Tuesday 8 April 2014

Monthly Interview with Rival Gates

Today I am having an interview with Rival Gates author of an amazing fantasy novel Quest for the Red Sapphire. 

Summary (from Goodreads)

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Summary: 


The book centers around Linvin Grithinshield, a half-elf general called home from the goblin wars to 
run the lucrative family trading business after his father's disappearance. Only after his mother's murder does he discover his destiny is to be the Master of the Red Sapphire, the most powerful magic any mortal can possess. Together with his wise but mysterious Uncle Anvar and his infuriating cousins Bander and Rander, Linvin must flee the would-be assassins and find the gem before the sinister forces from whom he flees find the stone and take it for a dark purpose.

Interview: 

Katie: Hello, thank you for this interview, how are you?

Rival Gates:  I am fantastic.  Thank you for taking the time to interview me.  You have a wonderful blog.

K.: It’s nice to hear. Can you tell us more about yourself?

R:  I was raised as the youngest child of an editor and an English teacher.  After dinner we liked to sit around the table as a family and talk.  Every person would tell stories about whatever was going on in their lives.  Between my siblings and parents I heard many different ways of telling tales and everyone seemed to want to tell theirs better than the last.  I learned from my father (the editor) that the best writers were the best story tellers.  If you could tell a good story, you could be a good writer.  That’s when I became interested in being an author.

K.: My first question will be, when did you first start writing?

R:  I took part in numerous writing contests in middle school but started writing for myself when I was 13.  Things in my life were not going so well and I needed an escape from it.  Writing provided me that platform.

K.: Do you remember the first story you ever read and the impact it had on you?

R:  I read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in my formative years and was captivated.  I must have read that book a half dozen times.  The characters were so real and the ideas were so new to me.  It drew me to fantasy storytelling and made me follow the genre.  After reading the series I started playing around with my own ideas for stories.

K.: Why did you write this book and what are your expectations on its behalf?

R:  I wrote this book because I felt I had created a captivating story to tell.  It had started as a short story.  Then it grew to a novel.   Then it grew to a series.  I want to share this with the world and have as many people as possible enjoy my work.  It is a fun escape from everyday life.

K.: What’s the story behind your latest book?

R:Former General Linvin Grithinshield is summoned home from the Goblin Wars after his father’s disappearance to run the family trading empire. Soon his mother is murdered and he is on the run with a price on his head. As a faceless enemy pursues him he must seek out the mythical Red Sapphire. In the proper hands it could take up the cause of many unable to fight for themselves.  In the wrong hands he fears the worst.  Together with his wise uncle and intolerable cousins, Linvin strikes out to find the all-powerful gem.  In a world with enemies from without and within, he must fight his way through the dragons in the sky and cutthroats all around to fulfill his destiny or die in the attempt.

K.: What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

R:  Writing the stories and seeing what you have created from nothing is very rewarding.  My greatest joy, however, happens when someone reads my work and tells me how they could not put it down.  They yearn for the next book in the series.  To get such a response means I must have done something right.

K.: What motivated you to become an indie author?

R:  I wanted my story to be read.  No matter what you think of your own work, you always wonder what others will feel about it.  That feedback is something I think every artist craves.  If your work can make a positive impact in someone else’s life, it is worth every minute of time you have put in creating it.

K.: When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

R: I spend a lot of time with my wife and children.  They bring tremendous joy to my life.  There always seems to be something going on to keep me occupied.

K.: What are you working on next?

R:  The sequel to ”Quest for the Red Sapphire” is called “Sapphire Crucible” and should be out very soon.

K.: Can you describe your desk?

R:  LOL My desk is strewn with papers.  Many of them are storyboards in which I have planned out a conversation or series of events.  I actually find them fun to look over again as I see how I listed the points I wanted to make and then started drawing arrows all over to change the order.  The system works great for me because I can see where I have left things out or placed them incorrectly.  It makes the story flow much better.

K: Anything you would like to tell future writers?

R:  Write about something you are passionate about.  If your excitement isn’t there, your reader’s won’t be either.  If it feels more like work to create something and less like fun, you are probably writing about the wrong thing.

K.: Thank you for the interview. Good luck with the book.

R:  It was my pleasure!  And thank you for having me on your blog.  I wish you the best of success in the future.

K.: Today we had an interview with Rival Gates Author of Quest of the Red Sapphire


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