Tuesday, April 24, 2007

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: ERIC FOGLE



Author, Eric Fogle, is with us today allowing us some insight into his world and his new fantasy novel, FORGE OF THE GODS: The Last Knight, from POD publisher, Breakneck Books.
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1.) Mr. Fogle, what inspired this unique story?
I was inspired by a combination of things. First and foremost, though, was a discussion I had with my mother-in-law…one that spanned much of the theology and philosophy used in my story. My other inspirations are my wife, Raymond Feist, RA Salvatore, and the desire to write a fantasy centering on ‘religion’.

2.) Have you attempted to submit the book to large trade publishers or Agents? If so, what kind of responses did you receive?
I am sure you have heard all the horror stories of the publishing industry….so I will keep this short. *chuckle*
At one point, I had an agent for Forge of the Gods: The Last Knight—one who sold me on the ‘quality’ of my work. Needless to say, I ended up being taken for seven months of my time and over $600. (To all the aspiring writers who may be reading this: Never pay a dime to be published!) This, of course, leads me to finding a publisher. After I decided to never use an agent again, I started the submission process to all the big boys: TOR, Baen, DAW, etc. During that time, I was rejected because my story didn’t fit into a target audience, it was good but not saleable, it dealt with too much religion, it wasn’t ‘truly’ Christian themed, and, of course, I didn’t have an agent. And, here I said I was going to keep this short. *smile* To answer your question more succinctly, yes I did query larger publishers…all ending with that the story was good, but not right for them.

3.) Do you have plans for sequels and how much is already written?
Though I cannot give too much away, the next book in the series is titled, The First Paladin. As expected, this book will immediately drop readers back into several burgeoning conflicts. The first, and most important of these, is that after more then twenty years of searching for the mysterious ‘source’, the four godly champions have possibly found it in the mortal knight...Areck of Brenly.

4.) How many copies of the book have you sold so far and what kind of response have you received from fans...any favorite fan story?
Though I do not have an exact number, I believe Forge of the Gods: The Last Knight has sold over 200 copies. And, the response thus far has been great! I even had a fan write and call my story brilliant. ME! Brilliant!! Now, if I can only get my wife to believe such things! *chuckles*

5.) Mr. Fogle what forms of marketing have you and your publisher been utilizing for Forge of the Gods and what kinds of responses have you gotten from each?
During these first few months, the publisher has really pushed free internet marketing…while I have been concentrating on demographic specific marketing (web advertising, etc). Saying that, it is hard to say what has worked best. In my opinion, the most effective form of marketing has been finding fantasy reviewers willing to give in depth reviews…and really banking on word of mouth sales. To date, the book has had four reviews posted on several websites…all of which have been very positive. Saying that, fans should expect to see new reviews coming from P.O.D.lings, Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy Book Spot, and several others within the next six weeks or so.

6.) Would you consider yourself to be a disciplined writer or more of a spontaneous, when I feel the mood kind of writer?
*sigh* I wish I could say I was a disciplined writer. Alas, that just isn’t truthful. I believe other writers refer to my archetype as a zone writer. That is, I won’t pick up my pen (sit down at my computer) to write for months at a time. Then, out of the blue, I will sit down and start crunching out words until I am done. In the case of Forge of the Gods, my zone lasted for six months straight.

7.) I've noticed your novel and others at your publisher all have book trailers...do you see this as beneficial and have you received any response from it?
I think Breakneck Books did a wonderful job with the video trailer…for all of its books. And, I imagine if anyone actually saw it, the trailer would give them a reason to look further.

8.) If you don't mind, can you give us a sneak peek at what lies in store for the rest of the series?
I would be happy to share some samples of The First Paladin. However, and this is my standard warning, I do not edit until I am done. Thus, my grammar would be poor and the story is still being finished. You can always read at risk to your eyes though. *chuckles*

9.) What is your "day job?"
Without sounding to cliché, I am the Vice President of Sales for an engineered soil company (baseball / softball dirt). I also get to push native grass seed, ecologically friendly stream bank restoration systems, and encapsulated soil systems. *smiles*
* For those that do not understand my odd sense of humor (cough, my wife) I was joking by calling my job cliché. *chuckle*

10.) Do you have any other writing projects revolving around different storylines you intend to bring to novel form in the future?
Yes. I have several concepts already being worked on…mostly SciFi and Fantasy. However, my goal is to someday write a comedy and a thriller with lots of action.

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