~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~it's all about the love~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Author Zathyn Priest interview and give-away


Please welcome someone very special to my blog today, the one and only Zathyn Priest. I’ve been fortunate to become friends with Zathyn (is that okay to say Zath) over the past year and he’s helped me immensely in my writing and my website, as well as just being very supportive and encouraging. His writing always manages to move me, whether to tears or anger or just plain joy and I’m thrilled to have him here.

Welcome, Zathyn. How’s the weather in Australia? Are you getting some snow shipped in to play with?  I wish!  I despise summer.




1.     How did you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always want to be a writer?
 
I stumbled into m/m romance.  I’d finished writing a manuscript and was looking around for publishers.  I found the website for Torquere Press and decided I’d like to send them something for consideration.  The manuscript I’d finished didn’t fit the submission guidelines, so I wrote something else.  That something was The Curtis Reincarnation.

I always wanted to a published writer and it was my ultimate dream as a kid.  I was writing stories – albeit bad ones – from the time I could string a sentence together.  I worked with a mentor for a couple of years prior to writing ‘Curtis’. 

2.     What were your early influences either in this genre or any other?

I didn’t have any influences in the m/m genre because, to be honest, I didn’t even know how popular it was until I found the Torquere website.  It was an eye opener for me and surprising to know gay fiction had such a large readership. 

The one author I did love reading was Anne Rice and the vampire chronicles.  I loved her poetic style with description.  She was the one who always made me think, ‘Wow, I wish I could write like that.’ 
  
3.     What is the hardest part about writing for you?

Pretty much everything lately! 

4.     Does any one of your books hold a special place in your heart more so than the others?

At the risk of being predictable, probably The Curtis Reincarnation holds that spot in my heart.  Mainly because it was a joy to write, it flowed easily for me, and it was the first story I had published.  The main character, Alec (AKA Tyler Curtis), is also very close to my heart.  Even more so now seeing as I have him to thank for helping me break through my writing anxiety.   

5.     Tell us a little about what you’re working on right now. Rumor has it there will be a Curtis Reincarnation sequel?

I’ve always said there would never, ever be a sequel to Curtis.  Now there will be two more Curtis stories.  I’ve just finished the first draft of Fight or Flight, which is graphic novella.  That will be available before Christmas.  The Violin Player will be the third one, probably novella length, too.

I’m working on a few projects right now and trying to catch up on my writing since taking the last year and a half off.  There will also be a novella length sequel to Left of Center, which I’m about half way through writing.  I have a novel, Dystopia, on the backburner for the time being until I finish the other projects.  I’m writing a vampire story at the moment, Emrys Amara, and that’s posted on my Blog, Broken Pencil, as free serial fiction.   Hmm, what else?  Ah, also another short story work in progress called The Statue.  All of these new projects will be graphic novella/novels.

6.     Do you have any writing quirks? (ie computer has to be facing a certain way, cup of coffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)

Not really, no.  I used to need complete silence when I wrote, but now I like listening to music.  Other than that, no, I’m pretty boring.


7.     Do you have any writing or reading squicks? Things you don’t like to read and can’t see yourself ever writing?

Yes, but each to their own. 

8.     You do beautiful digital art as well as your writing now. Is there a co-relation between the two? Does one fuel the other or visa versa?

Absolutely!  Digital art has been the thing that rekindled my interest in writing fiction.  Fight or Flight - the sequel to Curtis - was inspired by one artwork I did just for fun.  I create 3D models for each one of my characters.  Bringing them to life in art is an exciting thing to do.  I had such a clear image of how I imagined Tyler Curtis to look and I wanted a reader to see him how I imagined him.  The same can be said for all my characters.  Emrys Amara came to life when I created the 3D image of the main characters.   Again, I did it for fun and it ended up sparking a plot idea.

Having said that, I understand some people want to imagine characters in their own way.  Even though I’ve moved into graphic novellas/novels, I’ll always make a plain text version of the stories as well.  It gives people the choice as to which they’d prefer.

9.     Finally – a few quick choices:
a.     Coffee or tea  Tea in the morning, coffee from then on.
b.     Dog or cat   Love them both.  I have a cat and a greyhound.
c.      Beach or mountains  Mountains
d.     Pecs or abs  Abs.  But nothing over the top.  Muscle men don’t do it for me at all.  In fact, I find it a major turn off. 
e.     Smile or eyes  Eyes.  But a pretty smile is lovely, too.
f.      Cowboys or rockstars  Cowboys don’t do it for me either.
g.     Who would win in a fight – vampires or werewolves? And why.  A vampire.  He could kill the werewolf any night that isn’t a full moon.

Zathyn has graciously offered up an ebook from his backlist to one lucky commenter on my blog.  The winner can choose from The Curtis Reincarnation or The Slayer's Apprentice. PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT.

Be sure to check out
- Zathyn’s author website at www.zathynpriest.com
- and his stunning art at http://zathynpriest.com/artifex/

20 comments:

  1. Ooh! Loved reading this and learning some more about Zathyn! <3

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  2. I've never understood why people had to choose between dogs or cats. It's more than possible to like both :)

    Great interview!

