Fantasy (Humorous)
Date Published: 1 November 2018
Publisher: Black Spot Books (https://blackspotbooks.com)
When destiny calls on the Winter Witch to save the North Pole, will she pretend she’s not in?
Once upon a time, the North Pole was a very noisy place. A kingdom cowered under the maniacal rule of the White Queen, The Vikings raided and pillaged as they were wont to do, and the Winter Witch avoided talking to any of them.
When her peace and quiet are obliterated by threats of war and Ragnarok, she’ll try anything to get them back. When casting spells to become nearly invisible and dealing with otherworldly powers fail, the Winter Witch needs to forge an alliance with Santa—a retired warrior who’s anything but jolly—to save the North Pole from calamity.
Will the Vikings take up arms against the frost giants? Will an evil necromancer keep the kingdom in the grip of fear? And for the love of Christmas, will everyone who isn’t the Winter Witch please stop meddling with dark forces beyond mortal comprehension for a bit?
Deck the halls and bar the doors! We’re in for a long winter’s night.
Interview with Sam Hooker
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Winter Riddle?
I’d be delighted, though my
protagonist probably wouldn’t. Volgha is a witch who lives at the North Pole.
She just wants to be left alone, but she stumbles into an unfortunate series of
events and ends up being relied upon to save the world. Not usually the sort of
thing that introverts go in for.
Then there’s Santa Klaus, with whom
you may be familiar. This story takes place before he settled into his more
notable role as a jolly gift flinger. I’ve never accepted that anyone could be
so completely jolly without having seen some real darkness. It made sense to me
that he’d have been a warrior, so I’ve given my readers a glimpse of a younger,
less rosy-cheeked Santa.
Then there’s Krespo, a particularly
cowardly elf; The White Queen, Volgha’s sister, who’s as loony as a breakfast
cereal mascot; her friend Loki, with whom you may also be familiar; some other
Norse gods, Vikings, frost giants … it’s basically a who’s who of the North Pole.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
I’m presently working on a series
called Terribly Serious Darkness. The
first book, Peril in the Old Country,
is available now wherever books are sold. The second is nearly ready for my
editor to savage with her red pen, and is scheduled for release in mid-2019.
How long would
you say it takes you to write a book?
In my experience it takes about a year to write it, and
then another 6 months before it’s on shelves. My books have all been around 300
pages (or 100,000 words). I spend a few months taking notes and outlining, and
then go through about 4 drafts before sending it to my editor. It’s then about
6 months of advance copy reviews and publicity before it’s on shelves, so I’m
usually writing a draft of one novel while doing something promotional for the
one that came before it.
What is your
favorite childhood book?
In my early teens, I really loved the Dungeons &
Dragons novels, particularly the ones set in Ravenloft. I, Strahd by P.N. Elrod really stood out.
One of my first forays into humorous fantasy was A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger
Zelazny. I’ve re-read that more often than any other book, I think. It was also
one of my first exposures to the Cthulhu mythos, and possibly my favorite book
to this day.
If you could
spend the day with one of the characters from The Winter Riddle, who would it
be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go
and what you would do.
I wouldn’t say Volgha. She’d certainly be the most
interesting, but she’d hate the company. Probably Santa, then. We’d spend the
day in his workshop, where we’d work on building the world’s most wicked
electric guitar, which he’d leave for me under the tree next Christmas.
What was the
hardest scene from The Winter Riddle to write?
There’s a scene very early on where Volgha goes up against
the necromancer Ghasterly and loses. It was hard for me to be cruel to a
character with whom I identified so much, but I think it was really good for
the story.
What made you
want to become a writer?
Megalomania, I’m fairly certain. Why else would I insist on
building worlds of my own, where I have complete control over everyone and
everything?
Oh, that’s not true. It’s really the characters themselves
who run the show. As a writer, it’s my job to tell the truth. I have to let the
characters be true to themselves. I can’t have a coward telling a bully off,
even if it’s convenient for the plot.
I mean, the coward can tell the bully off eventually, but not before a lot of
introspection and self-discovery. I wish books got training montages, but those
are reserved for movies.
Just for fun
(a Favorite song:
“Hiding All
Away” – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
(b Favorite book:
“A Night in
the Lonesome October” – Roger Zelazny
(c Favorite
movie:
Mystery Men
(d Favorite tv
show:
Black Books
(e Favorite Food:
Texas Pit
BBQ (from Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX)
(f Favorite
drink:
Jameson’s
Irish Whiskey (neat)
(g Favorite
website:
http://owlpachino.ytmnd.com/
Thanks so much
for visiting with us today!
Thanks for
having me!
About the Author
Sam Hooker writes darkly humorous fantasy. He is an entirely serious person, regardless of what you may have heard. Originally from Texas, he now resides in southern California with his wife, son, and dog.
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2 comments:
thanks for hosting
That cover is something else! Necromancers, frost giants, and Vikings sounds like a fun combination!
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