Interview with Author Daniel Ottalini

Hello readers! I'm very excited to tell you that newly published author Daniel Ottalini has agreed to do an interview for my blog. His book, "Brass Legionnaire", is an exciting alternate history/steampunk novel combing awesome steampunk gadgets with the Roman Empire. Today he'll be talking about his book and writing in general.

First of all, when did you realize you were a writer? 

I've always enjoyed editing, but I had never really thought of myself as a writer until Brass Legionnaire. It was sort of funny, because I've started stories and even books before, but never finished them. In my opinion, writers are people who finish stories, not just start them. Once you finish one, then you are a writer. 

How did you come up with the idea for “Brass Legionnaire”?

Brass Legionnaire is an offshoot of an inside joke between my girlfriend and myself. It stuck in my head all night long and refused to let me sleep until I had written it down. After that, it sort of took a life of its own and grew rapidly. I had the entire novel with parts of other books in the series written down inside of a week.

What made you choose to combine steampunk with the Romans, and how did you come up with all the awesome steampunk machines in the book?

My three favorite types of novels are alternate history, historical fiction, and steampunk novels. Elizabethan England is the most prominently featured steampunk era, and I know that few authors have split from this mainstream era. The fashion and weapons and technology are easier to imagine because you already have a lot of fantastic machines to reference. For Brass Legionnaire, I had to think at a completely different angle. I've always loved Roman history, and this is just a logical progression to me of 'what if Rome had survived?'

The machines in the novel - most particularly the  mechaniphant - are adaptations of animals that they Romans feared and respected. One of the most terrifying weapons of war the Romans faced were the elephants of Carthage - because it took them a while to figure out how to defeat them. It makes sense that the Romans would seek to emulate it and design a 'better' elephant that could be used in war - one that wouldn't be stopped by normal means. The other designs haven't been fully fleshed out yet. But there will be more in Copper Centurion, I promise!

Do you have a set writing schedule, or do you just do it whenever you get the time?

As a full-time teacher, its really hard for me to write during the school year. I aim for about 1000 words on the weekend, but that's rare for me. During the summer, I write at least 1-2k words a day, with more on the weekends. I finished Brass Legionnaire in one summer.

Who’s your favorite character in your book and why?

Hmm, that's tough. I'd say Constantine, although all the characters are like my children and I 'love them equally.' Constantine starts as a jerk, but he grows up somewhat. He might regress next book a tad - not facing life or death situations tends to let him slip up.

What are some of your favorite books and authors? Who inspires you?

I love books by S.M. Stirling, Harry Turtledove, and Rick Riordan. I can't ever narrow down a specific book that is my favorite because it changes all the time! Those same authors also inspire me and help me think about things that I would not normally consider.

Do you have any hobbies besides writing?

Haha, I teach, there is no time period. Although I do enjoying video games and soccer outside of my day-job.

Do you have any strange quirks or habits when you write like muses, favorite music or snacks?

If I'm writing a battle scene, I'll listen to music from Lord of the Rings or Snow White and the Huntsman (that's new) - Any classical music that is really dramatic works well for battle scenes. When I write, its in fits and bursts - I am very distractable and probably have four or five internet windows open while I write. 

I know are working on a sequel to “Brass Legionnaire” but besides that do you have any plans for further books, or even a different series?

Well I've planned the series out to five books. I also have some ideas floating around for a series that takes place at the same time, but on a different part of the globe. I really like the idea of mixing steampunk with cultures that aren't the standard Elizabethan fare, and needless to say, I've got the possibility of one, maybe even two more series lined up in my head.

And lastly, what is the best advice from your own experiences that you would share with any aspiring writers or newly self-published authors?

Finish your writing and find a really good editor and cover artist. They make the difference. Oh, and get people to read it before you send it to the editor. If you're self-publishing, you're responsible for everything. Your book should look good from the outside and read well on the inside. It's all about image. The cover art and blurb grab the reader, while the writing keeps them. If you have both, you can't fail.

