Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Technical Writer by trade. I work with clients in academia and the IT industry to transform important and complex information into clearly understood messages.
To Conquer Heaven is my first book.
Habnab will be out in September 2018.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
To Conquer Heaven was sparked into being by a brilliant National Geographic documentary on the lost tomb of the First Emperor of China.
A gorgeous, immaculately groomed Chinese-French lady read aloud a passage of Sima Qian’s “Annals of the Grand Historian”. It is the only textual reference to the lost tomb.
“Replicas of palaces, scenic towers, and the hundred officials, as well as rare utensils and wonderful objects, were brought to fill up the tomb. Craftsmen were ordered to set up crossbows and arrows rigged to shoot down any intruder. Mercury was used to fashion imitations of the hundred rivers and the Yangtze, constructed in such a way that they seemed to flow.”
She looked up at the camera, breaking the fourth wall, and whispered “it sounds so exciting”.
I was enthralled by a sophisticated, glamourous academic who could not wait to cast off the Lacroix and grab a Fedora and a whip. That excitement led me on a journey of research and discovery where plausible conjecture and Mythbusters science laid a new tale across ancient ones.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a red jasper stone and a lava lamp near me when I write. It works for me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
HP Lovecraft
JRR Tolkien
PG Wodehouse
Barbara Kingsolver
China Mielville
Neil Gaiman
Chuck Wendig
What are you working on now?
My second novel is called Habnab …
What if the Fae really did take your baby leaving one of their own disguised in its place?
—
Molly and Diego have brought their lovely baby Bridie from Boston to Ireland in pursuit of their dreams; Diego will transform his failed thesis into a best–selling novel and Molly will transform an ornamental building into a dream home, just as soon as she moves that stone in the garden.
It was all going so well …
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Why this one of course! Thank you so much for the service you provide.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Your apprenticeship will be long, difficult, and there is no money in it. Not for a long time.
So go and have a life. Have some adventures. Get a good paying job. Then write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Write as much as you can, as fast as you can, finish your shit, hit your deadlines, and try hard not to suck.” Chuck Wendig – the Sweary Soothsayer himself.
I strongly recommend following his blog Terrible Minds – http://terribleminds.com/ramble
What are you reading now?
Philip Pullman – The Book of Dust. I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy.
And Mr Pullman himself is a great champion of writers and our endless struggle to make a living.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Five more novels … all mapped out.
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?
JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I had the accidental good fortune to read them in that order, the order in which Tolkien intended them to be read.
Author Websites and Profiles
Felix Long Website
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Goodreads Profile
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