Interview With Author Perrin D. Hayes
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing for about six years now – the first three were spent on a failed first effort, which ended up in a drawer, and the last three on my debut novel, The Broken Javelin. I’m an engineer by day, but I’ve always had a soft spot for SciFi and Fantasy books. Writing just sort of happened naturally. I wrote a few chapters of my first book, sent it to a friend with some published books of his own, and I got the best response I could have gotten; encouragement. That might be the only reason my book exists in the first place, and I’m grateful that I got that validation to continue early on.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is my debut: The Broken Javelin, book 1 of the Godsreach series. It was inspired by many things, but the biggest was all the great fantasy I’ve read over the years. This book isn’t a tribute to any series in particular, but it was inspired by little things in my reading journey; great prose, great characters, great stories. I did my best to incorporate all the small things that made me appreciate other great books into The Broken Javelin.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m an engineer, and there’s one thing all engineers are good at: over-complicating things. I use a ridiculously complex excel sheet to track my drafts and the status of each chapter as I edit. In a way, it’s necessary, since without some guidance I’d probably lose track and end up forgetting entire chapters. But it’s also the dorkiest part of my writing process.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on book 2 of the Godsreach series, title TBD. I’m about 1/3 of the way through the storyline now, so lots of work left to do!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you’re not a social media person, spend some time before your launch getting yourself ready for that part of your book promotion. It’s easy, and it’s free, but for some reason people like me still shy away from it – don’t be like me!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I can’t pinpoint where I heard this, but I truly believe that the key to producing good writing is an ability to recognize good writing. To do that, you have to expose yourself to a lot of good writing, and develop your inner judge that can tell you if what you’re producing is any good or not. And it’s perfectly fine for it to start out as no good – as long as you recognize what your version of good writing is, you’ll keep editing until you get there. The twists and turns of the road don’t matter if you’re following your north star.
What are you reading now?
My current series is The Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie. I’m about halfway through and really enjoying the storytelling.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Book 2! And also a constant effort to overcome my discomfort with social media as a writer.
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 Lies of Locke Lamora, The Blade Itself (a box set with both sequels, which might be cheating), Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and probably a good desert island survival book because otherwise I’d be in trouble.
Author Websites and Profiles
Perrin D. Hayes Amazon Profile
Perrin D. Hayes’s Social Media Links