Today’s special guest author is Declan Finn to chat with me about his new urban fantasy, Hussar (Saint Tommy NYPD #8).
Bio:
Declan Finn is the NYC based author of books ranging from thrillers to urban fantasy to SciFi, including the Dragon Award Nominated Novel for Best horror in 2016, Honor at Stake, and the 2017 follow-up, Live and Let Bite. He was also nominated for “Best Apocalypse” novel at the Dragons in 2017. He also won the book of the year award with his novel Hell Spawn from CLFA.
Finn is known for being annoyingly Catholic, his action sequences, and writing faster than most readers can keep up with. In less than a decade, he has written 30 novels, and is waiting for all of them to be published. He’s been part of multiple anthologies, and will write for anyone.
Please tell us about your current release.
Hussar is the eighth book in my Saint Tommy, NYPD series. I get to send my hero into harm’s way against a consulting criminal mastermind for the supernatural.
What inspired you to write this book?
The Saint Tommy NYPD series was inspired by a college course on Christian Spirituality and mysticism. One class discussed the charisms possessed by certain saints. Charisms are defined as supernatural gifts from God that include levitation, bilocation, et al. My first thought was “Nice superpowers, who had the cape?” The charism of smelling evil instantly made me think “That would be a nifty power for a cop to have,” and the series was born.
Book #8, Hussar, was inspired by my research as a historian, as well as certain things in the news. The inciting incident was brought to mind by a real-world terrorist training camp in the American Southwest a few years ago.
What exciting story are you working on next?
Since I don’t have enough to do, I’m working on two different series. First, I have other books for my Saint Tommy series. Second, I have a space opera I’m working on that will basically involve space Templars. Or Rangers in space, if you don’t mind an old school classification out of role playing games.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I was 16. I started writing a “space epic” as a casual project I’d do in my free time. It spiraled into multiple novels and a million words later. Since it was something that I couldn’t turn off, I figured I might as well make use of it.
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?
I write nine for five, Monday through Friday. I’d write more, but my wife wants to see me every once in a while, I cook dinner for the family, and there’s this whole “day of rest” thing people tell me about.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I generally listen to metal while I’m writing. The faster the better. Amaranthe, Sabaton, Nightwish, that sort of thing.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Peter Pan
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
People ask me about advice about writing books for a living. I have a two-pronged answer.
If you want to be an author for a living … no, you don’t. You’d basically be rewiring your brain for this profession, and even when you’re not writing, your brain is still working, and rarely shuts down. In order to sleep, you’ll need a notebook next to your bed to write down ideas burning a hole in your brain. You can’t help but dissect media because “this is how I would have done it” or “it would have been better if they did this,” and the ever popular “I like my ending better.”
If you **have to be a writer,** where you already feel like you’re compelled to write, and the above paragraph already describes you, then write the darned book already. Also, get a day job as “something useful.” Even if you become an electrician, it doesn’t mean you stop writing—it means you have money, and you write murder mysteries where people are killed with faulty wiring, or you write urban fantasy with electrical demons. If you must be a writer, nothing will stop you.
Links:
Website | Substack | Upstream Reviews | Twitter | Facebook
Thanks for being here today, Declan.