Pump Up Your Book Chats with David Brown

David Brown was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and first conceived the idea of the Elencheran Chronicles at college in 1999. He spent ten years compiling the history of Elenchera, resulting in 47,000+ years of events, 500+ maps, 2000+ pages, several short stories and many much-needed acquaintances with Jack Daniels.

David also has a blog, The World According to Dave (http://blog.elenchera.com), which features reviews, stories and dramatic tales of the horrors of owning cats.

David now lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with his wife, Donna, and their six cats.

Fezariu’s Epiphany is his first novel. David is currently working on his second.

On Fezariu’s Epiphany

Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book?
When I started building the history of Elenchera, I was frequently drawn to the Merelax Mercenaries, one of the most prestigious military institutions in the world. Unfortunately, they were always in the background of world events so I wanted a novel that explored them in more detail and that’s where Fezariu’s Epiphany came in.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?
Getting some of the characters just right was quite difficult. It took six drafts to finish Fezariu’s Epiphany and near the end I still wasn’t completely happy with all the characters. Thanks to some useful feedback from my no.1 fan and critic, my wife Donna, I was able to finally complete the story.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?
I think the main message is that sometimes things happen that are beyond our control as much as we wish that wasn’t case. Fezariu’s past is a turbulent one but he blames himself unnecessarily for a lot of things that happen. This leads to many problems for him later in life.

fezariu's epiphany On Writing

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?
I’d always enjoyed creative writing at school but never felt the inclination in my spare time to write. In 1998 I discovered the Final Fantasy series on the Playstation and that led me to Norse mythology which I found more absorbing than the Greek myths I was familiar with. By 1999 I had drawn my first map of Elenchera and I haven’t really stopped since then.

Q: What’s the most frustrating thing about becoming a published author and what’s the most rewarding?
The promotion side of the novel can be frustrating at times especially when you want to just start writing your next book. However, the promotion is also rewarding as you can interact with readers and other writers which is always brilliant. A good review is better than anything though and I have been privileged to enjoy some positive feedback. I always find praise overwhelming.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?
Find yourself a critic you can trust and listen carefully to their feedback. Think of them as the conduit between yourself and your readers. If your critic isn’t happy with what you’re writing then you should at least consider if changes can be made.

On Family and Home:

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?
I live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife Donna and our six rescue cats – Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo. I will add at this point that we only named Charlie because his original name was John which didn’t work for us!

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?
I usually write in the living room with either the television on or some music playing in the background. My preferred seat is a rocking chair I inherited from my late grandfather. It’s good for the old inspiration rocking back and forth.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?
If I can’t go on holiday I’ll go for a long walk, preferably somewhere in the country with either open fields or dense woodland, anywhere that’s quiet really and away from the hustle and bustle of a city or large town.

On Childhood:

Q: Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?
In my early teens I started to read quite frequently, mostly horror novels, especially works by Stephen King and Richard Laymon. I soon began to branch out into other genres and found fantasy was my preferred field. By the time I was finishing secondary school and heading for college I was reading a lot of history books as well as fiction and that remains the same today.

Q: Can you remember your favorite book?
I certainly can. It used to be J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings but one day my brother handed me a gold box with two little books inside – one red and one green. The books made up Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood and the novel remains my undoubted favourite to this day.

Q: Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?
I remember writing a couple of stories at primary school. One was about a group of travellers on a stagecoach and I must have been inspired then as I found plenty to write about. I couldn’t think of much to write in that scenario today I must add!

On Book Promotion:

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?
I’m very lucky with the book promotion in that my wife, Donna, is internet savvy and has become my publicist as well as critic, editor, reader, basically everything really! The first step in publicising Fezariu’s Epiphany was a book trailer which is on my website and can also be found on YouTube.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?
I have profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. I use Twitter most extensively to interact with fellow writers but also with other friends I’ve made over the last couple of years. The support fellow tweeters give to you is amazing and if you’re not on there already I would certainly recommend it.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?
I feel the market potential of blogging has become very important. I’ve been lucky enough to take part in some blog tours since the publication of Fezariu’s Epiphany and they’re a fantastic way to not only promote your book but to share your insights on other subjects and interact with fellow writers and readers.

On Other Fun Stuff:

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?
It would be a small house in the country for myself and Donna. We’d have lots of land to add to our six rescue cats and being in the country I’d have the ideal surroundings for inspiration.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?
I’d be back in Cologne, Germany. Donna and I went there last year and I fell in love with the place. If we could live abroad anywhere it would most likely be Cologne.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?
Donna, of course. I’d also thank my mother for everything she has done for me throughout my life. I’ll never be able to repay her.


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