1. What inspired you to write the story of Bran Hambric?
I was awake on the night of 3/3/03, thinking about a different story, when for some strange reason, the image of Bran Hambric and a banker sitting on a roof leapt into my mind. I knew they were waiting for a burglar, and I knew that the burglar was actually a creature coming to kidnap Bran. That scene is still the first chapter of the book, and everything really grew from that original image!
2. What all was involved in finding the right agent/publisher to represent your work?
When I first started looking for agents, I kept it a secret from my friends and family because I was afraid the book would be rejected endlessly, and a lot of people were telling me that even after five years of writing it still wasn’t ready. I went online and found agents through AgentQuery.com, read a lot of books on the subject, and sent off email queries to agents that fit my book. Strangely enough, within days, I had some agents who were interested. After about three months, and a rewrite of my query, I had nine agents who were looking at it, and signed with one. It all happened very fast because it was done by email!
3. What methods do you use to self-market and promote your novel? How much are you involved in marketing along with your publisher?
Thankfully, my publishers have allowed me to take a very active role in promoting the book, and have even used many of my ideas in conjunction with their work. A lot of what I do is simply interacting with readers and trying to tell others about it, which in turn gets them excited and spreads news of the book. I do a lot of YouTube and online social networking like Facebook and Twitter, and try to always keep readers connected with what’s happening.
4. What do enjoy doing outside of reading and writing? What are your hobbies?
I really enjoy making videos for YouTube, and interacting with the people who enjoy my writing and videos on broadcast websites like BlogTV. It’s always great to connect with people who enjoy your work that way. I also like making music and dabble in photography for fun.
5. What projects are you planning to work on next?
At the moment I am writing on the Bran Hambric sequel, which is turning out to be a wonderfully fun process and something new to work on after writing The Farfield Curse for so many years! I also have some other book ideas that are still fresh and that I hope to write one day.