Interview With Author Paolo Danese
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Paolo Danese. I am originally from Italy but have been living in Asia for the past 13 years. I have now published four books, two in Italian and two in English, with the latter being the rewritten and translated versions of my Italian novels. They are epic fantasy novels, broadly speaking.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Rise of the Nemesis”, the first book in a planned series called “Fate of the Demigods”. It is a dark epic fantasy with hints of grimdark, high fantasy, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi. It was inspired by reading the likes of Joe Abercrombie, Dan Simmons, the classics like Lord of the Rings, and broad readings across genres, including poetry and loads of non-fiction in areas like philosophy, politics, neuroscience, history, and more.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
As much as I would love to be a more regular writer, I am a “crammer”. I wrote the 160,000 words first draft for my upcoming novel in a sleepless month and a half. Partly because of family and work commitments, sure, partly it just seems I only know how to dive in and hold my breath until the job is done. Editing, luckily, I can take my time and pace myself.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read broadly across genres. I grew up with JRR Tolkien and Terry Brooks in terms of fantasy reading (and loads of Dungeons & Dragons), but my favorites include sci-fi from the likes of Dan Simmons and Arthur C Clarke, poetry by Fernando Pessoa, introspective literature like the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and loads more.
What are you working on now?
I am taking the 160,000 words draft I mentioned and slowly re-writing/editing it out. I have a strong feeling it may end up being two novels instead of one once all is said and done, which would do more justice to the epic scale of the events told and the characters’ fates decided there.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I suck at all of it, to be honest. I enjoy posting on Twitter and I pay for Amazon ads when I can, but I am far from having figured it out!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Nothing else matters.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’d say the same, to just keep writing. And, of course, “the first draft of anything is shit”.
What are you reading now?
Biocentrism by Robert Lanza, Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain by Robert Gazzaniga, and Literary Theory for Robots: How Computers Learned to Write by Dennis Yi Tenen.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Depending on how I will feel after I complete the current epic fantasy series (and how it performs, of course), I will need to decide whether to embrace my eclectic tastes and explore writing work in other genres, or stick with fantasy.
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?
The Alchemist by Coelho.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.
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