I am very happy today to have Devorah Fox author of four great novels: The Lost King, The Kings Ransom, Naked Came the Sharks, and just released, The Kings Redress visit Fiction Favorites.
Devorah’s latest novel The Kings Redress, to be released on July 4th is book three in The King Bewilliam series. The books in The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam series have a once-upon-a-time quality, but they address contemporary issues like post-traumatic stress disorder, divorce, career displacement, parent/child relationships, and the conflict between duty and personal ambition.
The King’s Redress asks, “When everyone you trust turns against you, what do you do?” Dragon slayer of renown, Robin, King Bewilliam, has bested both man and beast to battle his way back to the Chalklands and reunite with his sons, but discord threatens the kingdom’s hard-won peace and prosperity. War breaks out and Robin finds that there is no one he can trust, not even his closest knights. Fighting for his throne pits him against a shocking, unsuspected rival. With his own life and lives of all his imperiled subjects at stake, Robin faces off against his fiercest enemy in mortal combat.
John: Devorah Fox has written for television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. Publisher and editor of the BUMPERTOBUMPER® books for commercial motor vehicle drivers, she is also developer of the Easy CDL apps for the iPhone and iPad and author of the literary fantasies “The Lost King” and “The King’s Ransom” and “Naked Came the Sharks,” a contemporary thriller. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she now lives — yes, with the requisite feline writer’s companions — in The Barefoot Palace in Port Aransas on the Texas Gulf Coast where she writes the “Dee-Scoveries” blog and columns of the same name for “The Island Moon” newspaper. Visit http://devorahfox.com or email her at devorahfox@aol.com.
So without further hesitation I want to welcome you, Devorah Fox to Fiction Favorites. Please pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. First of all, thank you for agreeing to an author interview on my blog.
Devorah: Thank you John. I have been looking forward to our interview. Since I live right down the street, I was very grateful not to be forced to do anything more complicated than to walk to your sumptuous writing studio by the sea.
John: Yes the sea is very relaxing. Thank you for referring to my dining room as my sumptuous studio. Can I get you anything to eat or drink? A margarita perhaps?
Devorah: Ah, an adult beverage to loosen my tongue so that I will reveal my deepest darkest secrets. A sly maneuver ….
John: Here you are, I hope you enjoy. Well, now that we are comfortable, I have some questions that I’m sure readers would want to know about you and your books. The first is on the subject of your latest book The Kings Redress. What was the inspiration for the third story in the Bewilliam series which this new release represents?
Devorah: When I set out to write Book Two, The King’s Ransom, there was a topic that I wanted to explore. The characters had other ideas and I ended up writing about something else but I still wanted to tackle that subject, thus the third book. In many ways, I was also urged to write it for fans of The Lost King and The King’s Ransom. Like me, they have become invested in King Bewilliam and want to spend more time with him.
John: How far do you think the series will go? Do you plan to continue the Bewilliam adventures?
Devorah: Frankly, I’m astounded to report that it appears that way. Just this weekend I read something and saw something on TV and found myself thinking What Would King Bewilliam Do? I guess I’ll be writing another book to find out.
John: How much of the character, King Bewilliam is taken from people you know or is he truly out of your imagination?
Devorah: While the character of King Bewilliam developed his own personality and his own psychology, the man and his dilemma in Book One, The Lost King, were definitely inspired by a real person. Apparently, though, his isn’t a unique experience. Many readers told me that they felt The Lost King told their story.
John: It is said your stories although set in a fantasy past are really modern tales. How did you come to make this juxtaposition as you created your characters and stories?
Devorah: My intent with The Lost King was to take an actual set of circumstances, imagine a different outcome and make it all end “happily ever after.” I found myself writing the story as if it were a fable, a tale set in an imaginary time and place. It was simply how the story wanted to be told.
John: You also have released Naked Came the Sharks a thriller. How easy or difficult was it for you to cross genres for this story?
Devorah: Writing contemporary thrillers is somewhat easier than the literary fantasies. I have to do so much research for the King Bewilliam stories. I had to do research for Naked Came the Sharks, too, but there was a lot more information available and it was easier to find. Also, to write the King Bewilliam stories I have to transport myself into The Zone so I can see, hear and feel what it was like to live in the Middle Ages. I have to get into The Zone to write the contemporary thrillers, too, but getting there is a shorter trip.
John: I understand you are working on releasing another thriller. Can you tell us a little about it and when we can expect its release?
Devorah: Dead Line is slated for winter 2014-15. It’s a historic thriller because the action revolves around a specific February, 1993, event. Like all my stories, it’s about a fairly ordinary someone who is simply going about his business and ends up facing an extraordinary challenge. In Dead Line, that’s a suspected Presidential assassination plot.
John: Thinking now about all your books. Which was the most difficult in terms of story flow and character development for you to write?
Devorah: I’d have to stay “what happens” is the most difficult part of storytelling because I start out with a good idea about who the characters are and how they’ll respond.
John: Which is harder for you to write, the beginning, middle or conclusion and why?
Devorah: The conclusion has proven to the hardest. I believe it’s because I fall in love with the characters and don’t want to say goodbye to them. They prove to be complex people and even though a particular story arc is finished, I’m not done with them, or they’re not done with me. I’d also have to say that the beginning is difficult. I think I know what the story is about when I start. Once I’ve gotten into it I discover that it’s really about something else. Then I have to go back and reframe the beginning to suit what the story turned out to be. And OK, the middle isn’t easy either. Let’s face it, John, writing is just plain hard work.
John: This is a question I ask all authors since other authors are always interested in the style of others. Are you a plotter (very planned approach to writing) or a pantser? (seat of pants)
Devorah: I started out being a planner and plotter. Increasingly, especially in the King Bewilliam series, I’ve been a seat-of-the-pants writer. However, I’m finding that to be stressful. There are days when I am in a sheer panic because I don’t have a clue about what to write, so for future projects I’m going to do more planning and plotting, less pantsing and panicking.
John: What is the best advice you were given by another author?
Devorah: “Take your hands off the wheel.” There comes a point when the story has its own momentum. At that point, it’s best for me to stop trying to steer it, to get out of its way and simply go where it wants to go.
John: So I don’t totally exhaust you I think this will be the last question. You are releasing Dead Line, a contemporary thriller slated for winter 2014. Do you have plans for the next book and if so will it be more like Naked Came the Sharks or The Kings Redress?
Devorah: Thanks, John. I’ve been yammering away and have barely touched my margarita! I do have other books simmering, waiting to move to the front burner. I have in mind another contemporary Texas Coastal Bend story. It’s a murder mystery. I know who’s dead, I just don’t know why or whodunit (minor details). This is the classic case of “don’t anger a writer because you’ll end up dead in her next novel.” Also, Sir Maxwell from the King Bewilliam books has been lobbying for his own book. I think his story would make a good Young Adult novel and I’ve been urged to write for the YA genre, so young Sir Maxwell may very well get his wish.
John: I’m sure all of us will look forward Dead Line as well as your next release. In the meantime; all should pick up and read The Kings Redress and any of the other Bewilliam books; The Lost King, The Kings Ransom, as well as the thriller, Naked Came the Sharks. Thank you Devorah it was a real pleasure to chat today. Please come back again.
*****
amazon.com buylink: http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Redress-Bewildering-Adventures-Bewilliam/dp/0977824551.
