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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Author Interview – Jeff Gunhus

9:00 AM Posted by Unknown , , No comments

What was the hardest part about writing this book? Keeping the tone appropriate for the target market. My tastes are pretty dark so I have to dial it back sometimes.

How do you promote this book? Blog tours, tweet Q&As, Goodreads and visiting local school and bookshops have all been a lot of fun as I’ve met cool people along the way.

Will you write others in this same genre? Yes, The Templar Chronicles is imagined as a 7-part series.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Each book has it’s own “message”. Book 1 deals with our responsibility to stand up to evil even at great risk to ourselves.

How much of the book is realistic? While the monsters are fantasy (or are they?), the situations the middle grade characters face are taken right from the experiences of my own kids.

How important do you think villains are in a story? Villains are almost as important (maybe more so?) than the protagonist. It’s important than that are real and not cartoony. Someone once said good vs. evil is boring. Good vs. good is real drama. The villains need to have something about them that makes what they are doing (their badness) reasonable. Ren Lucre borders on cartoony in Book 1 with hints at a deeper story that gets elaborated on through the rest of the series.

Who is your favorite author and why? Tolkien was the master and he changed how everyone approached fantasy. Hundreds of authors have followed in his steps and we’re all just trying to find our way back to Middle Earth.

Can we expect any more books from you in the future? Book 2 comes out in April and Book 3 in the Fall. Adult fiction supernatural thriller Night Chill comes out this summer and a non-fiction book, Reaching Your Reluctant Reader comes out soon as well!

Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? I just read The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, a steampunk fantasy which is mind-blowing. Check it out.

Are there any new authors that have sparked your interest and why? Patrick Rothfuss who wrote The Name Of The Wind is amazing.

What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? Reading Stephen King’s book On Writing is all you need. Read it front to back, then read it again. Then sit down at your computer and get to work.

What contributes to making a writer successful? Time. You can’t control the amount of God-given talent you have been given, but you completely control the effort you put in. Simply put, the more you read and write, the better you will get. So get to work.

Do you have any advice for writers? Write every day. Even if it’s 15 mins. 7 days a week without vacations. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish.

What do you do to unwind and relax? Hang with my wife, five kids, two dogs, one cat and one very feisty horse. We’re outdoorsy, so kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, etc.

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? My kids don’t think I’m completely uncool. That’s worth the price of admission right there.

Jack Tremont moves his family to the quiet mountains of Western Maryland hoping to leave behind a troubled past and restart his life. Instead, he finds himself caught up in a nightmare when his daughter Sarah is targeted by Nate Huckley, a mysterious and horrifying stranger driven by a dark power that will stop at nothing to possess Sarah.

When Sarah goes missing, suspicion falls on Jack and he must uncover the secrets of the small mountain town of Prescott City and face the evil secret hidden there. As he digs further, he learns the conspiracy reaches more deeply than he could have imagined. Finally, he will have to face the question, What is a father willing to do to save his child? The answer? Anything. Anything at all.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Supernatural Thriller

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with Jeff Gunhus on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.jeffgunhus.com/

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