Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep
Please welcome Chad Hunter author of Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep
Chad Hunter will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Windsong & Requiem – Of a Great Deep
by Chad Hunter
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GENRE: Pirate fantasy, Mature
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INTERVIEW:
- What or who inspired you to start writing?
- How did you come up with ideas for your books?It’s an odd process or at least it feels like it.I’ll see, read or watch something and it’s like a seed gets planted. Like a bookmark (or splinter!) gets put in my brain and then the creative process starts in the back of my head. It probably sounds way more artistic and mysterious than I mean it to! For example, I had just watched some pirate films and had finished playing Assassin’s Creed: Black Flagand I could feel my creativity warping parts of the movies and game that I had played. Then it’s like something breaks off and develops into its own. In this case, all of my what if the pirates did this andwhat if they did thateventually grew into Of a Great Deep.
3. What expertise did you bring to your writing?A ton of research that I didn’t have before! If I brought anything to Of a Great Deep it was a love of pirates, adventure and the spirit of films like Captain Bloodand books like Treasure Island. Once I started the framework for Of a Great Deep, then I started the research to gain some expertise. I do my best to use proper terms, timeframes and tidbits that make the tale feel authentic.
- What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
- As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?I’m working on a spiritual sequel to Of a Great Deepthat will feature Captain Diamonte, his crew and the ship Osiris. I’m launching a series of educational books and characters for children this year as well. Additionally (because that’s not enough!) I am going to release two fantasy novels The Bogeyman’s Boy and Typhon’s Child. However, fans of Captain Travis need not worry. There be a’ swirling leading to the mighty return of the Requiem!
- If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?LOL! I don’t know about that! They lead some hard lives! It’s a toss up but I’m going to go with Damian Malachi, the main character from The Monster Man: King of Fools. He’s a writer, a family man but he has a life that’s rooted in the classic horror characters such as Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster, which is deeply based off of myself! His life is a wild dichotomy of family and monsters. His story is probably the most blood-pumping adventures of my most recent writings. Plus, his ability to transform to the Monster Man is pretty cool; I would just transform all day back and forth!
- If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your
leading roles? Bo Travis, in my head, is very much a young Brad Pitt, especially the way he appeared in the film Troy. Ghassan, the first mate, has always, in my head, been Ghassan Massoud from the film Kingdom of Heaven (Yes, he is named after that actor!) As for Captain Fiddick, I picture the actor Ray Stevenson because of his size and presence. Rose Leslie from Game of Throneswould make a perfect Winter Burke and the character of Glover is very much Donald Glover from Atlanta.
- Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing? I don’t currently but for nearly a decade or more I did belong to a writer’s group and it was one of the best things for my writing. It helped me become a better writer because the group found things that I either did too much or did not do enough. I do recommend that writers joining a critique group learn to differentiate between good feedback and petty BS. In any group, you’ll find that not all suggestions are legitimate and some people will hate on your work for various reasons with no real foundation. I believe a good writing group is a major help but it has to have a heart of making good readers with a guiding touch not crushing fledglings.
- When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
- What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
- Do you outline your books or just start writing?OUTLINE OUTLINE OUTLINE! No doubt else I would be writing all over the place (and I do anyway but this way it’s structured! LOL!) I live and breathe in writing by using an outline. I have never been able to write in a linear fashion so I have to use an outline to know what I was doing in chapter five when I jump back to it after writing chapter twenty. Plus an outline helps me grow the story without losing its initial purpose and goals in its telling.
- Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?
- Do you have an all time favorite book?I have several but one of my favorites is Ray Bradbury’s From the Dust Returned. Its like a several hundred page poem.Bradbury wrote beautifully.
- Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book? Rightnow, I’m in different stages of several books. I am working on the following –
The Monster Man – A Ghost that Bleeds – Damian Malachi must find a way to rewrite a dark alternate history that Dracula and the other monsters have set upon Earth.
Fearles(s) – The Bogeyman’s Boy – Les Beeman and the Chalice of the Ninety-Nine Screams – Orphan Les Beeman finds out that he does have family after all and it is his uncle, the Bogeyman! Together they set off on a life-changing adventure in the fearful land of Phobos.
Typhon’s Child – Deceive the World – Cadmus Ember is one of the millions of children living in the world of Typhon where only children and intelligent dragons live. Raised by the flying, talking lizards, Ember will uncover the horrible truth of why there are no adults and what evil lurks in Worm Keep.
- Who is your favorite actor and actress?
- Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book? Great question! Given that it is a multi-threaded story, there are black moments for several characters. For Captain Travis, his black moment is when he comes to the full truth of the tragedy that launched him into piracy as a child. He has to decide what he wants and what he’s willing to accept and how (if he survives it!) will this moment change him. I’m all about character arcs. If a character is not changed by the end of a story then there is something missing.
- What is your favorite reality show?
- Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series.It’s both fun and frustrating! Currently, Of a Great Deepand The Monster Manare available and in published format. However, these are the beginnings of series and there is a type of “pressure” to make sure you stay within your own rules that you’ve set from the beginning and set in motion. Whether it be a large arcing tale or a small episodic story, a series has certain parameters that you as the author have promised to the reader and to the characters. Yet, as frustrating as hitting those marks can be, it is also wildly enjoyable because it is every bit like visiting old friends and family, when you go back to write characters that you created and have written before.
BLURB:
The year is 1716. The world is in the Golden Age of Piracy and fabled ships sail the seven seas. One such vessel is the Requiem, captained by the young but wise, brave but dubious Nabopolassar “Bo” Travis. Alongside his first mate Ghassan, quartermaster Winter Burke and navigator Glover, Travis seeks treasure, female company and good drink. The Requiem’s legendary adventures are filled with tales of monsters and myths – all of which are true. Now, someone or something is sailing the seas in search for a treasure chest – a chest that holds unknown riches which only promise to change the world forever. Captain Travis, his crew and a beautiful young map reader must brave the dark and the deep to find the treasure. Will the Requiem find the X on the spot before the infamous Captain George “Bloody-Face” Fiddick does? Will Travis uncover the secret behind the cursed black ship which changed his young life forever? And will the treasure chest truly be full of riches or does something far more insidious lie in wait? Ready your flintlock. Sharpen your sword. The Requiem awaits.
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EXCERPT:
Lights flickered. The wind would regularly wheeze its way in enough to play with the
candles that kept the hidden lair bright enough for reading, for planning and mainly enough to keep George Fiddick’s men from walking off cliffs and cavernous drops.
George Fiddick or George “Bloody Face” Fiddick as he had come to be known, sat on a
chair that was long since stolen from some ship long since raided and sunk. The tomes and
books, art and items that filled the room in heaps here and there were also all pieced
together from adventures on the seas long ago. No particular details rang clear in Fiddick’s
mind. Everything seemed to lump together. And that was life now for the aging man more
so than the exactness of details remembered in his younger days.
A mountain of a man, Fiddick filled the whole chair as he leaned back into it. The wood and
upholstery of the pirate’s throne groaned under his size. His brown coat and dark pants
matched the massive beard that covered his chin. The hair on his face was still smooth and
wavy and mostly dark, unlike the thinning and graying hair atop his head. Of all the colors
that comprised Fiddick, most focused on the red that regularly gushed from his nose. It
darkened on the handkerchief in his bear-claw hand. It was not battle wounds and swords
slicked in crimson that had earned him his moniker. “Bloody Face” was pejorative and it
stuck. Now Fiddick let it be what it was – a terrifying legend to all who sailed. When
captains and crews, privateers or navy saw the Crimson Lady, it was unmistakable. The
mighty ship ruled seas and oceans with her black flags each with a red insignia shaped of a Great Deep woman.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Chad Hunter was born in East Chicago, Indiana. Raised by a single mother in the city’s Harbor section, he is the youngest of four. Growing up in the Midwest and a proudly self-proclaimed “Region Rat,” Hunter has written and published several books and novels. He has written for magazines and newspapers throughout North America and has been published in several languages. His writings have been called sophisticated yet humorous, sharp witted and unrelenting. Most often, Hunter’s writings have been considered so wide and diverse that they span a scale that would include multiple writers with multiple forms. In addition to being a published author and journalist, Hunter is also a professional speaker. Having presented to high schools, colleges and various other audiences, his talks and discussions center around the positive impact of literary and creative presences in one’s life. A large portion of Hunter’s focus is on the uncanny strength of human connectedness which is emphasized via the lens of writing and creativity. Working in genres including dark fantasy, memoirs, science-fiction and anecdotal collections, Hunter weaves tales of monsters, heroes, zombies, wedding planning, technology, pirates and even black parakeets. With over ten books under his belt, If anything binds his varied styles, it is Hunter’s theme of the human condition, humor and family closeness – all to the backdrop of romantic love, vibrant remembrance and even monsters themselves.
https://www.amazon.com/Chad-Hunter/e/B009F2D6X2
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13446511.Chad_Hunter
https://www.facebook.com/Chadhunterauthor/
https://twitter.com/hunterchad
https://www.pinterest.com/hunterchad/
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Chad Hunter will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2719
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