I was lucky to get an interview with Daniel Meyer, the author of Credible Threats, one of this year’s #SPFBO9 entries.
TaDa! Before we begin I’d just point out that this is my author interview no. 100!
And how lucky I am to have you here for this Daniel!
Thank you, to you, and to the previous 99 authors who volunteered to be a part of my interview shenanigans :-)
Daniel, please, tell us a bit about yourself…
Well, at the risk of belaboring the obvious, I’m a fantasy writer. I live in Missouri, where I’m working on my next book and impatiently waiting for fall to begin. I used to work in radio and be a substitute teacher. I love books, TV, and history. And I’m having a great time with SPFBO.
Why should I buy your SPFBO9 entry?
Oh no, not the elevator pitch.
It is, I couldn’t resist putting you though this!
Credible Threats is a fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy about a sixteen-year-old wizard named Sam Adams. Still reeling from a devastating loss, Sam is dragged into heroism when a designer drug called Hex hits the streets of his city of Williamsport, a drug that gives ordinary humans magical powers before killing them. Williamsport is already on edge, polarized between rich and poor, and this threatens to send the city spiraling into chaos. Sam has to find the source of the Hex before Williamsport goes up in flames, and unravels something far darker and more dangerous than he ever imagined.
Overall, I think Sam Adams carves out its own little niche. It’s YA and adult at the same time, and it has some familiar elements while still feeling fresh.
“I remember very clearly one afternoon when the temptation to try and write for real finally just overwhelmed me and I pretty much charged to my keyboard and started typing”
What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
Well, I finally couldn’t resist writing all the ideas I’d always had in my head. I remember very clearly one afternoon when the temptation to try and write for real finally just overwhelmed me and I pretty much charged to my keyboard and started typing. That was probably November of 2016, and, contrary to what I’d feared thanks to my short attention span, I’ve been writing ever since. That marked the real start of my career, but I first started writing back in the first grade; I tried to write my own stories up until junior high or thereabouts, when I lost interest in it for years. Also, I always enjoyed writing reports in college; I liked to put my own spin on them, and while there was the occasional complaint, generally my teachers enjoyed it. Becoming an author was still many years away, but it did help me start thinking about writing again.
Have you participated in the SPFBO before and where did you hear about the competition?
Nope, this is the first time! I’ve known about SPFBO for years now, just through following the fantasy genre. It was something I always aspired to do, and now that it’s happened, it’s often very surreal.
Why did you choose to write fantasy?
In general, it’s because fantasy has the cool stuff: werewolves, dragons, magic swords, cursed tombs, spooky castles, and so on.
Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
It depends on what I’m writing: for Credible Threats, it was Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files, which was very much a jumping off point for my own series. For the epic fantasy series I’m going to write, the answer is George R.R. Martin. For my long-ago attempts at writing horror novels, it would be Kevin Williamson, screenwriter of Scream. And through it all, I think there’s a strong influence from Bernard Cornwell; the gritty intensity of his battle scenes has found its way into pretty much everything I write, even if it’s not apparent to anyone but me.
If you were to win the SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?
Oh, wow. I’m afraid to even think that I might win. It would definitely give me a boost in visibility that I would appreciate; just entering has helped me out in that regard, and I’d imagine it would be even more so if I won. It would help me take things up a notch by reaching a much broader group of fantasy fans. And it would certainly be a validating feeling. If I’m kind of vague, it’s because I try not to think about it too much…
What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?
There are lots of hoops to jump through, including lots of ones that I didn’t know about going in. I guess the obvious challenge was the actual writing; I did draft after draft and it often felt like it would never be finished. The really hard stuff, though, was the behind-the-scenes stuff, like my website, marketing, formatting, hustling for reviews, etc. And I’m still not great at a lot of it, but I’m slowly trying to get better…
Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
The best thing to do is just carve out the time to write, and to do it regularly. What helped a lot for me was just taking some of the time I would have wasted on the internet anyway and writing instead. It’ll probably take a while to get into the groove, but once you do get into that groove, it makes a big difference and you start making real progress.
And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
I’m currently working on Rising Shadows, Sam Adams book two, and I’m hoping to finish it soon. After that, it’s on to Sam Adams book three, Mysterious Ways, and the first book in an epic fantasy series.
Apps that are based on artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGTP and Midjourney, along with apps aimed specifically at authors, have caused quite a stir. Do you expect these new technologies will make your life as a self-published author easier or harder, and do you expect that they’ll mean you’ll earn more or less?
Yeesh. Yeah, it’s going to be a problem. It already has; we saw in SPFBO the debacle with an AI cover, and there are lots of those floating around. The other day, we saw Amazon getting swamped with AI books., and there have been other issues as well. I’m sure it will continue to ramp up. So yeah, it’s definitely going to make things harder, though how much remains to be seen.
We could potentially earn less, if we don’t take some action. People affected by AI are going to have to find ways to organize together to look after their interests. Creative types like us, I think, may have a unique advantage, in that we can use our creative abilities to shape public opinion and win over people’s ‘hearts and minds’ so to speak. Which I think we’re more than capable of doing, because AI is a pretty easy villain to root against, so hopefully going forward we’ll find ways to do that.
Look at you, getting me to talk about something serious in an interview! I’ve certainly been getting some good ideas for dystopian cyberpunk stories lately…
Hehe, yes. I guess AIs will sneak into way more books as part of the plot, than ever before. Simply because they fascinate and/or horrify us humans.
Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
I once dreamed I was the deputy sheriff of an old western town.
Oh? I meant…
Wait, that’s not the kind of dream you were talking about. Most of my dreams at the moment pertain to writing stuff. I want to get more Sam Adams books under my belt, and get more eyes on them. I want to write some new stories as well.
Anything else you would like to say before we close?
Thank you for doing this interview! I’m having a wonderful time with SPFBO. I’m really optimistic about where my writerly journey is headed and I can’t wait to see where it goes. I’ve got some cool stuff in store, so stay tuned…
That was some interesting answers. I wish you the very best in the SPFBO. I hope a lot of readers discover your writing. Thanks for doing the interview.