Thanks so much, Daniel, it was a pleasure to have you! If you're interested in Daniel's book you can find it on Amazon from the link below:

http://amzn.to/L56IcR


And also visit his blog "Modern Papyrus" for updates on his books and tips for other writers.

Slainte, Hazel

What's in a Name?--Choosing the right names for your Characters

Probably the most important thing about creating characters for your novel is choosing a name that fits their personality. This can sometimes be stupidly easy, or blasted hard, depending on how stubborn the character is. I choose my names differently for every character. Sometimes I start out with a name I really like and I mould a character to fit the name. This is the easy way to do it, if this doesn't happen (and it rarely does) then here are some other tips that might help you.

I find names from all different sources; sometimes I even like to look through the character list in the back of my Complete Shakespeare where you can always find some very unique names. Another great source is 2,000 Names.com This is by far the best name site I have found (and you don't have to endure the pregnant woman adds or the pink and blue of baby name websites!) The best way I have found to find a character name for those stubborn people who seem like no name will ever fit them, is go to this site, find the country or the time period I am working with, and go through the list of names alphabetically, writing a list of all those that catch my fancy. Once I do that, I go over the list again and narrow it down. A lot of times, certain letters or sounds just will not work for a character. Your hero might not be an "A" person, he might be an "H" person or a "J" person. I don't really know how to explain this, but I have somewhat of a sixth sense when it comes to finding names. I say them out loud to myself and watch as my character shakes their head. When they finally seem to like one, you'll know, because it will click. I find that if the name sticks in your head and you start thinking of your character with that name on his little "Hello, my name is___" tag then this is probably the best bet for you. Another great way to find names is road names. I have named so many characters just by names I see for roads and town when traveling.

Sometimes you might have a name you love and really want to use it so you slap in onto a character in hopes that it will work out. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't, and when it doesn't, and your character is acting up and going out of character, then you might need to change the name. Another thing I like to do is play around with spelling. I get bored of normal names like John and Henry but if you like these names, you might like to consider spelling them differently. I like Jon myself, and one of my characters in my upcoming novel is named "Henridh" which is just a Gaelic spelling of "Henry". You might be having trouble with your "Kate", but if you change her name to "Cait" she might work out a lot better!

The best overall advice I can give on this is find names you like, something different and unique and things the reader will remember. Now the only problem is if you write historical fiction as I do, and you end up with three Johns and Williams. (Sigh) What is a writer to do?

Slainte, Hazel

Also, here's the results of the poll "Do you think eyepatches are dashing?" before I change it and put up another one:

4 said Yes
2 said NO
and 0 were undecided. Roster will be happy to know that more people think that they are dashing. ;)

Books of Note: Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson

So last Friday, I was incredibly lucky to meet the Author Wayne Thomas Batson at the FPEA Convention here in Florida and promised to write a review for his book "Isle of Swords" (which I got a signed copy of!) I have read both this book and it's sequel, "Isle of Fire" before and throughly enjoyed them for many different reasons.

First of all, they are a comeback of the classical swashbuckler, (which you will know I lament the loss of if you have read my Pirates of the Caribbean movie reviews). They are great, fast-paced adventures that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, and are very exciting and hard to put down. I also really appreciated the Scottish flare added here with Captain Declan Ross and his daughter and the fact that his ship is called the William Wallace.

I think what I liked most about these books though was the amazing cast of characters. Both main and supporting characters alike were so well written and likable that you can't help but feel their victories and defeats as you read. Anne is a great main female protagonist because she doesn't come off as annoying even though she goes her own way and is a bit rebellious. She is more of a real Scotswoman than one of those annoying teenage girls that seem to overpopulate Young Adult literature these days. And Cat too is a very likable character and gives the book a bit of an angst factor as well. But it's not just the main characters who are fun to read about either, it's supporting character like Jules, Nubby and, my personal favorite, Jacques St. Pierre--he was definitely one of my favorite characters.

