Helping me wrap up the week is fantasy author Dylan Madeley. We’re chatting about Prince Ewald the Brave.
Bio:
Dylan Madeley is a Torontonian currently working out of a headquarters in Vaughan, Ontario. He is the copy editor of and a frequent contributor to Auxiliary Magazine, an alternative fashion and music zine. His first novel, The Gift-Knight’s Quest, was released May 28, 2015. He has appeared at The Word on the Street Festival in Toronto, Canada’s largest book fair, and successfully debuted his second novel, The Crown Princess’ Voyage, at the Ad Astra convention in May 2017. He completed his trilogy with the official release of The Masked Queen’s Lament in July 2018. His fourth book, Alathea: Goddess and Empress, was released in the disastrous pandemic month of May 2020, and his most recent title, Prince Ewald the Brave, was just released May 1, 2021.
Welcome, Dylan. Please tell us about your current release.
Prince Ewald the Brave is a standalone prequel to the other books I have written. Kensrik is the largest and most prosperous empire in the world, but its current monarch, the rash and reckless King Jonnecht, threatens everything: the world, the stability of his empire and safety of its people, and even his family. Ewald, eldest of his siblings and heir to the throne, was raised by his mother on kind values and plans to do something about his father, but what would that be? He keeps much to himself. He spends his life learning how to interact with people, sneaking out of the palace with the help of his sister Isabel when his controlling father refuses to let him out. He tries to find trustworthy allies in the hatching of his cryptic plan. But how does he intend to defeat such a tyrant without becoming one himself? And he does love this man; how can he stand to act against his father? What is he willing to do?
What inspired you to write this book?
King Jonnecht has a small role in my first book, The Gift-Knight’s Quest. He occurs in “flashback time”, and I spent no time fleshing him out as a character. As the author I was left with a couple of questions: since his lineage continued, what would it be like living with such a man? What would it be like knowing he’s your father, or husband? The second, and more practical: what happened to him afterward? He engineers a terrible thing, doesn’t get what he wants, yet his empire neither tries it again nor collapses. Does he face consequences for his actions? I wanted to answer questions, and that gave me a reason to explore a world I had already built and to give it more life. I thoroughly enjoyed doing so, telling people’s stories properly, and showing the reader who they are.
Excerpt from Prince Ewald the Brave:
On another day, and a quiet night at that, Ewald glanced about the hall. He thought he understood Isabel’s clues and followed them to the best of his knowledge, but he wondered if he had tricked himself. He understood what it was like to be caught up in his interpretations.
Then he saw a tapestry move as if a draft had pushed it.
And then, Isabel’s gentle voice: “Come around from the side and watch your step.”
He cast a quick glance around; nobody in sight, nor the sound of anybody approaching. He interpreted the meaning of her suggestion and stepped to the right of the tapestry. He lifted the decoration to look at the wall behind, something he would not usually do unless he wanted to look for cobwebs and dust.
The space behind the tapestry was surprisingly clean, and there in the wall was an opening, a door that would require him to crouch a little.
“Well get in here before someone notices,” Isabel whispered hoarsely.
Ewald sighed and crunched himself through the opening; if a princess was willing to enter a hole in the wall, he supposed it must be tidy enough in there. Fortunately, there was a little more head room on the other side, and a proper explanation for why some walls seemed thicker than others, if one paid enough attention to note such.
Isabel led him away from the entrance, then closed it. He could see that there was a hinged wooden panel with a façade that resembled stone. He supposed that when closed the façade was flush with the proper exposed stone around it. Anybody who cleaned behind tapestries, which ought to happen every spring by Dulcibella’s reckoning, would never see the difference. Perhaps Isabel abandoned this passage enough in advance of spring to let dust and cobwebs accumulate once again, to cover her tracks.
“Now, follow me exactly. Watch your head for beams and protrusions, and crouch as much as the wall space will allow.”
“Understood.”
Isabel led him through the awkward passage, which likely came about as an accident of construction rather than being a convenient exit. Then again, would Jonnecht himself not know of the more convenient routes of escape?
The pitch-dark wall passage ended at a drafty hole. Ewald supposed this led outside.
“Feel carefully for the edge with your feet, then reach slowly for the ladder until you grasp it,” Isabel instructed.
“Are we climbing up, or down?” He asked.
“Down. Try going up and you’ll run out of room for your head,” she replied.
What exciting story are you working on next?
At present, I am looking for work. I would love for my writerly dream to pay my bills, but I am not there yet; for now, I’m just happy someone wants to read my stories, and I am looking for an office type role which will allow me to cover my bills while still leaving time and energy for my dream.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I was first writing articles for an online subculture event website in the mid-2000s as I was part way into my Bachelor’s degree at York University. By 2012, I was writing for Auxiliary Magazine and working as their copy editor. I did write before that, as reading and writing were interests in my life from elementary school onward. It’s a matter of how far back you would like to go.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
For the moment, I actually have been editing and promoting my work full-time, but only because my manufacturing job at Lush Cosmetics ended in early March. I do not yet earn enough at this to sustain a livable income and I have always understood I should be looking for work if Prince Ewald the Brave isn’t a surprise hit.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I keep no more and no fewer than three backups of every important manuscript. As if the weird circumstances that would wipe out one backup couldn’t just as easily destroy three of them, as if it wouldn’t be easy to just add a fourth. I don’t know why I can’t stick to one or two, but it must be three.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
First, I wanted to be a scientist, but only because I saw it as a way to play with cool gadgets and fun chemical reactions. I did not think so much about math, hard work, studying, or the peer review process. I wanted to be a writer because it is deceptively easy at the entry level; anyone can do it, and when I was really young, did the quality matter? People simply encouraged me to keep doing it. That alone did not make me an expert, even over time, but some part of the writerly impulse feels second nature to me and that helps a lot.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I am truly proud of the cover art which was a commission from Jenn St-Onge. You can find her portfolio at https://jennstonge.ca and it spans a lot of comic arts, from adaptations of beloved retro titles to horror. Please check her out and consider contributing to her Patreon. Thank you so much for being interested in what I do!
Links:
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Thanks for being here today!
Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview!