Tell us a little about your new book:

My new book is “The Oaken King,” intended to be the first novel and jumping off point for a forthcoming dark fantasy series called the Soulsword Cycle. I’ve only written science fiction previously, for the most part, but I’ve read considerably more fantasy over the years so this is in a way me returning to my roots. The book follows about 6 different POV characters as they navigate the aftermath of a demonic attack early in the story that decapitates the leadership of an alliance of kingdoms called the Oaken Pact, or as I like to call it when I talk about the book, “medieval NATO.” You’ve got your standard plucky orphan thrust out into the wild world, in this case a stableboy named Soren, but I also have some characters I’m really excited about hailing from cultures based on non-Western European sources. My personal favorite is a swordswoman from a desert culture inspired by the Bedouins named Naqah, who is hired by a strange priest to escort him as he investigates the cause of the demonic attack, and a plotline that is almost all table-setting for future books featuring Koyik, a Ranger up in the frozen north who hails from a people based on the Inuit, who is torn between her faith and her people’s culture and heads on a scouting mission that goes terribly awry. There are some fun worldbuilding surprises I’ve got waiting for readers, as I don’t use any stock fantasy races, but you’ll recognize where I’ve drawn inspiration for some of my creatures and cultures from more non-traditional sources.

Who are some authors who inspire you?

Without a doubt the fantasy gold standard for me is Tad Williams, specifically the “Memory, Sorrow and Thorn” trilogy that I devoured as a teenager. It’s a series that everyone has heard of but has sort of fallen by the wayside since it was released due to the popularity of some of its derivates like Game of Thrones (George RR Martin was inspired by Williams before setting out to write ASOIAF) or The Wheel of Time, which similarly mixes traditional high fantasy with more serious grounding. The vibe of Williams’ trilogy as well as A Song of Ice and Fire are definitely what I’m aiming for with the forthcoming Soulsword Cycle. I haven’t exactly been shy over the years in broadcasting my admiration for Tad Williams when discussing my writing publicly, and getting to interact with him on a Reddit AMA when his sequel trilogy “The Last King of Osten Ard” was a huge fanboy moment and highlight for me!

Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones?

I’ve always loved Lord of the Rings and grew up watching the trilogy frequently, even binging the whole extended edition one New Year’s Eve with my dad when I was in high school. That said, the aesthetic of Game of Thrones fits my writing style more; grittier, more grounded settings, a little darker overall. I’ve studiously avoided stock fantasy races like elves or dwarves, because personally I think Tolkein set the bar and everyone else is a pale imitator when it comes to those two.

Tell us a little about some of your writing process:

I love the actual writing piece, sitting down and trying to come up with how to phrase a sentence, poring over my notes and outlines, that “aha!” moment when I have a new idea I hadn’t considered. Marketing is a huge pain in the rear, though, and is my greatest (and it is quite substantial) Achilles heel. I’m terrible at online marketing and figuring out how to get attention for my novels. Working on that, though!

What’s next on the horizon?

I’m working on the sequel to the “Oaken King” right now, tentatively titled “The Swordmaid of Harash.” I plan on eventually finishing my original flagship series, the “League of Planets Adventure,” which only has a seventh book left, but after writing the sixth entry in that series I was so burned out I wanted to try my hand at something new… so of course I dabbled in epic fantasy, an even more challenging genre! Then we’ll see! I tend to follow my muse wherever it takes me. A big goal of mine is to invest more time into trying to build a reader base with such a substantial backlist.

Where can readers find more:

Readers who are interested in following what’s next from me are welcome to follow me at:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/henrikrohdinauthor/

Twitter - @HenrikRohdin

I also am fairly active on the r/fantasy subreddit under the handle KingSweden24.

NaNoWriMo 2017 Report - April Summer Camp!

April 2017 marks my 4th (likely) successful NaNo attempt. As of 4/24/17, I am sitting at 42,117 words written of my 50,000 word goal. Overall, I've tried the NaNo contest 5 times now, and I've only lost once. From what I know of most other authors, winning comes scarce and an overwhelming majority of writers fail before they get too far off the ground. So here I plan on breaking down the useful tips and tricks I've developed to ensure my own writing goes along smoothly.

Firstly, here's a look at my chart:

The First Takeaway = I knew I wouldn't have time to write the first weekend of NaNo this year. I had an appellate brief for the KY Supreme Court due that Monday in law school and obviously, that takes precedent over NaNo. One of the keys to staying ahead of the graph is to plan ahead. I knew the weekend would ruin my progress, so I made sure to bust out 9,000 words on day 1. How did I write so much? Well, I have a pretty boring social life... and I outlined before I began writing!! That's a huge step. Don't just sit down and expect literature to fly from your fingers like wine from a golden fountain. That isn't going to happen. Instead, just plan ahead and make a decent outline before you get ready to rock and roll.

The Second Takeaway = I've never had a good cabin. These guys tend to chat a bit which is fun, but they don't write. Competition motivates me far more than it should, and my cabin provided none this year. No one is even close. Some good advice might be to get writers you know to make your own cabin to hold each other accountable.

The Third Takeaway = Even if you get behind, getting ahead isn't that difficult. So many people I've talked to have said they missed a day or a weekend upfront and then quit. Well.. that doesn't work. Look how many days I ended below my goal line? There's a bunch. But guess what? Just going 400 - 600 words over your daily target the next day and the day after that does wonders to make up that lost ground. If you persevere, you'll make up the words.

The Fourth Takeaway = This one is key. I heard a vital piece of advice a couple years ago that has helped my writing tremendously.

"The best way to find the time to sit down and write a novel is to throw your cell phone in the ocean."

That is so true. This is going to sound super obvious and perhaps even a little childish, but removing distractions is the best thing you can do for yourself and your book. Seriously. I leave my phone on the kitchen table when I head into my office to write. But—this comes with a caveat. If you sit down at the trusty keys and nothing flows out for you, don't stare blankly at the screen for 2 hours doing nothing. Give it a solid 15 minutes. If the magic isn't happening by then, just stop. Sitting and brewing on your frustration just makes you hate your novel. That isn't conducive to writing the next best-seller. Come back in an hour or 2 after you hit writer's block and see if things flow better then. Still not feeling it? Go edit one of your chapters. Try to sneak a couple hundred words in while you edit to get the creative juices flowing. Then if it works, it works. If not? Go to bed and tackle it the next day.

The Fifth Takeaway = Here's some advice which has probably doubled my writing speed. Don't stop your day's writing session at the end of a chapter. Never do it that way. Always stop in the middle of a chapter. Think of it like this - if you stop reading mid-chapter on your favorite book, you're going to come back and open the pages pretty soon to finish that chapter. If you stop at a natural conclusion, there's a good chance you never pick up the book again because it isn't on your mind. The same holds true for writing. If you stop a session in the midst of an epic combat scene, you're going to sit down to write again in an hour or 2 and crank out another 2k words. Multiple 1k+ writing sessions per day is the key to NaNoWriMo. Don't try to write 2k every single time you sit at the keyboard. Write in small chunks, but write more often. And always, end your session at an interesting part!

I hope you enjoyed my lessons learned by 5 trips through the National Novel Writing Month gauntlet. If you have advice of your own, leave it in the comments below. Like this post? Sign up for the newsletter to never miss a single one.