David's Name Before the Masses Blog Tour

 

David M. Brown was born in Barnsley in 1982 and first conceived the idea of Elenchera in college. His love of history and English led him to read these subjects at Huddersfield University. David is inspired by medieval history, Norse mythology and Japanese role-playing video games and anime films. He lives in Huddersfield with his wife Donna and their six rescue cats. 

David, thank you for including me on your blog tour.  And now, I'll let David talk.

The Elencheran Chronicles: http://elenchera.com

The World According to Dave: http://blog.elenchera.com  

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elenchera   http://www.facebook.com/fezariu

Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/elenchera

Book Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPgcNNLMBvY 

I can remember when I first began to write seriously. It was 12 years ago and I was studying at Barnsley college. Prior to that I had enjoyed creative writing at school but never had any inclination to write in my spare time. I left secondary school with a glowing appraisal from my English teacher ringing in my ears. He told me never to give up writing poetry and prose and that I had talent. Flattered as I was I didn’t take such kind words seriously.

At college I excelled in history but was something of a seesaw in English language and literature. I did, however, seem to thrive whenever we did creative writing but that wasn’t enough to tip the balance for me. The catalyst came, believe it or not, from my brother’s Playstation. In 1998 I discovered Final Fantasy and began my love affair with this memorable RPG series by tackling instalment no.7. The games’ depiction of worlds veering between sci-fi and traditional fantasy were a huge inspiration and by the time I was playing Final Fantasy VIII in 1999 something had changed.

Those games led to me reading Norse mythology which I found infinitely more fascinating than the Greek tales. One day the idea for the world of Elenchera came to me and I drew a world map. From there came many more maps (eventually 500+) and with them a timeline of historical events started to come together. Choosing the fantasy genre was an easy decision. I had grown up loving such fantasy film classics as The Neverending Story, Labyrinth and Willow and, coupled with my passion for history, the opportunity to create an entirely new world was too good a chance to miss.

As Elenchera came together I found myself drawing heavily on world history which gave me the added benefit of learning a few things at the same time. From world history I looked at how empires rise and fall, nations interact through trade or warfare, innovations in technology and agriculture are made and how seemingly ordinary individuals can make their mark on history. Elenchera is a world with twenty-three lands trying to go about their daily lives, survive and overcome any threats that may be heading their way.

I’m not content with being just another fantasy writer. I want to do something a little different with the genre. With Elenchera I promise you novels where the characters have more precedence than the world they inhabit. Each book will be set in a different part of Elenchera’s 47,000+ years and will offer an insight into a different phase of history. World events will be going on in the background but the core of each novel will be a handful of characters and their stories. I want the readers to be absorbed by the characters, live with them, struggle with them, go through all their emotions but still get a feel for Elenchera and what this world is.

Writers such as Tolkien, Goodkind and Pratchett are ones I admire greatly in this genre but I do not seek to emulate or even equal them. Like Hemingway and Murakami, I want to offer a simple style of writing to the reader, not heavy set with endless description, but still packing in plenty of story. My debut novel, Fezariu’s Epiphany, has had some good feedback and I’m already hard at work on my next book, A World Apart. There are many stories to tell from the world of Elenchera and I simply cannot wait to share them all with you.