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And now...on with the show! This week we are excited to feature author David Meredith. We had the chance to interview David and are thrilled to bring you his answers to our questions. So sit back, relax, and get ready to get to know David on a whole new level as an author.
Author David Meredith
We all love stories – especially yours! Would you
be willing to give the readers a synopsis of your current book?
Sure! Here it is:
What
happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone?
On
the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White
finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony
itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow
White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated
for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and
merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a
neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace.
Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing:
The
king is dead.
The
queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with
no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks
solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused
and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very
same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old.
It
promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a
device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable
harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a
better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her
soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what
"happily ever after" really means?
Only
time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The
Reflections of Queen Snow White.
The phone just rang – it’s a movie deal for your
book! Holy cow – they’ve left it up to you as to where you want them to film on
location, and who will play the starring role…we can’t stand the suspense.
Where and who is it?
I
think Rooney Mara (from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network)
has the right look and acting chops for Snow White. Diane Kruger (from
Inglorious Bastards and the two National Treasure movies) is a blonde, but is
German like the original Grimm faerie tale and would probably do a great job
too. Nothing a little hair dye couldn’t fix. For the mirror, perhaps James Earl
Jones or Christopher Lee, but definitely someone with a very distinctive voice
What book or books are you currently working on?
Can we expect a new release soon?
As
a matter of fact, yes. I have a HUGE project I started WAY back in 2004 that is
nearly complete. I lived in Japan for about a decade so I have drawn on that
experience to craft a fantasy series based upon Japanese myth, legend and
folklore, rather than the European model that is so prevalent in fantasy
literature today. Originally it was a 406,000 word behemoth, but I've edited it
down to three volumes that are between 95,000 and 120,000 words each. Here's a
synopsis:
On
the happiest day of the year, Taro’s world ends. His people and his family are
slaughtered. His lands are brutally laid to waste by merciless, imperial
forces. Taro is certain that neither he nor the ghosts of his lost loved ones
can rest until he has visited the same devastation tenfold upon the heads of
the vile collaborators. Consumed with grief for the fallen and guilt at his own
survival, he gathers his scattered people and solemnly vows bloody revenge on
the allies of the Emperor in the neighboring barony.
At
the same time, young Naomi, cherished daughter of the doting Lord of Numanodai,
is blissfully unaware of the chaotic world spinning out of control all around
her. She fervently studies the arts of dance, music, and poetry as she dreams
of being accepted into the distant imperial court. However, when disaster
visits her very doorstep and she loses everything that she holds dear, Naomi
must learn what it truly means to be a woman and a ruler. She must come to
grips with her own gnawing grief and paralyzing doubt if she is to have any
chance of saving her beaten and bedraggled people from Taro’s unreasoning fury.
In
the process, both she and her pursuer discover a magical world of vengeful
akuma demons, fierce kitsune fox-people, droll tanuki badger-folk, and the
mysterious, arcane power of the ikioi. Taro and Naomi must decide whether to
use this power for healing or destruction, revenge or redemption. They must
choose whether to react to their pain and loss with wrath or with love. In the
end, both must come to understand that the only thing that really makes them
different is the choices they make and what they are willing to sacrifice in
attaining that which they desire.
I'm
hoping to release the first volume, Shirobara Falls, sometime later this year.
Love and romance, paranormal, epic fantasy, sci-fi,
mystery, thriller, drama, and the list goes on. Where do your books fall as far
as genre and reading audience?
I
would call it Fantasy/Romance Crossover. There are strong elements of both and The Reflections of Queen Snow White has
been featured and reviewed on web sites and blogs of both types.
Time to go to the movies! Out of all the ones
you’ve seen, what’s your fav? And be sure to tell us why in case we haven’t
seen it and would like to check it out.
I
actually haven’t been to a lot of movies lately, so that’s a tough one. I
suppose it would have to be “Departures”. It’s a Japanese movie (and Oscar
winner) about a cellist whose orchestra disbands forcing him to move back to
his hometown in Yamagata Prefecture (near where I lived in Northern Japan for
nearly a decade). Quite by accident and desperate to make a living, he ends up
working as a mortician in a funeral home where he prepares dead bodies for
funeral and cremation, putting him in conflict with his young wife who thinks
it’s creepy. I would characterize it as a dark comedy with a lot of heart and
an intimate grasp of traditional Japanese culture. I thought it was great.
Social media has become a part of being an author.
What are your 3 best tips of the trade for upcoming authors when it comes to
building their social media platform?
Get
on Goodreads. Put up a web site or blog that focuses on your writing as well as
a Facebook page. Then be prepared to send HUNDREDS of review request letters. Interviews
and features on review blogs can really help you connect with potential readers
as well. It’s a long, hard slog, but if your writing is up to snuff AND you
persevere, you can be successful.
How much time do you devote to writing? Daily –
weekly – monthly – whenever the urge strikes?
These days almost all of
my time is spent promoting my work. Without a marketing department if you don’t
spend several hours a day trying to get your stuff out there, it is most likely
going to languish, unread on Amazon. I will say though that before I really got
serious about marketing The Reflections of Queen Snow White, I tried to spend
at least 3-4 hours per day on my writing, or as much as I could whenever I had
a few spare minutes. If you want to get serious about being an author, expect
to spend TONS of time.
What is your favorite make-believe place you’ve
ever created in a story? Is it a town? A hide-out? A futuristic city? The
possibilities are endless! Please tell us all about your fav as we’d all love
to escape with you!
In
Shirobara Falls, which I mentioned
earlier, I have created a world that is based heavily upon the history, myth,
legend, language, culture, and even geography of Northern Japan. I lived in
Yamagata Prefecture for nearly a decade all together and LOVED my life there. I
feel like there is a whole lot of truth in the land of Wa and Sankei Prefecture
– and I think that really makes it my favorite. In a lot of ways, it’s a real
place.
Who is your favorite character that you have
created? Tell us about him or her and why you are so fond of them.
I
love my Snow White, of course. On the
surface she might seem like a kinda vanilla character but I also felt like she
had a particularly and mostly untapped potential for some really interesting
darkness. After all, she had a truly horrible upbringing – the tragic death of
both parents, left in the care of an abusive woman who despised her,
disassociation from her peers, isolation, loneliness, depression… I think these
are all elements that really work to elevate the level of drama and move the
story forward in a way that is especially gripping and impactful.
How do you deal with rejection when you submit an
MS?
If
you are working hard enough – sending enough queries out – you don’t have time
to even think about it. Assume you’ll be rejected when dealing with traditional
publishers. Even if your MS is good most publishers have a certain number of
slots allocated for the kinds of thing they want to publish in a given year
usually based upon what was popular in the previous year. Traditional
publishers want to make money. They are adverse to risk and their decisions are
based upon what they KNOW will sell. That generally means predictable plots and
going with authors they’ve already published and sold before. New is unknown
and therefore scary. It’s really important not to internalize rejection. It
isn’t necessarily any indication of the quality of your work.
To ebook or not to ebook – that is the question.
What’s your take?
Well, I don’t have a
physical version of The Reflections of Queen Snow White yet so yes, I’m in
facor of E-books. If you’re a good author with not a lot of money they can
honestly be the only way you are going to get you work out there. I’m
definitely in favor.
Available on: Amazon
Feel free to check out my
Facebook page:
Or my web page!
Goodreads:
Twitter:
@DMeredith2013
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And that's a wrap! Be sure to visit David's links, "Like" his Facebook page, follow him on Twitter, and best of all - pick up a copy of his book.
Until next time. . .stay casual, live life to the fullest, and have a piece of chocolate for me ;-)
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