Here is my interview with Michael R. Wilson

Name: Michael R. Wilson

Age: 45

Where are you from: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire, USA

 

A little about yourself ie your education Family life etc:

I have been a writer since my early years and completed HUNTSMAN, Book One of my Hunted Mage Trilogy while living on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

I have now returned to my beloved White Mountains and continue the story with the soon to be released Book Two: DAGGER.

I live in the Conway Area with my Lovely Bride and Daughter who assist me in my Quest for Powerful Words, and a parakeet named Yoshi…who does not.

 

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

DAGGER: Book Two of The Hunted Mage Trilogy will be out by the beginning of December. I am in a frenzy of edit and design right now.

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I honestly cannot recall. I remember scribbling stories in 3^rd or 4^th grade and just kept on.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

The moment I held my ‘proof’ copy of HUNTSMAN in my hands was the moment I considered myself ‘Author Michael R. Wilson’ for the first time.

When I pushed that ‘launch’ button and had e-book version available had a certain thrill, but the paperback in my hands was the most magical!

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I wrote a character for a short story competition and she grew larger than a short story could contain. So…I just kept going.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I use 3^rd Person Omniscient as a Narrative style. I give you the characters thoughts, but each section is strictly one character. No confusing Head-Hopping!

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

Each of my books has several focal characters and the Trilogy’s titles describe them. One of the main characters is a HUNTSMAN and I chose that title as he starts the book out. Book 2 is called DAGGER and introduces a new person who is a soldier/spy for hire. Book 3 focuses on QUEEN.

 

 
Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I wanted to write a fantasy story that did not fall into the stereotypical patterns that many of them do. ‘Be as unique and creative as you can be in whatever you do’ would be it.

 

 
Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

I have based the book in an area named Fenno-Skandia and have tried to keep things as accurate as I can. The characters come from several different cultures and I will drop in some bits of history that pertains to them.

 

 
Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Not so much. I have a character that I built based on my dad after he passed away

as an homage to a great man. He fit into a mostly finished novel like he was meant to be there.

 

 
Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?

There is a book by Stephen Lawhead called Byzantium that I keep on a shelf close by to re-read each year. The main character is a monk who comes dangerously close to renouncing his faith when faced with betrayal from church leaders, I have felt like that several times in my life and love how he solves his crisis.

 

 
Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

There are too many to list! Anne McCaffery will always hold a special place in my heart as my first ‘grown-up’ fantasy series which was really a cleverly disguised sci-fi story for decades.

Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles hold the same status for my childhood reading.

 

 
Fiona: What book are you reading now?

‘The Swarm’ by Frank Schatzing. An almost sci fi novel about how we pollute the oceans until they turn against us when a new organism mutates out of our chemicals.

 

 
Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Andy Weir has just written his first novel called ‘The Martian’ set in the near future wherein a botanist member of a Mars exploration team accidentally gets left behind. He has to figure out a way to survive until the next mission can retrieve him. Tremendously well done!

 

 
Fiona: What are your current projects?

My ‘Hunted Mage Trilogy’ is the only project I am allowing myself. Story needs to be told and I am usually single-task oriented. Can’t hop about between writings.

 

 
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

I have had numerous writing groups that have been supportive, and helpful beta readers that have helped make my imaginary world a better place!

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

I would love to make writing novels a career. I must get myself busier with actual word production if that is to happen. Life and paying the bills always seems to get in the way.

 

 
Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Nope. I might go back to Book One HUNTSMAN and tweak a few things…I feel like I am a better writer now than I was then…but I love Book Two. DAGGER has turned out much better than I had expected.

 

 
Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

 

Aila’s left arm came up with a jerk. She felt the strike through the buckler and up into her shoulder. She jabbed forward with her right hand instantly. Her thrust was not strong enough. She knew that from the slight shrug her foe gave as he nudged it away with his own shield but she was faster now. She was able to bring her weapon back and strike at him again. He pushed her away to the other side this time.

He turned the motion into a charge as he took a half step forward and pushed the rough timber toward her.

It would have struck her in the chest but for her own shield. She put one booted foot behind her to brace herself against the press of his buckler on hers and pulled her right hand back behind the wood to hold it steady.

Her feet slid on the layer of pine needles and churned snow that lay on the ground but she did not lose her balance. The man stepped back again and she prepared for another attack.

She lifted her shield arm back into position but could not press her own attack.

No…not now!

She tried to keep her stance strong, but the pain in her belly made her drop the heavy wooden shield with its fierce wrench.

“Hold!” She bit the word through her clenched teeth and hunched down, hand pressed into her side. The knot of muscle pulled tighter and…

Tacitus’ ‘blade’ rapped the side of her head with a sharp clack of wood on the leather helm.

The blow made her stagger and drove her to one knee in the slush. Her own practice sword, made from thin branches tied with hide strips, fell to the ground at her side.

“Damn you, Tacitus! I said hold!”

The cramp was gone as quickly as it had come, but it left behind a band of tightness that did not let her go.

The big sailor reached out his hand and she reached for it and pulled hard against it. With a rush of breath, she pulled the wet skirts from under her knee and stood upright once more as she glared at the warrior.

“Why?”

The man shrugged his huge shoulders, muscled from his years as a helmsman before he became one of her guardsmen…

“Foes will not ‘hold’, Lady.”

 

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Parking my buttocks in a chair and producing the words. There are a million distractions in life and too often I let them win.

 

 

 
Fiona: Who designed the covers?

I built them in a program called Photoscape.

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

It was a journey of discovery in the Self-Publishing arena. I learned a hundred new things through trial and error and have had a much easier time of it during Boook Two’s production.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

There is a quote in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ when Will Smith is talking to his son: “Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me. All right?… You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”
 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

Marine biology! Specifically whales & Dolphins. I have always loved the idea of working with them.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

 

http://michaelrwilsonfiction.wordpress.com/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Michael_RWilson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelRWilsonsFiction

Buying link for Huntsman  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008GHJLH2