What can you tell us about your new release, Crestahn Kingdom?
Crestahn Kingdom, the first in what will be a seven-book series, is a science fantasy novel that focuses on Princess Sha’ella, an assassin in training, whose father is part of a coup to take down the Sovereign—the ruler of the galaxy—and Gretig, the son of a portal maker, whose parents withheld vital secrets about their past—a past he discovers in bits and pieces after crossing paths with Sha’ella’s kingdom.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
An idea of a movie popped in my head one day in high school, and I started to write a script, right there in class, without having any idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to see my creation on the big screen. I honestly never saw myself becoming an author, but perhaps I’ve always been a writer.
What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?
Ever read? This is a hard one! There are a few that come to mind, though. Let’s see…
1.The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
2.Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz (It’s book 5 in his Orphan X series)
3.Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (book 5 in the Throne of Glass series)
4.The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
5.Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
My very first guest would probably be…Tracy Deonn, author of Legendborn. I’d ask her how hard it was to bring her main character’s emotions to life. Tracy started the book off with the death of a family member, pulling the reader into the story. From that point on, I was hooked.
What’s your favorite thing about writing?
For me, it’s seeing my ideas come to life, and enjoying the journey the characters take me on. It’s about zoning out of reality and creating my own world. There are characters I’ve written that were never supposed to be big parts of the storyline, that seemed to write themselves into relevancy.
What is a typical day like for you?
Since I’m still working a day job (night job actually), I’m at work for 12 to 13 hours a day. Every break, I try to write in my notebook. When I come home, I eat, shower, and type my manuscript. I go to sleep, wake up, and check the stats on my Amazon and Facebook ads. I learned early that writing a book is one thing, convincing somebody to actually read it is an adventure of its own. On the weekend, it’s type, type, type…video game break…type, type…family time…type.
What scene from Crestahn Kingdom was your favorite to write?
There is a fight that takes place between Princess Sha’ella and Gretig. She sees him fumbling with a wooden sword—practicing a few moves—and takes it upon herself to show him how a sword is properly wielded.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
“You only live once. Make it count.”
Dartanyan Johnson is the author of the new book Crestahn Kingdom
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