https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3GF2SWC/
The Voidwalker Collection looks like an exciting story. Can you tell us a little about it?
The Voidwalker Collection is a little hard to explain without giving too much away. I’ve been calling it a dark, psycho-spiritual fantasy thriller for an adult audience that has some light elements of horror and contemporary drama thrown in. It’s a very personal story that follows the main character through an ordeal that he has to try to make sense of before the darkness that haunts him is able to overtake him.
How long did it take you to write the series?
I’d originally started this series back in 2016 after I finished my debut novel, Digitarum. The first two novellas in this eight-part series were published toward the end of that year and I managed to draft the remaining installments, but the project saw some major disruptions as I had a lot of changes going on in my life and my career (I am not a full-time writer). I took a very long hiatus from the project even though I tried to come back to it a couple of times (with limited success). It wasn’t until this year (2022) that I finally found myself in a place to finish this story. I have a more detailed account of my creative process that’s included in The Voidwalker Collection for anyone who might be interested.
What motivated you to become a writer?
For as long as I can remember, I have always been a little obsessed with telling fantastical stories. My parents recall me reenacting Disney movies like Snow White with the little plastic figures they’d bought for me. During grade school and high school, I tried my hand at writing different stories and even creating comics with colored pencils. None of that work will ever see the light of day, but I think that constant drive to practice the craft of fiction writing is what led me down this path of being a self-published author. Minoring in Creative Writing was also a big step toward being in a place where I felt confident enough to try something like this.
How did you come up with the title to your book?
I wanted something that would sound sort of ominous. I didn’t want it to be anything too on the nose, but I knew it still needed to connect somehow to the story. Readers will likely interpret the connection between the title and the story in different ways which is something I was aiming for as well.
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
Some of the most difficult, but also most enjoyable scenes in the book to write are the fantastical battle sequences that occur throughout the series. People who read the first couple of novellas may not think that the series is all that action packed, but the conflict builds up over the course of the eight installments and some of the bigger fights that take place during the last four novellas are something that I hope readers enjoy as much as I do.
How did you come up with the story and ideas in The Voidwalker Collection?
Since Digitarum was my debut, I wanted to stick to something that I felt I knew really well and felt passionate about so I decided to create my own sort of mythology because of how much I enjoy reading about mythologies from around the world. When considering my next project, I decided that I wanted The Voidwalker Collection to be a much more personal story rather than a big-picture book like Digitarum. I’ve always been a huge fan of mysteries (supernatural or otherwise), especially those told in an episodic sort of format, so I knew right away that I wanted The Voidwalker Novellas to be structured similarly to a big budget show that you might see on a major streaming platform with lots of big reveals, action, and personal drama. In addition to modern television, the series is also inspired by more classical storytellers such as Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I gave a lot of thought to tailoring the series to work well on Kindle since the majority of people who read Digitarum did so digitally. I also personally enjoy reading shorter works of fiction on Kindle since the little percentage indicator increases at a much more satisfying rate than a larger book. While The Voidwalker Collection does come out to about 480 pages in its printed edition, each novella in the series is also available individually on Kindle and can generally be consumed in about 2 hours, so I hope readers will enjoy having all these different options.
In short, I wanted to create a fantastical mystery/thriller that intimately followed a character and offered flexible reading experiences. The Voidwalker Collection is ultimately what resulted from those goals.
What do you like to do when not writing?
As a writer, I do, of course, also enjoy reading a great deal. Brandon Sanderson is one author I am reading a lot of lately, but I also try to find awesome independent authors like Joseph R. Lallo and am an admirer of classic authors like J.R.R. Tolkien.
Aside from books, I also enjoy spending time with family and friends, going to church, visiting breweries, trying my hand at different forms of art, playing video games, and streaming TV/Movies.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
I have a reading blog that mostly serves as a sort of reading journal, but is also a place where you can learn more about my writing: http://www.dbbooksandreviews.com/
I also have an Instagram account that is mainly focused on books and art: https://www.instagram.com/drock5400/