June-Author In The Spotlight

Please welcome E.S Brenwalt to this months Author In The Spotlight! He is the author of Cyan's and Magus' adventure in Path Of A Hero. Here is the interview!

1) When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

It was back in the spring of 2003, back when I wrote the very first version of "Path of a Hero," although back then it was called "Chronicles of Hero." There was this little fan site for Harry Potter that created a sister site developed for role-playing purposes. The site has been long gone now, but when it was first put up, I decided to create a character for the fun of it all, and that character was Cyan, as well as Magus. A little ways into the role-playing thing, and I was inspired by another user to create a back story for my characters, and when I made it, I really liked what I did and decided to do a rewrite only a couple of months later, better and longer. It was after that when I realized that I truly wanted to be a writer, to go to the places that only my imagination could take me. And I knew that Cyan and Magus would be the first.

2) If your interest wouldn't be in writing right now, what would you most likely be doing?

After spending the last six years of dreaming of nothing else but writing, I would be surprised if I ever became anything else. But if I never realized my talent of being a writer, then I guess I would have pursued my childhood dream of being an airplane pilot. I always dreamed of flying, and I still do sometimes.

3) Were there any particular people in your life that inspired you to write about Cyan?

To be truthful, not so much. I lived a secluded life up until a few years ago, so the only person that I would relate Cyan with in the real world would actually be myself, personality wise that is. If I ever put Cyan in a certain situation, he would handle it in a way that I myself would do it.

4) Who is your favorite author, and why?

There are so many great authors out there, well-known and not so well known alike, that it's hard to pick just one. However, I would definitely have to narrow it all down to one British woman named Joanne Kathleen Rowling, because before I ever read a Harry Potter book, I was far from being a big book reader, let alone an aspiring author. In retrospect, I learned to love reading and writing because of Harry Potter, and so JKR has to be on top of my favorites list.

5) Where do you like to write most?

In my room, where there can be no interruptions. I live in a house that is occupied not only by me, but my parents, two of my sisters, and four children, sometimes six or seven if we're babysitting my other siblings' kids. With so many living in one house, privacy fast became an issue that I have established years ago. No one is to bother me while I am in my room, mainly because I keep my door locked.

6) What is the best advice you could give to inspired writers?

Never give up. It is only over when you say it is. Also, to anyone out there who has dreams of becoming a professional author, remember that there is a lot of hard work to become successful. It's not all about writing a bestseller; that is only a part of it. The big challenge is getting people aware of it, and the only way to do that takes three things: Determination, Imagination, and Persistence.

7) Was there ever a time where you didn't want to write at all?

Only before I ever wrote my first story six years ago, mainly because the thought of writing never occurred to me. Otherwise, I can not wait to get back to writing.

8) Do you get writers block often? If so, what do you do to get over writer's block?

I sometimes get writers block, or sometimes I would write something, but never really felt satisfied with it, and I can not press onward unless it is taken cared of. In order to fight that slump, all I have to do is just take a break and think the whole thing over in my head, maybe even sleep on it. That always helps, because once I get back to it I delete what I did not like and replace it with what I do like. I do not think that I get such a bad case of writer's block that all I can conjure up in my mind is a big black blank.I would also like to take a moment to mention that I also suffer from time to time Writer's Distraction, Writer's Delay, and Writer's Fatigue more often than I would want.

9) Who inspired you to write fantasy, or any other story you have written in the past?

I mentioned this before, but way back on that role-playing site, I was inspired by another user, whose name I sadly can not recall (though his username was "Headache"), who started a back story for his character. So that one person from long ago actually helped push me in the direction to make a story for my characters Cyan and Magus (if he ever reads this, then I must say, "Thanks Headache!"). After that, the rest just came to me, where encouragement and praise from my family helped me become a better writer. During my homeschooling even, my mom would allow me to do a creative writing homework assignment so that my typing and writing would improve.

10) Are you working on anything right now?

Yes, I am. At this time, I am writing a short story that is based on some characters from my book, set before the events of "Path of Hero." I hope that putting it up on my website will help people become interested. Then, after that, I am going to get started on the sequel.

11) How long did it take you to get Path Of A Hero published?

A surprisingly short amount of time. First off, being completely new to the whole thing, I had no idea on how the publishing industry worked. I thought all I had to do was send my story to somebody who might be interested and see what happens. Then I found out that publishers will only accept manuscripts via agents, or that most, if not all, asked you to pay thousands of dollars to publish your work. So after months of trying to figure it out, the actual "finding" a publisher did not take long at all. I was surfing the web, trying to find someone who would do fantasy novels, and I came across a place called Publish America. I liked what I read, and seeing as they were offering their services for free (meaning that I did not need to pay them a dime to publish my book), I decided to go with them. After submitting my story, signing a contract they sent me, a few things here and there, and I was officially a published author as of last December, and I hadonly signed on with Publish America a few months prior to that.Best decision I ever made. Despite all of the hardwork that it actually takes for me to get people to so much as spare a passing glance at my book, it still makes me really happy and proud that I did it.

If you are interested in purchasing Path Of A Hero, click here!

Thanks so much E.S Brenwalt!