And then there are the villains, and Mr. Batson can really make a good baddie! There are definitely no grey areas in these books and that is one thing I really loved about this. Anyone who has read my previous posts probably knows that I LOVE a really evil baddie, and these books deliver! To this day there are few villains I have read about, espicially in the YA genre, that have out-eviled Thorne and (even scarier) The Merchant. In fact, every time I think of really evil villains aside from history, these guys come to mind. I think it's great when kids' books have identifiable bad guys. Otherwise, what are they going to learn?

So overall, this book was a great adventure, a wonderful swashbuckler, and had a great cast of characters (and a good sense of humor) so it deserves five stars from me!

(Both of these books can be found on my Amazon AStore under the category "Books of Note")

Two WWI Movie Reviews

Since May 2nd was the famous Red Baron's birthday, I decided that I would post my reviews for two WWI movies. I am going to be posting reviews for my favorite (and maybe not so favorite) movies on my blog hopefully, so this is only one of the first.

First of all, one of my favorite movies of all time is Flyboys. This is actually what made me into a WWI buff in the first place. It's about the Lafayette Escadrille which was a contingent of the French air service for Americans to join before America officially joined the war effort. It was much like the Foreign Legion but for pilots. In fact, historically, several of the real Escadrille pilots had transferred from the Legion. The hero of this movie is Blaine Rawlings (played by James Franco), a young man from Texas whose family ranch has gone bankrupt. He got into a fight with the landlord, and decided to skip town instead of getting arrested, and ends up joining the Lafayette Escadrille. There's an amazing cast of characters in this movie. A son of a rich man who's a little stuck up, a young man who comes from a long line of military heroes who has the "prove myself worthy" problem, an ex-thief  and a young black boxer who was based off Eugene Bullard--the first black man to fly in combat. (I always find it refreshing how un-racist the French are--unless it's dealing with the English ;) And, of course, the typical angsty character, Reed Cassidy, the last one alive of his former squadron and made pretty cynical because of it (you know those types ;) All these characters form a great comradeship amongst each other. One of my favorite things in this movie was the camaraderie. It was just really well done. And the love interest (a French girl who is left taking care of her brother's children after he and his wife were killed in a bombing) is not detracting from the story line. (A huge plus.)

This movie was pretty good in the historical accuracy from what I have read. The planes were amazing and the dogfighting scenes were really awesome! Some of them could have put Star Wars to shame ;) The only thing I can tag them on was the fact that all the German planes (except the main baddie's which was black) were red Fokker Driedeckers (triplanes) that modeled Richthofen's famous plane. But the director mentions this in interviews and admits to doing it so viewers could tell whose plane was whose. This is why you should read author's notes before complaining about historical inaccuracy! We all have our reasons =)

In short, if you like war movies, flying movies, are a WWI buff or whatever, you should still watch this movie because it's a sadly underrated film. I give it five stars definitely!

Now for the second movie, this one is called "The Red Baron" and yes, it's about Manfred von Richthofen. For the most part, this movie was good, though not very accurate. The setting and the flying and planes and everything were pretty much okay, but they didn't really get everything about Manfred's life quite right. (It was about as accurate as Braveheart, meaning it had a lot of poetic license.). The actor who played Manfred (Matthias Schweighofer) was great though. He was actually German which was a plus, and he uncannily looked just like him! It was freaky at times, especially when he was wearing a sweater in the movie that looked just like one I have seen pictures of Manfred wearing. (Costuming did great on this movie.) My main problem was his love affair with the nurse. Leave it to the screen writers to HAVE to add romance to every thing. If it hadn't been for that, it would have been a great movie. There was never any historical record of Manfred being in love with the nurse, Kate Osterdorf. That was one reason I really loved Jeff Shaara's book To the Last Man because he didn't put any romantic interest between them. But movies are movies... So, for me, there was a lot of time that could have been spent in this movie between Manfred and his comrades instead of him with the girl he never really fell in love with. I also had a problem that they made Lothar (Manfred's younger brother) somewhat of a brat. What I've read of him, he was pretty nice. But again, that's what happens with movies.

The movie was good, though I didn't like it as much as Flyboys. I think it deserves three and a half stars.