What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Blade of the Faithful? I love epic fantasy stories. But every story has a deeper purpose! I wanted to write Blade of the Faithful to discuss secrets. What happens when we hide from others? What keeps us from being open with those we’re close to? And of course elves and goblins and dwarves and pirates and such! If you woke up in the world of Origins of Gilia, what is the first thing you would do? I would probably ask if there had been any recent pirate attacks or reports of people falling sick with a mysterious disease as both are big problems in the world! What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write? Absolutely my favorite genre is epic fantasy! I’ve been loving the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson and really cherish good old tales like Dragonlance and The Lord of the Rings. I do enjoy a good dystopian adventure every now and then again! What fictional world would you most like to visit? I’m going to Hogwarts. It’d be worth reliving my teen years to learn magic! But if video games are free game, I’d love to visit Midgar from final fantasy seven! What book did you expect to hate, but ended up loving? I was wary of The Way of Kings just because it was so large! But man I devoured that book! What’s your favorite thing about writing? What’s your least favorite thing about it? My favorite part is creating the world and characters. I especially love minor villains. I know heroes and big bads usually get the focus but I love a really well fleshed-out minor bad guy. They’re a blast to come up with! My least favorite is the editing. Always the editing. What scene in Blade of the Faithful was your favorite to write? My favorite scene to write was when Kyne and Eileen, our two main heroes were captured by mushroom people. It was a quirky moment that moved the story forward and was a lot of fun! Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by? As a Christian, I have a life verse from the Bible. It’s Colossians 1:23 and talks about how someone should live and talk about Jesus.
RG Long is the author of the new book Blade of the Faithful (Origins of Gilia Book 1) Connect with RG Long
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