Hello, dear readers. Today I am participating in a Blog Tour for my author friend Hayden Linder, for his newly released book, “The Hand of Death.” Sounds cool, huh? (I think so. Put “hand” and “death” in the same sentence and it is super intriguing. At least to a morbid soul like me, anyway).
So Hayden wanted me to interview him, so I came up with some pretty cool questions for him to answer. Without further ado, here it is:
1) What was the inspiration for the Hand of Death?
It was actually a series of daydreams that I had over the period of several months. That plus a lot of ninja movies growing up and role-playing games gave me a pretty good foundation to work with. After several months of daydreaming I realized I had bumbled across a really good story. As I wrote it and re-wrote it the characters slowly came to life.
2) Tell us a bit about the Hand of Death.
It is the story of an assassin from childhood to the point of Master assassin. Along the way he meets several interesting people, highborn and low, who become the cast of characters that provide the backdrop for a pretty dark life.
3) Are you an outliner, a pantser (non-outliner), or a combination of both?
I am a “Pantser.” I like to follow the story wherever it goes and, for me, an outline would ruin that. I would be inclined to ignore some of the more interesting parts of the story because they did not fit into the plan.
4) What is the best part of the writing process? What is the hardest?
The best part is easily the dreaming things up. I love skylarking. Actually writing it down? That is the hard part. When I actually HAVE to put on paper what was in my head. I’m really not sure why that is.
(Erin’s note: That is a common issue, I think. I find that very difficult myself.)
5) Did you always know you’d be a writer, or did it sneak up on you one day?
I didn’t realize I wanted to write until I had left the army back in 1995. And I didn’t get around to doing anything about it until 2005-ish. I wrote this book and vacillated on whether I was good enough to finish it or not for 10 years.
6) Who is your favorite character in Hand of Death and why?
My favorite character is actually Daimyo Hiroki. He is a frightening man who supposedly kills people on a whim but you start to realize there is quite a bit more to him as the story progresses. I think he develops the most as a character out of everyone in the cast.
(Erin’s note: Sounds like my kind of character. 😉 )
7) Why do you write in the genre you do?
This story came to me in the Fantasy Fiction genre. I have two more books of this story and then the next story is a Sci-Fi tale about mercenaries in the future. For me genre is just specific to the story itself. It’s not something you have to stay locked into doing.
8) If you were stranded on an island and were able to have only two books with you, which two would they be and why?
The complete works of Shakespeare, because I have it but I have not taken the time to read it yet. And “Grave Touched” By Erin Zarro, because that’s – the – kind – of – guest – I – am!:)
(Erin’s note: LOL. You are too kind.)
9) What author (or authors) has inspired you the most?
Jack London. I have a collection of his work and the preface says the reason you will never see a “Complete” works of his is due to the quantity of work the man did. He was the most prolific writer of his time in magazines, news paper articles AND books. Can you imagine that? He wrote too much for anyone to bind into one book. THAT is impressive. A nice bonus that he also didn’t suck.
(Erin’s note: That *is* impressive.)
10) If you could talk to any author, living or dead, past or present, who would it be and why?
Niccolò Machiavelli, because he wrote “The Prince.”
10a) Let’s pretend you were only allowed one question. What would it be and why?
Did you really think the Midici would believe it?
So, Machiavelli was the enemy of the Midici. These were the people that are almost single handedly responsible for the Renaissance in Europe. At some point he lost a maneuver against them and went to jail. After serving several years he got out and all of his political connections were gone so he decided to make new ones. He set his sights on his old enemies the Midici, since they were still in power, and he decided to write a book extolling their qualities. The book he wrote, “The Prince,” is where we get the term “Machiavellian” from. The qualities he applauded were deplorable. No one took the book seriously. He didn’t even believe it. His mistake was that because he had seen the Midici act in this manner, he assumed they were proud of it. Where as in reality they only acted that way because they felt they had to. It was not something they were proud of and certainly NOT something they would ever praise. He never did regain is former status and the book was a joke to the rest of the world until some business management idiot back in the 1970’s discovered it an thought it was brilliant treatise on leadership.
“Beware those who praise “The Prince.” – Hayden D. Linder
To purchase or just have a sneak peak of the first three chapters of “The Hand of Death” click here:
To contact Hayden: http://bit.ly/1HOTn6m
AUTHOR BIO: I have done several jobs over the years but currently I am a 40 something year old PC Tech. I have a lovely daughter, Kyle, by my ex-wife and four beautiful children, Chuy, Vivian, Felix and Lalo by my long suffering wife Ruby. I spend most of my time being grateful for the life God gave me and trying to be a blessing to those around me.
God speed.
Please take note:
Hayden has some copies of The Hand of Death to give away to each commenter, so don’t be shy! Comment away! Ask questions! Lots of them!
After commenting, contact Hayden at his contact link above with your email address to claim your prize.
Also, the commenter with the best question asked will receive an advance copy of chapter 1 from book 2!
Hayden, thank you for joining us. It’s been a pleasure having you here. 🙂
Weaver of Words 