Thursday 20 March 2014

BOOK PROMOTION & AUTHOR INTERVIEW - ARCANUM BY M.C. MOULTON


Title:  Arcanum
Series: Arcanum
Author: M.C. Moulton
Release Date: 19th November 2011

BLURB from Goodreads
Between fighting a race of magic-wielding winged monsters, scaling Krakens, blinding Cyclops, running from Sirens, and being abducted by pirates it's all Arc Arcanum can do to keep his head on straight; literally. After losing the only home he's ever known, and with nowhere else to turn, Arc enlists with the Human Liberation Front to help fight against a ruthless species known as the Winged Ones and stop them from unleashing a world-wide human holocaust. He quickly finds that he may have bitten off more than he can chew when he's tasked (completely by accident) with escorting humanity's last hope, a red-eyed android named Celeste, across the sea to one of the few remaining human safe havens. To make matters worse he's accompanied by two fellow cadets: the feisty vixen Rose and the polyamorous playboy Prince, both of whom seem entirely set on making sure nothing goes as planned. It's a magical journey that proves blood isn't the only bond that makes a family.

Goodreads Link


Title: Arcanum 2
Series: Arcanum
Author: M.C. Moulton
Release Date: 28th April2013

BLURB from Goodreads
Chosen for a clandestine mission into the heart of enemy territory, and plagued by horrific nightmares of his bloody fate, Arc Arcanum has a lot to contend with at the moment. As if that weren't bad enough he's got an immature runaway prince to babysit, a hot-tempered beauty to keep in check, and a doe-eyed android he needs to bring back in one piece. From goblins to zombies, wild-west shootouts to brothels, it's going to take everything he's got to bring himself and his friends back alive.

Goodreads Link


AUTHOR INTERVIEW

What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now? 
M. C. Moulton. I was born in Las Vegas Nevada, however I now reside in the middle-of-nowhere (otherwise known as Kansas).

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be? 
I was originally going to be a Ninja Turtle or a Ghostbuster, but found myself lacking both the scientific knowledge and funds to pursue either career.

When did you first consider yourself as a "writer"? 
I still don't really consider myself a "writer". I like to think of myself more as a storyteller. Writing just happens to a medium through which to present wonderful stories.

What can we expect from you in the future?  ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
 I'm definitely finishing my Arcanum series first (It's going to be five books and a prequel). After that I'm not entirely sure. I have some ideas floating around in my head but we'll see.  

What genre would you place your books into? 
Y. A. Fantasy. 

Do you have a favourite character from your books? and why are they your favourite?
That's a hard question to answer. I feel like all my characters represent some differing viewpoint of my scattered brain, so I probably favor different ones at different times of day :p. If I had to choose Arc would be my favorite because he's the hero and none of the story would of happened if it weren't for him. Prince is probably the most fun to write, because unlike everyone else he is entirely aware of the fourth wall. There is also another character who comes in a later book who I'm having a lot of fun writing, mostly because she's so deliciously evil. I don't...I don't really know what that says about me though.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration? 
The voices in my head aside, I take most of my inspiration from things I've always loved growing up (e.g. - Video games, Anime/Cartoons, Music, etc.).

Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you know? 
Yes but, and I've said this before, I hate doing it. You need to have someone who doesn't really know you personally or care about you to critique your work. The problem with friends/family is they're pretty much obligated to tell you it's the best thing ever. They'll say they won't do that, but they will. Your spouse/kid/friend etc. isn't going to tell you your book sucks and your writing makes them want to extricate the contents of their stomach. There's just no honesty there. You need Joe Shmoe to tell you he really likes it because he has no obligation to be nice to you.

Do you read all the reviews of your book/books? 
Yes. My favorite reviews are ones that have nothing to do with the book itself. I got one once that said "It arrived in good condition". I was like, "Awesome, keep up the good work Amazon."

Would you ever ask a reviewer to change their review if it was not all positive about your book/books? 
lol no. Wouldn't that totally be defeating the purpose of a review? I like to pretend I live in a world where reviewers have integrity and cannot be paid off. Emphasis on the word pretend.

How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books?Who designed the Cover of your books? 
My covers are done by a graphic artist out of Singapore named Huan Lim. He does phenomenal work and I couldn't be happier with him. I give him the basic idea and concept work and he gets back to me with stuff that just blows my mind. To be quite honest it's my favorite part about the books, because I got to see it truly come to life by someone other than myself.

How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books? 
A lot of the characters and places in my book are based upon real places or places from mythology. I won't spoil anything beyond that, because figuring out/knowing all the references is half the fun of the Arcanum books. Most people miss about half the jokes, because they either don't get them or just breeze past them not even realizing there's a deeper meaning there. This usually occurs when Prince says something off-the-cuff that seems to make little to no sense to the rest of the characters, although they all do it from time to time.

