Indie Fantasy Author Spotlight: John H. Carroll
John H Carroll, Author of The Willden Trilogy
Welcome to the weekly Indie Fantasy Author Spotlight. Today we feature John H. Carroll, author of The Willden Trilogy. Thanks for stopping by, John! I enjoyed your interview!
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Beth: What got you into writing this book in the first place? Tell us a little about your trilogy.
John: I love fantasy books, especially the epic adventure style. My original attempts to write were more like learning processes and I wanted to start this one from scratch. I began with an image of a valley that had been in my mind for years. It included a man returning to a lone homestead in that valley and tragedy that followed.
The problem was that I had no idea what happened after that, so everything from there was written without any sort of an outline. I sent them through a magical forest called The Willden Forest. Then the concept of the Rojuun came about, a beautiful race of artists that wants to enslave the human race. It was after the book was written that I finally decided on the name of the book: Rojuun and it wasn’t until the third book was begun that I finally decided to call it the Willden Trilogy after the forest many of the events take place in. All three books in the trilogy are available and I’ve begun writing a new trilogy in a different part of the world.
Beth: Fascinating! What was the most fun thing to do during the writing, producing or marketing of your book?
John: The most fun was the adventure itself and creating the characters. I didn’t know anything about them beforehand, so everything that happened was just as new to me as it is to a person reading the book for the first time. As a result, I was able to go anywhere I pleased with the story.
Beth: Sounds like fun! What are readers saying about your book?
John:
“A well-paced novel with diverse, believable characters and lands that come to life through skillful description, Rojuun doesn’t disappoint.” — from a Smashwords review
“Rojuun is a well written interesting story. I liked the characters and the world. This book was enjoyable, and I wasted no time purchasing the second book. Book one ended well. Although the ending hints at things to come, the story is complete. It is like a good meal: I was satisfied, but still want more.” — from an Amazon review
Beth: Nice reviews! Now I’m curious and look forward to exploring your work. I was wondering …why did you decide to Indie publish?
John: The thought of going through years of finding an agent who would take years to find a publisher just didn’t seem like an acceptable use of my efforts. Indie publishing allowed me to put forth my work to the public right away and earn 60-85% of each sale. There was the raw thrill of knowing that if my writing was no good readers would let me know, but if my writing was good, they would tell me that too. It also gives me the ability to put my personality quirks and individuality in my writing, rather than having someone force it to fit into a formula.
Beth: What advice do you have to authors just starting out?
John: Write a lot, market a little and don’t give up if you don’t sell a million copies right away. Writing can be fun, so enjoy the experience.
Beth: Anything else you’d like to share?!
John: eBooks, especially from Indie authors, are an extraordinary new experience for writers and readers alike. There is no longer an artificial gate to prevent creativity and art from shining through. I’m having a great deal of fun writing and publishing my own books and I hope readers everywhere are relishing the brand new playground that exists for their imaginations.
Links:
To the book, Rojuun
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.
Blog: http://www.ryallon.blogspot.
John H. Carroll author pages:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/John-H.-
Smashwords: http://smashwords.com/profile/
ABOUT THE BOOK
Rojuun, Book 1 of The Willden Trilogy: Rumors are spreading about a new race called Rojuun. They appeared from the depths of the mountains eight hundred years ago with the intention of taking over the world. Tathan of the Shadows has been charged with learning more about them. However, he must learn more about his very unusual companions before he can succeed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John H. Carroll was the youngest of seven children and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970 where he was kept in a dresser drawer with the clean socks. Luckily, he wasn’t kept with the dirty socks or else he might have grown up to become slightly warped. As an adult, John spent most of his time staring at a computer screen in an attempt to avoid people. He still stares at the monitor for hours, imagining what it would be like to explore different worlds. He has been married to his wonderful wife for 14 years and they have three obnoxio . . . wonderful children who always behave . . . when they’re asleep.
