Hazelhearth Hires Heroes by D.H. Willison - Book Tour + Giveaway
Release Date: 7/29/2021
Welcome to Hazelhearth: our picturesque city is nestled in a tranquil corner of the empire. Fitness lovers enjoy vigorous nature walks in the surrounding forest (don’t forget your sword!) Foodies savor rich, robust walnut-based cuisine. Or visit the gnome quarter for a walk on the wild side! Local mines and orchards beckon with plentiful employment opportunities, while workers sleep safe knowing that stout city walls keep mythic monsters at bay. A select few may even be chosen for exciting quest opportunities.
The onslaught of subterranean hordes? Oh, that’s happening miles away. And the elves have it completely under control.
Inquire today at the Hazelhearth board of tourism, employment, and heroics!
How could Sam and Lee say no? Lee is bored to tears as a telegrapher. His
only excitement in life is the revolutionary new board game he’s creating.
And of course constant disruptions at work by Sam, whose high voltage
experiments wreak havoc with nearby electric systems. These two
best buddies… colleagues...
acquaintances are ready to escape from 19th century America into a more
exciting world!
Author Interview
1. If you could tell
your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Seek out a critique
group. You learn so much by both giving and receiving critiques from other
writers.
2. Favorite childhood
memory involving books?
My parents had a set
of vintage Wizard of Oz books. As soon as I could read, I could be found many a
Sunday afternoon on the living room floor reading them again and again.
3. What fantastical
fictional world would you want to live in (if any) given the chance?
Honestly, I love my
own world of Arvia, it’s one of the things that helps me write it. I’ll have
thoughts like, “Wouldn’t it be really cool it there were a city entirely
populated by giant rodents. And they are friendly and brew excellent beer.” Of
course, I don’t know how long I’d actually survive there, but for the time I
did survive, it would be EPIC!
4. Did you want to be
an author when you grew up?
Nope. I wanted to
design space ships. Or explore new worlds. Or find the location of a forgotten
civilization deep underground, and explore that. Regrettably, none of these
turned out to be viable options.
5. If you had to
describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Slightly too weird?
6. What is your most
unusual writing quirk?
I write a lot of
things out of sequence. Sometimes I’ll even write the last line of a book
before the first.
7. What’s one movie
you like recommending to others?
How to Train Your
Dragon. It always puts me in a good mood.
8. If you could own
any animal as a pet, what would it be?
Can it be a dragon?
If so, totally a dragon. But one of the nicer ones like toothless, not the
‘burn your kingdom to ash’ types.
9.
What is the first book that made you cry?
Do
you mean while reading it or while writing it? ‘Cause I cry during the editing
phase of most of my books.
10.
How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
The
actual writing is usually about six months, but I’m gathering ideas and
thoughts for quite a while before that. As I’m writing, I’ll frequently have
some idea that I love, but just won’t work for my current book, so I collect
all those, and in some cases even write entire scenes or outline chapters that
don’t work with my current project. So when I actually start a “new” project,
there’s usually already an outline, some chapter drafts, and a whole document
of ideas.
11.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Inefficiently!
I usually try for a variation on real names or I’ll look for a word with some
relevant meaning, usually in a foreign language. If it’s real names, I’ll go
through common names within a certain country, and usually come up with some
country and/or time period that has names that fit the “feel” I’m going for. I
try to keep cultures within my world having some consistent naming convention.
Then I’ll make sure it isn’t awkward to pronounce (unless I’m deliberately
making it awkward for plot purposes. Or a joke. For example the character
Frongd’k from Hazelhearth Hires Heroes is deliberately awkward. And hilarious.
Trust me on this one). And if it’s a made-up or modified name, I’ll check to
make sure I haven’t accidentally used a horrible curse word in another
language. Like I said, inefficient. I should just call everyone Dave or Sue.
12.
What creature do you consider your "spirit animal" to be?
Is
this another question I can answer with dragons? If so, a dragon. The astute
reader may notice a theme going here regarding dragons.
13.
If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?
Cry.
Then read a little. Then cry some more. Eventually I would probably figure out
some sort of epic post-apocalyptic stunt to do. Then, just as I am about to do
it, I’d realize that the ER was understaffed, and chicken out.
14.
What fictional character would you want to be friends with in real life?
Any
of the more friendly of the giants from my world, like Rinloh the harpy,
Leomaris the merman, or Loredona the mermaid.
15.
If you could live in any time period, what would it be and why?
This
is a tough one. On the one hand, a lot of time periods are fascinating from a
culture or historical perspective. Yet living there for any length of time
would probably suck. We recently treated ourselves to a live jazz show, where
the performers would talk about the lives of some of the classic jazz
musicians. And I kept thinking, what would it be like to go to a jazz club in
NYC in the 20’s. But without all the pollution, social inequality, and so forth
that came with that era in reality..
16.
What is your favorite genre to read?
I
tend to alternate between sci-fi and fantasy. Sometimes the pseudo science in
sci-fi is compelling. Sometimes I just want mythic creatures, and “Why does
that happen? Because – magic!”
About the Author
DH Willison is a reader, writer, game enthusiast and developer, engineer, and history buff. He has lived around the world, absorbing history, culture, and food. Actually, he has eaten the food. It has been verified that he is a complex, multicellular life form. Fascinated by nature, technology, and history, and especially anything that can put all three of these together, he has an annoying habit of dragging his wife to the most unromantic destinations imaginable, including outdoor museums, authentic castle dungeons, the holds of tall ships, and even the tunnels of the Maginot Line.
Contact Links
Purchase Links
Giveaway
0 Comments
Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.