Giveaway and Interview with David J Normoyle, author of The Narrowing Path

I'm thrilled to have David J Normoyle on my blog talking about his enthralling dystopian fantasy The Narrowing Path (my review here).  I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loves an imaginative adventure set in a truly cruel dystopian world.

Happily, David is giving away a couple of Ebook copies of The Narrowing Path. All you have to do to win is to write a comment on either this interview or the review post and I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday 29 September. Good luck.

Now to David . . .

Hello David and welcome to my corner of the blogosphere. Firstly, can you tell me where the inspiration for The Narrowing Path come from?

I'd recently read a few dystopians such as Hunger Games where there's a fight to the death between teenagers. Mostly, the reasoning behind making the teens fight is flimsy. In the movie Battle Royale for instance, it's barely explained at all. So I wanted to create a society where this fight to the death had a more firm reasoning behind it. In The Narrowing Path, the fight is seen in society as an evolutionary struggle which ensures that the best survive.

Also instead of just physical fighting, I wanted the struggle to rely more on wits and intelligence and leadership. Like in Game of Thrones where those who are the cleverest generally end up on top. In this novel, the teenagers are launched into the real world with nothing but their wits and strength. They have to make their own way, and those who impress the leaders of society along the way (while also managing to avoid getting killed by rivals) are the ones who win and get to live. So I started working on those two ideas and The Narrowing Path is the result.

Well, I think you achieved that very well. When will the rest of the series be available?

The Treacherous Path should be out around February next year with the final book in the trilogy, The Collapsing Path, due out toward the end of next year.

Now for the horrible question . . . Tell me in 140 characters why someone should read your book.

Delve into a world of scheming and fighting--the only ones more bloodthirsty than the youths who walk the path is the adults who guide them

Great answer! Please share something about yourself – a potted biography.

As a child, I loved the world of books, and that combined with a severe daydreaming condition were worrying signs to my parents. But their fears were allayed when I grew up to become a respectable sort, an engineer. All went well until my early thirties when I was struck down by that most nefarious of insects, the writing bug. I spewed up vomitous words for a while but seemed to make a full recovery and returned to normal life. But under the surface all was not right, and I secretly studied the art and craft of writing. And now, to the despair of my parents and society in general, I follows the solitary and quite mad pursuit of being a writer.

The world can always do with more writers. So, where do you write and how do you keep inspiration flowing?

I write at the desk in my bedroom. I get my inspiration by turning off the internet. Perspiration is the important quality, the key is to keep working even--or especially--when the words aren't flowing.

Strange, but before my move to the UK, I also had a small office in my bedroom. It was great, so I understand the appeal. Tell us about your favourite music.

I'm not into music as much as most people but I like old school rock the best: U2, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springstein, that kind of thing.

I also still enjoy the old rock - showing my age - but happily I also moved on to embrace and love indie and modern rock. So what's your favourite food?

I like most types so it's more about the quality than the type for me. If I had to chose one, it'd be Indian.

Hot and spicy . . .  I get that. What was the best book you’ve read in 2013?

I've read a lot of great books in 2013, including Redshirts, Ready Player One, Gone Girl and The Passage. However I'm going to revert to my favourite genre and pick an epic fantasy I read recently. Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. If the sequels are as good, this will be the start of a fantasy series up there with the very best.

Hmm . . . there are some titles in that list that I don't know. I will have to check them out. Finally, where can fans find you?

http://www.davidjnormoyle.com
http://www.facebook.com/DavidJNormoyle
http://www.twitter.com/@davidjnormoyle

Thank you so much for visiting with me today David (an all my readers!) I look forward to the next book in The Narrowing Path series.

And: Don't forget the giveaway, guys. Just leave a comment and you could win a eEbook of The Narrowing Path.

Until next time

Cheers

Gwynn