the coffin for the last Ice Age civilizations. Sea levels were over 100 feet lower than they are now. The Persian Gulf was a river valley; Southeast Asia was a landmass, Japan was connected to the mainland, and the Mediterranean was smaller, as was the Gulf of Mexico.
With Plato’s story stating Atlantis was a great naval power, I assumed their cities would mostly be near the coasts. In many cases, that is land now miles off the coasts and, in some cases, nearly a hundred feet under the waves.
The only thing now was to figure out how the Gods would have been angered enough to destroy Atlantis and The Doom of the Gods series was born.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Too many people think we are the apex of human history. That a race that had over 100,000 years of carrying fire around and numbering globally less than a small city could turn around in less than 10,000 years to be capable of space flight and other feats that would have been considered magic or powers of the Gods by those before this period. Could this have happened before? And will it happen again? Are we doomed to repeat the past?
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I have always loved fantasy and science fiction. From a kid reading The Hobbit or playing Dungeons & Dragons to being in the US Navy and reading tons of books, I have enjoyed them.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Probably Demetri, the hero of the Greeks chasing Rogat around Eastern Europe, or Atlanta Nado in the book. He is a happy-go-lucky guy who doesn’t worry about anything and enjoys a good laugh. Of course, he is a hero and blessed by the Gods, so he has powers that the normal human doesn’t but I bet he would be fun to be around. If he doesn’t get you killed.
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6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Well, I’m still building that readership, but I hope YouTube will be my magnet. I plan on releasing videos about Atlantis and other things from my books to help build the background. I also plan on putting out some short stories or novellas on my website. The short ones for free and I might charge a little for the longer ones. I am working on a story, working title “Death of Brother Death,” which talks about the early Atlanteans and their heroes killing the last of the Neanderthals, who were not the peaceful ones we hear about but more of a vicious humanoid that liked our taste as much as our women.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Start writing or outlining, whichever you wish to do. You can always correct it later. Once I put out my first book, I enjoyed the process and decided I wanted to do more. Also, I watch a ton of YouTube videos about writing, marketing, publishing, and anything related to these subjects (I also watched the movie script creation videos). You can read a lot of blogs, too, but the amount of info out there on YouTube is great. Just don’t follow one person. Get a lot of them, and make sure you are following advice that seems to be common or makes sense to you.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Are any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am running in a few different directions now. The Power of Water was my first novel with my new knowledge, like seeking out reviews from you and others. This was a learning step that I hope to reproduce with other works. I currently have a resume-writing book I plan on releasing this year (hopefully by the end of summer) and releasing one or two of the children’s books. If I can get those all done by the end of the year, I will be happy.
Regarding The Doom of the Gods series, I have two more books planned. Book Two is about 60,000 words already. I have also started working on another series that will follow some Priests of Poseidon during the downfall and their descendants up through modern times. How they set up a secret society that guides humanity until the time they can reveal themselves. In this series I will pick times through history that seem like a potential intervention from the gods with the society helping out the rulers. So far, I am thinking of ancient Egypt, Rome, or Chin China, maybe the Black Death, the disappearance of the Maya, and WW2 Hitler. The last would be like a Jason Bourne-ish type story with the world’s governments learning about the society.
I also have other universes I wish to write in, and I have a long list of story ideas I want to eventually get down on paper. I hope this becomes my day job, but I will have to wait and see.
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About the Author
Instead of just daydreaming of my fantasy worlds and people, why not write about them. At least that is what I told myself when I started this journey in 2014.
Living in Japan, the land of Anime, the Samurai, the ultra modern and extremely old seems to fuel my worlds. Both the ancient and new meld together into worlds where superpowered school kids defeat evil, forest spirits help or fight humans or giant, futuristic robots battle to save the world. Where else to live for inspiration!
