Dionykles
looks like a great start to a great science fiction/fantasy novel.
Any plans for a follow up or series?
Right
now, I’m working on something. I’m kind of superstitious. I don’t
like talking about novels I haven’t written yet. When I do that,
they tend not to get done, haha. But, all things being considered, I
would like Dionykles to be a three book series.
I’m
also working on a vlog for National Novel Writing Month. I post a
video every day that gives tips to help people write their novel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLXWJeM6T7c
What
do you think makes a great story?
I
really believe in a quote the film director Christopher Nolan said
where he believed that a quality film, or in this case, a quality
novel, is one where “whoever wrote it thinks it’s the greatest
novel in the world”. There should be an enthusiasm in a novel, as
well as an emotional truth. Even if you’re someone who believes in
nihilism, that theme should be prevalent throughout your work.
What
inspired you when writing Dionykles?
It’s
very interesting, Dionykles was an idea I have had since Middle
School. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. As you get older, and you
get away from being the kid in school complaining about books to the
guy who writes them, I really wanted to write a book that kids in
Middle School and High School would enjoy. I remember classmates
reading Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo. Looking back, it sounds
crazy, and I don’t think I want kids reading that, but I wanted to
write a type of novel that a kid who didn’t like reading would
enjoy. I think a part of the school system can ruin a good book if
you’re not careful. It’s sort of why the book cover looks like
the cover of a video game (laughs)
What
are your ambitions for your writing career? Full time? Part
time?
On
top of being a writer, I’m also a voiceover artist. I play the
character Jerry in a series called Asshole Cloud, that’s created by
the very talented KushPaws. It’s about this cloud that’s mean to
everybody. It rains on people. And I’m the main guy it rains on.
It’s mature content, in an Adult Swim kind of way. Everyone talks
about how we need more talented women in the creative industries, but
I think we really need to shed some light on the ones we already
have. KushPaws is amazing. Check out Asshole Cloud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofGNFNH_TxU
When
did you decide to become a writer?
Personally,
I think so much of wanting to be a writer is having the right
collection of people you meet when you’re growing up. Whether it’s
those kids you wrote a Poke’Rap parody with in the third grade, the
monster story you wrote in the fourth grade, your friends in the
fifth grade carrying a Dungeons & Dragons Manual and telling you
about what nerve gas does to the body, or having long conversations
with your friends about how you wish Space Marines were a bigger plot
element of Alien 3. All of that is creativity. And that’s where I
like to go back to in my writing. Especially when I’m writing for
younger audiences and people who are way older than me who don’t
even know what a Super Nintendo is are telling me “what kids are
actually like”. Everything now feels very, very orchestrated.
Art by committee. You can feel it. I kind of want to get away from
that.
When
writing Dionykles
did anything stand out as particularly challenging?
The
most difficult thing is dealing with the story you’ve fantasized in
your head and actually deal with it. Every goal in life has difficult
realities you have to deal with. That’s the difference between
people who actually do it and the liars. I had some cues I did when
writing was hard. I made a photo collage for every 1000 words in my
novel. They say a picture is a thousand words, so you should use that
to your advantage. I also made little notecards and put an “X” on
it every time I wrote 500 words.
It
might seem silly, but it’s like lifting your last rep at the gym.
Whatever goofy thing you need to do that can help you get it in is
worth it, even if it looks goofy on the outside.
Lawrence
Kasdan, the screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back had a famous
quote where he said “I write what I see”. When things get hard,
that’s what I get back to.
How
did you come up with the story of Dionykles?
Dionykles
was a sort of petri dish of things I was interested in as a kid. I
like the God Dionysus, and I liked certain parts of Herakles that no
one really talks about. And I was watching a lot of Dragonball Z as a
kid, so I wanted to fuse them like Gotenks. I changed the story
considerably since then, but I kept the name.
I
also was influenced by history. There was this real life Roman
Emperor named Elagabalus who would invite the most obese men of Rome
into his banquets and have his servants carry them. He would have put
broken glass and poison in the food at these banquets.
It
was such an interesting thing I never really saw put in film or book.
The character Queen Dior in my book was inspired by Boudicca. I
always thought it would be interesting to have someone like Boudicca
fight Elagabalus. But I didn’t want to be constricted by the rules
of history. People can get really crazy when you write about it. And
I love world building anyway, so I had a lot of fun with Stoneterra
and the Gods that live there.
And
in the middle of this, you have Dionykles, who, after being raised as
a shepherd, realizes he’s a God, he has all these powers, and he
finds out the truth about where he came from. And there’s anger.
There’s anger because he doesn’t belong. There’s anger because
he found out the Gods killed his mother. And the corrupt king in the
steppe is turning a blind eye to village women being kidnapped by
bandits, and Dionykles’s stepsister is kidnapped. It’s truly a
him against the world story.
What
do you like to do when not writing?
If
I’m not writing, I’m either recording voiceovers or working on
some new creative project. I always find things to do.
How
can readers discover more about you and your work?
They
can also check out my blog: reddkaiman.blogspot.com
I’m
also active on Twitter: Twitter.com/reddkaiman
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