Interview with Dakota Bryant and John Parker, authors of Gehenna

What can you tell us about your new release, Gehenna?

DB:

The book came together really well in the end. Especially considering we wrote it while I moved from Oregon to Texas and then from Texas to Ohio. Gehenna came from a small idea that turned into a creative firestorm between the two of us that ultimately led to enough content to keep writing for years.

JP:

It didn’t turn out the way we had originally planned. The creative process tends to take on a life of its own.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

DB:
The idea of Gehenna is what truly made me want to write. I had never really wrote before outside of what was required of me in school. When the idea for Gehenna originally came to me and John pitched in his own ideas it got me excited. I immediately started writing down our ideas on these stickers we had that were used to tag bags in the mill we were working at. That’s when I knew I wanted to be an author.

JP:
There really isn’t one specific thing or individual that inspired me to become a writer. I guess you could say my path and decision was a little unconventional. As I moved through life and interacted with different people in situation I began to realize I had a unique perspective on life. I suppose it was a series of lightbulb moments that brought me to the realization that inspired me to write my thoughts on paper to share with others.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

DB:
Frank Herbert’s Dune series is my favorite, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., 1984 by George Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and last but not least Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

JP:
Black Libraries Horus Heresy series, Frank Herbert’s Dune series, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Dragonlance series and several Stephen King novels.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

DB:
If I could have anyone I wanted I would want to talk to Frank Herbert. Being able to talk to someone who came up with such an expansive universe and changed the way so many people thought about sci-fi would be the best first guest I could ask for.

JP:
I’m not sure who’d be my first guest. But whoever that person turned out to be I’d ask them ‘Why they chose the genre they did and Who/what inspired them to become a writer.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

DB:
The relaxation of it all. Being able to create a world that you came up with is an awesome feeling, and being able to get lost in the chaos that we deal with mentally to create something others enjoy is my favorite part.

JP:
Exploring the great chaotic abyss of your own imagination. Stretching your own imagination to limits you never thought possible.

What is a typical day like for you?

DB:
Just like most people’s days. I wake up, go to work, come home and hang out with my family, and once they go to bed I either read or write.

JP:
Not very exciting. I wake, eat breakfast, go to work, come home and engage in my favorite coping methods; drinking and writing.

What scene in Gehenna was your favorite to write?

DB:
The scene where we first introduce Trevor. His and Alastor’s relationship is odd to say the least, and it was challenging to make it come off as natural and not forced. I really enjoy the elements of writing that are challenging to convey to an audience.

JP:
The ending.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

DB:

It is what it is. Also, coming in at a close second: Life’s a garden, dig it.

JP:
Never. Give. Up

Dakota Bryant and John Parker are the authors of the new book Gehenna

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