Tell us a bit about your family. I’m married to a wonderful woman, Mary, and we have four sons of which I am very proud. All of our sons are talented musically. Patrick plays jazz piano and so does Connor, who also plays viola. Daniel plays piano and cello, but his real love is composing. Ethan plays saxophone, both alto and tenor. Mary and I are entering a different time of life as our sons are getting older. This fall we will have three away from home in college (Patrick, Connor, and Daniel), and one in high school (Ethan). We also have a little dog that was abandoned that we took into our home. He looks like a throw pillow with legs and we call him Mel.
What is your favorite quality about yourself? I’ve gotten over having to be right. I’ve come to the point where I can admit when I’m wrong and apologize for it. I don’t know that it’s ever going to be easy, but it’s not so difficult as it used to be.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, then yours is the world and all that’s in it, and what’s more, you’ll be a man my son! – Rudyard Kipling. I love this quote because it captures the struggle of life, and the nobility expressed by the human spirit to persevere.
What is your favorite color? Blue. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have a lot of daring or imagination when it comes to my wardrobe. It’s not as bad as Einstein (whose outfits were all the same), but let’s just say there’s not a whole lot of variety in the closet.
When did you first know you could be a writer? When I wrote a story for my boys and people outside our family took an interest in it. That was about ten or eleven years ago.
What genre are you most comfortable writing? Speculative fiction. It’s where I’ve read the most extensively and I have an innate feel for what’s working in my writing and what’s not. That doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle with facets of it, but at least I know when I’ve written something well.
Do you intend to make writing a career? I would love to, but there are two obstacles, both considerable, that stand in the way. First, I’m a teacher. By and large, writers are the only people that make less than teachers unless you can writer yourself into the top 1 percent of the field. Second, I tend to get a little stir crazy if I have too much solitude. Teaching and writing provide a nice balance to my life. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Have you developed a specific writing style? That’s a great question that I really don’t know how to answer. I suppose my writing style is an amalgam of everyone I’ve read that had an impact on me. There’s been quite a few of those and I imagine there are quite a few readers who could pick them out. However, I read a review the other day that pointed to the influence of an author I’ve never read, so I think some things are pretty universal.
What is your greatest strength as a writer? I think I write scenes that have a strong emotional impact. Of course that’s just my two cents. This is one of those questions that a reader could answer better.
Why did you choose to write this particular book? I wanted to write a series that was not only a fun story, but could be read on an allegorical level as well. In that sense I would say “The Staff and the Sword” falls somewhere in between the epic prose of “The Lord of the Rings” and the symbolism contained in “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I love it when people get that second level and get excited about it.
The Hero's Lot
Riveting Sequel from Christian Fantasy's Most Talented New Voice.
When Sarin Valon, the corrupt secondus of the conclave, flees Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But other forces bent on the destruction of the kingdom remain and conspire to accuse Errol and his friends of a conspiracy to usurp the throne.
In a bid to keep the three of them from the axe, Archbenefice Canon sends Martin and Luis to Errol's home village, Callowford, to discover what makes him so important to the kingdom. But Errol is also accused of consorting with spirits. Convicted, his punishment is a journey to the enemy kingdom of Merakh, where he must find Sarin Valon, and kill him. To enforce their sentence, Errol is placed under a compulsion, and he is driven to accomplish his task or die resisting.
Hero's Lot is the Sequel to A Cast of Stones
A Cast of Stones
An Epic Medieval Saga Fantasy Readers Will Love.
In the backwater village of Callowford, Errol Stone's search for a drink is interrupted by a church messenger who arrives with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Desperate for coin, Errol volunteers to deliver them but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he's joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.
Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom's dynasty is near an end and a new king must be selected. As tension and danger mount, Errol must leave behind his drunkenness and grief, learn to fight, and come to know his God in order to survive a journey to discover his destiny.
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