celiabreslin

I’m delighted to welcome my fellow author for Champagne Book Group, Graeme Brown, to my blog. He joins us today to share his writing and some fun facts about himself. Enjoy!

Hi Graeme! *waves* — How long have you been writing?
Hi Celia! Hmm…that’s a good question. According to my uncle, I’ve been telling stories since I was a toddler, but I’ve been trying to write them down since I was 8. My first “book” was The Shack, typed up and bound by my school principal when I was 10, and after that I got into Tolkien and started making my own fantasy world. The rest just snowballed from there, and I’m doing my best here to steer it clear of any trees.

What drew you to writing fantasy?
It was an author named Dennis L. McKiernan, whose Dark Tide trilogy got me interested enough to give the Hobbit, then Lord of the Rings, a try. After that I was drawing maps, making up my own stories during my morning paper route walk, and trying to write my own book. I think it was the idea of bringing life to a made-up world that could be just as real as our own that appealed to me the most.

What’s on your bookshelf and/or in your To Be Read pile?
It seems that pile gets bigger, since I’m studying math and I’m such a slow reader. I’m working my way through Dance with Dragons right now, but I will be dropping everything to read A Memory of Light when it comes out in January. There are other works by Brandon Sanderson, like Way of Kings, that I’d like to try, and I have a bunch of Terry Brooks novels on the shelf. I also like re-reading old books, so it’s not likely I’ll be coving a lot of ground in the next couple of years. One of these days, I’m going to discover speed-reading, and life will never be the same.

What two authors would you love to chat with over a meal? Better yet, what two authors would you take on a writer’s retreat?
Number one, George R. R. Martin. I’ve heard that he parties until 4am, and is a hoot to chat with. Then, were he alive, the late James Rigney (Robert Jordan), but seeing as I had a chance to meet Brandon Sanderson, who has done a fantastic job of completing the Wheel of Time, I guess it would be neat to get my butt kicked by him at a game of Magic: the Gathering and talk about writing afterward.

If the Earth was about to be destroyed to make way for a Hyperspace Bypass (Hello, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and you have mere minutes to vacate, what book would you grab to take with you? In addition to your towel, of course. ?
Oh dear…I have to say, it would probably be one of my math textbooks, since I’d be guaranteed to have a lot of problems to solve to keep my occupied.

Favorite food:
Chicken pesto, Friday night double cheese pizza, a full plate of bacon, eggs, sausage and hashbrowns to go with my 6am coffee.

Favorite music:
Classical. I play piano, and have always loved Beethoven. Lately, I’ve gotten into Mahler; it goes well with all-nighter math assignments.

Favorite supernatural creature?
Imps. In my stories, they’re so mischievous.

Favorite TV show?
Lately, Big Bang. So funny. I LOVE Sheldon!

Milk chocolate or Dark chocolate?
Both, and let’s add pudding and caramel and toffee and dates and Reeces peanut butter cups. I usually need a nap after that, but it’s good while it lasts.

Vampires or werewolves?
Vampires, most definitely.

Sexy demons or sexy angels?
I think it’s interesting when one can show the sexy angel is in fact a demon… ☺

Dragons or witches?
Both. What is fantasy without, in some form or other, those deep archetypes? But then again, maybe that’s just me. I’ve always loved dragons and witches and goblins and the cursed immortals.

Tell us about your upcoming release: THE PACT.

Will Lesterall has grown up in the safety of his father’s castle, where tales of the outside world ruled by warring kings and creatures of nightmare have never seemed a threat. Yet on the night celebrating the two hundredth year of the sacred Pact that has kept Fort Lesterall safe, a secret intrigue ripens, and in the course of a few hours Will is confronted with a choice greater than he can comprehend. Join an unlikely hero as destiny pulls him into the middle of an ancient conflict between fallen gods and ambitious women, one that demands blood, both holy and wicked, and the power of an ancient fire bound in steel. As swords clash below a watching wood, hope and betrayal war as fiercely as fear and valour, and whether he lives of dies, Will Lesterall will never be the same.

The Pact releases June 2013, from Champagne Book Group.

Bio
Graeme Brown is a Winnipeg writer, artist and student of mathematics. Being a long-time fan of epic fantasy and suffering from an overactive imagination, he has been writing stories for more than twenty years. He also enjoys running, yoga, and classical piano. The Pact is his first published story.

Image Credit:
Mandala created by Graeme Brown. Copyright, Graeme Brown, all rights reserved. Used here with permission of the artist.

Connect with Graeme
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