Fantasy writer Brett Armstrong talks about his new release

Today I welcome Brett Armstrong to my blog. Brett’s debut novel, Quest of Fire, was released this past Tuesday. Brett, when I was a high school teacher, many of my students who loved to read especially loved fantasy. When did your interest in the fantasy genre begin?

I suppose it depends on where you draw the line for fantasy. If you include the legends about King Arthur and his knights, then fantasy was pretty formative for me. I read a lot of the classics as a kid, and the Arthur legends were among my favorites. I also devoured pretty much any modernized offshoot of Arthur legend, like Jane Yolen’s Young Merlin Trilogy. I also really enjoy Star Wars, which is essentially space-fantasy.

The most definitive moment I became aware of fantasy as a genre unto itself was when I saw The Two Towers. I couldn’t even get half way into The Fellowship of the Ring without drifting off to sleep, but after The Two Towers, I was hooked. I saw the extended versions and then read the books and really enjoyed them, they’re almost like poetry. A true epic.

So, the short of it is I guess I’ve enjoyed fantasy since before I can fully remember. I simply wasn’t aware of it until I was in high school, and Lord of the Ringsblew me away.

I am a novice to fantasy, and I have heard the term “speculative.” Can you explain to nme and my readers what fantasy writing is and some of the terms associated with it?

Like a lot of things in the literary arena, some terms mean different things to different people. To a fairly large group of people, fantasy means any sort of medieval era story. Most would qualify that by insisting some form of magic or fantastical creatures—dragons, unicorns, gryphons, etc. —must appear in the story world. Some lump all of science fiction and fairy tales and swords and sorcery and monster stories and medieval-style political thrillers like Game of Thrones into one giant bag as fantasy. There’s a fair amount of differences between Dracula and Star Trek and Peter Pan. That’s why some people use speculative as a term to catch that huge range of fantastical stories in one term.

I mentioned before that Star Wars could quite comfortably sit inside fantasy. It’s got all the trappings of sci-fi, but it really fits better as fantasy. The biggest reason is it focuses less on science itself and more on a central quest. Luke/Anakin/Rey are all trying to do something that requires them to leave a rather mundane desert home and go to exotic places. They face incredible challenges and overcome them heroically. There is a very definite contrast in good and evil, though some fantasy tries to subvert that dichotomy. Then there’s the magic inherent. Though it’s called the Force, Jedi Knights use esoteric powers to complete their quest. Apart from the sci-fi setting and name difference, you really can’t tell the Force and the way it’s used apart from magic. And I think that is the formula for fantasy. Heroic characters leaving the normal behind to accomplish some great task and seeing people/places/creatures and experiencing phenomenon that are outside the scope of our world.

 I was under the impression this was your first novel to be published, but I learned I was wrong! Tell us about your other books and your latest release.

I have two others: Destitutio Quod Remissio (historical fiction) and Day Moon (dystopia/sci-fi). This is my first foray into fantasy though. Quest of Fire is a two part saga told simultaneously. The Gathering Dark is book one and introduces the two threads of history in a place referred to the Lowlands where a teen with a dark past, Jason, hears the stories of another teen who lived long before, Anargen. The Gathering Dark focuses more on Anargen’s story, but as Quest of Fire progresses Jason begins to wonder if those stories were true and whether he’s a part of the very same quest Anargen was trying to complete.

I saw your book trailer. Care to share the link with us so my readers can enjoy it as well?

Absolutely!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/t3KEBnl7E80?rel=0

 What other writing have you done? Do you have another work in progress?

Right now I’m finishing up on a sequel to Day Moon. I’m hoping to have the edited manuscript to that publisher in a couple weeks. I actually have a trailer forDay Moon, too, to give people an idea what it’s about: https://www.youtube.com/embed/n8RdGQ6jQiE?rel=0.

I’m also working on Quest of Fire book 2 and its companion novella. Though it’s got competition from another fantasy project I’m excited about that I call The Dead of Zarim. I don’t want to take up too much space here, but if anyone’s interested, they can read about it on my website’s works-in-progress page:https://brettarmstrong.net/works-in-progress/

 Writing is challenging, especially finding the time. How do you manage to work writing into your schedule?

Sleep deprivation. For the most part. I try to squeeze it in on breaks at work. That’s one reason working on multiple books at once helps me. There’s always an interesting scene to write in one book or another. Having a compelling tether to a story helps the words to flow. Which is important because most of my day is taken up by work (I’m the infectious disease data manager for the state of West Virginia), playing with my little boy (who is a hurricane of silly and sage at the same time), and making time to just be with my wife once our little guy nods off. If I outlast my wife, which I usually do, I can eke out about an hour before midnight or two to three if I’m willing to be a zombie the next day.

 What lessons have you learned during this process that you were unaware of prior to being published?

I think I’d need a book’s space just to tell it all. I knew nothing of publishing as an industry or subculture before my first book won a contest with CrossBooks (a former imprint of LifeWay), and I leapt into it. Marketing was, of course, a weak point for me, but there are other things. Getting acclimated to best practices in writing for the market has been a major challenge. I’m one of those writing is art first, craft second, and a shared journey types, so realizing that there were some extra things to pack for the shared journey part really threw me. But mostly, I don’t do a great job of being a salesman.

 Please share below any social media or website links so readers can stay connected with you. Thank you, Brett, for your time!

Amazon E-Book:  https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Dark-Quest-Fire-Book-ebook/dp/B07QTF5KRX/

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/brettarmstrongwv

Twitter:        https://www.twitter.com/BArmstrongWV

Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/BrettArmstrongAuthor

Pinterest:      http://www.pinterest.com/ChristianKid044

Website:        https://BrettArmstrong.net

GoodReads:      https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8281587.Brett_Armstrong