Please help me welcome S.L. Dunn author of Anthem's Fall to the blog. I asked the author a few questions, and here are the answers.
- What inspired you to write your book?
I had tried my hand at a few
short stories and little projects throughout the years, but nothing serious. In
college I was honestly too busy with coursework to write my own fiction. I took
Anthropology and Biology classes, which didn’t leave much room for creative
writing. But all through my teens and early twenties I was keenly aware that my
imagination had never diminished. When I was a kid in middle school, my friends
and I would all go out into the woods everyday after school in Chelmsford,
Massachusetts and pretend to be great warriors, or hunters, or who knows what
else.
Everybody pretended back then.
As the years passed, it became
clearer and clearer to me that I still enjoyed pretending. Even though I rarely talked about it, daydreaming was a
key component of my waking life. One day it dawned on me that I was actively
trying to suppress my natural inclination to imagine. It was a powerful
realization for someone to have, a sudden awareness that you’ve been hiding
from the very thing that you’re most passionate about: in my case, pretending. After that, I let loose the
harness on my pretending, and started brainstorming story ideas by the dozen. I
wrote little bits of stories here and there, or mentioned a passing idea to a
friend or family member. Nothing stuck. For a year or two, nothing stuck.
Then one afternoon the premise to
Anthem’s Fall hit me like a freight
train. I was driving on an empty highway in Vermont when the idea for the story
truly erupted out of my head. It was like a muse hit me with a shotgun blast.
The genius, the dreamer and the leader—the characters all introduced themselves
to me at once, and their plight unfolded with utter clarity.
By the time I got to page ten, I
knew my life would never be the same. I had found my passion.
2. Do you get a lot of
support from your family when it comes to your writing?
Yes, my family
and friends are my main soundboard and pool of beta readers.
3.What does a typical
writing day look like?
I generally write
in short bursts. I’ve found that regardless of how hard I try, it becomes
difficult to write for longer than a few hours at a sitting. Changing locations
helps. Sometimes I’ll write a bit at home, and then step out to a coffee shop
or library to put in another session. Coffee is, alas, an essential part of my
process.
4. What advice do you
have for new authors?
Keep
writing. A proficiency in grammar and punctuation only gets you so far. Your own voice is what will define your
writing, and that takes a long time to uncover. Be patient with yourself and
don’t get discouraged. Feeling crumby about your writing at times is a good
sign; it means you’re serious about what you’re doing. And as Stephen King
said: “Just sit your ass down and write.” The words won’t write themselves,
after all.
Anthem's
Fall
By
S.L. Dunn
BLURB:
Above a horrified New York City, genetics and ethics collide as
the fallen emperor and a banished exile of the same herculean race ignite into
battle over the city’s rooftops. In the streets below, a brilliant young
scientist has discovered a technology that can defeat them both, yet might be
more terrible than either.
Set both in modern New York City and in the technologically
sophisticated yet politically savage world of Anthem, Anthem’s Fall unfurls
into a plot where larger than life characters born with the prowess of gods are
pitted against the shrewd brilliance of a familiar and unlikely heroine.
EXCERPT:
The sharp knife of apocalypse struck without warning, burying
itself into the unsuspecting skies of a sun-swept afternoon.
In the northernmost continent of Anthem, the remote city of
Municera abruptly reported massive and inexplicable reports of rioting and
hysteria. The limited transmissions that came out of the city were fragmented
and unclear. Imperial Army regiments were at once dispatched to restore order
to the city of Municera, yet all troops lost radio contact within minutes of
their arrival. Powerful reverberations shook through the surrounding lands,
reaching miles in every direction. It felt as though the gods themselves were
hammering the very world with furious impacts. From a distance, billowing black
pillars of smoke could be seen reaching high into the sky above the smoldering
city. When the smoke and cloud of ash dispersed in the northern winds, the
glimmering skyscrapers that had long been an icon of the elegant Municera had
vanished from the skyline. Their steel and glass splendor was replaced with a
blanket of alarming ruin. By midafternoon, the once prominent city was nothing
more than wreckage against the horizon.
Most disturbing were the spreading rumors that a number of
Imperial First Class soldiers had flown into the chaos of Municera and had yet
to return.
The migration out of the region—an anticipated exodus for which
the Imperial Council had quickly prepared—never arrived, and as a disquieting
sun set on the remaining cities of the Epsilon empire, the truth became
increasingly clear. There were no survivors.
Municera had been home to seven million Primus.
Author Information
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
S.L. Dunn is the debut author of Anthem’s Fall, a novel he wrote
amid the wanderings of his mid twenties. He has written while living
intermittently in St. John USVI, Boston, Maine and Seattle. Raised on big
screen superheroes and pop science fiction, he sought to create a novel that
bridged a near-sci-fi thriller with a grand new fantasy. He currently resides
in Seattle with his girlfriend Liz and their dog Lucy, and is hard at work
completing the next book of the Anthem’s Fall series. Get in touch at www.sldunn.com.
The Author will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour so enter using the link below.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your interview today. Some interesting peeks into the life of an author.
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
I enjoyed the interview, thank you.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Great interview
ReplyDeleteNice advice
ReplyDeleteFun interview!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
Cool interview! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Q&A thank you.
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