Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been an avid reader and writer since my young days as a child. I remember checking out so many books from the public library on a weekly basis that the librarian behind the counter gave me a special library card that allowed me to borrow an unlimited number of books. I took advantage of it for years. Being so in love with books, I obviously developed “author heroes” and sometimes imagined myself as one of them, creating beautifully intricate worlds and strolling down the gilded hallways of fame and fortune. When I was thirteen I made a few dollars from selling homemade comics at school and soon after within 3 years had written a zombie book for my friends. Other books followed and I comfortably settled into the fantasy genre, loving how I had no rules to follow in my writing but that of grammar. To date, SunRider is my most current novel, now available on Amazon.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SunRider came about from a wonderful conversation with my father-in-law. We were making dinner at his place, I think rolling out the dough for some pies actually, and discussing what we wished we saw more of in fantasy books. He told me he was getting tired of the traditional elves, dwarves, and dragons stories and wished for worlds that felt new and not a modified scan of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I told him I wanted a fantasy story with a lot more intricate quests, weird monsters, and characters that weren’t OP by the end of the first book-which seemed quite unrealistic to me. After our conversation, I realized that instead of waiting for a book like that to come out, I could be the one that wrote it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a meticulous note-taker. I’ve got a backpack stacked with crumpled sheets full of plot ideas, a phone memory-laden with digital notes, and a computer-screen half-buried in sticky notes. Somehow I’m able to make some sort of sense from it all and compile a legible story… I hope. I really need a giant whiteboard in my house actually. I think I’ll buy one of those next.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was younger, probably Brian Jacques, rest in peace old friend. He wrote great children’s fantasy up to his death in 2011.
What are you working on now?
The sequel to SunRider. I have to continue the series!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Oh gosh, marketing is its own beast. Word of mouth, social media, begging on street corners, it all works… but never enough.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Live and breathe your stories until you’re walking alongside your characters. Imagine what they see. Understand what details would stick out to them. Become them in your minds eye, not only with their greatness but also their imperfections.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
More of a question than advice really: just, “why not?” It’s almost a permission for me to go a little wild in my stories. Twist my characters around, make them complex and difficult. Make their journeys take wrong turns.
What are you reading now?
A few old classics from Brian Jacques, The Monster Hunter Series by Larry Correia, and warning labels off bathroom cleaning products when I’m really bored.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Just continue to do what I’m doing writing the second book in the SunRider Saga and hopefully see that bright light of success with the entire series.
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?
Survival books and how to build a raft books hahaha.
Author Websites and Profiles
Rafael Hohmann Website
Rafael Hohmann Amazon Profile
Rafael Hohmann’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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