I was lucky to get an interview with John Palladino, the author of The Trials of Ashmount, one of this year’s #SPFBO8 entries.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
I live in Avoca, New York, I’m 33 years old, and I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Management – of which, I’m certain I didn’t learn a damn thing.

Why did you decide to take part in the SPFBO?
I watched SPFBO 7 and since I was editing my debut novel, I figured I should enter it for the unlikely chance that I do okay. I’ve seen several people land traditional publishing deals too, which would be a huge win (I’ve found some of the self-publishing backend stuff to be really frustrating to deal with, so not having to deal with some of that would certainly improve my happiness).

Why should we buy your SPFBO8 book?
If you like Joe Abercrombie and hard magic systems with defined rules, I think that The Trials of Ashmount might resonate. Morally gray characters are one of my favorite qualities to read in a book (I find it to be refreshingly realistic), and I tried to bring many into mine.

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
I wrote an entire book when I was a junior in high school and I still have most of it printed out. I’m not entirely sure when I started writing, but it was quite awhile before writing that novel. I’d made several failed attempts and then one day I decided I wanted to finish one, and I did. I’m not sure what got me into writing. I’ve always been a voracious reader (this has, since attempting to write seriously, unfortunately not been the case lately) and ever since being a kid, I’ve either wanted to be a marine biologist or an author. Marine Biology requires a lot of mathematics and science, and once I hit Calculus, my brain doesn’t comprehend what’s happening. So I’ve chosen this route.

Why did you choose to write fantasy? And why pick this particular fantasy subgenre?
I’ve read fantasy most of my life, and probably over the last decade and a half, I’ve pretty much exclusively read fantasy. I remember reading Douglas Hill (both sci-fi and fantasy novels), J.K. Rowling, R.A. Salvatore, and Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. I’ve always been enthralled by fantasy. The genre I write in is grimdark/epic fantasy and I’d say my biggest influences are authors I’ve read as an adult: primarily Joe Abercrombie and George RR Martin.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?
I absolutely love surprising readers, and when I get messages saying, “Wow I didn’t expect ___ to happen!” that makes my day.

What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Editing. I can’t emphasize how much I hate it. I almost wrote a couple harsh words here, but I’m not sure if those are allowed, so I’ll refrain. If I could just write first drafts and have somebody else do all the polishing, I’d be much happier.

Do you have a tip, app, tool, or resource you recommend to authors?
I personally learned so much from using ProWritingAid that I can’t recommend it enough.

What new projects are you working on?
Currently I’m 110,000 words into the first draft of my sequel. I’m also about 3/4th of the way through an anthology of short stories I’m writing set in the same world as my series. Some of these stories feature characters from The Trials of Ashmount, some are exclusive to the anthology, and a few are character introductions who show up in the sequel.

Anything else you would like to say before we close?
I would just like to thank you, Rune, for this interview!

Don’t mention it, and best of luck with the competition, John, and with sales.
Thanks for doing the interview.