    There will also be a novella length sequel to Left of Center
    Cool! Left of Center was a great read, and I would love to read more about Brandon and Lewis :)

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  3. shoot, forgot email *sigh*

    blaine(at)blainedarden(dot)com

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  4. At the risk of gushing, I love your work, Zathyn. I have everything and don't want to be included to win, I just wanted to say how awesome you are, :)

    Oh, and yay! Another "cowboys don't do it". I'm the same way! lol

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  5. Love the interview...I am a huge fan of yours, Zathyn! :) ... um...not a Kathy Bates type of #1 fan though *heads desk*

    So, I'm wondering...will you be doing a sequel to 'One of those Days'? For a free read it really kicks assets! Wonderful...oh and yeah - can't wait for the sequel to 'Left of Center' also! :)

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  6. Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm obviously a huge fan girl of Zath's too. Will try to get him to make a comment or two on here but our time zones are always such a conflict.

    Haven - I'll need your email addy in case you win. :)

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  7. I have discovered this author on your website. I loved "One of those days" and have planned to read "The curtis reincarnation", book you have highly recommanded.
    Thanks for the interview.

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  8. Will 'Left of Center' be a graphic novel too? I can't wait until the Curtis novels are released!! I'm also really loving Emrys Amara too! :)
    Thanks for sharing, Zathyn!!

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  9. OMG!!! Zathyn is one if my most favs! I have recommended his books so many times and just recently got a non-M/M reading friend (who are these people, right?) to read Liquid Glass and she said it was incredible. I was so excited to see that Left of Center is getting a sequel. That one just made me melt. That was the sweetest story. Can't wait! And I love to follow his art. It's very beautiful.

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  10. Not a secret that I adore Zath, as a person as well as a writer.

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  11. Hi K-LEE its me a again (teehee)

    I haven't read any of Zathryn's (or whateva his name is *love that*)books. I look forward to reading them.

    Two giveaways (you are on a roll baby)!

    Heres my email pantsoffreviews(at)live(dot)com

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  12. I'm currently waiting for the third installment of Emrys! SO exciting.

    I also have to have complete silence when I write. Maybe that'll change - hopefully! I just can't have any noise or I can't hear myself think.

    Love you, Zath!

    eripike at gmail dot com

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  13. Kit: Considering our Facebook antics, you probably already know more than this interview anyway ;^)

    Blaine: I was very definitely a cat person until Chrissy, the greyhound, walked into my life. Not that I’m bias or anything – (Yeah, sure!) – she is the best dog in the world! And the Left of Center sequel – Loosely title Left of the Middle - is the one I’ll concentrate on next, once Fight or Flight has been released.

    Ivan: Thank you! As far as the cowboy thing, I think that’s because I’m an Aussie. Our equivalent to the cowboy is a Jackaroo. (Jillaroo for a gal) Cowboys don’t hold that same sense of romance in Australia as they do in the USA.

    Havan: I’m not ruling out a sequel to One of Those Days, but it isn’t on my ‘to do’ list at the moment. If there is a sequel it would probably be based on my own wedding day, which was a comedy of errors but ended well.

    Carnell: Glad you enjoyed One of Those Days. Hope you like ‘Curtis’, too :^)

    Andi: Everything I release in the near future will be graphic novellas/novels. Without the artwork to inspire me and keep me interested, I probably wouldn’t get anything finished at all!

    Stacey: ‘Liquid Glass’ held the dubious honour of being the story I most hated writing. I like the story now, but at the time, omg, what a nightmare! It’s now lost its number one spot to the yet to be finished ‘Dystopia’. The Left of Center sequel delves very much into Lewis’ life.

    Tabby: Aww – you sweet talker ;^)

    Darien: His name is Zathyn, without an R, and probably the most mispronounced name out there - lol. Most people say it like Nathan with a Z, which isn’t correct, but eh...even my husband took forever to get the pronunciation right!

    Erica: The third instalment of Emrys will be on my Blog by tonight. Then there probably won’t be another instalment for a week because I have to swap back to Fight or Flight and do the artwork for that one. As far as music, yeah it’s weird, I’ve never been able to cope without complete silence while writing. The suddenly I started listening to the radio while I work and I don’t find it a distraction at all.

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  14. Just for the record - I call him Za-thigh-in and that's wrong too. :/ Guess I'll have to get Sam to teach me. :)

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  15. Thank you very much to K-Lee's awesomeness for inviting me here - :^P

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  16. //Not a secret that I adore Zath, as a person as well as a writer.
    //

    I'm going to quote this. :)

    Loved the interview thanks both Zath and Karen :)

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  17. Did you guys see Sam's wedding vows?

    "I LOVE YOU Zay-than or Zath-en! What ever your name is!"

    lol

    Zath-in is how I pronounce it, but that's because that's how an Icelander would read it. Thought it might be as correct as any other pronunciation, hehe.

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  18. *drum roll* Annnnd the winner is #5 - Carnell!! You get to pick between The Curtis Reincarnation or The Slayer's Apprentice.
    Congrats girl!

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  19. I know I'm too late for the draw (I've got all the books anyway!), but I just wanted to say thanks for the interview. Zathyn is one of my favourite authors, i've read and loved all of his novels and can't wait for the upcoming novels.

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  20. OMG!!! That's so coool!!!!!
    Thank you so much K-Lee and Zathyn!!!

    You rock!! :)

    Oh, I chose "The Curtis Reincarnation".

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