1) You are not a published author in Portugal, but we want to know you. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I'm an Australian author, born and immigrated from Hungary as a child. I grew up with a love of pop culture, films, video games, and a good book. Oddly enough, although I loved to write stories in school, I didn't pursue writing novels until much later in life. English was the subject I loved the most in High School, and I went on to study IT, beginning a long career which is where most of my time goes, as well as editing and writing, and trying to retain my sanity with work/life balance. Oh, who am I kidding? I lost my sanity so long ago, but that's how I write my books with all the voices in my head.
2) What inspires and motivates you to write?
A passion for storytelling motivates me, even though it can be tough sometimes, but everything worthwhile takes hard work. I'm motivated by all sorts of things: dreams, people, places, music, pop culture, and pretty close to anything can motivate. One thing that drives me to keep creating is the readers. My fan base is important to me, and I'm blessed that so many enjoy my work.
3) Which is your favourite genre?
Without a doubt, I love fantasy and sci-fi more than anything else. I suppose it's the fact that those genres are something greater than the real world, and take us to places far from the stresses and pressures of our day to day life, as well as adding to joys of living. Like music and other creative arts, stories are evidence that there is something bigger than us out there. I also have a weak spot for auto biographies.
4) Do you have an author who you see as your guide/idol/mentor?
The first author I read is Robin Hobb, and she still inspires me to this day. The Liveship Traders was my first journey into the fantasy work of books, and boy was it an amazing one. I always loved dragons, and Robin writes them so well. In fact, I pay a homage nod to Robin in my trilogy, for those who know her work well, they should see that nod. Guiding me has been many people along the road, and they tend to be other writers, proofreaders, and editors.
5) How does your daily life influence your writing?
Interesting question. I think everything that happens to us will influence us, even if we do or don't know it. Dark parts of my life have influenced many scenes in my books, and joyous events have also done the same. I find that stories and characters have a life of their own, and while we can plan plotlines, arcs, etc... we never truly know how things will exactly turn out on the journey until we're writing it.
6) How did you come up with the idea for Legends of Marithia trilogy?
For those who have read the entire trilogy, this will make a bit more sense to them when I say this: Legends of Marithia was born of an idea of what may appear to be a straight forward fantasy story, but what should peel away, layer by layer, until the reader finds themselves bewildered by the truth. The thing I loved the most in stories were surprises and twists, and I always had a love for dragons and vampires, so I worked on a story that brought together those worlds, amongst others, and delivered one heck of a punchy journey.
7) How was Marithian world created?
It was crafted over time. I knew many things that were to be in it, and some details were a little fuzzy, but that's the fun of world-building, you can expand on your ideas at any time, so long as it stays within the rules of your world and what is believable. I began with the primary plot arc, main characters, weapons, locations, creatures, and started writing. It all evolved from there, over the course of the three books in this trilogy.
8) You're developing a card game about Marithia. What made you think of that?
I've always enjoyed games, from video games to card and board games, and combining two things I'm passionate about is always going to be "on the cards" for me. Although I don't play that many video games these days, I find game design fascinating, and Legends of Marithia translates quite nicely into card games. I had been working on a strategy game with many cards, but am now looking at a smaller game that is fast to play. At this point, it is all in design stage.
9) Do you recognize yourself in any of the characters? Tell us about it.
Truth be told, there are elements of myself, experiences, and important people in my life in many of Legends of Marithia's characters. I can tell you that my children are in there, as is my wife and some of my friends. Vartan's attitude and fighting style is actually based on one of my friends who has been in my life for a good chunk of it. He'll know who I'm talking about. I suppose you can say that many of the main characters are slithers of me and things I've been through.
10) Taking into account all the fantastic creatures that live in Marithia, which one would you like to be, and why?
There is no question for me there. It's always the dragons. A nearly eternal life, immense power, and the ability to mask myself from the world is a fantastic combination. It would be a magnificent and sad existence, watching people you grow close to come and go, but the knowledge you would build would be incredible, and I would assume that my wife would be a dragon with me, so I would not be lonely.
11) How long it took you to write Legends of Marithia trilogy?
I began writing Legends of Marithia novels around 2006-2007, but had ideas for this story long before then. I also rewrote my first two Legends [of Marithia] books to make them the best they could be, while dancing around the line of keeping the original story and voice intact. That was most likely the toughest writing years of my career, and I imagine will retain that title.
12) What comes next? New books ideas? New projects?
I have recently released Endless Worlds Anthology, which contains seven stories of fantasy, scifi, and horror... one of which is mine. My next novel is science fiction, and will be something truly special, so watch this space! For those who have read my short story in Endless Worlds, you'll be glad to know that the short story is a prequel to my next novel. Of course, I will return to Legends one day, and with a vengeance to continue the series, but to start from a whole new perspective.
13) Do you have any advice for those who also love to write, such as ourselves, and who aspire to become writers one day?
I could write a book on advice, but I am also learning all the time and will never stop doing so. The first thing you need to do is to plan a solid story, then actually write and finish a manuscript. From there, more work begins, and make sure you get a solid editor and are ready to accept criticism, as that can be one of the toughest hurdles for writers to overcome. Write what you're passionate about, expect things not to be easy, and never, ever give up or listen to the naysayers. Believe in yourself and strive to be the best you can be.
14) As booknerds, we have to ask it: what book are you reading now?
I actually have Robin Hobb's The Dragon Keeper partially read and waiting for me, and a very long list of books waiting. But first, I must finish editing a book for a client, and it's a fun and interesting one. One of my characters mentions that book in Endless Worlds. I'm also mid-way through a few other fantasy books as well, including Game of Thrones. |
