Our SPFBOX interviews continue with D. B. Rook, author of Callus and Crow.
SPFBO (the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off) is a free online contest run by author Mark Lawrence. 300 authors compete across ten judging teams to see who will be the winner! You can read more about the contest here.
INTERVIEW WITH D. B. ROOK
Tell us a little about yourself and let our readers know which blog you’ve been assigned to for SPFBOX!
Hello! I am currently gnawing my nails down to the bone while I watch for updates from lady Weatherwax. Honestly, I’m a new kid on the block and I’m not expecting to smash through many of the awesome books in this year’s comp but I feel like it’s always worth throwing your hat in the ring. Callus & Crow is my debut and I tried to create something unique but familiar in as many ways as possible, only the dear readers can say if succeeded or not!
In terms of me, myself and I, I live in Sheffield, UK and I’m a keen reader, gamer, musician, family man and beard enthusiast! You may or may not have seen me on The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse podcast over on The Beard of Darkness’s YouTube channel and you may, or may not have read my reviews for Fanfiaddict.com
What inspired you to write this book?
Can you tell us a little bit about your writing or editing process? What’s most exciting to you about writing or editing?
I love the writing process in terms of problem solving. How do you deliver relevant information in a scene where the action makes your blood pump. How do you paint a picture of your world so your readers don’t realize they’re getting to know it? How does a character do something cool AF without becoming shallow? I live for that stuff, it feeds my soul and helps elevate the mental diatribe that I used to hide from, now I have an outlet and I am very grateful for it.
I like to think I blended a lot of things in a unique way. From vampires to steampunk, civil war to druidic exodus.
Who or what have been your major literary influences?
I could spend hours answering this question, I have a problem with making meaningful choices. I’m just going to throw out three names and drop the Mike, otherwise you’ll never get rid of me. Raymond E Feist, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie.
What makes your SPFBOX book unique?
I like to think I blended a lot of things in a unique way. From vampires to steampunk, civil war to druidic exodus. I tried to make the diversity sit naturally and be a part of the world, again, only my readers can tell me if I succeeded or not.
Do you have a favourite character from your SPFBOX entry? Tell us about them!
Captain Lazarus Badstock, not one of the main characters but I love him to bits! He’s a grumpy old, deranged version of the dungeon master from the old D&D kids TV show. He smokes human hair and has a very tenuous grip on reality!
I always wanted to create a world of my own that could potentially live on beyond my stories.
How does your work fit into (or challenge) its genre?
My world is post apocalyptic but has flavours of the pop culture from before the ‘Communion’ the event that put a stop to the previous civilisation. It’s entirely new but based on old, it’s a very mutated world but all the parts are familiar. It’s both classic and unique at the same time.
What do you hope readers take away from your SPFBOX entry?
What are you currently working on?
I’m half way through the sequel to Callus & Crow, whilst trying to remain focussed and not jump onto my next project which is set in space, help me!!
Callus and Crow
Can a path of blood lead to redemption?
Is redemption enough to amend a wayward world?
Morality and reality have shifted from their natural axis. Technology and ideology derive from the remnants of a world long dead and segregated by the monsters that now rule the seas. Crow, a young ranch hand, is swept into an odyssey of redemption and revenge as he strives to hold back the ravages of fate and the urges born of a curse shared with his new mentor. Callus, an exile struggling to find redemption whilst keeping his vampiric curse from tainting his new ward, pursues his prey across the sea.
The new world they discover reveals a tyrannical society fixated on their council’s ascension to godhood.
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Purchase Callus and Crow from Amazon.
DB Rook lives in the North of England with his wife and two beautiful children. He is a drummer, a gamer, and a dreamer who loves to spend time in other worlds, as well as this one. He has spent recent years working in the charity sector whilst occasionally visiting the Wayward World to stretch his legs and feed his soul.
