His first novel, The Stolen Moon of Londor (read my review here!), Book I in The White Shadow Saga, was released in October of 2009 and went on to be named one of the Top Books of 2009 by Fantasy Book Critic, as well as being recognized as one of the Top 50 Books of the Year by Conversations Live! radio. The novel was also nominated for the 2010 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction.
The second book in the Saga, Shameless Wonders, published in October 2010 is his latest work and promises to be an even bigger and badder story than the first installment.
A.P. Stephens has been a guest at a few cons where he has sat on panels to discuss world building, the fantasy genre, as well as leading some panels on Self Publishing, being that Fanda Books is his own indie label, bring The White Shadow Saga to the great readers of the world.
Visit http://www.apstephens.com/ to learn more about The White Shadow Saga!
Welcome Back Aaron! Thanks so much for taking the time out to visit.
Thank you for having me back. Always a pleasure to work with you and your great site.
Tell us a little bit about your newest release: Shameless Wonders.
Shameless Wonders is Book 2 in The White Shadow Saga, an epic fantasy. It continues the quest of Randor Miithra, a wizard servant to the elf-gods, as he leads his company of companions on their search to recover the missing moon.
What was one of your favorite andleast favorite things about writing Shameless Wonders?
One of my favorite things about this work was the ability to continue the character development. The first book, I had to be more concerned about the readers never being in the world of Londor before. Since the characters were introduced and the lands revealed, I could spend more time giving the readers more insight and information about characters they are growing more familiar with. The thing I did not like was I was not able to get all of the story I originally planned to put in this book. I had to take off the last chapter due to book length. More pages means more costs for me, the publisher. But rest assured, that chapter will be one of the first chapters in the third and final book of the saga.
How involved were you with cover selection? Are you happy with the result?
I design my covers, sketch them out and I have my digital artist color it and add his own things to it. I think George Patsouras did a wonderful job on it.
If you had to do it all over again would you change anything in Shameless Wonders?
I am pleased with the way it came out. It is a stronger book than the first book and reveals a great deal of the story and has a larger dose of battles and character development.
If your life were made into a movie who would you like to see play you on the big screen?
Hmm…maybe John Cusack. He might be older than me, but people tell me all the time that he and I look the same.
What are some of your favorite things to do when given a break from the writing life and other work-related things?
I enjoy playing video games and watching movies. Video games and movies are some of my greatest influences when it comes to developing my own tales.
I’m always looking for books to add to my ginormous TBR (to be read) pile. What books are you currently reading or have read recently? Any good recommendations?
The last book I read was The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is my favorite author and I try to read as much of his work whenever I can. When I am writing, I try to avoid reading books. I don’t want to be influenced by someone’s style, story ideas, etc.
I know The White Shadow Saga is a planned trilogy, but you’re also working on some other projects other than the third book in the world of Londor. Can you tell us what we can look forward to from you next?
I have a new series that is beginning not too far off from the conclusion of The White Shadow Saga. Book 3 is slated for Fall 2011. The new series will start soon thereafter. It is the backstory of one of the characters in this trilogy.
It’s always a pleasure to have you here Aaron! Thanks again for stopping by.
Thank you once again for the opportunity.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for my review of the lastest book in The White Shadow Saga!
1 comments:
nice interview :) Will come back tomorrow then to have a look at the review
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