Interview with Ken Lindsey

Hey guys! Here is my interview with author Ken Lindsey the creator of The River Runes. I hope you all enjoy!

 

Q: I have always been curious when it comes to fantasy novels how do you come up with the spells?

A: For this series I relied heavily on Gaelic for my spell language.  I love Gaelic history and myths and I didn't think I could do any better than to borrow from that.

Q: Was there any specific myth or legend that helped to inspire this novel?

A: The Green Man definitely helped me lean toward using nature as a big part of the story.  The idea of Dryads has also always been something I wanted to work with.  

Q: What made you write about fairies instead of other fantasy characters?

A: Tinkerbell.  I have three daughters and I have been awash in sparkling, flying, laughing fairies and pixies for the last 14 years.  I thought breaking away from that would be a lot of fun.  Fairies that might eat you... What's more fun than that? :) 

Q: So I have to ask, which is your favorite Tinker Bell movie?

A: Haha, I don't know if it counts, but I still love Hook.  Tinkerbell's in that! 

Q: How did you come up with the Three Districts that surround the Chapels? 

A: I did my best to imagine what it would be like for nomadic people to try and build a home in a place where they were neither welcome or safe.  After that, I imagine that Caithiir split up just as any other city, with certain areas that are considered poor and unsafe and other areas where affluence is normal. 

Q: You often write about what you know, are any of your characters based on someone you know? 

A: I think that most of my characters are based off of parts of people I know, rather than the people themselves.  My mother's strength, kindness from an old teacher, those are the things I was drawing from. 

Q: I really enjoyed Balto, yes I know he is one of the bad characters but you did a wonderful job in making me hate him, I also loved the Water Sprites that you came up with. That being said what was your favorite side character and why? 

A: As far as the writing goes, Balto was one of my favorites as well.  I actually changed the ending of his part in the story, because his original part just didn't fit with who I believed he was.  Otherwise, I loved Mother.  She's so strong and frightening, but there's real love in her.  I think she is very realistic in that way. 

Q: What was the hardest part about writing this book?

A: Everything that has come after!  The writing was hard, but I love writing.  All of this marketing and talking about myself is much more challenging. ;) 

Q: Do you have any tips or tricks you have picked up during the process that you would like to share with authors who are or will be promoting their books?

A: Get good cover art!  It's the first thing a reader sees, and it can be the first thing that tells them to (or not to) read your book. 

Q: With an ending such this, I have to ask, have you plans for a follow up novel?

A: Yes.  This story is far from over and there will be at least two more in the series.  There is a lot more going on in and around Caithiir that we haven't even touched on yet. 

Q: Can you give us a hint about what might be around the corner?

A: There is going to be a lot more focus on some of the female characters as the story goes forward.  Can't give away much else yet. :) 

Q: What are you currently working on and can you tell us a little about it?

A: I am hoping to have my next novel, Clockwork Charlie, published by August of this year.  It's not the same kind of story, and definitely not YA like The River Runes, but I'm having a ton of fun writing it.  There's a blurb about it on my blog, Just1writer.blogspot.com, on the WIP page if anyone wants to know a little more.