In the land of the rising sun, I create my worlds, that I hope entertain you.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I am from Charleston, West Virginia, but moved to Cary, North Carolina in 1972 at 8 years of age, so have lived here the majority of my life. I graduated from Cary High School in 1982, and served in the US Air Force from 83 to 87, then in the Air Force Reserves for a few months, then in my home state’s Air National Guard through the end of 1992 and Desert Storm.
I bounced around in employment till getting into the HVAC field in the mid 90’s, eventually going to work for the local natural gas company in 2000, where I still am today.
I married my lovely ‘spousal unit’ (An Air Force term), Jennifer in 1988, and we raised three children, daughter Sarah, 34, son Curtis, 31, and daughter Rachel, 26.
As far as getting into writing goes. I wrote a lot of silly stuff for school newspapers, and many short stories and the beginnings of novels starting in my early teens. Lost interest or trashed most of those handwritten items long ago, though there may be one or two notebooks in a box somewhere here with one or two of them jotted down. Early in our marriage, I began a novel that was a cross between historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy based upon the American Civil War, and the photographs taken after the battle of Antietam in 1862. That one was the closest story I had, until Gunmetal Ridge, to being completed. Having young children and trying to get my wife through her nursing degree caused me to shelve, and eventually discard it. They were the most important things at that time.
I would think of story ideas over a twenty year period from the early 90’s to about 2010, jost a few ideas down, but never seriously wrote anything until all of my children were grown or almost grown.
More on that in the last question.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
I would have to say, first and foremost, my paternal Grandfather. He was a World War Two veteran, and a great story teller. I have fond memories of sitting with him on the front porch in the seventies, listening to Cincinnati Reds baseball games on the radio, way out in the country near Quick West Virginia. If the Reds were getting blown out, or winning big, he would turn the radio down and just start telling me stories of his youth, his service in the war, and the like. I soaked the stories in, with his gravelly voice painting pictures in my mind from his words.
Secondly, in my work as a gas company representative, I deal with John Q Public on a daily basis, and over the years have met many fascinating people, far more good than bad ones! Being a history buff, I have had several opportunities to hear snippets from older veterans of World War Two of what they did in the war, where they served and the like. These include a D-Day veteran, an Iwo Jima veteran, and a very old Pearl Harbor veteran, a survivor of the USS Arizona. I felt honored to just be in their presence, and hear a short snippet of their service in that time period.
Being a veteran myself, and having many members of my family that are also veterans was another inspiration. I wanted to write a story that honored the service of veterans, and especially of the greatest generation, who fought against, arguably perhaps, the worst regimes this world has ever known.
I also suppose I was inspired to simply finish one of these stories finally, and get it published!
Lastly, believe it or not, I drew inspiration from a music video, “Crowd around the Corner,” which was a cut from Earl Thomas Conley’s 1983 album “Don’t make it easy for me.” That song was not released as a radio single, but I liked it. I will say the video directly inspired one part of my book. NO spoilers from me, but read the book, then watch the video, and I’ll bet you can figure it out!
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Learn from history. Talk to older people that lived it, and remember those that came before us. Older people have experiences that we can learn from, by listening to their stories. I believe that if we don’t hear the stories of our elders, and learn about the history they lived, we are destined to repeat mistakes of the past. In both small, personal scale, and historical era scale.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I am fascinated by history, particularly American History. Having many relatives as veterans drew me into it as well. I suppose I am one of those people who reads about historical events and wonders how I would have acted if I were thrust into the event.
