Author Ryan Schneider's Blog

The Next Big Thing (Blog Meme) James A. West author of brand new epic fantasy novel SHADOW AND STEEL James states that he "will write for chips & salsa", but his fiction is worth a great deal more. James is a talented writer of fantasy novels. His latest work is  Shadow and Steel (Heirs of the Fallen Book 3) . I've read James' work and enjoyed it a great deal. I read  Reaper of Sorrows (Songs of the Scorpion - Volume I) . It was quite good. Great fantasy, with a strong hero reminiscent of Maximus from the film "Gladiator", great action, and some pretty effed-up dark magic. Take it away, James! 1. Title of your book: Shadow and Steel 2. Where did the idea come from for the book: My brain. Sorry, couldn’t resist! Actually I got the idea for this series 10 years ago. I love epic fantasy, but one day I thought to myself wouldn’t it be cool if the hero failed at saving the day? Or, even better, what...

Thriller writer and writer friend Rob Guthrie tagged me recently to participate in The Next Big Thing Blog Meme. It's a blog chain in which writers tag fellow writer friends to answer a list of standard questions about their current or forthcoming novel.  Thanks, Rob. (Visit Rob at  rsguthrie.com  and read his books. Seriously.) So here we go. 1. What is the title of your book? Eye Candy . 2. Where did the idea come from for the book? I can't answer that without revealing a spoiler. So let's see if I can dance around it while still providing some semblance of an answer. I had an idea for what I thought was a powerful scene, and which had a powerful concept behind it. I wanted to write to arrive at that scene. So I began at the beginning, and finally got there about 60% of the way into the story. 3.  What genre does your book fall under? Science fiction. Though at its heart it is a love story. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses...