As you can tell from my blog, I’ve been attending quite a few book signings, panels and other events. This has given me the great opportunity to talk with a number of potential readers about Cathadeus, as well as my overall writing and publishing experience. During these events, I’m often asked some similar questions, so I thought I’d start a Reader Q&A series where I can share my thoughts. I plan to add a few more every month, so feel free to ask a question or comment on the ones I’ve already responded to.

Here’s the question I get asked the most:

Question: What inspired you to write this book?

Answer: I’ve always been interested in fantasy, ever since immigrating to the US as a teenager, and used to write stories and mini-adventures about heroes and imaginary worlds. After graduating college, I started working in IT and held a corporate position for more than twenty years. Throughout that time, I continued to be involved in the genre – reading books, thinking up ideas, and playing tabletop games with my boys. A few years ago, I came across an advertisement from a computer company looking to hire a lore master to write the history, quests and storyline for a fantasy game they’d created. This got me seriously thinking about all of the characters and events I’d been writing about since I was a teenager, and the potential of publishing a novel. So I began sketching out some ideas for a story that blended these together. To my surprise, the more I wrote the more the story flowed through me. After spending several days writing, I shared some of the scenes with my family and friends, and they all loved the concepts and encouraged me to continue. I think if it wasn’t for them, I may not have finished. So I started writing. Every day. Week in and week out, until I had the world, characters and storyline created for Cathadeus as well as the overall arc for the rest of the series. It’s been a terrific experience, and I really hope readers enjoy the adventure even partially as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’m looking forward to continuing the journey, and am currently working on Sotchek – book two of The Walking Gates.