I mentioned earlier listening to the snippets of stories from veterans I have spoken to about their service in World War Two, and chose to use that time period for my fictional story. I wanted to use a major battle, chose the Ardennes offensive of 1944 (better known as the Battle of the Bulge). I also wanted to use little known or studied events of the battle. Thanks to “Band of Brothers” most everyone knows of the heroic stand of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, but I chose to concentrate on a much less known aspect of that battle, the initial five days, the largest surrender of American troops in Europe (The Schnee Eiffel pocket and two regiments of the 106th infantry division) I researched that, and decided to drop my fictional characters into the very real remaining regiment of the 106th, the 424th. I also tried to keep their movements and deployments during the five days the story takes place in 1944 as accurate to the actual history as I could. Will Morgan’s actions in the story are a postulation I suppose of how I may have acted/reacted to the events of this historical battle.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Will Morgan. It would be like sitting again with my Grandfather, I would ask him about his service in the war of course, but also about growing up during the depression. I would try to get him to paint a picture with words of a time period that I cannot, and will never experience. If I could sit down with more than one, I’d have to say Al Baker and Jim Coulder as well, and ask them the same questions.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I suppose that would be Facebook/Instagram. You have to start somewhere, and these two platforms allowed me to get the book in front of people I know, and hopefully to people they know, outside of my circle of minions!
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
1. Map your story out in your head, write yourself notes, and KEEP at it.
2. GET IT EDITED! I initially published “Gunmetal Ridge” as “Mr. Morgans Memories” in 2022. I had the help of a couple of friends on the grammar editing and such, but I edited the content myself. Big mistake. After publication, I reread it several times, noticing mistakes I made in the text. I became discouraged, and dissatisfied with what I had published, and considered pulling it out of publication and pretending it never happened. By chance, I was asked to be a beta reader by an old high school friend who is writing an historical book, and from her, I was led to my editor Julie Rogers. Julie has been a Godsend as she took the time to go back and forth with me on the story till we had it trimmed down, enhanced in some aspects, and republished as “Gunmetal Ridge.” She also directed me to contests, to you for a professional review, and sites to aid in getting it out there in front of more people, though my own current money constraints hamper many of those avenues. Nevertheless, her insight, friendship and help has been invaluable, and I keep plugging along!
3. DREAM BIG. I keep myself in reality at all times, but I dream of seeing this story on the Big Screen, and on the bestseller list. Heck, I even know who I want to star in the movie as Will Morgan…Clint Eastwood as the old version, and his son Scott as the young version. May never happen, but it certainly won’t without first dreaming that it could!
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Are any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am currently beginning the process of pulling out a story I wrote around 2017, after my youngest daughter graduated and moved out. I initially published it unedited on an online site, but took it down soon after to work on it more. I shelved it when I started writing “Gunmetal Ridge”, and somehow deleted the file. It is not historical fiction, but rather a contemporary romance/crime story where the protagonists aid in bringing down a human trafficking ring. It is set in Georgia, and I plan on having one thing in the book that ties it in with “Gunmetal Ridge” to create my own little universe…like Stephen King does. Hey…DREAM BIG!
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About the Author
Jeffrey C. Morris began his career in the United States Air Force as an Avionic Inertial Navigation System Specialist at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina. His unit was one of the last to maintain and fly the F-4E Phantom, earning the crew the moniker “Phantom Phixers.”
After receiving an honorable discharge from Air Force Active Duty, he served in the USAF Reserves before transferring to the 130th Tactical Airlift Group in the West Virginia Air National Guard. He served with the 130th until the end of Desert Storm.
Jeffrey attained an HVAC certificate upon leaving the military and worked in the HVAC field until accepting a position as a natural gas meter and installation specialist with Dominion Energy (Formerly PSNC) in 2000.
His love of American military history as well as his many conversations with veterans who served in wartime influence Jeffrey’s writing. GUNMETAL RIDGE, a composite story of many World War II veterans, is Jeffrey’s way of paying homage to the Greatest Generation.
A native of Charleston West Virginia, he lives with his wife and “spousal unit” of thirty-five years, Jennifer, in North Carolina. With their three grown children out living successful lives, Jeffrey intends to devote more time honing his craft and carving out the next historical military novel in his man cave. He also enjoys writing in other genres such as sci-fi, mystery, and romance.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I have worked as a consultant and senior manager in the IT industry for the last ten years. I also had a software company and a fintech start-up.
