A teen is transformed into a wizard before his time. He must master his craft if he is to have any chance to save his kingdom.
In the middle a melange of magical creatures is where I have decided to sit down with A.J. Gallant, to find out more about the mystical myths within the pages of ‘Knight of the Sword’. A.J. thanks for sparing a little time with me to sift through the swords in this story. Let’s start our sifting on the topic of characters. Do you find them enjoyable enough that you would like to have a cast party with them if they came to life?
Yes, indeed. It would be fantastic to see real dragons in the flesh, and of course wizards too.
Who would pass up the opportunity to see real dragons in the flesh? What did you find was the most important element of your own opportunity within this world of dragons and wizards that you wanted to share with the readers?
Probably that good triumphs over evil.
Did you enjoy writing about these characters like wizards and dragons in this battle of good versus evil?
The characters are fun to write though they don’t always do what I want them to do. Great fun at five in the morning.
5am is not my ideal preference for time of day, but it is a great block of time where you’re likely to be undisturbed. Is writing at 5am a part of your writing ritual?
I get up at five every morning to write, seven days a week, unless I’m sick. My two cats are more than happy to go out so early.
*Laughs* Cats will be like that. Do you find that working in the early hours of the morning has helped you keep writer’s block at bay, or do you have other techniques in your writer’s kit to combat this?
I’ve never really had writer’s block, at least not yet. I work on more than one book at the same time so maybe that’s why.
Interesting, I don’t believe that I’ve had another directly credit having multiple plots on the go as a method to prevent writer’s block before, but it does sound effective to me. Can you tell us a little about what you are currently working on that is keeping your writer’s block currently in check?
I’m working on ‘Order of the Rose’, another epic fantasy, a trilogy. And after that comes ‘I Was murdered This Morning’, book 2 of the Olivia Brown Mysteries.
What keeps pulling you back to the keyboard to write?
I write because I need to I guess. It’s great fun to create a new world.
How do these worlds evolve in your mind? Do you start with the ending event of the novel as the starting point of your world?
The ending comes as I write. A lot of my books evolve from the title. When I get the ending I will write it and just leave it hanging until I get there.
And when you’ve caught up to the ending and tied it into the rest of the novel, how do you broach the task of editing?
I am trying to be careful these days with the editing. I now have a program to help.
Interesting, reading between the lines I can see that your relationships with editing has changed over time as you have evolved in your self-publishing career. As you’ve been in the self-publishing game a little while, what is your top gem of advice that you can share to the audience?
After you write your first book don’t be so anxious to release it, take your time. And then it’s time write more books.
Increasing the written word within the world is always a winning idea. On the topic of winning ideas I’d like to ask you a final question in today’s interview. Imagine yourself having a nice and lazy summer’s day just soaking up some rays and watching the world pass by, on this day what would be your top ice-cream choice that you would choose to share with the sun’s summer rays?
Udderly Divine.
That does sound udderly divine. A.J. thanks for your sharing your insights into the world of ice cream and beyond with me and I hope that you find new seekers of the sword from this interview and promotion of ‘Knight of the Sword’.
Want to find out more about A. J. Gallant? Connect here!