Since how long have you been living on the mid-Atlantic shore of the US?
Thank you, AllAuthor, for this wonderful opportunity to share my background and inspirations. I have vacationed here every year of my life, so it made sense since I can work from home to live where my family will always visit. In 2016 we moved from Wisconsin to the eastern shore permanently, where we can eat blue-fin crabs, drink craft beer, swim the Atlantic Ocean and kayak the bays.
What have been your most valuable out-of-school learning experiences?
International business travel has allowed me to gain friends on every continent, visit and experience different cultures firsthand, and see world heritage sites and museums around the globe.
What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
I enjoy most forms of fiction and select non-fiction books. I have been working my way through the “classics” of literature and I enjoy literary novels as well as Historical works, fantasy and science fiction.
When and how did you decide that you wanted to write?
My first efforts to write were as a teenager and I always enjoyed the written word. At University I published a number of poems and short stories, and even won awards, including cash which is so welcome as a poor student. From 1987 to 1991, I wrote for the publishers of the Dungeon & Dragons games for their magazines, books and boxed sets, and in the intervening years I have written a number of technical articles and non-fiction works.
How did you begin writing the Forerunner Viking Fantasy Series?
I was reading a newspaper article on “weird beliefs of the world” and it described a medieval Scandinavian belief in a “vardoger” also known as a “Fyreferd” or a “forerunner,” which is a ghost of a living person that precedes them into rooms, kind of like reverse “déjà vu” experience for witnesses. I immediately thought, how could this happen to a real person? And what would it mean in a superstitious time? What if it was a kid? How could he become accepted and not be driven away? Investigating history and culture and beliefs of the Scandinavians during the Viking Era, I decided to set my series of novels in the late 9th Century, when a period of 15 years encompassed Viking invasions in Ireland, the founding of Viking Normandy, the unification of Norway, the mass emigration to Iceland and the unification of the petty kingdoms of Britain into the country England. As an author, this period gave me a sweeping historical backdrop for my main characters to act their parts in major events while dealing with their own personal challenges.
How did you write a satisfying end to a first book, Thorfinn and the Witch's Curse in The Forerunner Series?
For me, the first and the last chapters were the easiest to write, because from the initial formative notes I had envisioned a final confrontation as the culmination of how a “vardoger” could become a real hero, both in a ghostly realm and in the real, physical world. Book 1 of the series defines a historical setting and introduces the reader to our family of heroes and heroines, provides an origin story for our vardoger and a basis for fantasy and supernatural elements based on common Scandinavian beliefs of the time.
Who inspired the character of Thorfinn in "The Vardoger Boy"?
The story is told by a number of narrators, as the family is separated by war, blood feuds, and sworn commitments—this allows me to encompass a number of locations and follow many different adventures, with the vardoger boy as the unifying character over the entire series. The Thorfinn story threads are the only “fantasy” elements, and the inspiration for the character Thorfinn came from a number of sources, such as how Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations is thrust into adventures with little personal control, and certain scenes, such as the confrontation with the Tangie under the Humber Estuary are purposefully designed to be reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins facing Gollum for the first time.
How much did you research about the Agneson clan in England and Scandinavia circa 890 while writing your book?
There is a lot of historical research and current Viking scholarship in this series. Going beyond the typical mythological investigations of Norse gods, the wedding preparations and final scenes, historical references and actual historical characters such as Alfred of Wessex, the superstitions and Siedr magic beliefs, and the construction of buildings and longships were painstakingly researched to have the most up to date knowledge underpinning the story line.
We see that you are an acrylic collage artist as well as a writer—what can you tell us about that?
I started painting for relaxation in 1996 and was surprised to find I had some raw talent. After a few courses, in 2002 I took a 2-week immersive course on “finding your own style.” By 2007 I had worked through a trial and error period and finally did find a style of layering handmade Asian papers and newspaper calligraphy with rich, multi-layered colors to create landscapes. To my own surprise, at that time my work began to sell. I am most proud of the set of tree themed paintings hanging in the offices of a law Firm in Dayton, Ohio, facing a wide window overlooking the Great Miami River. I am represented by 2 midwestern US galleries and I have placed over 100 paintings in private collections in the US and Europe. Currently I am only painting on a commission basis.
Having traveled across the globe for business, what country's people did you find the most fascinating?
Being a history buff, traveling to Asia was the most thrilling and engaging for me. Spending time visiting the palaces of Agra and Jaipur India and my multiple trips to China were quite memorable, although I have spent the most actual time in England, The Netherlands and Spain. As for making an impression on me, I have traveled to York, UK three times and the Jorvik Viking tour had a great influence on the Thorfinn stories—I highly recommend spending a few days in York, with the Science Museum, ghost tours and the Shambles, it is really a wonderful place to visit.
How do you find new places to kayak and people to kayak with?
My lovely wife is my kayaking companion. We have a folding Kayak (no promotions here but if you have interest, direct message me for a recommendation), the type used by the US Navy Seals, and we can fit it in the back of our car and even take on a plane. The area where we live has a number of bays, waterways, old canals and of course, the ocean—we are on the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay, where there are barrier islands with wild ponies, lots of rivers and navigable streams and lowland, brackish water swamps. And this is one of the best areas in the nation for bird watching as it is on the annual migration paths north and south as well as home to egrets, osprey, heron, bald eagles, ducks, loons, hawks, songbirds and hummingbirds!
Is it better to write a series or a book that ends after one?
This is an interesting question, as I have already mapped out six novels for the Forerunner Series and expect it to be completed in nine books, and each is designed to stand alone as a story while carrying the children of Agne and Gurid across the Medieval World in Viking Age. Like Mitchner or GRR Martin, I wanted to create an epic series that while based on history would still be entertaining first and foremost, and I found that the many threads of the clan’s adventures carry on past each novel’s conclusion. On the other hand, I have a “single book” story in the works and I read a lot of fine books that are resolved most satisfactorily in a single, stand-alone work. I don’t think I have a preference—I have a lot more of the Viking Age stories to tell, so it has become a series.
What did you eat, only to regret it moments later?
(Insert laughter here!) Seriously, I have tried many, many foods and all of them were delicious or at the least interesting. The only food that immediately threatened to come back up was a delicacy in the Philippines, and the only reason I had difficulty with it was the thought of what made it crunchy…. Good thing for lots of beer! J
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I am more than halfway through the first draft of “On Viking Seas,” Book 3 of the Forerunner Series. I am enjoying weaving the Nordic legends into the story while providing insight into life in Medieval Eddisbury in Mercia before Alfred’s daughter built it into her fortress burh, as well as the lives of slaves in the tin mines of Devonshire. With the maps completed and the cover ready, that book is planned for release on 2 April 2021. And I have begun the maps and cover for Book 4, tentatively titled “Kara Agnesdatter, Shield Maiden” and scheduled for a holiday 2021 release.
When did you join AllAuthor? What do you think of the experience so far?
I joined AllAuthor in late 2019—I had released my debut novel and a writer friend had recommended AllAuthor as a set of tools for the independent author managing the modern self-publishing world. There are a number of scam sites and author services which do not deliver, and I will admit I have tried a few. AllAuthor consistently provides effective marketing tools such as the GIF and banner tools, reliable tweet services and weekly promotional images. I look forward to continuing my relationship with this excellent resource for author support.
