A huge welcome to my guest – huge supporter of fellow authors C S Boyack.
Here’s Craig with his pint at hand! I’m amused by the Get Frosted card to the right of the photo… An author’s eye can’t help but notice these intriging details.
It’s wonderful to welcome Craig to my blog – I have been a guest featured on Lisa Burton Radio at his lovely blog home two times. He has an awesome blog which features the lovely robot interviewer Lisa. He is an imaginative and entertaining supporter of indie writers.
His latest book Voyage of The Lanternfish sounds very intriguing. So Craig, sup up that drink and spill the beans on your latest book.
Thanks for the invite, Marje. You’re always welcome back at my site too. I’m here today to talk about my newest book, Voyage of the Lanternfish.
Lanternfish is a pirate fantasy. It differs from classic fantasy, because gunpowder is involved. There are pistols, muskets, and cannon to go along with the magic and monsters.
Monsters are going to be the topic here today. No fantasy worth its salt should exist without monsters, and Voyage of the Lanternfish is no exception. This one is full of sea monsters and land monsters too.
One of the things I tried to avoid is a whole-bunch of what’s been done before. There is no Kraken or giant squid in this story.
There is a gigantic jellyfish, though. We’re talking big enough to get the ship stuck for weeks. This is a serious problem when you only have so much fresh water and limited food items onboard.
This thing is known as a whale trawler, and combs the surface of the ocean, letting its poisonous tentacles drag up whatever it can find; usually whales.
So far so good, but what happens when you get stuck ahead of a storm front? The storm produces a water spout and deadly tentacles are pulled from the sea and flung across your decks. Now you’re starting to get the picture.
There is a dragon here too, but he’s a small one. Think of a dragon that’s modeled after a hermit crab. He commandeers a shell, a big conch shell, and carries it with him. His breath turns animals to salt, and the tide washes them away. Someone pointed out that it’s almost biblical, and I like that.
You’ll also come across the moving reef. This one is a fish, but he’s a whopper. You know how some whales wind up growing barnacles on their skin? Take that concept and ramp it up to ten. This guy is so big he grows an entire coral reef on his back. I’m not going to share too much about him, but he isn’t entirely peaceful in the story.
One of the land creatures is called Old Hogar by the locals. He is terrorizing a coastal village. My pirates come across him, but he does not appear on the page. The tale is relayed by the root monsters. (Note: The root monsters get their own blog post.) This comes at a time in the book where readers have been trained to understand their stories. I kind of like how it turned out.
There are other monsters who don’t appear on the page. One of them is like a gigantic two legged crocodile. You might think of her as a dinosaur, and you wouldn’t be too far off. She even has a bit of a sad backstory.
Another one who is just alluded to is the dragon turtle. You might be wondering why I would even include these, but they play into the world building. This is a vast world. It’s been here since before my pirates, and will be here afterward. There are dangerous places in this world, even if the pirates aren’t exploring them all.
There are lesser creatures here too. In Asia there are cormorant fishermen. These people leash up a cormorant, tie a string around his throat to restrict his ability to swallow, and let the bird go fishing. They take his fish away for themselves. Now eventually they have to let the birds eat too. After all, they are how the fisherman makes his living and must be taken care of.
I used this idea, only I turned the cormorants into reptiles. They’re like large iguanas, only they have heads like pelicans.
There are tiny glow in the dark bats, and birds who look like a cluster of bananas when they roost. I even added something like an anteater, only he combs the beaches looking for snails.
If you’re into monsters and expansive worlds, you might want to give Voyage of the Lanternfish a try.
***
Blurb:
An honorable man is mistaken for his disreputable father. Now he’s pushed into a political scheme to start a war that will spread across multiple kingdoms. James Cuttler’s fiancé is being held captive to ensure he goes through with the plan.
He soon decides his skills are at sea and procures a ship to wage war upon those who disrupted his simple life. He can’t do it alone, so he recruits a band of cutthroats to help him. But first, they need guns and munitions to outfit the ship properly. Deception and trickery will only get them so far. Eventually, they’re going to have to engage the enemy.
James’ goals aren’t necessarily the same as his crew. It’s a delicate balancing act to collect enough loot to keep his crew happy, while guiding them back to rescue the girl.
Voyage of the Lanternfish is filled with adventure, magic, and monsters. Lots of monsters. Hoist the colors and come along for the ride.
Purchase Link: http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B07MP8V633
Bio:
I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.
I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.
I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Craig can be found at:
Blog My Novels Twitter Goodreads Facebook Pinterest BookBub
I’m a huge fan of the unusual so Craig’s latest novel has definitely piqued my interest.
It’s been fun finding out more about Craig and his writing.
And… I am still curious about that Get Frosted card. Is it the name of your local drinking haunt? Hope you visit again real soon Craig, but before you do, make sure you tell me about that card. Or I am bound to make something up!
By the way I’m always on the look out for new authors to invite to an Author Spotlight or Q and A my blog. So do get in touch if you’d like to tell me all about your writing life… The drinks are on me!
Bye for now,
Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime
I’m a contributing author in the Plaisted Publishing House Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018 with my story Ghostly Goodbye.
Ghostly Goodbye by M J Mallon
Available on Amazon, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, 24S, Playster, Indigo, Angus & Robertson, Mondadori Store:
Universal Buying Link
Social Media Links
Authors Website: https://atomic-temporary-67364188.wpcomstaging.com
Collaborative Blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
#ABRSC: Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/
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Photograph from The Official Roald Dahl Website
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 