Our SPFBOX interviews continue with Sebastian Nothwell, author of Oak King Holly King.
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 SEBASTIAN NOTHWELL
Tell us a little about yourself and let our readers know which blog you’ve been assigned to for SPFBOX!
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?
It’s been wonderful to peel back [Shrike’s] layers throughout the story and watch him grow as a character. I’m excited to explore him further in future books.
Who or what have been your major literary influences?
What makes your SPFBOX book unique?
Do you have a favourite character from your SPFBOX entry? Tell us about them!
Shrike is delightfully practical, sensitive, nurturing, deeply scarred inside and out, and more powerful than he realizes. It’s been wonderful to peel back his layers throughout the story and watch him grow as a character. I’m excited to explore him further in future books.
The human connection of storytelling is what’s most exciting to me about writing. I made up some guys to keep my brain from bursting into flames, and sharing their story with others who grow to care about my guys as much as I do is an endless delight.
How does your work fit into (or challenge) its genre?
What do you hope readers take away from your SPFBOX entry?
What are you currently working on?
Oak King Holly King
Shrike, the Butcher of Blackthorn, is a legendary warrior of the fae realms. When he wins a tournament in the Court of the Silver Wheel, its queen names him her Oak King – a figurehead destined to die in a ritual duel to invoke the change of seasons. Shrike is determined to survive. Even if it means he must put his heart as well as his life into a mere mortal’s hands.
Wren Lofthouse, a London clerk, has long ago resigned himself to a life of tedium and given up his fanciful dreams. When a medieval-looking brute arrives at his office to murmur of destiny, he’s inclined to think his old enemies are playing an elaborate prank. Still, he can’t help feeling intrigued by the bizarre-yet-handsome stranger and his fantastical ramblings, whose presence stirs up emotions Wren has tried to lock away in the withered husk of his heart.
As Shrike whisks Wren away to a world of Wild Hunts and arcane rites, Wren is freed from the repression of Victorian society. But both the fae and mortal realms prove treacherous to their growing bond. Wren and Shrike must fight side-by-side to see who will claim victory – Oak King or Holly King.
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Purchase Oak King Holly King from Amazon.
Sebastian Nothwell writes queer romance. When he is not writing, he is counting down the minutes until he is permitted to return to writing. He is absolutely not a ghost and definitely did not die in 1895.
