Interview with Susan Cartwright, author of Wolf Dawn and Wolf Revenge.

Here's my interview with Susan Cartwright, author of Wolf Dawn and Wolf Revenge. Susan is an amazing author and the first two books of her Forsaken Worlds series are amazing, especially Wolf Dawn, which I placed as my second favourite novel of 2012. I hope you guys like my review, please check out my reviews of Susan's books and please, if you like sci-fi, check out Susan Cartwright's novels!

1) Wolf Revenge is the second book in your debut series. What inspired you to write Wolf Dawn and Wolf Revenge as your first books?

I had them in my mind for years. Dune, Ursila Le Guin and other SF author’s. But Wolf Dawn is a coming of age story, and I perhaps my own childhood and experiences were coming through there.

2) In Ash’s world, I really liked the idea of Icom and the description of planets such as Opan.  I thought the idea of the red coloured sky was brilliant and made Opan a unique planet in the book. As a sci-fi author, what inspires you to come up with these great ideas for your novels?

I have no idea! I just saw the world that way, and then I imagined a scientific reason for it to be that way. As for Icom, well I think that is the way of the future. People will have computers they can access right from their brain. If you had that chance, to have instant computing power and Google on tap wouldn’t you take it? Already they have found that human thought is a wavelength. The brain should be able to understand and use an internal Wi-fi computer. There you are. That is my prediction for what will happen in the next 300 years.

3) Both Wolf Dawn and Wolf Revenge are a mixture of science fiction and romance. I always refer to your novels as sci-fi books, but how do you see your novels and yourself as an author? Do see yourself as a sci-fi writer, a romance writer or a mixture of both?

Ha! Well, that is the problem isn’t it? It is SF, because these things could happen in the future. Who could say they couldn’t? But it is Fantasy, or even paranormal because hey – that kind of stuff doesn’t happen yet. As for romance, I like a little romance and /or sex in a book. Not to the realms of erotic, but honestly, sex and romance is part of life and thus some part of my books. Not unlike eating or sleeping, or any other bodily need. Anyone who says otherwise is in denial or has lost all their hormones! So I guess for a sense of realism, I like to throw a bit of romance and or sex in, why not?

4) In both of your books, there are many different and unique characters such as Ash, Larren and Neopol. Is there any particular character in the two novels that you relate yourself too? If so, who would it be and why? (I hope you don’t compare yourself to Neopol!)

Humm. Well. I guess it would have to be Ash. Let us just say I am familiar with guilt and self-doubt, and Ash is too. As for Neopol!  I used to work in jails as a nurse, and in psych units where the clients had committed capital crimes. Neopol is a combination of some of the people I actually knew. He is a messed up man/ woman. Then there is Larren. Who wouldn’t love Larren? He is an all around normal sort of guy, just trying to do the right thing. I think a lot of people can identify with both Ash and Larren.

5) What novels do you enjoy reading in your spare time?

Oh my gosh. I read them all. Herbert, Lois McMaster Bujoid, David Gemmel, Bernard Cornwell, JK Rowling and Georgette Heyer. I went through a WW2 phase, and pretty well covered the subject from German, Japanese, the US, British, American and even Russian authors. I even like Westerns, so there honestly isn’t much I don’t enjoy as long as it is well written.  

6) Finally, as an author who has just released their second book, what advice would you give to any aspiring authors out there that want to write their own novels?

1. Work out your style. Are you a 1^st person or a third person author.

2. If you don’t know your style, find a good author you like, and model your writing style from that. Don’t worry that you will copy them. You will write differently anyway. You are unique! And you have a unique story to tell.  It took me a long time to figure out my style, and I wish I had just copied someone else’s rather than reinventing the wheel as I did. I did it the hard way! I wish someone had given me this simple advice before I wrote my first 100,000 words!

3. Get your point of view POV straight. Don’t go back and forth between POV – lots of new authors mess that one up.

4.I used Online Writers Workshop (OWW) they really are great. You can submit a story and people will review it and you review others. It is fun. The only catch here is in getting really terrible advice! But you have to go with what you KNOW in you heart. If it is good for you, to hell with everyone else’s POV.

5. When I finally finished a manuscript, I paid a real author to go through it. David Bischoff has written 80 different books and he gave me all sort of tips re: keeping the reader on track and such. You can’t beat a professional for good advice.

6. Finally, the only good authors are writing! You have to write and write and write. After your first 200,000 words you will have an idea of what you are doing, that is for sure. No one can really tell you how to do it in the end. It can be hours in the chair, day after day, fighting with your self-doubt and insecurities. But so many times the words just fly out and I find that I am so happy. I LOVE reading, but writing is SOOOOOO much better because you are really living the story as you write it. So the pay back is worth it. But as I say, it is not for the faint hearted. Like any artist someone will dislike what you do. But who cares? I get a kick out of my fan mail. When people really GET what I was trying to say, that is a fun reward for me. That and when I am in the writing zone, and I know my characters and I can hear them speaking. OMG there is such joy in writing then. It makes it all worthwhile.

I hope you enjoyed! I'd like to say a massive thank you to Susan for talking the time to answer my questions! Please check out her novels here.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win three FREE copies of  Wish by C. H. Aalberry! To enter, just follow the instructions on this post and for more information click here.

Wolf Revenge, Susan Cartwright

Publishers: Hotspur Publishing

Pages: 358

Main Characters:

Ash, Larren, Neopol, Lindha, Rositha

Wolf Revenge is the second book in Susan Cartwright’s epic The Forsaken Worlds series. The novel picks up the plot straight after Wolf Dawn and sees our hero Ash, the Trueborn, set out on his mission to kill Larren Forseth- the man wrongly accused of killing Ash’s race! Ash tracks Larren down on the planet of Kalar and with the help of his love Lindha, sets off on his journey to the planet that is currently under quarantine.

