I’m excited to introduce you to David Miller, author of Stone of Destiny, the first book in his Irish Cycle.
Take it away, David!
Where do you live and what does your writing space look like?
I’m originally from New York, but for the past seven years Southern New Hampshire’s been home. I have a dedicated office in my home, but I tend to not write in there much. Usually, I’m either out on the sofa in the living room or at my favorite place to write—when the weather cooperates—in a lounge chair out on my deck.
Why do you write?
First and foremost I write to entertain myself. I have always been a voracious consumer of stories; TV, movies, books, comic books, whatever. So the idea of creating my own stories, stories that I’d want to read, fun for me.
Also because I’ve spent so many hours being entertained by others, by reading what they’ve written, for me to have a chance to do the same, to entertain people, to give them a few hours of enjoyment or escapism, that’s very gratifying to me.
When did you start writing?
Years back, when I was working a corporate job, I traveled a lot, upwards of two weeks per month, so I had a lot of time on my hands; flying, in hotel rooms, waiting around airports. On the Internet, I saw an open call for short story submissions for a Star Trek anthology series called STRANGE NEW WORLDS. I’ve always been a big Star Trek fan so I thought it would be fun to try and write a story for it. It took me eight years but I managed to sell them three stories, and that was it. I was bitten by the writing bug.
Tell us about the book you have in the bundle. How did it come to be?
The book I have in this bundle is called STONE OF DESTINY. It’s Book One in what’s called the Irish Cycle series. The story takes place in modern day Boston where a cop, Sean Regan, teams up with a Celtic warrior demi-goddess from Irish mythology sent to our world to safeguard an ancient mystical artifact. Along the way they encounter supernatural creatures and mythical beings drawn from a mix of mythological and paranormal legends.
I wanted to do an urban fantasy series that would uniquely combine ancient mythological characters and concepts such as those in the Celts, Norse, Asian, and other mythologies, with the supernatural elements of witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, and Satan, to bring them together in a modern setting, in this case Boston.
The Irish Cycle series tells the tale of Sean Regan and his team’s attempts to battle the forces of ancient evils invading our world and preventing an apocalyptic invasion from many Otherworlds. STONE OF DESTINY is book one in that effort.
What is the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?
Oh, there are so many, but the one thing that sticks with me the most is something I heard either Michael Connelly or Jeffery Deavers say about writing crime stories, but I think it applies to any genre. I’m paraphrasing, but here it is: “It’s not about how the detective works the case, it’s how the case works the detective.” In other words, the most important thing about the story is not what is going on, but always how the character is affected by what is going on.
Are you a planner, or do you write into the dark? Do you write fast or slow?
I do outline, but I keep it loose, never letting myself get confined by it. An outline keeps me focused, and from wandering down time-wasting rabbit holes. I write out the basic beginning, middle, and end in a one page blurb, then I do a more detailed breakdown of beats for about the first quarter to half of the novel, leaving the second half rather vague. As I write, I’m thinking about what needs to come next and like a ball of yarn pushed out ahead of me I flesh out the story (the outline) with greater and greater detail, creating the outline as I go. If that makes sense.
I write slowly. 700-1000 words an hour depending on how well I’ve outlined a scene or whether I get into that elusive groove writers all chase. If I can get between 2000 and 3000 words a day done I’m satisfied. That’s three to five hours of writing and then the rest of my time is spent doing the admin and marketing business that needs doing.
Tell us about your most recent book.
I just finished a novella that introduces a new character into the Irish Cycle series. It’s called THE DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS. The protagonist is Sarah Prentiss, a young woman who begins to exhibit unusual powers even as she learns that demons are real.
It’s with my editor now. We hope to have it released by the time this bundle goes on sale.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on Book 2 in the Irish Cycle series. The working title is GATEWAY TO SHEOL. In it, Sean Regan and his group are in a race to find—and deal with—a Gateway into Hell. It’s scheduled for publication in early fall.
In addition to STONE OF DESTINY, readers might be interested to know there’s another book in the Irish Cycle series, THROUGH THE AGES, available now in eBook and print format. THOUGH THE AGES is a collection of stories featuring Saito Izumi, a 400-year-old Japanese vampire, who’s a prominent character in STONE OF DESTINY.
