Author Interview: Nicholas Eames.

Today on The Tattooed Book Geek I’m very pleased to be bringing you an exclusive interview with Nicholas Eames, author of the fantasy book Kings of the Wyld, which just so happens to have been released today!

I’ve already read and reviewed Kings of the Wyld, it was a 5* must read for me and you can find the link to my review here:

• Kings of the Wyld Book Review.

Welcome Nicholas, a massive thank you for agreeing to appear on my blog and taking the time to do this interview.

Let’s tune up those guitars and get this show on the road!

Kings of the Wyld includes a musical influence with the mercenary companies being called bands and each member having a specific role within the band.

Before we get to the headline act and talk about the book, I thought we could start the interview with a support act, warm up the crowd, build anticipation and find out about the type of character you would be if you were writing yourself in Kings of the Wyld.

1 – What race would you be? A plain old human? An Arachnian like Tiamax? Maybe even a druin? You could rock the fluffy bunny ears then? 🙂

NE: Oh, I’d be a druin for sure. I’m sometimes aloof, often reclusive, and have a general disdain for humankind in general.

2 – What would your character name/nickname be?

NE: Let’s go with Stillwater, since it not only sounds like a druin name but is also a reference to Almost Famous, and I DO love my references!

3 – What role would you have in your band?

NE: Probably the thief, since I’m fairly sure I was a certified kleptomaniac in my early twenties. Or the bard. But not the singing kind, the storytelling-by-the-fire-while-drinking-beer kind.

4 – What would be your weapon of choice and your weapon’s name?

NE: A very long spear called Hawkwind—and no, I’m not compensating for anything.

5 – What would your band’s name be?

NE: Fireborn. That was the name of the book I wrote for a decade that will never see the light of day, so I give it props whenever I can.

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The support act leaves the stage to rapturous applause for the awesome answers and great segment, The Tattooed Book Geek! The Tattooed Book Geek! The crowd noise finally dies down, the lights go out and the crowd starts back up, feet stamping, devil horns in the air, chanting for the headline act, Kings of the Wyld! Kings of the Wyld! Kings of the Wyld!

1 – Would you please tell us about Kings of the Wyld?

NE: Kings of the Wyld is about five friends who were once the most famous fighting band in the world. After decades apart, they must now reunite to rescue the daughter of their leader, Gabriel, who is trapped in a city under siege. It’s often light-hearted, sometimes poignant, occasionally violent, and altogether fun—or so I hope.

2 – Can you sum up Kings of the Wyld in one sentence?

NE: Rock and Roll Fantasy.

3 – What was your favourite part of writing Kings of the Wyld?

NE: Probably listening to the rambling, epic rock (and progressive rock) albums of the 1970’s, which were a huge inspiration for both the setting and the characters therein. That, and laughing at my own jokes. I did that a lot.

4 – Kings of the Wyld includes a musical element infused throughout, tours and gigs instead of contracts, frontmen instead of leaders/commanders and the mercenary companies are called bands, it’s a cool concept that works really well, how did you come up with this idea?

NE: I can’t say for sure when or how the idea struck me, but when it did I googled it, since I was certain someone had beat me to it. To my surprise, no one had—or at least no one who’d committed to the idea of ‘mercenaries as rock-stars’ like I planned to.

5 – One minute Kings of the Wyld is laugh out loud hilarious with both the characters comments and the jokes consistently hitting the mark. However, interspersed with the humour is emotion and thoughtfulness that is pulled of really well, add in the story telling and action packed escapades, how did you strike the balance between these aspects?

NE: Firstly, thank you for saying so. I set out to write something fun to read, and humour is the best way I know to achieve that. Pacing helps, and action is always a bonus, but this book, first and foremost, is meant to be fun. The emotional stuff comes as a by-product of being truthful to the characters. If it was all laughs and no tears, the book would seem shallow, I think.

A lot of that ‘balance’ is thanks to my agent and my editor, both of whom had me ‘tone-down’ some of the more ridiculous scenes in order to give the poignant ones more emotional punch, and I am extremely grateful they did so. That said, there are three (I think) hilarious scenes in there that I had to fight to keep, and I don’t think the book suffers for it.

6 – With the jokes, when writing Kings of the Wyld did you just think ‘yes, it made me laugh’ and put it in the book or did you test them on some victims to see their reactions first?

NE: Well, I thought ALL the jokes were funny, obviously, but when it came time to cut I kept the ones that others (my editor/agent/beta readers) enjoyed the most.

7 – To end the section of the interview do you have a joke for us?

NE: What did the wizard order at his hotel? BROOM SERVICE!

…I’ll be here all week, folks.

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Now for the last part of the interview, after a killer set the band comes back out for the encore performance.

We’ve talked about your character and band, the amazing book that is Kings of the Wyld and lastly I think it would be interesting to find out more about you.

1 – When did you decide to become a writer?

NE: About halfway through reading Guy Gavriel Kay’s ‘Lord of Emperors’. It’s a book about art, and legacy, and it got me thinking about what I’d like to leave behind in the world when I was gone. Morbid? Perhaps. But over the next few years I started dedicating more and more time to writing, and once I told everyone I was writing a book…Well, I was sort of on the hook for it then, wasn’t I?

2 – What do you find to be the most rewarding part of writing?

NE: I’d say it’s simply the pride at having created something. Having others enjoy it is definitely a bonus, but being delighted by, excited by, and proud of your own work is immensely gratifying.

3 – Have any authors influenced your work?

NE: Ernest Cline influenced the pacing, Joe Abercrombie influenced the voice, Guy Gavriel Kay influenced any part of it that reads like poetry, Pat Rothfuss influenced its sincerity, and Scott Lynch influenced its humour.

4 – What are your top five favourite books?

• Lord of Emperors, by Guy Gavriel Kay.
• The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
• The Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay.
• The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch.
• Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline.

5 – What are your top five favourite bands?

• Led Zeppelin.
• The Rolling Stones.
• Pink Floyd.
• AC/DC.
• Rush.

(Honourable mention: U2)

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That concludes the interview, many thanks for taking the time to visit my blog Nicholas, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on The Tattooed Book Geek and I of course wish you all the best with Kings of the Wyld.

Before you venture back into the wyld do you have any last words for readers of this interview?

NE: Thanks for reading! And if you decide to pick up Kings of the Wyld, I sincerely hope you enjoy the heck out of it!

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About the Author:

Nicholas Eames was born to parents of infinite patience and unstinting support in Wingham, Ontario. Though he attended college for theatre arts, he gave up acting to pursue the infinitely more attainable profession of “epic fantasy novelist.” Kings of the Wyld is his first novel. Nicholas loves black coffee, neat whiskey, the month of October, and video games. He currently lives in Ontario, Canada, and is very probably writing at this moment.

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Nicholas can be found:

Twitter  /  Website

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Kings of the Wyld:

GLORY NEVER GETS OLD.

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best — the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk – or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay’s door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

It’s time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.

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Purchase Kings of the Wyld:

Amazon UK  /  Amazon US  /  The Book Depository

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