Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an eighteen year old obsessive runner and writer. I spend my days writing, running, exercising, watching movie,s reading books, and living with my family in an RV too small for seven. I have finished one book, a YA sci-fi novel called I am Epic, which was about a robot created with the ability to feel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Land Between Life and Death is my latest book and nearly complete at that. This book was inspired by numerous things stylistically and thematically. A game called Dark Souls was probably my greatest influence for the aesthetic and world. The emotional core of the story I believe resembles what you might experience in a book like A Monster Calls or The Graveyard Book, with there being an layer of erie and supernatural fantasy interwoven with a realistic drama about growing up and family.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Nothing weird comes to mind. I generally like to write at night before bed, since that’s when my brain is at its most calm. Maybe this counts, but I keep a list on all my neat book ideas for later on. I have about two dozen right now, and that’s keeping it slimmed down.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The one that really woke me up to how much I could love books was when I was eleven years old and started reading the Percy Jackson. Up until then I never realized that I could loves characters so much and find a world so creative and engrossing.
What are you working on now?
I am finishing, hopefully, the final stretch of editing for my next book and I am also working on gaining more of a following through social media.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Instagram is generally the easiest for me to do promoting on. My second favorite promotion is giving my book away in giveaway contests (hey, people like free books).
Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Don’t write something that some one else has written. Be original and please don’t be another European Fantasy novel copying Lord of the Rings
2. No author knows everything there is to know about writing (especially me)
3. Create a well rounded outline before you start writing (though some people do work better without one)
4. Your first novel won’t be a great (I know this all too well)
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
This might not sound like advice, but when I heard this, my writing became so much more focused and purposeful. To paraphrase some author guy I heard on a podcast, who was at the time quoting a much more famous author, “Stories are order out of chaos. We use stories to make sense of the world, because in the real world, there are no stories. Just a series of things that happen.”
What are you reading now?
I am working on getting through the behemoth that is the Dark Tower series, but I’m also reading a YA mystery book called, I Am Not a Serial Killer.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My next venture is a sci-fi war epic about an alien invasion seen through the eyes of one pivotal soldier suffering from PTSD. This novel is expected to be three time longer than my first two, so fingers crossed I don’t f–k it up.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Let’s see… I’ll need a thriller with lots of plot twists to help with the my paranoia of being watched: Angels and Demons. A romance to compensate for my lack of human affection: Outlander I geuss. A book I can quote obsessively to myself and my imaginary friends: V for Vendetta. And a book that is boring but might actually help me to survive: Robinson Crusoe.
Author Websites and Profiles
Daniel Robledo Amazon Profile
Daniel Robledo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile