Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Blog Tour: Realms of Edenocht by DS Johnson #interview






Fantasy 
Date Published: July 2016

Shazmpt has been prepared his whole life to complete the prophecy; however until recently, he was unaware of his true identity as a powerful war wizard.
Hidden on an island in a time realm not his own, he must now search for ancient relics in order to stop the growing evil in the world. All he wanted was to hunt in his beloved forest, but is thrown into a world of sea serpents, dungeons, enchanted castles, miniature men, and air buffs.
Driven by duty and hindered by self-doubt, he is sent on a quest to unite the magical realms once more. He must learn to harness his good and evil powers, but will he survive the shadow…?


Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

I don’t think there is just one message. I think that there are several ideas that could make an impact somehow, especially to the teen readers that may not have encountered some of the life lessons yet. For instance, Shaz has these great powers and is supposed to use them to ‘save the world’ but he has a lot of self-doubt and struggles with his ‘evil’ side. I think we all struggle with our ‘evel side’ and knowing that he is willing to do the hard things anyway can touch a person.



Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I find the challenge in sitting down to the computer. I love to write but it seems that life gets in the way too often and it can take several minutes to get my head back into the book. Another challenge is I like to write by scenes as they come to me, so sometimes I have to wait for the right time to put it in. There are several that are waiting for books five and six. I just can’t wait to get to the end.  

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

So far I have written one completely published book, but I am nearly finished with the second and a short novella tangent story for book one. I don’t think I have a favorite yet, as I am still getting it all out there. I don’t think I could even pick my favorite character.  


If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

Oh, goodness, I don’t even know. I think I would pick Chris Hemsworth. HOT, HOT, HOT! But partially because I am secretly in love with Thor haha. I think Chris Hemsworth is a fantastic action actor with the ability to be deep and emotionally involved. Not like the Rock, who just flexes his muscles and has nothing to offer the screen.


When did you begin writing?
I started writing only about ten years ago, after I was married and had a few kids. I have been a story teller for most of my life, however, but I didn’t do well in school because of a rough start to life. I nearly didn’t make it and had some physical limitations to overcome. I thought I was dumb because I was in resource most of elementary and struggled to keep up in Jr. High and high school. So writing itself was quite a challenge at first and I still feel like I have a lot to learn.



How long did it take to complete your first book?

 After I spent a few years learning how to write, the craft of telling a story, it took another five or six years to get to this point. I think in all it’s been a ten year journey from beginning to now.

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

No, that was one of my biggest limitations when I was young, was reading. In fact to make things worse, in the fourth grade I had the terror of having to read out loud to my reading partner, who was my crush at the time. I think it scarred me for life and I rarely picked up a book. I got sick to my stomach when I had to read out loud in class. It wasn’t until I had my first baby that I started to read. At first it was books on how to raise babies and things. But as she grew I started reading Dr. Seuss. She would make me read them cover to cover and if I skipped a page I had to start all over. So I think I would say Dr. Seuss would have to be my most inspirational. And a pesky little three year old. haha

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

My favorite part is sitting around the table and brainstorming with my teenagers. I love to hear what they think about and how they see the world they live in. I love to take what we talked about and include that into the books and then see their ‘ah ha’ when they read what we talked about. I also love to see the characters grow and mature. The hardest part for me is letting the bad guy be bad. I want him to somehow turn out to be a good guy. My husband says it’s because of my ‘always wanting to give a person the benefit of the doubt’ trait, maybe so.  

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

Fast, energized, witty, compelling

Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?
So I’m working on book two right now, and in book one, the biggest task Shaz has been given it to find all the ancient relics and destroy them so that the evil Necromancer Gavin Rhill can’t use them to become a God. Things get a little trickier as he and Serin have now made themselves know to Gavin Rhill and he seems to know everything they are doing. The challenges they face hit closer to home and they have to reach deeper into themselves to get through the dangers. The team, Shaz, Serin, Jagwynn, Ladtwig and Turkill have to learn how to rely on each other and where to put their trust and alliances.
Realms of Edenocht is currently a six book series with three to four tangent stories per book, so there is still a lot to come.







A little about me, first I want to tell you a story, about a young girl who thought she was dumb. Yes, in the first, second, and third grades this little girl, was in the ‘Resource’ program or ‘Chapter 8’ as I have also heard it called. Even though she was then put in the regular class, she knew all too well by then she was not a smart child. All the way through high school this girl struggled. She graduated with a glorious 2.9. Yes, it was heart breaking for those little numbers to reflect the great struggle and all the efforts she had put forth.

She went on to start beauty school, figuring she wasn’t college material. Suddenly, she learned that she wasn’t dumb after all. She was what is called a kinesthetic learner or ‘hands on’ learner. She LOVED it. She went on to do very well, for many years. Until, life got complicated. She had five children, a husband, and a disabled mother who now required constant care. While contemplating how to earn a little bit of extra income, now that doing hair wasn’t an option, a thought came to her, ‘Write a book’ it said.
She replied by looking around and with her finger pointing at herself, she said, “Who me? I graduated high school with a 2.9 remember?”
The little thought came again, “Yes, you. Write a book.”
It so happened, that she had been telling her children nighttime stories for some time, so she did. It took five years to learn from the internet, a few writing classes, some great blogs, a lot of practice, one very good editor and the awesome support of her family. But she did it, and now I bring The Realms of Edenocht Series to you! Yes, that little girl was me, but no longer.



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