Recently, I read The Ebon Knight by James Wood after winning it from LibraryThing giveaways. I enjoyed it a lot. Wood and I began email corresponding about the writing process, and I remembered it’s been a while since I’ve had an author interview on this blog. Wood is the author of the fantasy series The Ebon Knight Chronicles. His third book, The Arch Mage, will be out later this year.
How did you decide to become an author?
I was inspired to write this book (and series) because I had the same recurring dream pretty regularly for almost a decade. I dreamed that an outcast Knight of the Light (carrying a sentient and cursed sword) meets a beautiful, dangerous, and exiled Princess of the Dark unexpectedly at a diner. Why are they there? What happens then? What happens after? I didn’t know, and no one could tell me, so I had to write about it to find out.
How does your professional background help with your writing?
It doesn’t. My “day job” and my writing are completely non-compatible. I have a Master’s in History, however, so that is where my writing background comes from.
Can you tell us more about why you wrote your latest books?
I was moved to finally write because of a health scare. The Ebon Knight was kind of a “bucket-list” type of work. Once I started it, I found out that I really liked writing. I also was a bit faster at it than I thought I could be, and readers who have encountered my series seem to enjoy it. So, yeah, I have been writing ever since.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Do your research and have a “war chest” of some sort to spend on a good cover and editor with some saved up for advertising. It doesn’t matter how great your book is if no one knows about it.
What are some upcoming publishing projects you are working on?
I’m in the process of finishing this trilogy. The Ebon Knight and The Dark Witch are available now. The Arch Mage heads to my editor on March 18th. I also have two short stories to complete as well, they support the overall series as additional side adventures and/or “easter eggs.” Not required to read, but fun and interesting.
The First Fury is already available on Amazon, and it is the first of the short stories that rounds everything out. I think of it as 1.5 in the series (so should be read after The Ebon Knight but before The Dark Witch. The next short story is called The Lord Commander, and that will be 2.5, and then the last one is tentatively called The Grave Guard and should be read after the series.
All six of those works are collectively called The Chronicles of the Ebon Knight and if they do well commercially, I could write two more full length novels and more occasional short stories. If it takes a while for the Chronicles to take off, then I am itching to write some horror stories. I have some fantastic ideas, some of which have been with me even longer than the basis for my urban fantasy series! Either way, I will one-hundred percent keep writing!
Visit the author website of James Wood.
Andrew M. Friday 
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