What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
This being the 3rd installment in my series, I’ll start with the series itself. I’d been working on telling a story in the world of Eleshar for years, but I’d spent years on false starts trying to find the right one. It wasn’t until I landed on the idea of a trilogy of trilogies that the story finally started to coalesce. Each book would rotate between three protagonists who stumbled, some more willingly than others, into a conflict seven millennia old, with long-forgotten gods thirsty for vengeance, and all forced to choose between their ambitions or sacrifice for the good of the world. For this specific book, I was introducing the final character of the three, and I knew I wanted to give Jaden a grand entrance. As a part-time author, I’d been feeling dissonance between work that I hate but need in order to pay the bills and writing, which I love. That was the genesis of Jaden’s core internal conflict in this book. He spent his life running from the warrior that everyone relied on, the one that brought him respect and ridicule, while quietly in the background discovering his love for buried secrets and ancient ruins.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
For Jaden, I think he’d be blasting the HUNTR/X anthem “What It Sounds Like”! For Zeriel, he would definitely have “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance on repeat. For El, no contest: “Believer” by Imagine Dragons.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
Fantasy is definitely number one, but the first book I ever sat down to read was Jurassic Park, and that sparked a love for sci-fi adventure as well. I definitely love writing fantasy more than anything else. Being able to create entire worlds and societies and people who can do incredible things no one in the real world can do is something I’ve always found invigorating.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
I’m still working through The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, and I’ve got a few unread books to attend to in The Dresden Files as well. Something is pulling me back to the classics lately, though, so I’ve been thinking about picking up Moby-Dick next.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the drama of the human condition as much as the next person. But my favorite scene is an action scene just before the last third of the book starts. I don’t want to describe it too much here and give the whole thing away for anyone who might read the book, but it’s quite a descent for Jaden.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
The most quirky writing habit I have is that I created a set of playlists meant to invoke specific emotions that I match to the atmosphere of whatever scene I’m writing. The music has to be free of lyrics, though; otherwise, I get distracted because I want to start singing.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Success is the destination at the end of a road full of failures.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
Life is hard, and there is injustice and unfairness in the world. And while we can’t make those things go away, we can still improve our little corner of the world, no matter how big or small it is.
Rich Inman is the author of the new book The Beast Unleashed (The Records of Eleshar Book 3)
Connect with Rich Inman
