Author Interview: Duane Simolke

text says author interview; picture shows candles, flowers, a jar with leaves, a dish with plants, and letters and books.

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1. Paperback, hardback, audiobook?

As a reader, I prefer paperback, but my readers seem to prefer eBooks.

2. Pick a genre, any genre!

Science fiction.

3. What is the first book you remember reading?

I forget the name but can picture the cover! That should tell book marketers something.

4. What book shaped your childhood most?

Tarzan of the Apes or War of the Worlds. I loved both of those quick, exciting reads.

5. When did you first start writing?

Near my teens.

6. What made you want to write?

I loved books and storytelling.

Does it still hold true?

Absolutely.

7. What book/poem are you most proud of creating?

The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer, as editor and contributing author. Out of all my books, I like Sons of Taldra the most, though.

8. Did you publish your first book or is it for your eyes only?

I published it, but it wasn’t my first book to see publication.

9. How many books/collections have you published so far?

Ten.

10. What genres do you write in (or hope to)?

Fiction, scifi, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction.

11. Do you do research for your writing or is it all in your head?

It’s a lot of both. The research actually gives me more ideas for changing reality.

12. To plan, or not to plan your plot?

I planned my previous novels, but I’m not doing so for my WIP.

13. What route of publishing have you chosen?

Self-publishing.

Do you plan to stick with it?

If I can’t find a traditional publisher.

14. If you could live inside another author’s universe, which one would you pick? (Ex: Middle Earth, Narnia, etc.)

Middle Earth is the most elaborate and exciting, but it’s scary, too. Maybe Pern.

15. Do you currently have a WIP?

Yes, I’m writing a spinoff from Sons of Taldra.

16. Tell me about the character you’ve created who is dearest to your heart.

I can only narrow it down to two: Becky Blake (an artist in The Acorn Stories) and Taldra (a scientist, leader, and mother in Sons of Taldra) are both complicated and fascinating women. I loved writing them and getting to know them as their stories unfolded. The book blog FeedMyReads features interviews with both women: Becky Blake and Taldra.

17. What do you consider your *current* magnum opus?

Sons of Taldra.

18. Do you have a favourite romance in your books?

Telius and his boyfriend Jase-Dawn in Sons of Taldra.

19. Do you listen to music as you write?

No. I love music but want quiet while I’m writing.

20. Do you have any character art for your books, whether by you or another artist? (Be sure to credit/link if you can!)

I’ve had some incredible artwork created for Sons of Taldra. The links follow, and the pictures there include artist credits: General Sydra, Taldra and Argen, Telius and Jase-Dawn, Telius and Argen.

21. If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?

Read more and edit more.

22. Have you entered any writer contests? Tell us about your experience!

Some, mostly in college. I haven’t won higher than second place, but appreciated the challenge and exposure.

23. Who are your top 5-10 favourite writers?

I can’t narrow it down that much and always regret trying. I read a wide range of scifi, fantasy, history, classics, humor, LGBTQ, and more.

24. Link us your book/twitter/goodreads or wherever we can best connect with you!

My blog includes links to my books and social media.

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