Francis Williams, author of Honor, stopped by for a spell. Here's what he had to say:
Francis, tell
us a little about yourself. I grew up in Sacramento, CA to parents who
encouraged me to read from the moment I could recognize letters. I loved
reading these old books my grandparents owned, and later figured out I wanted
to write one of my own. I wrote a few short stories I submitted into random
competitions I'd come across, but never took it very seriously until about
fairly recently.
I
grew up playing baseball, also from a very young age. That was probably the
thing that shaped my life the most. A lot of the people I know, I met them
playing the sport, and I went to college because of it as well. Writing has
become extremely important to me, but I would still say baseball has my heart.
What
authors do you draw inspiration from? Bernard Cornwell. I first
read his Saxon Stories series before I chose to actually try and pursue a
writing career. I'd noticed while watching The Last Kingdom on Netflix that the
show was based on a book series, and figured I'd give them a read. I thought
the first book was so good I ordered the whole series and rad them all back to
back. I then ordered his Warlord Chronicles as well as his Grail Quest series
so I could have something to read while I waited for his next book. I just
thought the way he gives his characters such a rich backstory was unbelievable.
I firmly believe if more people knew about him, he'd have more than just two TV
series made from his books.
Tell
us about your book. Honor is set in the fifth century, about the time the
Roman Empire really starts spiraling downward. The story begins in what's now
Bordeaux, France, and moves to various places in Britain and the Netherlands. I
chose this setting because I thought it would be easiest to create a story in a
place and time where I could take a fair amount of liberties if I needed
to.
There's
a decent amount of characters with varying motivations. I wrote it with
multiple POV characters, as every single story I loved growing up did the same.
I knew if I wanted to write a 160k word novel, I would need to make sure I
wouldn't get burned out by writing for the same person the whole way through.
That being said, there's one main-ish character and three main perspectives
which hold a majority of the book.
How
long did it take you to write it? What were some of the challenges? From
day one in the process to the moment it was completed, I'd say about two years.
Researching took about six months while writing and waiting for feedback from
beta-readers took up the rest.
One
huge challenge I ran across was the use of different names for the same city.
It seemed like I would run across a different name for a place integral to the
story every few days before I found one I could settle on. One other challenge
I've run across is marketing the book. I'm keeping my ears open and have received
quite a bit of advice recently, so I'm not all that worried just yet.
What
is a unique or interesting bit of lore or background detail about your
world? In Britain especially, the fifth century is very hard for
historians to pin down. It seems there's no written accounts of what happened
after 410 CE until the Anglo-Saxons took control over a majority of the island.
This led to a bunch of interesting legends and rumors about the times I could
use for inspiration. The range of things I could have thrown in is much more
impressive than I originally anticipated.
What
do you enjoy developing the most, characters, plot, world? My
characters for sure. I like to try and create an interesting backstory, which
isn't any different than anyone else. Working with a mix of people who
definitely existed and another group that may have existed makes
building the puzzles of their past so interesting to me. I try to be
believable, but interesting as well.
Where can we find your books? My book can be found in both paperback and
ebook formats on Amazon! The ebook is 3.99, while the paperback is 14.99.
What’s
your next project? The sequel to my first book. It's going to be much
darker than the first, with a different take on a legendary person most people
have probably heard of. I'm roughly halfway done!
Francis' Contact Links:
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