Neil McGarry & Daniel Ravipinto have written The Duchess Of The Shallows.
1. What is your name and where do you call
home?
We're Neil McGarry and Dan Ravipinto and we
currently reside in Philadelphia.
2. What is the name of your most recent
book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or less words, what would you say?
Our most recent book - the first we've
written together - is entitled "The Duchess of the Shallows". It's
about a young woman who is invited to join a secret society of spies and
rumormongers known as the Grey.
3. Do you have plans for a new book? Is
this book part of a series?
Yes to both! We're currently hard at work
on the sequel to Duchess, entitled The Fall of Ventaris.
4. What or who inspired you to start
writing? And how long have you been writing?
Actually, a game inspired us to write
Duchess' adventures. She started as a character in a role-playing game and as
we went along, we became more and more interested in her and the world she
inhabited: the fog-shrouded, rumor-haunted city of Rodaas.
The stories we told through the game
eventually led us to the tales that we tell in the novels. Both of us have been
writing and telling stories since we were small, so it was a natural
progression.
5. How did you come up with the cover? Who
designed the cover of your book?
The cover was designed by the amazingly
talented Amy Houser, who's both an artist and a toy designer. We approached her
with the idea of doing a cover and she came up with the great image of Duchess
and the "P" coin - the part of the plot that kicks off Duchess'
interactions with the Grey - standing with the city rising from the fog behind
her. She also drew a beautiful city map for the inside of the book.
6. Is there anything you would change about
your book covers?
Amy actually submitted four initial
sketches for the covers and we wish we could have used them all!
7. How did you come up with the title for
your book?
All of the books in the series have a
double meaning. The Duchess of the Shallows is our main character - her name is
Duchess and the area of the city she lives in is known as "The
Shallows" - but more importantly, it describes the position she aspires
to: something of a minor powerbroker amongst the city's lowest.
8. Is there anything you would change
about your book? And why?
You can always look back at what you've
done and see the shortcomings. We could have endlessly tinkered and changed and
revised, but there comes a point where you have to call your work done and move
on. Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good.
9. Do you have a book trailer? And what
are your thoughts on book trailers?
We don't have a trailer, but we DO have a
dorky introductory video to the books and ourselves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nplNpBLi8ew).
As with any promotional material, the value of book trailers lies in letting
readers understand what they're in for and how the story feels.
10. Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks,
hardcovers or audiobooks?
Neil: Dan has long read e-books, but I'm a
recent convert. But I'm making up for lost time!
11. Are you a self-published / Indie
author?
We are. We did all of the editing and
layout ourselves, and reached out to Amy Houser to help us with the cover. Both
of us are really excited about the technology that's made self-publishing
possible. Only a few years ago, what we're doing - the sheer number of people
we're able to reach - would've been impossible.
12. Have you ever read a book more than
once? And if so what was it?
Dozens between us.
Neil: Watership Down. Many, many times.
Dan: I've re-read and enjoyed R.A.
MacAvoy's books (Damiano, Tea with the Black Dragon, etc) since I was a child.
More recently, it seems I pick up and re-read David Foster Wallace's Infinite
Jest every couple of years.
13. Have you ever read a book just based on
its cover?
Neil: I bought George R.R. Martin's
"Game of Thrones" based solely on the back-cover blurb.
Dan: I ended up reading L.E. Modesitt, Jr's
"Of Tangible Ghosts" just because I found the cover image so
intriguing.
14. What book are you reading at the
moment? And in what format?
Neil: I'm currently reading Jenna Moran's
"Fable of the Swan" in Kindle format.
Dan: I just finished Lev Grossman's
"The Magicians" in paperback.
15. Do you have any advice for other
writers? And what’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to
writing?
Neil: My advice to other writers: Never
think that writing isn't hard work.
Dan: One of the best pieces of advice I
ever got was from my friend Dave, back in college. I had a tendency to try to
cram all of my world-building into my stories right up front. Dave told me to think
of my world as a beach that my reader had to walk across. All I needed to
describe was the sand beneath their feet.
16. Where can your readers follow you?
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/trackerneil
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/TrackerNeil
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/peccable
We have a page for Duchess at Peccable
Productions: http://www.peccable.com/duchess
Thankyou so much for taking the time to do this interview and allowing us a glimpse into your writing world!
No comments:
Post a Comment