Brett Humphrey Interview Published on: 31, Mar 2021

I grew up in the city of Orange in Southern California, USA.

I wrote a lot of stories when I was a child but never did anything with them other than sharing them with my parents. I decided to write a book to publish in early 2019 and I began writing Awakening which I published in December 2019.

My parents used to read to me when I was a child and my dad would use different voices for the characters. That began a love for reading at an early age. I used to love ordering books in the classroom through the Scholastic Book Fair program and would devour books. When I was in fifth grade, our class held a competition to see who could read the most book pages during the year. While the majority of the students read hundreds of pages, another student and I read thousands of pages during the school year.

I have worked as an educator as well as a children's pastor and I loved the opportunity to teach children at their level. When I was a classroom teacher, I would read to my students every day and use voices for each of the characters. This was a highlight for my students each day.

She gave me the time I needed to make it happen. Our children are adults so sitting down to write, after working all day at my full-time job, she gave me space and time to write each night. I would also take time each morning to sit for an hour at the local Starbucks to write before work. She is also one of my Beta Readers and gives me honest feedback on the stories I write.

Awakening took me the longest to write because I hadn't written anything for a very long time.

The first person who comes to mind is Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. I wanted Alister to be someone who would stand up for those weaker than himself. I also wanted someone who could maintain his personality and humor even when faced with such radical changes.

Everyone can do something to stand up for what and protect the weak.

I am intrigued by a book when a title catches my eye, so I believe it is very important. I try to sum up the main message/theme in the book and use that in my title.

I took a creative writing course in college because I was excited about reading, but at the end of the course, I decided I couldn't write books so I stopped trying. The professor wasn't encouraging as much as had his opinion on what types of stories should be written (Hemingway, Steinbeck, etc.). If I could, I would go back to my younger self and tell myself to write stories that I want to read because there are always other people who like those stories too.

Mkali Kentauro. When I first wrote the character of Mkali, I thought she would show up for a paragraph or two and then fade into the background. Instead, I fell in love with her spirit and willingness to stand up for others. As I wrote more of her story, I was impressed with her as a person and how she faced racial discrimination while she lived on Earth but didn't let that stop her from standing up for others. Her name means "Fierce" in Swahili and she is a fierce character. I loved her so much she appears in books three and Four and I gave Mkali her own series. Book One is called Fierce Protector.

I read, a lot. I average 1-2 books per week and I am constantly trying to improve my own writing.

I have started another new series with Cyndi the mermaid as the main character. The first book is called Scales of Justice and it takes place on Earth. It is still set in the Dragonborn Universe, just as Fierce Protector is, and you will see Alister, Aileene, Bernie and Shelley show up in these books as well. Cyndi lives in Newport Beach, California, and owns a party business specializing in mermaids for birthday parties, but she also works to take down evil people on Earth. She works for a secret organization of shifters on Earth and works directly for King Alister. It has action, adventure, magic, and mermaids.

I am currently working on Scales of Justice, after that, I will work on Winter, Dragonborn Book Five then Fierce Opposition, Therian Shapeshifter Academy Book Two.

All Author has helped by tweeting, writing reviews, giving me tools for book promotion, artwork and a network to draw from. I have had great experience working with All Author.