*What would you be doing right now if you were not an author?
Starving artist in another profession. Possibly a cat-psychiatrist, seeing as mine are crazy.
*5 years ago: what were you doing?
5 years ago I worked as a personal trainer. Owner/ operator of my own studio. Helping people achieve fitness goals--losing weight, pushing themselves to new heights, gaining confidence--turned out to be an incredibly rewarding career. I don't see myself ever getting back into the industry, although I still train religiously at the gym. But don't ask me to spot you! I'm usually daydreaming about fiction and prose.
*Do you have a certain writing ritual?
1. Exercise. 2. Shower. 3. Tend to cats. 4. Eat. Have a cup of tea. Catch up on internet stuff. 5. Write, write, write.
I rarely break that cycle when I'm in the thick of a manuscript.
*What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
My structural editor, Barbara is quite ruthless; although she goes about it in a completely unoffensive manner, so its hard to get upset. First comes the: "I have a question..." (That means she has twenty.) Usually, when divining Barbara's moods, the less paper she shows up with for a meeting, the lighter her critique will be. I know I've done a good job on a draft when she leaves her notes at home!
Feast of Fates, my first novel, went through a total of four, full-sized, completely written from the ground up manuscripts; with numerous drafts on each. In terms of total dedication, FoF took over three years of writing a similar story from a different point in the world's history, and with a different cast each time. I sincerely hope that I never have to do anything that challenging again! I shouldn't, as all that hard work was not for naught and as a result, I grew into my "voice" and stylistic tendencies. Furthermore, I was able to fully realize the scope of my world and the tale that I wanted to tell.
*Is there an author you'd like to meet?
Ursula K. LeGuin. Wow, now there is an author that doesn't get half the street cred she deserves. To this day, the Earthsea Trilogy stands out as one of the premiere works in YA or fantasy. Those books are of an entirely different caliber compared to a lot of novels in similar genres today. Its astonishing how many people have never read the books! Or even heard of the series. Except for that dreadful Scifi Channel movie, which was nothing short of criminal. LeGuin possesses a certain magic to her prose that is both mellifluous and succinct. LeGuin rarely borders on verbosity, and can condense an entire scope of time within a single paragraph, without the reader feeling like any details--emotive or otherwise--have been missed.
*Biggest writing pet peeve?
Weak female leads. Generally women in fantasy can be terribly written. I grew up with some insanely accomplished female role models. Women who fought poverty, sexism, racism, and many other "isms" and forms of social injustice. And at the end of the day, these ladies still managed to shine and excel as mothers and sisters. My standards have been set pretty high. I expect great things from my heroines, and whiny, "save me", protagonists really get on my nerves. Recently, I did a blog on this exact topic on my official page. You can find that discussion and many other diversions at: http://christianadrianbronwn.
* Do you read other's reviews of your books?
Of course! Good or bad, its necessary to know how you connected with--or missed--your audience. Criticism, and praise, are essential to success.
Fun Five:
Fav Color: Black. Also red, which was my mother's favorite.
Fictional Character you'd like to spend the day with? Sauron. I'd have a heart to heart and see why he's so mean. Maybe we'd spend the afternoon hobbit hunting.
Fav food: Tie between sushi and a grilled, medium-rare steak.
Fav song and/or singer: Sarah Brightman. Met her once, and she is simply radiant.
Guilty pleasure: Once in a blue moon, health and fitness be damned: Chinese food, beer, sweatpants and Netflix.
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Eod’s sorcerers were its artists, gardeners, and architects. Here in the City of Wonders, you could not escape their ostentation. The watersculptors, firecallers, earthspeakers, and windsingers created fountains of ever-flowing water, statues of heatless flame, orchards from plots of dust, and skies free of the deadly sandstorms that swept the desert...
Magic and destiny collide in Christian A. Brown’s breathtaking debut novel, Feast of Fates.
Together known as the Sisters Three, Eean, the hand of fate, Elemech, the reader of fate, and Ealasyd, the spinner of fate, foresee a war between the Immortal Kings—and only one girl who can stop it.
Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever.
Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her—visions that show a devastating madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.
With Morigan growing more powerful each day, the leaders of the realm soon realize that this young woman could hold the key to their destruction. As Caenith attempts to rescue her from the hands of the Iron Queen, Morigan must use all she has learned if she is to survive.
Magic and destiny collide in Christian A. Brown’s breathtaking debut novel, Feast of Fates.
Together known as the Sisters Three, Eean, the hand of fate, Elemech, the reader of fate, and Ealasyd, the spinner of fate, foresee a war between the Immortal Kings—and only one girl who can stop it.
Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever.
Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her—visions that show a devastating madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.
With Morigan growing more powerful each day, the leaders of the realm soon realize that this young woman could hold the key to their destruction. As Caenith attempts to rescue her from the hands of the Iron Queen, Morigan must use all she has learned if she is to survive.
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