SPFBO Entry Interview: David Mullin “The Tempest Guild”

It’s me again, back with a new interview! This would make the sixteenth so far. I’m slowly whittling down the number of victims. Believe me, the number of bodies in my truck are starting to pile up. I’m going to need a new truck. I’ll look on Ebay.

Anyway, immaturity aside, here is my latest interview with David Mullin, author of The Tempest Guild. As always I shall link the book down below with this fancy link:

Check out some past interviews from clicking on the links down below:

SPFBO Entry Interview: Patrick LeClerc “Out of Nowhere”

SPFBO Entry Interview: Aaron Cross “Robocopter Ski Patrol”

SPFBO Entry Interview: Mike Morris “He Who Fights”

SPFBO Entry Interview: Matthew Olney “The First Fear”

SPFBO Entry Interview: Kayleigh Nichol “Sorcerous Rivalry”

SPFBO Entry Interview: Scott Kaelen “The Blighted City”

Anyway, enjoy the interview! I had a lot of fun with this one particularly, and I really love the cover.

First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?

 

Currently, I’m writing a fantasy series based in a world called Talam. The book I released in June of 2018, The Tempest Guild, is the first in a planned series of five books. I also write science fiction with a thriller/horror bent to it.

 

How do you develop your plots and characters?

 

This is actually a hard one to answer. It all just sort of comes together for me. The Talam Chronicles was a unique experience in that I started and wrote the book three times before coming up with the final plot and set of characters on the fourth try. I used what I call “plot awesomes” to create the intertwining plots between the characters, as well as notes I make during the first draft. These are floating outlines that I find very helpful in plotting out a story.

 

Tell us about your current project.

 

I’m currently in the middle of writing the sequel to The Tempest Guild, which will be part two in the series. My idea is to have each volume be the length of a novella so that it can be read in just a few hours. I think of it as a TV series in book form.

 

Who would you say is the main character of your novels? And tell me a little bit about them!

 

My main character is a nineteen year old named Phaedra (although it is not YA). She has had a horrifying past having to do with her special ability that can kill easily. As we meet her in the story, she is struggling with a drinking problem and maintaining any kind of relationship. What finally draws herself out of her misery is a Pooka (ala the film Harvey) who befriends her and watches over her.

 

What advice would you give to novice writers on how to delve into creative fiction?

 

Read a lot and then just sit down and write your own story. Don’t worry about structure, plot, anything. Just get a story down on paper as a first draft. No one else is going to read it but you, so it’s very important to give yourself permission to suck. From that freedom will come some creative ideas. Then you can build on those in subsequent drafts.

 

What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the world building within your books?

 

I’m not sure I can pinpoint any exact one-to-one inspirational ideas from our world. I just thought of the world I created, the different types of races and societies inside of it, and how they would likely interact and clash.

 

What inspires you to write?

 

I seem to have an endless supply of stories and I’m not getting any younger. I want to leave a written legacy for future generations to enjoy. Hopefully they can get a glimpse of who I am as well through my written works.

 

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

 

Writing close to 80K words that I threw away while searching for the story. I was tempted to give up on it altogether but something told me to persist, that there was a story there. I don’t look at those earlier drafts I wrote as a mistake but rather the foundation for what I finally ended up creating.

 

What was your favourite chapter (or part) to write and why?

 

There’s a chapter where I describe the devastating storms in Talam called Convulsions. They are fierce storms with multiple funnel clouds that cause massive devastation. As part of a right of passage, young men will strap themselves into a wing suit and attempt to ride one of the funnels by being sucked up into it. As you can imagine, it doesn’t always work out so well.

 

Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?

 

I learned to trust my own judgement and that I’m just as good at writing a book as anyone else. It just takes a lot of hard work, persistence and a couple of good editors!

 

It’s sometimes difficult to get into understanding the characters we write. How do you go about it?

 

If I’m having trouble understanding or getting inside a character’s head, I will usually put them in situation where I as the writer have no idea how they’re going to get out of it. Then I write the scene and they usually come up with a way out that I didn’t think of before. The characters will speak to you if you’re open to it.

 

What are your future project(s)?

 

I have an interesting science fiction, supernatural thriller that I started while taking a breather between drafts of The Tempest Guild that I plan on finishing. Then I have an epic post-apocalyptic series that I’ve been developing for several years now.

 

If you couldn’t be an author, what ideal job would you like to do?

 

I’d like to write and direct movies.

 

What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e. website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?

 

Facebook and Goodreads are the two most accessible platforms for authors to interact with their readers, so I would suggest those two platforms. I’m on Instagram and Twitter as well and will include those too.

 

FB: facebook.com/davidmullinauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18108636.David_Mullin

Instagram: instagram.com/dkmullin

Twitter: twitter.com//david_mullin

Website: www.david-mullin.com