On the planet’s surface, Larren Forseth is doing all he can to help the people of Kalar against the plague that has rapidly spread over the world. Larren came to Kalar five years ago in the hope of finding Ash and Ash’s mother. Larren needs to explain to them that he was framed for the genocide of Ash’s race by the evil genius that is Admiral Neopol Jones. Larren has no idea that the much older, stronger and revengeful Ash is coming to hunt him down!

Luckily, Larren manages to overpower Ash and convinces him that he is not his true enemy. Larren lets Ash mind-touch him and read his thoughts, proving that Neopol killed the Delians. After the experience of mind-touch, Ash and Larren become like brothers as they have shared their minds, thoughts, memories and bodies together. Larren agrees to help Ash gain the revenge he seeks against Neopol and with the help of a vision, forms a plan to kill the serpent-like Admiral Jones!

What the two new friends don’t realise is that Neopol has finally tracked them down! Neopol knows that together Ash and Larren are too powerful to capture. Instead, Neopol goes for the one thing that will bring Ash to his knees and that is Lindha! Ash and Larren must find a way to finally kill the evil Neopol before he tortures or murders Ash’s beloved Lindha. But, will the two heroes do it in time? Or will the cunning Neopol finally capture Ash and Larren?

This was another great read from Susan Cartwright! I think the reason I love this series so much is because of the technology and worlds Cartwright creates in her novels. I think this is most apparent in her small paragraphs that start each new chapter. Each of these gives a little bit of background from the world Cartwright creates (I believe it’s called Fluff?) and helps fill you in on past events which you may not have known otherwise.  In addition, the detail in describing the planet of Opan and its atmosphere and animals really makes the book great to read. This is because the detail makes the world seem much more real and believable.

 I also really liked the story, especially the end and the fact Ash and Larren teamed up to take on Neopol. I’ll admit that I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I did with Wolf Dawn. I think this was because I liked Ash a lot less in this novel, as his wolf side seemed to take over a lot, making him irritable and irritating! Nevertheless, the book was still a great read and I can’t wait for the next instalment in the series!

I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Susan’s other book Wolf Dawn. I’d also suggest this book to anyone that is a fan of Seth Garnell’s futuristic novel The Freedom Club or if you are a fan of sci-fi novels and want to try something new.

For author’s official website click here.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a FREE copy of the The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe! To enter, just follow the instructions on this post and for more information click here.

Just a quick update...

Hey guys. Some of you might remember that I posted a review of Wolf Dawn by Susan Cartwright the other week and said that I was not a fan of the cover.

Well....

Susan e-mailed me with her new cover, here it is!

I think the new cover looks great! It really shows what the book is about with the spaceship crashing onto a foreign world. It also clearly defines the book as a sci-fi novel which I didn't think the old cover did.

But what do you think, let me know in the comments below and go and check out Susan's great book at Amazon.co.uk

Wolf Dawn, Susan Cartwright

Publishers: Hotspur

Pages: 344

Main Characters:

Ash, Lindha, Neopol Jones, Larren Forseth

Hundreds of centuries in the future, where humans have conquered and settled the galaxy, Wolf Dawn tells the tale of Ashton Chayton; the Prince of Delian. Delian was one of the first planets in the galaxy to become colonised by the human race. Because of this fact, the long period of habitation there has given the Delians a unique evolutionary gift, the ability to mind-touch. Mind-touch lets Delians read another being’s mind and for a time, lets them jump into that being’s body and become them. However, the gift is also a curse on the Delians as the evil and cunning Admiral Neopol Jones and his overlord John Andros attack Delian in an attempt to exterminate the Delian race because of this unique gift!

Luckily, Ash’s father, the King of Delian, mind-touches Neopol Jones and discovers his plans. The King smuggles Ash and his mother off Delian in an attempt to save his life and in an attempt to save the Delian race. They make it just in time and escape into space. However, this is only the first trail in young Ashton’s life. The death of his home world will plague him for the rest of his life. Ash’s need for revenge will see him grow older and stronger in the hopes of killing the man who was wrongly accused of destroying Delian; Larren Forseth. But during that time, Ash will learn to control his gift and find love as he tries to answer the many questions asked about his past and his future.

This book was amazing, but I must confess that when I picked it up to read I didn’t think it was going to be as good as it was. I don’t know why, but I got the feeling the book was going to be about werewolves! I think the front cover threw me a little bit. However, when I started reading it, I was pleasantly and excitingly surprised to find that it was an epic sci-fi novel and I mean it was really epic! From the first page, I was hooked! I love Ashton as a character. He is so vulnerable at the start of the book but he grows to become the hero he is destined to be!

I also loved the detail Susan Cartwright puts into the book. At the top of each chapter there is a short verse giving some context to the themes that happen in the chapter. I thought it was great how Cartwright used these to subtly give some more depth to her universe by giving the reader a little bit of history to help explain events in the book.

What I will say is that there are some weird parts to the book like Ash mind-touching a man who is making love to his mother! It may seem a bit of a strange topic, but stick with it because it is a crucial part in explaining what Ash’s motives and goals are and why he is the way he is.

Overall, this book was great and is by far one of the best books I’ve read this year. I think I liked it so much because it was not what I was expecting. Also, I was already looking for a sci-fi epic to read and Wolf Dawn really fits the bill!

I’d like to say a massive thank you to Susan Cartwright for getting in touch and introducing me to her wonderful work, I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series Wolf Revenge! I would suggest this book to anyone who is a sci-fi lover! If you would like to purchase this novel, it is available in both paperback and for Kindle at Amazon.co.uk.

For author’s official website click here.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a FREE copy of the Sword and Scimitar by Simon Scarrow! To enter, just follow the instructions on this post and for more information click here.