https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TMVDZSL
Heroes of Atlantis looks like an exciting story. Can you tell us a little about Roeg?
Roeg is one of two protagonists in the story. The other is Sephonei. Lets start with Roeg, who is an orphan boy, abandoned by his mother as a child, because she stole a powerful Dragon Rune from the Archmagus of Atlantis.
Sephonei is a Rune Hunter, pressed into service by the Archmagus to find another, more powerful Dragon Rune on the Mainland.
The book follows both stories and the only question is when do they intertwine?
Any plans to turn it into a series?
Yes. From the start, this is planned as a six-book series. The second book is called Heroes of Atlantis: Legend of the Fire Dragon and is almost complete, coming out mid 2021.
This series is written and illustrated by me, so you can bet that the amazing, legendary creatures, like Ork’s, Peryton’s and all other kinds of mythical creatures will get reimagined as I draw them.
That’s an amazing cover. Can you tell us a little about it?
Thanks. As well as illustrating the book, I take great pride in developing my own book covers. This one in particular was tricky because I struggled to get it just right, and designed over fifteen ‘draft’ covers before landing on this one.
Everything has significance, like the moon, the nightprowl’r’s (another legendary creature in the book), Roeg’s hand, and even his broken spear. (You’ll have to read to find out why!)
What inspired you when writing Heroes of Atlantis?
I wrote Firestone: The Dragon’s Blood Prophecy in 2018-19, and released it, and actually, the audiobook is doing quite well on audible, but, Heroes of Atlantis, is a total re-write of that series.
Firestone, was my first novel ever published and although it received really good reviews, I wasn’t happy with the story, so, I reimagined it, renamed it, and changed the entire story to be much richer.
If you like Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus, you’ll love Heroes of Atlantis. Think of Heroes of Atlantis like a mash-up between Riordan and Tolkien.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing Heroes of Atlantis?
Yes. Many things. But one in particular is the language. Because I play with two very different groups: Neanderthals (stone age), and Atlanteans (think advanced steampunk civilization), I needed to totally change writing styles chapter by chapter.
So I took great detail in understanding how each protagonist would see the rich world they live in. For example, the Rune Hunters, who live in Atlantis, a seaport city, speak like dwarves mixed with a Newfoundland (Eastern Canadian) dialect.
Another issue I had was thinking up what other mythical creatures would inhabit this world. In stories today, there is too much similarity, and I wanted to break from the pack and look deeper into the world of mythical creatures and pull out and highlight unknown creatures like the Peryton, which has a large role in the story.
As well, some of the Faie Folk have been ‘reimagined’ as well. Like the wood elves and especially the gnomes! The gnomish folk are nothing like you’ve ever seen before and are not your garden variety gnome! (Again, you’ll have to read book two to find out about the gnomes!)
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I started drawing when I was really young, dreaming up heroes, mythical creatures, ninja turtles (yes I just dated myself there), and a ton of other things, but didn’t start writing until later in life.
Then in 2018 I left my very stable job to start writing. I had been playing around with writing for a very long time, but with a full-time gig, I couldn’t find the time and didn’t have the energy. So one day, I asked myself, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” And now, after I published six books (Assassin Rising series, Heroes of Atlantis series, and How to Write Fantasy series), the rest is history.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
You can check out my website to keep up to date on all my work, plus, if you sign up for my newsletter https://www.ryancarriere.ca/newsletter-download-free-self-pubishing/ you can download my FREE ebook, Masterful Self-Publishing Cheatsheet. I describe how to master Amazon metadata, give you a free publishing checklist, and give you a step-by-step marketing plan. All for Free and it is what I use to launch my books. As of right now, Heroes of Atlantis has been on Amazon for two days, and is currently the #1 New Release, so yay!