I invested my financial surplus in the stock market. After learning about cryptocurrencies, I also entered this space. Without a complete guide, I have to learn from my mistakes.
More than two years ago, I started publishing educational content on Twitter as Crypto Engineer. I wanted to professionalize this industry by sharing how to invest in cryptocurrencies.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
Cryptocurrencies are a field at the intersection of finance and technology. They are also a social movement toward decentralization, privacy, and freedom, which resonate with me.
I wanted to not only read about this movement but also be part of it. I hope my contribution helps people understand cryptocurrency and prevents them from making bad financial decisions.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Everyone is an investor, but most don’t invest actively, and their wealth is concentrated in their homes, cars, and cash. Not everyone should be active in this field, but knowing investment basics is helpful.
Cryptocurrency can help many people achieve their financial goals. It can shorten the path to it, or sometimes, it is the only way.
However, this market is not mature, so there are many risks. Investing in crypto is not easy, and I want to emphasize this.
I am sharing all my knowledge with the readers, but the decision is at their risk. Cryptocurrency offers high profit, but only to those prepared.
4) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
X (Twitter). I’ve also tried other social media sites but with worse results. I like X for its directness and concise communication. I would like to be present on all major sites, but with a limited time, I need to prioritize.
5) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Start with your end goal. What do you want to achieve by writing this book? What is next?
What are the biggest risks that could prevent you from succeeding? Thinking about this beforehand will allow you to assess your chances and revise your planned approach.
For example, if your bigger concern is that no one would like to read it, think if you can write something shorter (maybe even one chapter) and verify this with your potential readers. Social media or blogs like you are great for it. Friends may not be enough because their opinions may not be objective.
6) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
This will mostly depend on the book’s success. Since I am not a full-time author, I must choose which project to work on.
I’ve also started writing an epic fantasy book, which I would like to finish, even if this would be only a hobby project. I hope that this is only the start of my author journey.
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About the Author
For the last ten years, Crypto Engineer has worked as a consultant and manager in the IT industry. He also owned a software company and a fintech start-up.
He invested his financial surplus in the stock market. After learning about cryptocurrencies, he also entered this space. In the absence of a complete guide, he learned from his mistakes.
In 2021, he started publishing educational content on X (Twitter) as a Crypto Engineer. He aimed to professionalize the industry by sharing how to invest in this market.
He won many competitions for the best crypto writer and earned thousands of dollars (you can find more details on his website). This demonstrated the demand for high-quality content about investing in cryptocurrencies.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
Breakfield and Burkey have careers in technology. At one point, Burkey ended up hiring Breakfield. They worked well together with complementary skills. Several professional moves later, they ended up at a large manufacturing company. There, they began teaching workshops to internal and external audiences and writing technical papers. After one large project, they decided documentation in the field could hardly keep up with the changes.
They decided to take threats the bad guys used to extort companies and individuals to create Techno Thrillers. The initial fiction, Enigma Series, began with each story using a different problem, like Identity Theft, Ransomware, or Artificial intelligence, as examples to send the heroes of the R-Group to find the cyber thugs. They’ve added short stories, historical fiction (a prequel to the Enigma Series), cozy mysteries with the Underground Authors, and the current trilogy Enigma Heirs.
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2) What inspired you to write your book?
Great question. We wanted to have fun writing. Good guys versus bad guys are often the foundation of children’s play, so we felt this theme was relatable to any age. We took that premise to a tech level to help people look at technology from multiple perspectives while ensuring their security against the real threats of cyber thugs. Our Enigma Series is more attuned to adults, but the other books are suitable for younger people.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Each story we tell has a theme or message. In our thrillers, we want to emphasize the importance of taking care when using technology, albeit phones, computers, or the millions of apps call to you because there is always some creep who will try to take advantage of any weak, unsuspecting, naive person.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
For Breakfield and Burkey the initial themes of technology were born of our professional careers. That, coupled with our question of what would happen if it makes for some interesting storytelling, we hope people will enjoy each book.