Are character names and place names decided after there creation? or do you pick a character/place name and then invent them? 
A bit of both. It's give and take. I've had characters completely change names from the conception to the finished product.

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along? 
Their traits are made up before hand, but this is because every character is designed as an extreme archetype. Arc is the shy and unsure of himself hero, Prince is the joker/womanizer, Rose is Tsundere to the max, and Celeste is devoid of emotion, at least initially. This was done on purpose though (it wasn't just bad writing I swear) because it's more fun when extremes interact and deal with challenges together. It's no fun when everyone is just hunky-dory and gets along. However, all their reactions/dialogue/etc. is made up as I go along for the most part.

Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story? 
I have never ever been one to flowchart a story. It used to drive me crazy when they'd make us do it in school. That's not to say I'm just making **** up entirely as I go along though. I know where the characters are starting at, and I know where they need to end up by the end of the book. How they get from point A to point B though is sort of played by ear as they go along.

What do you think makes a book a really good/bestseller ? 
Tween girls. No, seriously, tween girls. They run the world. I'm sort of under the impression it really doesn't matter how good or bad a book is when it comes to popularity. If you can make it popular with that age demographic it will sell like hotcakes (Is it ironic I've never seen hotcakes sell like hotcakes?). From The Beatles to the Biebs, from Twilight to Hunger Games and back again tween girls decide what is popular. The only exception to this rule is controversy. There's absolutely no better way to get your book read than to have it banned. Don't believe me? There were two books floating around awhile back; one was a satanic witchcraft manual and the other one was designed to make you go crazy and kill people. What were there names again...man...oh yeah! Harry Potter and Catcher in the Rye. Don't know if you've heard of them. 

Have you ever based characters on people you know or based events on things that have happened to you? 
There are quite a few characters dedicated (or more accurately created by) specifically to some of my best friends. They're not in the books yet as they play a major role later, but that's all I'll say for now.

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..") 
Well it's kind of hard to have a moral when most of the character's in the book don't seem to have any. Joking aside though, no there isn't. I mean, there are hidden jokes and veiled references and stuff but nothing like, "Smoking is bad for you" or anything like that. I don't have any sort of hidden agenda. I don't like stories that try to preach at me with hidden messages. It's like they either think I'm too dumb to figure out they're trying to ' learn me sumthin' ' or it's just so in your face it ruins the story. Look, I'm here to entertain, nothing more, nothing less.

What is your favourite book and Why?  Have you read it more than once? 
The Artemis Fowl series. I absolutely love Artemis and I think Eoin Colfer wrote him beautifully. All the characters' personalities are so wonderfully juxtaposed it leads to wonderful character interaction.  I think it's one of the most under-appreciated series out there. After that I have to be cliche and say Harry Potter, but only up through Order of the Phoenix. I'm still pretending the last 2 books didn't happen.

Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst  book to movie transfer?
 It depends. Some books, while very good books, are just too placid for the big screen. Visuals need to be exciting and entertaining. I don't know if I have a favorite or worst movie to book transfer but there is one stand out movie that I thought was far superior to the original book and that was Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I had not read the book when the movie came out, but I thought the movie was so enjoyable I decided to pick it up. Man was I disappointed. Not only was the book vastly different, it seems like the screenwriter for the movie must have had all the same problems I did with the book and set about correcting them. Probably the only case I can think of where I can say the movie was better than the book.

Did you read a lot at school and write lots of stories or is being a writer something newer in your life? 
I've always enjoyed writing, but reading has never been my favorite activity. Weird right? Some people love to read all day long but hate to write (and couldn't write their way out of a paperbag). I'm like that, just in reverse. Mostly because I'm kind of picky and a perfectionist. When I read something I start picking apart the flaws and thinking "I could have done this much better. What were they thinking?" then I get annoyed. A book has to be very well written with a very structurally sound plot or I find myself losing interest quickly.

Is there a book you know you will never read? Or one you tried to read but just couldn't finish? 
I don't have any real examples, but I've never been one for "The Classics". I guess I'm a product of my times, but I find a lot of classic literature to be boring. I do love Shakespeare though, but that's more because I love the theatre. I think most of the classics are classics because they spoke for the times, but now that times have changed they're no longer as relevant. Now that I've got myself rambling I actually did think of an example of a book I can't stand, and that's the Lord of the Flies. I'm not going to harp on why I hate the book (I could do that for hours) but I'll never understand why it's so highly regarded by just about everyone.

Is there anything in your book/books you would change now if you could and what would it be? 
There are always little things you want to change or things you think "Man, how did I miss that golden opportunity", but dwelling on them isn't going to change anything.

Where can readers follow you?
Almost all new information will be posted over at Arcanum's official site www.arcanumbook.com. You can also follow Arc and his friends on Facebook from there for more extras etc.

I'm not partnered with GMTA Publishing LLC. Check them out over at www.gmtapublishing.com

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