Q1. Please tell us a bit about yourself. Hobbies, passions, tragic love—all is good.
ANDY: Wow, starting off with a tough one!
I am a bit of an oxymoron: bookworm and martial artist, geek and athlete. I love complex board games, video games, and a massively sprawling book series just as much as I love kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, snowboarding, and running. I’m also very passionate about cooking because it means I can eat delicious foods, and I’m slightly obsessive about coffee, wine, whiskey, and beer.
MAY: Sounds like you’re an extroverted introvert. I can manage the sloth-related events, though I do miss playing volleyball and tennis. These days, all I want is some peace and quiet to read and write. The word ‘quiet’ with my two boys is non-existent.
Q2. Why did you choose writing as a career?
ANDY: I think it chose me, to be honest.
As a kid in elementary school, English was always my best subject, particularly when it came to anything creative—poetry, prose, even creative non-fiction. I have always loved reading as well as hearing and telling stories.
During my teenage years, I had lots of free time but no internet access (these were the days when the internet was still fairly “new”) or video games. I basically had a clunky desktop with MS Paint and MS Word. My art skills are…not great, so I had no choice but to write words to fill the time. That was when I discovered just how much I loved writing stories.
After that, it was just a matter of time (about 10 years) until I finally felt the urge to write a proper book. From there, I was absolutely hooked, and I haven’t been able to consider any other career since.
MAY: You’re a complete reverse of me, it seems. I’ve spent my entire life running away from writing. My English teacher thought I was dreadful at the subject—all except creative writing. English is my third language, so it was a bit hard for me to learn it and do well at it at the same time in school. By the time I hit college, I was more focused on Sciences and Computer Science. Writing, again, did not seem like a good career path, yet it was the only thing that kept me awake during boring lectures.
I think when I fell sick for 6 months in my last year of college was when I finally caved and accepted that I’m not a programmer but a writer. It took all the stress I had away and I got better.
I suppose, writing chose me too. It stalked me, beat me with a baseball bat, and wrapped its spikey vines all around me. No escape now.
Q3. Which one of your books would you say was your most favourite to write?
ANDY: That’s like asking which of my kids is my favorite. (We all know we have one, we just don’t say it aloud!)
I’d say the book that I enjoyed writing most was one of the Cerberus books. Probably Lethal Extraction, Book 9. That sci-fi series is so action-packed that it was a thrill to write. But that one book takes place in this crazy impossible Rubik’s cube of a prison, with all sorts of insanely dark tortures and twists. It was an absolute delight to throw the most impossible things at the character and then try to figure out how the heck he’s gonna get out of there. I think that’s the book I’ve finished fastest and enjoyed writing most.
MAY: That name will forever make me think of “Cerberus” from Mass Effect 2&3. I’ve replayed that series maybe 7 times in total and would do it again in a heartbeat if I had the time.
So far, I think my favourite book to write was Queen of Hope (EoSC #3). It’s currently with the early reviewers as an ARC. I had a ton of fun writing it, but the characters…probably enjoyed it a lot less than me. They got to suffer through some dangerous situations, reached new goals, and I can say there’s tonnes of humour.
Q4. Imagine you woke up one morning to find one of your characters staring down at you. They inform you that you are going to have to help them with their quest/mission. Which character would you choose to join on their adventure and how would you help them?
ANDY: I think the Hunter would be the most fun: we’re off to kill demons or something equally wicked, and you just know it’s going to be a wild ride all the way. Then again, people tend to die horribly around him all the time.
Or maybe pulling off a heist with Ilanna and her Night Guild crew. I don’t think I’d be a good mastermind, but I could be helpful with clever ideas and tricks.
MAY: I think the safest character I could choose would be Queen Emilia V. Dante. We would probably get along as long as she doesn’t know I’m the author of her story. No doubt I could provide some help with her endless paperwork. I’m used to it by now.
Just kidding. She’s always running head-first into danger to help her allies/friends. I’d have no time to start on the paperwork.
Q5. Cars or motorcycles?
ANDY: Cars. Being a bit older (and, I hope, wiser), the idea of zipping down a highway at MANY miles per hour with nothing between my very breakable body and the very hard road holds less appeal than it might have when I was a daredevil and fully invincible youngster.
MAY: I never liked motorcycles. They make too much noise, and I get plenty of that from my kids. I prefer the quiet of the car ride along with some good music.
Q6. What advice would you give aspiring fantasy/sci-fi authors out there?
ANDY: Don’t worry about telling the “perfect” story or being the “best” author around. Just tell the story that is the most honest to who you are as a person, that gives people a glimpse into your heart, soul, and mind. And tell it the best you can. The only person you’re ever truly competing with is yourself. As long as you’re striving to be better than you were yesterday, you are making progress as an author.
