Biography
David Green is a writer of the epic and the urban, the fantastical and the mysterious.
With his character-driven dark fantasy series empire of ruin, or urban fantasy noir Nick Holleran, David takes readers on emotional, action-packed thrill rides.
Hailing from the north-west of England, David now lives in County Galway on the west coast of Ireland with his wife and train-obsessed son.
When not writing, David can be found wondering why he chooses to live in places where it constantly rains.
Share a little bit about In Solitude’s Shadow.
In Solitude’s Shadow is the first book in the Empire of Ruin trilogy, an epic dark fantasy, with the sequel, Path of War, out this June.
It’s a book that explores many things I’ve found fascinating from other fantasy properties from books to video games and film/TV, but with my own spin on it. It’s fast-paced and action packed, but the characters are the focus and amid the huge stakes there are deep intimate moments. Every character from the ensemble POV face life-altering incidents, and not all make it out alive…
When and where do you do your best writing?
I can’t really choose all that much where I write with the ongoing lockdowns and my toddler ruling the roost, so I’m either in my kitchen or desk at the end of my bed, either very early in the morning, or very late at night
What is your background in film and does that background influence your writing?
I studied film at university with a focus on directing, but did plenty of work in set design, editing, and screenwriting, with the latter continuing on. It’s a big influence as I usually write from a picture in my mind, like a moving scene, and describe that. Books and film/TV are very different, so many rules don’t apply; namely there’s no cost to writing a scene on paper where you have to think about that when doing a screenplay – how much will this cool scene take out of the budget – so in novel writing the only limits are imagination. However, I do consider how cinematic a scene might be, but many modern writers do. We’re conditioned a little from exposure to film and the ways stories are constructed now. Fantasy nowadays has a narrow scope compared to the sprawling continental stories of classic fantasy, with more of a focus on character, I find.
If you could spend the day with one famous author (dead or alive), who would you choose and why?
Robert Jordan. I’d plague him about the minutiae of Wheel of Time, pester him about changing his mind about Demandred/Taim and contentedly listen to any tale he’d like to tell me.
Your author bio on Amazon says you, “He has published works across a number of genres, and will continue to write until he can physically no longer do it.” Two-part question: Why do you write in multiple genres instead of focusing on one? Why did you decide to write until you physically can’t?
I always forget about that bio, it’s an older one (early 2020, I think!) I started getting into the publishing work through anthologies, and a lot of those were horror. I like horror quite a bit, but it isn’t my passion like fantasy. Same as sci-fi. But they were great to learn from and hone certain skills, and I enjoy mashing genre in general. Nowadays my focus is mostly on long-form, solo fantasy novels, but I will throw out a short story in an anthology that takes my fancy every now and then. It’s nice to try new things and apply the learnings to my fantasy work.
And why write until I can’t? I just really enjoy it. I look at it as my job and hobby, and it’s a pleasure to sit at my laptop and create.
You have five pages worth of your writings for sale on Amazon. Can you summarize what readers will find (novels, short story collections, anthologies, etc.)? Do you have a favorite?
It’s tough to decide on a favourite as I’m quite critical on my work and always try to improve on it on the next book. For example, I think Path of War is a big improvement on everything I’ve written so far, and will have to see if people agree when it’s finished!
But I’m very happy with the response to both In Soltiude’s Shadow and The Devil Walks In Blood. They’re both very different types of fantasy, and have a different writing style (Solitude is multiple POV 3rd past tense, Devil is 1st person, single POV present) but I achieved what I wanted to with both of those.
In terms of anthologies, my favorite is probably Last Stop. It’s more horror leaning, but it’s set in the same world as The Devil Walks In Blood, and the protagonist, Nick Holleran, appears in the final chapter. It was a project I set up with my publisher and other authors came in to write about a specific place with a revolving set of characters. It was fun to do!
Would you describe yourself as prolific? If so, what advice would give to other readers who want to write more than they do?
I wouldn’t describe myself as that, but some do! I’d like to be more consistent with my own releases, but sometimes these things get held up for multiple reasons! But, in terms of advice, I do write almost every day, even if it’s 500 words. Structure works for me, and treating it like a job helps, too.
Why did you decide to publish and not just write?
So that was set up with another couple of European authors (a fellow Irishman, and a chap from Sweden) to give a home to speculative fiction writers in Europe, particularly in the adventure and mystery genres. There isn’t a lot of homes for that kind of work, and we were all fans, so we decided to give it a go!
What can readers expect from you in 2022?
Quite a bit! Path of War will release in June 2022, followed by a quick release of two Nick Holleran books – the sequel to The Devil Walks In Blood which is called One Life Left, and, because it’s ending on a HUGE cliffhanger, the sequel to that will come soon after. That’s probably October and November, but I’ll be writing the trilogy caper to Empire of Ruin then, aiming for a spring 2023 release, so we’ll have In Solitude’s Shadow, Path of War and TBC in the trilogy. I honestly haven’t thought of a title yet, but my brain tells me it must be three words like the previous 2!
What are your long-term goals as an author?
Just general world domination, all my work adapted for the big streaming sites like Amazon, Netflix and HBO, and many New York Times #1 Best Sellers 😉
Not much, eh?
To be honest, I don’t have too many long-terms goals. I started this as I always wanted to do it, and I wanted something to show my son when he’s older, and hopefully he’ll read one of them, enjoy it, and want to read more.
So, long-term, it’s finishing my two series in a satisfying manner for me, the readers, and my publisher, then seeing what to do next.
Anything additional you want to share with readers?
That if you read any of my work, please get in touch! I love hearing from readers, listening to your theories and feedback
Website: www.davidgreenwriter.com/
Book Locations: www.books2read.com/solitudesshadow
www.books2read.com/devil-walks-in-blood
Excerpt from In Solitude’s Shadow
The rider in black slid from its horse, hood falling with the movement. Calene gasped at the sight. A pale, bald woman glared back at her with black eyes. Angry, red cracks ran across her skin. The woman’s thin lips curled back into a snarl and Calene felt her draw on her Spark. Zal took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Calene by the hair. She yelled in outrage as he pulled her face into a rising knee. Her nose exploded on impact and she fell, head ringing. Her vision dimmed as she sank into the cold, wet mud.
“The drok is this?” Vettigan roared.
She looked up at the shout, confused, blood dripping down her face, into her mouth. Her friend leapt from the cart, but froze, sinking to his knees. The Sparker in black moved like a viper, void eyes fixed on Vettigan, a look of deranged glee—no, desire—etched into her ruined face. Vettigan shook, eyes wide with fear, shock and disbelief plain in his features.
“Haven’t you heard?” Ganton said, licking his lips. He hadn’t even dismounted. “Change is in the air. Allow our Shadow Sparker to show you the future.”
Calene shook away the pain. Opening the second sight, she gasped. A scream swelled in her throat. Black tendrils oozed from the Shadow Sparker, pulsating as they slithered into Vettigan. They entered his mouth, ears and eyes, and he howled in agony. The Sparker grinned, pulsating as she drained his light. His essence, his energy, seeped into her pores. Calene had seen Evisceration on the battlefield, had seen its after-effects on her father, but nothing like this. The dark energy invading her friend’s body seemed a living thing, twisted by the will of this thing, this ‘Shadow Sparker’.
Vettigan’s skin withered, hair shedding from his scalp. Seconds had passed, just seconds, but already he looked a decade older.
“Evisceration?” Calene screamed, wiping the blood from her nose as she struggled to her knees. “You can’t do this. Teeth of the gods, are you insane?”
She wouldn’t watch this happen again. Not to Vettigan. Not to anyone.