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5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
We would have to sit down, virtually anyway, with ICABOD our supercomputer. ICABOD grows and evolves throughout the series with data-gathering abilities, enhanced analytics, text responses to full-on large language speech enablement, and evolving artificial intelligence. I would love his response to which was a more difficult human capability to understand humor or the justification to use the term ‘I’ when referring to himself. We think we know but readers would have to read the series to determine their best question for him.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
Social media is a fickle mode of communication with readers. LinkedIn, Podcasts, X-Twitter, and Facebook are the high runners. Cultivating and maintaining social media connections takes an enormous amount of time. By far, our favorite ways to connect with readers are at fairs or with book clubs. These allow us to speak to readers. If we resonate with some, then we hope they tell their friends.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
We appreciate your question. It’s important to continue writing and not lose hope. Practice and set aside time to hone your skills to find your voice. Consider joining communities of fellow authors to receive constructive feedback to enhance your work (as your family may be hesitant to be completely honest to spare your feelings). It’s beneficial to find a writing partner and regularly engage in discussions about your stories to exchange ideas or feedback. Ensuring you have a reliable editor is crucial. Despite this, a few errors may still slip through, but it’s preferable to keep them to a minimum.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
We have several story ideas. We are committed to delivering two projects. First is the third book in the Enigma Heirs Trilogy-Enigma Jewels-at the beginning of 2025. Second is our next book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles in 2025, though The Ransom Enigma is currently on pre-order for its August 2024 release.
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About the Authors
Charles Breakfield – As the CTO of the Enigma Series, Charles uses his experience from working at high-tech manufacturers as a solution architect in hybrid data/telecom environments. He considers himself a long-time technology geek, who also enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. Charles’ love of wine tastings, cooking, and Harley riding has found its way into the stories. As a child, he moved often because of his father’s military career, which even helps him with the various character perspectives he brings to life in the series. He continues to try to teach Burkey humor.
Rox Burkey – Works as a business architect who builds solutions for customers on a good technology foundation. She has written many technical and white papers but finds the freedom of writing fiction a lot more fun. As a child, she helped to lead the kids with exciting new adventures built on make-believe characters, was a Girl Scout until high school, and contributed to the community as a young member of a Head Start program. Rox enjoys family, learning, listening to people, travel, outdoor activities, sewing, cooking, and thinking about diversifying the series.
Breakfield and Burkey – started writing non-fiction papers and books, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as writing fictional stories. They found it interesting to use the aspects of technology people are incorporating into their daily lives more and more as a perfect way to create a good guy/bad guy story. Elements of travel to the various places they have personally visited are always baked into the stories. Look for humor, romance, intrigue, suspense, and a spirited way to remember people who have crossed paths with them in their books. They love to talk about their stories with private and public book readings. Burkey also conducts regular interviews with Texas authors, which she finds very interesting. Her first interview was, wait for it, Breakfield. You can often find them at local book fairs or other family-oriented events.
The primary series is based on a family organization called R-Group. Recently they have spawned a subgroup that contains some of the original characters as the Cyber Assassins Technology Services (CATS) team. The authors have ideas for continuing the series in both of these tracks. They track their many characters on a spreadsheet, with a hidden avenue for the future coined The Enigma Chronicles tagged in some portions of the stories. Fan reviews seem to frequently suggest that these stories would make good television or movie stories, so the possibilities appear endless, just like their ideas for new stories.
They have book video trailers on their YouTube Channel and website, www.EnigmaSeries.com. We invite you to visit the website for FREE stuff along with samples of the books and options to purchase signed copies directly. You may also find it fascinating to check out the fun acronyms they create for their stories. Reach out to them at Authors@EnigmaSeries.com, Twitter@EnigmaSeries, or Facebook@TheEnigmaSeries.