MAY: That’s amazing and heartfelt advice. I think a lot of authors have to push themselves to keep up with the market, trends, and tropes. It is exhausting, to say the least, when, as indies, we are often stuck with marketing, looking for good cover designers who are now booked up till the end of next year, finding the time to write, and possibly having a job or two on the side to pay the household bills.
Q7. What was the most difficult thing you’ve come across as an author and how did you overcome it?
ANDY: The most difficult thing has been, still is, and likely always will be conveying deeper emotions through my stories.
I like to tell stories that really dig deep and “twist the knife”, wringing every drop of emotion and angst out of my characters. But sometimes I worry the descriptions can get a bit repetitive, so I’m always trying to find new ways to say the same thing. Which can be very hard!
MAY: I have my editor who complains to me about a scene or two being emotionally dead sometimes. When you live through the lives of multiple characters and your own, separating emotions and conveying them on paper can be hard. It’s no wonder people often say, “There are no words to describe how I feel right now.”
Q8. From medieval assassins to sci-fi fiction, you’ve written a lot of fantastic stories. In your opinion, what makes a good book?
ANDY: A character who is “real”, regardless of what façade they wear. The Hunter is “real” because he’s an outsider looking for his place in a world where he doesn’t belong, a man looking for connection in a lonely world. Nolan Garrett is “real” because he is fighting his own inner demons (addiction) and struggling to overcome a very real limitation (paraplegia) but refuses to let it stop him. Ilanna is “real” because she refuses to quit even when things get difficult to the point of impossibility. The rest of it—the fantasy and magic of it all—is just “window dressing” to showcase the story of the real person beneath.
MAY: You’ve put a lot of thought into your characters and their backgrounds. It is great to see authors who do that, as being able to resonate with such deep characters makes the story truly enjoyable.
I would say that avoiding glaring plot holes also helps. Some of us are “pantsers”—I still find the term ridiculous because all I can think of is WW2 tanks. We just follow the characters along and hope it makes sense in the end. I think I’ve had to plug a few minor holes in the story so far during the lengthy editing process. Some things were caught by the editor, some by me. Phew.
Q9. Are you a plotter or a pantser? What is your writing ritual to get in the right mood to write?
ANDY: I tend to plot fairly heavily, but I do give myself room to adapt and change as I write. I’d say probably 75% plotter and 25% pantser.
To get into the mood to write, I have a few things:
- Have a meal (breakfast or lunch)
- Make myself a hot, slightly sweet drink (coffee or yerba mate)
- Check my personal Instagram (only before I write!)
- Start off my writing playlist on a good song that gets me in the mood to write
If I can do that, I’m in a great headspace and can usually start writing no problem.
MAY: I think you might faint if you hear about my process. I’m the reverse of you on this too. Pretty sure I’m 75% pantser and 25% plotter. Luckily, as willing as I am to let my characters do whatever they like on paper, I do still plan the world, the history, the ending, certain milestones, and from then on, I just keep track of descriptions, new characters, places, etc. in Reedsy. Thank heavens my friend introduced me to it. I was losing my marbles by having to flip through pages and pages and PAGES of notes…
As for my process…
- Well, I wake up with my baby around 6-7 AM. I drink coffee. Heavily. I need 3 cups before I begin to function. I am not a morning person.
- Then I feed the kids (I’ve got a toddler too), put the baby to nap, and start working on my remote admin job.
- Whenever I am not distracted enough by my toddler, changing nappies, cleaning up barf, or need to reply to emails for the company or write quotes, I squeeze out some words. I think I can manage about 2,000 words in 2 days, if the God of Luck is on my side.
- Since I tend to go over every chapter I write after my husband reads it, I complete the first round of light edits on it at the same time. This way, I can send a more or less clean MS to the editor later.
- My husband often works late, so there’s also a 20% chance for me to get about an hour of writing in the evening in the wonderful quiet. Weekends are a hit or miss. This gig was much easier in my twenties!
Q10. Shameless promotion time. Please let us know about any stories you are working on or you’d like others to know more about.
ANDY: I’m excited to be working on wrapping up the Dragonblood Assassin series in the fourth and final book, Golden Flames.
This has been an absolute treat to write because I get to play with DRAGONS and MAGIC—two things my other books have never had.
And the fact that I get to work on it with my good friend Jaime Castle makes it so much more fun. I get to create all these cool things, then work them out with him to really make sure they hit home right and make sense. Plus, he gets SOOOOO creative with the cursing in the fantasy world, which is just so much fun to read after he edits along behind me.
MAY: Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview with me, Andy! I absolutely loved your answers and hope you enjoyed the questions. Big hugs! Don’t forget to check out Andy’s giveaway and social media!
Andy Peloquin’s Social Media:
Author Website: http://andypeloquin.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Peloquin/e/B00J9008MC/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andyqpeloquin
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/AndyPeloquin
Instagram: www.instagram.com/andypeloquinauthor/
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