Interview With Author Mars G. Everson
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m a fantasy and sci-fi author with three novels and a short-story already published, and many more in the pipeline. I just wish I had unlimited time to put to paper (or screen) all the books in my head!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is the second part of a grimdark fantasy trilogy, The God Engine, with book 1 “Thralls of a Tyrant God” and book 2 “Pawns of a Cruel God” published earlier this year. Book 3 is coming out in December!
This trilogy has no clear-cut inspiration but has a million subtle references and specific things that inspired it, from the Stormlight Archive and the Malazan Book of the Fallen to Mad Max and Fallout, with a sprinkle of Batman and X-Men references, and a splash of Weiss&Hickman’s fantasy novels.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, I mostly write late at night after I put the kids to bed, so it means I usually fall asleep with my laptop open. Thank the gods for auto-save!
I used to write early in the morning before going to work, but that’s not doable with school-age kids. I’d have to get up at 5 am to get any writing done, and that’s a no-no.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is tricky because every book influences you and sets you on a path of approaching or going away from certain things. But I love all kinds of genres, not only fantasy and sci-fi, so I’m heavily influenced by literary fiction. It doesn’t mean I imitate or take things from them, but there are some subtle flavors of David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro, Vonnegut, Pynchon and Murakami in my books, but also lots of comic-books and manga, with standouts like Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Naoki Urasawa, Takehiko Inoue and many others having a huge impact on my style. And then of course: Tolkien first and foremost, with LeGuin, Asimov, Bradbury, Guy Gavriel Kay, Weiss&Hickman, Sanderson, Erikson, Cook, Wolfe… too many to mention, really.
What are you working on now?
I’m finishing my grimdark trilogy as I mentioned before, while plotting the next few books in my head and deciding which one I’m most excited about, which is awful because you have all these little book ideas and you have to choose one and push the rest months or years down the line. That sucks.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There’s not one method, but connecting with people on Twitter used to work before it god X’ed and now it’s kind of wasteland. So I’m looking for the next place that allows me to connect to readers and the writing community in general. I’m on bluesky for now, plus TIktok.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep swimming.
Really. Like Macklemore says “If I did it for the money I’d a been a f*cking lawyer”
And after five books or so (written, not necessarily published, I have a lot of them in drawers) you’ll gain confidence in your ability to write yourself out of whatever hole you’re in. Literary and in life.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’m not sure. Like Gildor says in LOTR: “Seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill”. Which is in itself advice on not giving advice 🙂
What are you reading now?
*looks at his bedside table in shame*.. I’m reading Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond and Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys on the manga side of things, while going very slowly through Elantris and the Hail Mary Project on the scifi/fantasy niche, and when I have a couple minutes to spare I read indie authors on my kindle or phone.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Write more books! And mostly connecting with my readers. It’s a very lonely task and there’s very little outside gratification, so each new reader, review, or comment is really necessary as fuel to keep you going.
Also, keep switching gears and try out different styles and genres. I have a cozy fantasy in the back of my mind and a samurai fantasy itching to get out on the page.
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?
But if I had to take just one printed book it would be The Lord of the Rings, bar none. If I could take two books, the other one would be The Silmarillion. That’s because they fulfill every need for me. Book 3 would probably be The Bone Clocks or The Thousand Autumns of Jacob deZoet by David Mitchell. And the fourth would be a tie between Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.
Author Websites and Profiles
Mars G. Everson Amazon Profile
Mars G. Everson’s Social Media Links
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