Interview with Dylan Doose, Author of Embers on the Wind

What can you tell us about your new release, Embers on the Wind?

The contract: get to the tower and kill the beast. The heroes: heretic monk turned sorcerer, Aldous Weaver. Infamous crusader turned fugitive, Kendrick the Cold. Aristocrat, rogue, monster hunter, and legend in his own mind, Theron Ward. Joining them are a mutant gangster, a dead doctor, and Theron’s warrior wife.

Embers on the Wind is book 7 in my ongoing Sword and Sorcery series. Ideally, you would read the series in order, but if you start with Embers on the Wind, you would still enjoy it. Embers on the Wind serves as the first part of the second series arc, a culmination of the friendship, loyalty, heroism, and oddity of the characters introduced in the first arc.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

Ever since I was a kid, I made up novels and movies, seeing the action unfold as if it were real. I wrote a story about a vigilante in a black mustang when I was 16, and my parents were so impressed I decided to keep going. I finished my first novel when I was 21, but when I had it professionally edited I realized I’d taken on a project too big for my experience. Using what I learned from that experience, I went on to write my next novel, my first published novel, Fire and Sword, book 1 in this series.

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

Tough question. I read across all genres, as well as a ton of non-fiction. Here are some titles that are on my top list:
The Magus by John Fowles
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Plague by Albert Camus

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

My first guest would be director and writer David Lynch, best known for Twin Peaks. I’d ask him if he has any specific pre-writing ritual to get into the mind state of his characters and if that ritual has changed over the years or between projects. And if it has changed, how?

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

You don’t get to edit your life. You can’t go back and change choices and experiences. But when I’m writing, I get to redo life over and over again. By changing the decisions, the dialogues, the actions, the loves had and lost, I get a chance to explore life in ways that the confines of reality would never allow.

What is a typical day like for you?

I like to get up at 4:00 a.m., stretch, and write for four hours. Then it’s time for breakfast that might be oatmeal and eggs or a smoothie packed with fruits and veggies and almond milk. After breakfast I exercise, boxing or going for a bike ride or doing body weight training. Then I refill the well by watching a show or a movie or a documentary. Then I nap. When I get up I’ll read or listen to an audiobook. In the afternoon, I edit or plot a new story or brainstorm ideas to use the following morning. Then it’s dinner time, usually around 4:00 or 5:00.

I hang out with friends and/or my brother and sister-in-law who live just up the street. I live in a beautiful area and I walk on the beach, hike trails, and climb and boulder in a nearby gorge. I’m a huge gamer. I draw, paint, and sculpt. No matter what I’m doing, I absorb that experience and information to use in my writing.

What scene from Embers on the Wind was your favorite to write?

There’s a scene in the story where the point of view character is a little girl lost in the woods with enemies closing in. It’s a horror sequence with a twist. I was surprised by where I went with the scene and how quickly and smoothly I wrote it. When I plotted the events, I expected the writing to be a lot more challenging.

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

I have several, and they all work together to make me believe that the mountain is the path and the obstacle is the way.

Dylan Doose is the author of the new book Embers on the Wind.

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